Come Follow Me LDS- 2 Corinthians 1-7 Part 1

'Affliction, Comfort, The Letter & The Spirit'
- Paul piggybacks the Spiritual Economy onto Hierarchy
- How the victim and the perpetrator are healed through forgiveness
- The convergence of the Spiritual Economy, Hierarchy & The Higher & Lower Laws

 

 

Come Follow Me

LDS Mormon New Testament 2 Corinthians Bible

 

in this episode we talk about affliction

comfort the letter and the spirit here

we go

[Music]

in this episode we're going to cover

second Corinthians chapters 1 2 and 3 in

2nd Corinthians we get a lot of what

we've already had from Paul in 1st

Corinthians and in the Epistle to the

Romans where he talks a lot about the

spiritual economy I love how he does

this

he brings in the spiritual principles

that work against and with each other

and helps us to kind of navigate these

principles so that we can have a greater

understanding of how we have success

spiritually just like you would need an

understanding of economics and a

temporal economy in order to have

success financially Paul kind of

continually lets out this information on

these principles on how to attach

ourselves to them how to recognize them

and how to follow them 2nd Corinthians

was probably written about 8055 now that

puts us just context again as we talk

about Paul here we're talking about a

period where the church has grown over

about 25 years remember that Christ went

through Gethsemane the tomb and the

resurrection around it's got to be

around 29 or 30 AD more or less give or

take a year or so probably it is earlier

if that's the case then later so about

25 26 years may be that we're talking

about where the church has grown from

wherever it was when Christ was still

walking around on earth and teaching and

blessing and the apostles were baptizing

and so a lot can happen in that period

of time

and of course a big difference is that

when Jesus is not with them every day

and he's not walking around and

personally transmitting truth constantly

we have to rely on these leaders that

are not perfect and yet are inspired and

are doing their best and are willing to

sacrifice everything in order to build

the kingdom of God God on earth so he

opens up the letter of second

Corinthians when you go to verse 2 here

he says grace be to you and peace from

God our Father and from the Lord Jesus

Christ to me very obvious here Paul is

talking about two separate beings he

understands very clearly that Jesus is

the son of another being he is the son

of God the Father and that's important

to know to be able to relay certain

principles of the spiritual economy and

to understand the fluid hierarchy that

exists alongside that spiritual economy

we're gonna talk about that here in this

first chapter verse 3 says blessed be

God even the father of our Lord Jesus

Christ the father of mercies and the God

of all comforts so he opens up the

letter kind of in a way that's going to

talk a little bit more about comfort and

how we receive that comfort in times of

tribulation and affliction but we don't

get too many doses of both of those

they are principles that you can't

overdo or that the Lord can't overdo and

I'll tell you what I mean by that here

shortly

verse 4 who comforteth us in all our

tribulation that we may be able to

comfort them which are in any trouble by

the comfort wherewith we ourselves are

comforted of God all right so we're

getting something here again we've done

this before where we've kind of

piggybacked the hierarchy with spiritual

principles and so if we've got a

mechanism that comes from an original

source being God the Father then we can

get a transmission of these principles

and truths and the spirit that comes

down to us through this latter

this hierarchical ladder that eventually

reaches down to us so again in verse

four the father is the one that comfort

of us in all our tribulation that we may

be able to comfort them which are in any

trouble so just like we've talked about

with like the 12-step program right for

those people that are having difficulty

with addiction we need something to

reach above us someone who has

experience we need truth we need

principles we need experience

we need inspiration we need something to

look to that is a goal of where we want

to go in someone who supports us and so

we receive that here from God he gives

us our comfort and then we turn around

and give to those that in this

circumstance we would say are below us

that may be suffering themselves and we

use the comfort that we are talking

about here to comfort them which are in

any trouble and that is the same comfort

right and in verse five we get where

that comes from it comes from the

sufferings of Christ so he suffers and

pays a price for us in other words

leading reaching down to us and then we

might suffer or pay a price in sacrifice

or in service to reach down and help

somebody else who needs comforting so

this principle of comfort is moving down

this ladder or this hierarchy that is in

place so he starts off talking about the

father and greetings from the father and

then from the Son and then down to Paul

and then down to the Corinthians

so that hierarchy is important to

understand and then he says something

really interesting and he brings in not

just comfort but affliction and

tribulation and he says here in verse

six and whether we be afflicted it is

for your consolation and salvation so

whatever we're afflicted with whatever

sufferings we have that is for our

salvation

remember the Pharisees and a lot of the

Jews in Jerusalem and other places at

the time of Jesus believed a lot that if

someone suffered whether it was a

physical ailment and disease or whether

it was they were poor and homeless or

