2 Corinthians 6:1 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, we have the apostle’s general message and appeal to everyone he preached to wherever he went, along with the reasons and methods he used. First, his appeal was simple: accept the gospel’s offer of reconciliation. Since they had been favored with the gospel, they must not receive God’s grace in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1). The gospel is a word of grace sounding in our ears, but hearing it is useless unless we believe it and follow its purpose.

As ministers of the gospel urge and persuade people to accept the mercy offered to them, they are honored with the title of co-workers with God. They must work, and they must work for God and his glory, and for people’s souls and good. They are workers with God, yet still under him, only as instruments. Still, if they are faithful, they may expect God to work with them, and their labor will bear fruit.

This is also the spirit and way of the gospel. It comes not with harshness or severity, but with gentleness. It seeks to persuade, entreat, and urge with reasons and appeals, so as to win sinners who are naturally unwilling to be reconciled to God and made happy forever.

Paul also explained the arguments and method he used. He said the present time is the only proper time to receive the grace offered and make use of the grace given: now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). The gospel day is a day of salvation, the means of grace are means of salvation, and the gospel offers are offers of salvation. The present time is the only right time to accept them, today, while it is still called today.

Tomorrow is not ours. We do not know what tomorrow will bring, or where we will be. So we should remember that present seasons of grace are short, uncertain, and cannot be called back once they are gone. It is both our duty and our good to make use of them while we have them, since our salvation depends on it.

Paul also says they were careful not to give offense that might block the success of their preaching: “Giving no offense in anything” (2 Corinthians 6:3). He had great difficulty acting wisely and without offense toward both Jews and Gentiles, because many in both groups watched for his mistakes and looked for reasons to blame him, his ministry, or his conduct. So he was careful not to offend those who were ready to take offense, neither by unnecessary zeal against the law nor by needless compromise with those who were zealous for the law.

He watched his words and actions closely, so as not to give offense or cause guilt or grief. When others are too quick to take offense, we should be careful not to give offense. Ministers especially should be careful not to do anything that would bring blame on their ministry or make it less effective.

Paul’s constant aim was to prove himself faithful, as a servant of God, in all things (2 Corinthians 6:4). He often stresses faithfulness in our work, because much of our success depends on it. His heart was set on God alone in all his service, and he wanted nothing more than to be God’s servant and prove himself worthy of that name. Ministers of the gospel should see themselves as God’s servants and act in every way like it.

He showed this, first, by much patience in suffering. He suffered greatly and faced many troubles. He was often in need, lacking the comforts, and sometimes even the necessities, of life. He was in deep distress, pressed on every side and hardly knowing what to do. He was beaten many times, imprisoned, caught in riots stirred up by Jews and Gentiles, worn out by labor, traveling from place to place to preach, and working with his hands to meet his needs. He also faced sleepless nights and times of fasting, whether by choice, for religious reasons, or forced on him because of his work for religion (2 Corinthians 6:4-5).

This teaches us that faithful ministers often face great hardship and need much patience. Those who want to prove faithful to God must be faithful in trouble as well as in peace. They must not only do God’s work carefully, but also bear God’s will patiently.

Second, he acted from sound principles. He tells them what those principles were (2 Corinthians 6:6-7). One was purity, and there is no true godliness without purity. Keeping ourselves unspotted from the world is necessary if we would be accepted by God. Another was knowledge, because zeal without knowledge is only dangerous enthusiasm. He also acted with patience and kindness, not easily angered, but bearing with people’s hard hearts and with the harsh treatment they gave him, even while he tried kindly to do them good.

He acted under the Holy Spirit, from sincere love, according to the rule of the word of truth, and with the help of God’s power. He had on the armor of righteousness, that is, a clear conscience of living in holiness and uprightness. That is the best protection against the temptations of prosperity on one side and adversity on the other.

Third, he behaved properly through every kind of condition in this world (2 Corinthians 6:8-10). We should expect many changes in our circumstances, and it will show real integrity if we keep a right spirit and behave well through them all. The apostles met with both honor and dishonor, good report and evil report. Good people in this world should expect some dishonor and reproach to balance their honor and respect.

We need God’s grace to protect us from the temptations that come with honor, so that we do not grow proud under praise. We also need grace to bear dishonor without impatience or revenge. It seems that different people described the apostles in very different ways. Some treated them as deceivers and attacked them as such, while others saw them as true men, preaching the truth of the gospel and proving faithful to the trust given them.

They were looked down on by the people of the world as unknown, as men of no rank or value, not worth noticing. Yet in all the churches of Christ they were well known and highly regarded. People thought of them as dying, as if they were being killed all day long, and their work seemed to be fading away. But, Paul says, “we live,” and we live well, we keep going cheerfully through our hardships, and we keep moving on to victory.

They were disciplined and often felt the weight of suffering, yet they were not destroyed. Though people thought they were sorrowful, like a group of gloomy and unhappy men who were always sighing and mourning, they were always rejoicing in God, and they had the best reason to rejoice at all times. They were despised as poor because they had little in this world, yet they made many rich by preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ, that is, the endless wealth found in him.

People thought they had nothing, and in this world they truly had no silver or gold, no houses or lands. Yet they possessed all things. They had nothing here, but they had a treasure in heaven. Their real wealth was stored in another country, in another world. They had nothing in themselves, but they owned all things in Christ. This is the strange pattern of a Christian life. Through many different conditions and reports like these, we travel our way to heaven. So in all these things, we should be careful to live in a way that pleases God.