2 Corinthians 8 Study Notes

8:1 The churches of Macedonia were congregations in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea (Ac 16-17).

8:2-3 These churches had been born in affliction (Ac 16-17). Moreover, they were limited in financial resources; yet these factors had not impeded their giving.

8:4 The same word (ministry) previously used to describe Christian service (4:1; 5:18; 6:3) is now used to describe Christian giving. Financial stewardship is ministry.

8:5 Here is the key to understanding giving as a ministry. When believers offer themselves wholly to the Lord, they have no difficulty in offering their wallets to him.

8:6 Paul’s collection for the Jerusalem Christians had been a long-term project. He had evidently put Titus in charge of at least part of it. The Corinthians had “been ready since last year” (9:2) to give, but had not completed the task. The recent trouble in Corinth, causing Paul’s sorrowful visit and the severe letter, had surely been the major factor. Now that the Corinthians were restored, it was time to finish the task, but it would only be done the right way if it was prompted by God’s grace (v. 1).

8:7 The Corinthians were more affluent than the Macedonians; therefore they could give more generously, and this is what Paul expected to happen (excel also in this act of grace).

8:8 The generosity of the Macedonians set a challenging standard for giving. Only love for God by his grace would enable the Corinthians to pass this test.

8:9 Jesus’s self-sacrifice is an even higher standard of giving. He willingly exchanged all the wealth of his deity for the poverty of the incarnation.

8:10-11 On finish the task, see note at v. 6.

8:12 God is more concerned with the quality of giving than with the quantity, as with the widow who gave two coins (Lk 21:1-4).

8:13-14 A congregation that has been generous may later find itself in need of help from others.

8:15 The quotation from Ex 16:18 comes from the Israelites’ first experience with gathering daily manna. God saw to it that those who gathered little had enough and those who gathered much did not have a surplus. In the wilderness God enforced this principle of equality (Ex 16:20). Paul calls on the Corinthians to be equitable voluntarily, trusting God that they would have enough.

8:16-17 Titus had volunteered to return to the Corinthians to oversee the collection. Went out to you refers to Titus’s role as the letter carrier for 2 Corinthians.

8:18 The brother who is praised is not named, but it may have been Luke.

8:19 Congregations are to be involved in leadership decisions. Acts 20:4 lists all the church messengers that would accompany Paul with this gift, with Luke included in Ac 20:5-6 by the words “us” or “we.”

8:20-21 From the beginning of Christianity, a scrupulous concern for integrity in dealing with money has been important. Before people implies public accountability.

8:22 Like the brother of v. 18, this one is also unnamed but praised.

8:23 On partner and coworker, see note at 2:12-13 for more about Titus’s credentials. The messengers of the churches were literally “apostles.” Only those selected by the churches (v. 19) could properly fulfill this function. Just as the gospel itself displays Christ’s splendor (see note at 4:4), so do lives transformed by the gospel.

8:24 This verse is another appeal for the Corinthian believers to complete the offering (see note at v. 7).