perhaps whether they died over something

then this was judgment on them and Paul

here is saying the exact opposite if

there are sufferings out there then our

job is not to judge them our job is to

offer comfort but we're all afflicted

right we all receive this affliction and

that is for our consolation in salvation

so he set up these two pillars here for

us while we're here in mortality one

here is the affliction it is for our own

good it is for our salvation and then he

says or whether we be comforted it is

for your consolation and salvation

so both the afflictions that would come

upon us are for our salvation and the

comfort that we receive which could be

from the affliction both of these things

both of these principles both so both of

these spiritual principles are for our

good for salvation now imagine that if

we took one of those and overloaded it

and there's too much affliction more

than we can handle

remember we're told that we will not be

given more than we can handle but it is

for our good too much of it though is is

probably not good more than we can

handle at least is not good but then

there's comfort and if there's too much

comfort given then that would pull us

away from our spiritual growth we need

to work by faith and by struggle in

order to be able to grow and to progress

so it's kind of like let's take a couple

principles that we might have in the

temporal economy which would be supply

and demand if there's too much demand

and not enough supply of something then

you're going to have a real problem or

if it's the other way around if there's

too much supply

I and not enough demand then you've got

a problem right and one of them causes

prices to go up higher one of them

causes prices to go lower and in the

same way we are affected if there's too

much affliction then we are affected if

there's too much comfort then we are

effect affected as well so these two

things work with each other in many

cases and perhaps there's more sometimes

on the affliction side but that comfort

comes in when it's absolutely necessary

and perhaps sometimes based on our

choices and perhaps sometimes when the

Lord seems it is most appropriate and

then in chapter 2 Paul begins to set up

a scenario of forgiveness and starts

talking about how we overcome affliction

and being wronged through forgiveness

and sacrifice he starts off by talking

about how he has written unto the people

of Corinth even though he is with a

under a lot of affliction and anguish

right so he's suffering but he is going

to go beyond that and write the Epistle

anyway to the people of Corinth

so he's overcoming this maybe in many

ways it's because he was wronged and

this sets up his lesson to them about

forgiveness he says in verse 5 but if

any have caused grief he hath not

grieved me right so he's looking they

bad things happen people wronged other

people but they haven't grieved me but

in part that I may not overcharge you

all sufficient to such a man is the

punishment which was inflicted of many

okay so what he's trying to do here I

believe is he's trying to isolate the

sinner from the victim so when we are

wronged and there is affliction thrown

upon us by somebody else and anguish

betrayal whatever it might be

he's saying whatever that person has

done it is sufficient that they are

going to suffer based off of the

spiritual economy which would be guilt

resenting what was done needing to go

through the forgiveness repentance

process but that our charge is to do

something a little bit different in that

spiritual economy our charge says here

in verse 7 so that contrary wise he

ought rather to forgive him this person

and comfort him lest perhaps such a one

should be swallowed up with overmuch

sorrow so again is we talked about this

idea of covenant that's getting along

with people that are different from us

helping and supporting each other and

growing in the charity that we should

develop to cross those bridges between

each other in family friends church

nation to nation race to race economic

status etc he's saying when we're

wronged by someone what we need to do is

forgive them number one and number two

to comfort them and that in a sense is

what we're getting from the hierarchy

above right God the Father Jesus Christ

even though we may have wronged them by

making commitments and then maybe

breaking those commitments by sinning

their model for us their example is that

they want to forgive us imagine how

horrible that would be if they would

prefer to hang on to it and not let go

of these things we certainly want an

easier judgment we certainly want

forgiveness from God so he's saying hey

we needed to turn around as we look

through that hierarchy of betrayal or of

affliction and anguish that may have

been caused outside of ourselves and we

need to forgive we need to let that go

otherwise less perhaps such a one should

be swallowed up with overmuch sorry

now that could be both parties or either

party the person who is affected by it

the victim right we don't want them to

be overly swallowed up by those that are

betrayed or those that are the receiver

of the affliction to be judging those

individuals too harshly and on the other

side as we do forgive or if we don't

forgive then we are the ones that could

be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow and

that is so true it's almost like if we

are the victim in something that God

wants us to put that victimhood status

behind us and let it go

and yet there's something that we want

with that sometimes I think that's my

experience if I've been wronged if

someone's made my life difficult

sometimes those negative emotions of

anger and betrayal and can eat you up

and so not only is forgiving the

