Community Bible Chapel

1. To His Accusers, Paul Followed the Example of Christ - 10:1-2: (leniency not weakness)

  a. Leniency and clemency - v1a: “I, Paul, personally appeal to you by the leniency and clemency of Christ”

  b. Boldness - v1b-2: “please don’t force me to act with bold confidence”

2. In His Answers, Paul Employed the Methods of Christ - 10:3-6: (spiritual warfare according to God’s standards)

a. They were not worldly - v3: “we do not wage war according to human standards”

b. They were divinely effective - vs4-5: “For our weapons used in ⌜warfare⌝ are… powerful in God’s service to the end that fortresses are destroyed”

c. They were flexible - v6: “we stand ready to punish every disobedient act once your obedience is complete”

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

1 Now I, Paul, personally appeal to you by the leniency and clemency of Christ—I who am “pitiful” when face-to-face among you but “confident” toward you when I am absent—

2 when I am with you, please don’t force me to act with bold confidence, which I think I will dare to use against certain people, who evaluate us on the (false) assumption that we conduct ourselves according to human standards.

3 For although we conduct our lives in these human bodies, we do not wage war according to human standards.

4 For our weapons used in ⌜warfare⌝ are not merely human but, rather, powerful in God’s service to the end that fortresses are destroyed. We tear down arguments

5 and every rampart raised up in opposition to knowledge about God and take captive every thought, resulting in obedience to Christ.

6 And we stand ready to punish every disobedient act once your obedience is complete.