Two Corinthians Nine

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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2 Corinthians 9:1 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

2 Corinthians 9:2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.

2 Corinthians 9:3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:

2 Corinthians 9:4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.

2 Corinthians 9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

reap. “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Note also Psalm 126:5-6. The bountiful return promised by God for generous giving is not necessarily (though possibly it is in some cases) to be measured in material plenty (but see Proverbs 3:9-10; Malachi 3:10-12). He does, indeed, promise to supply our need (Philippians 4:19), but perhaps more commonly the rewards are spiritual, which in terms of eternity are far more valuable. Note 2 Corinthians 9:8-14. Therefore, when we give with abundance, we are not really “giving,” but “sowing.”

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

all grace. God promises an abundance of “all grace” to those who learn the grace of giving and exercise it “cheerfully” (the Greek word in 2 Corinthians 9:7 is that from which we derive our word “hilarious”). Note the frequent use of superlatives in this verse—“all grace,” “always,” “all sufficiency,” “all things,” “every good work,” with “abound” occurring twice.

2 Corinthians 9:9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

it is written. This testimony is found in Psalm 112:9, where it is describing “the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments” (Psalm 112:1).

2 Corinthians 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

2 Corinthians 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

thanksgiving to God. We are to give thanks “in every thing” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). The importance of being thankful is pointed out by the fact that such words as “praise” and “thanksgiving,” with their derivatives, occur some five hundred times in the Bible. A key evidence that a Christian is “filled with the Spirit” is that he or she is habitually “giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18, 20).

2 Corinthians 9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

2 Corinthians 9:13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;

2 Corinthians 9:14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

unspeakable. The great gift of God to man in the sacrificial, redemptive death of His Son for our sins, providing us forgiveness and everlasting life, is beyond all human language to express adequately. We cannot merit such a gift; we can only thank Him for it and, like the Philippians, give ourselves to the Lord and live henceforth only unto Him (2 Corinthians 8:5; 5:15). His gift to us must define all our gifts to Him.