individual that has wronged you better

for the causer of the affliction but

it's just as good it may be better even

for the victim so to speak to let that

go

because we have shared with this other

person victim and perpetrator this wrong

and we both have to be able to get it

off of our backs one through forgiveness

that they're asking for

that's the perpetrator and one for

forgiveness that they are offering and

that brings us more to that place of

covenant and so then he gives us the

example again of forgiveness through the

hierarchy right and we see here in verse

10 to whom you forgive anything

I forgive also for if I forgave anything

to whom I forgave it for your sakes

forgave I it in the person of Christ

so it's Christ and then here would be

down to Paul and then it's to the

individual members

of the church here at Corinth in verse

11 lest Satan should get an advantage of

us for we are not ignorant of his

devices what devices about what

well devices of hanging on to anger and

victimhood those are not spiritual

principles that are offered in the

gospel those are coming from somewhere

else those are not the devices of God

they are the devices of the adversary

and forgiveness offering forgiveness is

the key to overcoming those things and

in verse 15 he says for we are unto God

a sweet savor of Christ now a sweet

savor would have been from that's

terminology it looks to me like from the

burnt offerings the sacrifice that was

put upon the altar and basically

barbecued and the flavor the smell of

that and the flavor of the meat that

would have been eaten is the sweet

savor that goes up to the Lord

and so through Christ's sacrifice we

then pull from that down at our level

here or Paul in this case and then down

to the members of Corinth we offer a

sacrifice by forgiving because otherwise

we're offering a sacrifice it says of

death or a savor of death and to the

other the savor of life unto life and

then in chapter 3 we get back to the

higher and lower law that Paul goes over

continually throughout his writings says

here in verse 2 of chapter 3 ye are our

epistle written in our hearts known and

read of all men so as he's writing this

epistle he's saying you the members of

Corinth are our epistle the leaders of

the church in other words you are our

testimony so to speak and he splits us

up between the higher in the lower laws

he says here in verse 3 for as much as

ye are manifestly declared

to be the Epistle of Christ ministered

by US written not with ink but with the

spirit of the Living God not in tables

of stone but in fleshy tables of the

heart so here we get the contrast here

of the higher and the lower laws what

are the tables of stone that he's saying

that this is not written in well the

reference goes directly to the Torah

that Moses brought down from Sinai the

second time and that was the lower law

right written and engraved in the stone

were the letters of the Torah of course

this is part of what we would say when

we talk about the letter of the law

right that is the lower law there's the

letter of the law and the spirit of the

law so he says not in tables of stone is

is this written but in fleshy tables of

the heart this is what Jeremiah the

Prophet that was in Jerusalem at the

time of Lehi set right that it would be

the New Covenant that's the new and

everlasting covenant that is the higher

law the Melchizedek Priesthood the

fullness of the gospel would be written

in the hearts of the people so that's a

reference back to Jeremiah so here

Jeremiah you know five hundred and

some-odd years six hundred years before

the time of Christ he is talking about

this new covenant that would be written

in the hearts of the people and Paul

here is reaching back to that as the

reference and saying the law of Moses is

no more the law of God still exists but

the law of Moses is no more so letters

written in stone are not as important as

the letter and the epistle that is

written in your heart and what would it

take to have something engraved in your

heart so to speak I mean the tablets of

stone are pretty rough it would take a

soft heart it would take a broken heart

and a contrite spirit the exact opposite

of what the book of

often talks about where people have a

hardened heart so the hardened heart

might allow for the lower law right the

hardened heart would be like the tables

of stone but it does not offer the

openness for the spirit to come in and

have the higher law of compassion and

mercy enter into us and we get this

terminology again about the New

Testament and the Old Testament remember

what this means says here in verse six

who also hath made us able ministers of

the New Testament remember the New

Testament that we think of when we say

New Testament did not exist at this time

not of the letter he says here but of

the spirit for the letter killeth but

the spirit giveth life so again this is

contrary perhaps to what we might deem

to be obvious and that is that oh the

law of God given to us is for life and

not death but that's not true

the lower law the ironic law is a law of

death because on it on its own it does

not survive but yet it has to exist it's

a letter of the law and the letter

killeth because it is judgment and if

we've sinned and there is judgment there

then that kills us because we cannot

progress because of the Savior if then

if the higher law of the spirit of the

law that giveth life did not exist so

the letter of the law the letter killeth

it is a mortal law and the spirit and

giveth life that's over the justice

that's the mercy of Christ and his

sacrifice again you got to have both you

can't get rid of the lower law or you

can't get rid of get rid of the law of

Moses but you can't get rid of the law

