Beginning

Waiting for Our New Bodies

5 We know that the earthly tent we live in will be destroyed. But we have a building made by God. It is a house in heaven that lasts forever. Human hands did not build it. ² During our time on earth we groan. We long to put on our house in heaven as if it were clothing. ³ Then we will not be naked. ⁴ While we live in this tent of ours, we groan under our heavy load. We don’t want to be naked. Instead, we want to be fully dressed with our house in heaven. What must die will be swallowed up by life. ⁵ God has formed us for that very purpose. He has given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment. The Spirit makes us sure of what is still to come.

⁶ So here is what we can always be certain about. As long as we are at home in our bodies, we are away from the Lord. ⁷ We live by believing, not by seeing. ⁸ We are certain about that. We would rather be away from our bodies and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So we try our best to please him. We want to please him whether we are at home in our bodies or away from them. ¹⁰ We must all stand in front of Christ to be judged. Each one of us will be judged for what we do while in our bodies. We’ll be judged for the good things and the bad things. Then each of us will receive what we are supposed to get.

Christ Brings Us Back to God

¹¹ We know what it means to have respect for the Lord. So we try to help other people to understand it. What we are is plain to God. I hope it is also plain to your way of thinking. ¹² We are not trying to make an appeal to you again. But we are giving you a chance to take pride in us. Some people take pride in their looks rather than what’s in their hearts. If you take pride in us, you will be able to answer them. ¹³ Are we “out of our minds,” as some people say? If so, it is because we want to serve God. Does what we say make sense? If so, it is because we want to serve you. ¹⁴ Christ’s love controls us. We are sure that one person died for everyone. And so everyone died. ¹⁵ Christ died for everyone. He died so that those who live should not live for themselves anymore. They should live for Christ. He died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we don’t look at anyone the way the world does. At one time we looked at Christ in that way. But we don’t anymore. ¹⁷ When anyone lives in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone! The new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God. He brought us back to himself through Christ’s death on the cross. And he has given us the task of bringing others back to him through Christ. ¹⁹ God was bringing the world back to himself through Christ. He did not hold people’s sins against them. God has trusted us with the message that people may be brought back to him. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s official messengers. It is as if God were making his appeal through us. Here is what Christ wants us to beg you to do. Come back to God! ²¹ Christ didn’t have any sin. But God made him become sin for us. So we can be made right with God because of what Christ has done for us.

6 We work together with God. So we are asking you not to receive God’s grace and then do nothing with it. ² He says,

I tell you, now is the time God has mercy. Now is the day he saves.

Paul’s Sufferings

³ We don’t put anything in anyone’s way. So no one can find fault with our work for God. ⁴ Instead, we make it clear that we serve God in every way. We serve him by standing firm in troubles, hard times and suffering. ⁵ We don’t give up when we are beaten or put in prison. When people stir up trouble in the streets, we continue to serve God. We work hard for him. We go without sleep and food. ⁶ We remain pure. We understand completely what it means to serve God. We are patient and kind. We serve him in the power of the Holy Spirit. We serve him with true love. ⁷ We speak the truth. We serve in the power of God. We hold the weapons of godliness in the right hand and in the left. ⁸ We serve God in times of glory and shame. We serve him whether the news about us is bad or good. We are true to our calling. But people treat us as if we were pretenders. ⁹ We are known, but people treat us as if we were unknown. We are dying, but we continue to live. We are beaten, but we are not killed. ¹⁰ We are sad, but we are always full of joy. We are poor, but we make many people rich. We have nothing, but we own everything.

¹¹ Believers at Corinth, we have spoken freely to you. We have opened our hearts wide to you. ¹² We are not holding back our love from you. But you are holding back your love from us. ¹³ I speak to you as if you were my children. It is only fair that you open your hearts wide to us also.

Paul Warns Against Worshiping False Gods

¹⁴ Do not be joined to unbelievers. What do right and wrong have in common? Can light and darkness be friends? ¹⁵ How can Christ and Satan agree? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ How can the temple of the true God and the statues of other gods agree? We are the temple of the living God. God has said,

¹⁷ So,

¹⁸ And,

7 Dear friends, we have these promises from God. So let us make ourselves pure from everything that makes our bodies and spirits impure. Let us be completely holy. We want to honor God.

Paul Has Joy When the Church Turns Away From Sin

² Make room for us in your hearts. We haven’t done anything wrong to anyone. We haven’t caused anyone to sin. We haven’t taken advantage of anyone. ³ I don’t say this to judge you. I have told you before that you have an important place in our hearts. We would live or die with you. ⁴ I have spoken to you very honestly. I am very proud of you. I am very happy. Even with all our troubles, my joy has no limit.

⁵ When we came to Macedonia, we weren’t able to rest. We were attacked no matter where we went. We had battles on the outside and fears on the inside. ⁶ But God comforts those who are sad. He comforted us when Titus came. ⁷ We were comforted not only when he came but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us how much you longed for me. He told us about your deep sadness and concern for me. That made my joy greater than ever.

⁸ Even if my letter made you sad, I’m not sorry I sent it. At first I was sorry. I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while. ⁹ Now I am happy. I’m not happy because you were made sad. I’m happy because your sadness led you to turn away from your sins. You became sad just as God wanted you to. So you were not hurt in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sadness causes us to turn away from our sins and be saved. And we are certainly not sorry about that! But worldly sadness brings death. ¹¹ Look at what that godly sadness has produced in you. You are working hard to clear yourselves. You are angry and alarmed. You are longing to see me. You are concerned. You are ready to make sure that the right thing is done. In every way you have proved that you are not guilty in that matter. ¹² So even though I wrote to you, it wasn’t because of the one who did the wrong. It wasn’t because of the one who was hurt either. Instead, I wrote you so that in the sight of God you could see for yourselves how faithful you are to us. ¹³ All this encourages us.

We were also very glad to see how happy Titus was. You have all renewed his spirit. ¹⁴ I had bragged about you to him. And you have not let me down. Everything we said to you was true. In the same way, our bragging about you to Titus has also turned out to be true. ¹⁵ His love for you is even greater when he remembers that you all obeyed his teaching. You received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I am glad I can have complete faith in you.

Giving Freely to the Lord’s People

8 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given to the churches in Macedonia. ² They have suffered a great deal. But in their suffering, their joy was more than full. Even though they were very poor, they gave very freely. ³ I tell you that they gave as much as they could. In fact, they gave even more than they could. Completely on their own, ⁴ they begged us for the chance to share in serving the Lord’s people in that way. ⁵ They did more than we expected. First they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they gave themselves to us because that was what God wanted. ⁶ Titus had already started collecting money from you. So we asked him to help you finish making your kind gift. ⁷ You do well in everything else. You do well in faith and in speaking. You do well in knowledge and in complete commitment. And you do well in the love we have helped to start in you. So make sure that you also do well in the grace of giving to others.

⁸ I am not commanding you to do it. But I want to test you. I want to find out if you really love God. I want to compare your love with that of others. ⁹ You know the grace shown by our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though he was rich, he became poor to help you. Because he became poor, you can become rich.

¹⁰ Here is my opinion about what is best for you in that matter. Last year you were the first to give. You were also the first to want to give. ¹¹ So finish the work. Then your desire to do it will be matched by your finishing it. Give on the basis of what you have. ¹² Do you really want to give? Then the gift is measured by what someone has. It is not measured by what they don’t have.

¹³ We don’t want others to have it easy at your expense. We want things to be equal. ¹⁴ Right now you have plenty in order to take care of what they need. Then they will have plenty to take care of what you need. The goal is to even things out. ¹⁵ It is written, “The one who gathered a lot didn’t have too much. And the one who gathered a little had enough.” (Exodus 16:18)

Paul Sends Titus to Corinth to Receive the Offering

¹⁶ God put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. Thanks should be given to God for this. ¹⁷ Titus welcomed our appeal. He is also excited about coming to you. It was his own idea. ¹⁸ Along with Titus, we are sending another brother. All the churches praise him for his service in telling the good news. ¹⁹ He was also chosen by the churches to go with us as we bring the offering. We are in charge of it. We want to honor the Lord himself. We want to show how ready we are to help. ²⁰ We want to keep anyone from blaming us for how we take care of that large gift. ²¹ We are trying hard to do what both the Lord and people think is right.

²² We are also sending another one of our brothers with them. He has often proved to us in many ways that he is very committed. He is now even more committed because he has great faith in you. ²³ Titus is my helper. He and I work together among you. Our brothers are messengers from the churches. They honor Christ. ²⁴ So show them that you really love them. Show them why we are proud of you. Then the churches can see it.

9 I don’t need to write to you about giving to the Lord’s people. ² I know how much you want to help. I have been bragging about it to the people in Macedonia. I have been telling them that since last year you who live in Achaia were ready to give. You are so excited that it has stirred up most of them to take action. ³ But I am sending the brothers. Then our bragging about you in this matter will have a good reason. You will be ready, just as I said you would be. ⁴ Suppose people from Macedonia come with me and find out that you are not prepared. Then we, as well as you, would be ashamed of being so certain. ⁵ So I thought I should try to get the brothers to visit you ahead of time. They will finish the plans for the large gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a gift freely given. It will not be given by force.

Paul’s Advice to Give Freely

⁶ Here is something to remember. The one who plants only a little will gather only a little. And the one who plants a lot will gather a lot. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. You shouldn’t give if you don’t want to. You shouldn’t give because you are forced to. God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to shower all kinds of blessings on you. So in all things and at all times you will have everything you need. You will do more and more good works. ⁹ It is written,

¹⁰ God supplies seed for the person who plants. He supplies bread for food. God will also supply and increase the amount of your seed. He will increase the results of your good works. ¹¹ You will be made rich in every way. Then you can always give freely. We will take your many gifts to the people who need them. And they will give thanks to God.

¹² Your gifts meet the needs of the Lord’s people. And that’s not all. Your gifts also cause many people to thank God. ¹³ You have shown yourselves to be worthy by what you have given. So other people will praise God because you obey him. That proves that you really believe the good news about Christ. They will also praise God because you share freely with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴ Their hearts will be filled with love for you when they pray for you. God has given you grace that is better than anything. ¹⁵ Let us give thanks to God for his gift. It is so great that no one can tell how wonderful it really is!