of God and you can't get rid of justice

and on our own we can't get rid of death

therefore but Christ is the spirit of

the law and Christ overcomes death

physical death through the resurrection

and overcomes spiritual death the letter

of death through Gethsemane in the cross

and he backs this up and explains it a

little bit more here in verse 7 he says

but if the ministration of death written

and engraven in stones was glorious and

it was so that the children of Israel

could not steadfastly behold the face of

Moses for the glory of his countenance

which glory was to be done away how

shall not the ministration of the Spirit

be rather glorious or even more glorious

in other words Moses comes down from

Sinai with the lower law the law of

Moses the letter of the law and yet it's

glorious and is so glorious that he has

to come down

veiled now granted here he did speak and

talk with God and go through a long

vision here at the time as well but Paul

is using the veil here that Moses wore

on his way down from Sinai to show that

hey there was so much glory just for the

lower law that he had to wear a veil

there are references of that also by the

way to the lower law with the veil

remember we have to go through the veil

to get to the holy of holies to the

celestial room you can't just take the

veil away so he's like look if there was

that much glory for the lower law the

law written on stone then how much more

glory is there for the higher law in

verse 8 how shall not the ministration

of the spirit be rather glorious for if

the ministration of condemnation be

glory

that's judgment the lower law much more

death administration of righteousness

exceed in glory the higher law it

exceeds the law of death and of judgment

and so this is a good explanation to

those that are still again very tied to

the law of Moses the Jews here in

Corinth

perhaps that's where the focus would be

not to the pagans that have converted

it's like look the law of Moses is

glorious it was glorious

but it's not the higher law and the law

of Moses itself needs to be done away

with and then he again uses the veil

which he often does right as an example

the Moses the veil of Moses here as an

example of keeping a blind eye on the

law of Moses he says here starting in

verse 12 he says seeing then that we

have such hope we use great plainness of

speech as interesting to me that just

like Nephi loves the plain and simple

things Paul here is using the term

plainness as he talks about the higher

law maybe there's some type of an

association there in verse 13 he says

and not as Moses which put a veil over

his face that the children of Israel

could not steadfastly look to the end of

that which is abolished the law of Moses

but their minds were blinded for until

this day remaineth the same veil untaken

away in the reading of the Old Testament

it's the Old Covenant that's the Torah

which veil is done away in Christ in

other words if you have lost Christ

right the Nehor principle here and

you only have the Torah and you don't

understand that all of that is in the

Torah is a looking forward to Christ

then you have veiled the meaning of the

Old Covenant of the Old Testament

because you cannot see forward beyond

the veil and he says that Vail is done

away in Christ so it's kind of like a

high priest that would step from outside

the veil through the veil can now the

veil in a sense is done away with or

beyond the veil in verse 15 but even

unto this day when Moses is read the

veil is upon their heart in other words

they don't see Christ that's how I

interpret that or the fullness of the

gospel 16 nevertheless when it

turn to the Lord the veil shall be taken

away well obviously if we look toward

Christ we look toward the Lord then the

veil will be removed from the Old

Testament and so if we start seeing

ourselves reading the Old Testament and

not turning to the Lord there and

understanding that that is about Jesus

Christ and an illusion toward him as all

of the prophets of the Old Testament

testified of Christ then we are putting

a veil over our eyes

and our minds and our spirit and it's

not hard to do because it seems to

happen over and over again throughout

history and then he firms this up in

verse 17 now the Lord is that spirit the

spirit of the law the higher law and

where the Spirit of the Lord is there is

Liberty Liberty for what Liberty from

what I think what he's saying is you

have Liberty from the law the lower law

is this is what he's talking about and

how do we have Liberty from the lower

law because we have freedom from justice

or the ability to overcome justice

through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

that is our Liberty that we can grow and

were liberated from that condemnation in

that judgment and that sin we're

liberated from the law remember in the

Genesis story of the Garden of Eden that

once Adam and Eve have partaken of the

fruit of the knowledge of the tree of

the knowledge of good and evil

what is placed before the Tree of Life

cherubim

right these are guardians and they have

a sword to hold anybody back which is

the sword of justice so justice is

holding us back from getting to the Tree

of Life which is a representation of

Christ so the Liberty is being able to

pass through justice through repentance

and doing our best and relying and

having faith in the atonement of Jesus

Christ so here we are early on in 2nd

Corinthians and we've already got a lot

of the spiritual economy

the hierarchy and now the higher and

lower laws that are all converging

together here and if we spot these

things these principles then I believe

we gain a greater knowledge of what Paul

is talking about I'll talk to you next

time