BIG IDEA:
GOD GUARANTEES A RETURN ON SPIRITUAL INVESTMENTS –
THE PROMISES OF GOD PROMOTE GENEROUS GIVING WHICH BINDS BELIEVERS TOGETHER IN GLORIFYING GOD
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever made a really bad investment?? Discouraging to throw your money away. How generous are you when it comes to investing in the Lord’s work?
Paul Barnett: God’s grace towards us reproduces his graciousness within us. Since God’s grace towards us is infinite and not measured out, we who receive it are to show generosity without measurement or calculation. We are not under compulsion. Thus ours is to be a ready, not a reluctant, response. God loves a cheerful giver (7) because he is himself a cheerful giver (cf. 15). Nevertheless, Paul is not encouraging his readers to be either casual or impulsive givers. Each person should give what he or she has decided in his or her heart to give (7). Inward resolve is to be followed by decisive and cheerful giving.
John MacArthur: In chapters 8 and 9, Paul sought to motivate the Corinthians to complete their giving for the needy members of the Jerusalem church. First, he reminded them of the example set by the Macedonians (8:1–9), then he gave them a direct exhortation (8:10–9:5), and in this section he pointed out the potential benefits. God graciously promises a harvest in accord with what believers sow. The appeal is not, of course, to self-interest. The promise is not that God will reward generous givers so they can consume it on their own desires. The real purpose of God’s gracious rewarding of believers will become evident as the passage unfolds.
To motivate the Corinthians to give, Paul gave a fivefold description of the harvest that would result:
- love from God,
- generosity from God,
- glory to God,
- friends from God, and
- likeness to God.
Frank Matera: The line of thought in chapters 8–9 can now be summarized. Paul begins by telling the Corinthians how the grace of God manifested itself in the generosity of the Macedonians, exhorting the Corinthians to resume what they began a year ago so that there will be a certain equality among the churches (8:1–15), and it concludes with Paul exhorting the Corinthians to liberal giving so that others will recognize and praise the same grace in them (9:6–15). Between these two exhortations, Paul recommends the delegation headed by Titus, which will make preparations for this gracious gift (8:16 – 9:5). Although these chapters are an appeal for money, they also provide a theology of grace, namely, the graciousness of the God revealed in Jesus Christ, which allows and empowers people to be generous to each other.
Richard Pratt: In these verses Paul made it clear that giving generously to the poor in Jerusalem would bring many benefits. The needs of the poor would be met. The Corinthians would be blessed, and their lives would be enriched. Paul and his company would be encouraged and thankful to God. These positive benefits were to motivate the Corinthians to fulfill their earlier commitment to giving.
Charles Swindoll: I am aware that there has been a lot of false advertising on this subject over the last several decades. The so-called prosperity gospel has spoiled a perfectly healthy doctrine of sowing and reaping. Those “name it and claim it” preachers have turned God’s promise of blessing us in order to bless others into a virtual Ponzi scheme. Let me be clear. God never promises to match you dollar for dollar, or to multiply your financial contribution sent to some TV or radio preacher with a thirty, sixty, or hundredfold return on investment, or to reward your “seed gift” by opening His floodgates of material blessings in the form of guaranteed health and enormous wealth. God promises to supply all of our needs, not all of our greeds (Phil. 4:19). And He promises to reward us with what we might call “incorporeal” blessings —blessings of the heart such as the joy of obedience, the pleasure of inner peace, and the outflow of abundant love for the brethren.
Yes, God promises a bountiful reaping for faithful giving, but don’t take this verse out of its biblical context. God may bless a person with riches in order to use that person as a conduit to bless others. If that is you, then use it generously for God’s work or risk losing it to the world. If you are blessed in other ways, stay faithful in your ministry of giving —whether that’s a gift of your time, your musical ability, your energy, your skills, your intellect, or your more modest —but equally noble —financial contributions.
Eric Mason: Main Idea: God wants to increase your giving capacity and bless your giving.
- God Blesses Generous Giving (9:6-7).
- God Longs to Increase Your Giving Capacity (9:8-15).
I. (:6-11a) 5 PROMISES OF GOD THAT PROMOTE GENEROUS GIVING
A. (:6) Promise of Proportional Reaping
- Sow sparingly . . . Reap sparingly
“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly”
David Garland: No farmer considers sowing as a loss of seed because the harvest will provide the seed for the next season. Consequently, no sower begrudges the seed he casts upon the ground or tries to scrimp by with sowing as little as possible. He willingly sows all he can and trusts that God will bless the sowing with a bountiful harvest. If the farmer, for some reason, stints on the sowing, he will cheat himself of that harvest. The more he sows, the greater the harvest he will reap and the more he will have for sowing for the next harvest. Applying this analogy to giving means that plentiful giving will result in a plentiful harvest.
- Sow bountifully . . . Reap bountifully
“and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.”
Implies a careful effort; not just a scattering of the seed by careless planting;
Laws of nature apply to laws of giving.
Frank Matera: (:6-9) In verses 6–7 Paul introduces a maxim (v. 6) that he applies to the collection (v. 7). In verses 8–9, he reinforces his exhortation by explaining what God can do (v. 8), supporting this by a quotation from Scripture (v. 9). Thus, whereas in 8:7–15 Paul exhorted the Corinthians to give according to their means in order to establish a certain equality, here he provides them with reasons for liberal giving.
B. (:7) Promise of Blessing of Free Will Offerings
- OT Background of Free Will Offerings
- Positively: Purposeful Giving
“Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart”
Mark Seifrid: All true giving must arise from spontaneous individual decisions, uncompelled by others. Faith cannot be forced, nor is it a mere communal phenomenon.
- Negatively:
a. Not grudgingly
b. Or under compulsion
- Blessing
“for God loves a cheerful giver” (“hilarious”)
Charles Swindoll: It means that God desires our giving to generate the same exuberant joy in our hearts as a lively celebration or a hearty laugh. If you can’t give with a smile, then you are not giving from the heart. . .
Like the rest of the Christian life, giving is not to be done out of grinding obedience to rules and regulations, in response to guilt trips, or because of peer pressure. Giving should come from the heart. Ideally, it should be done with a most free and willing attitude. A person should not be reluctant to give nor regret giving but rather be eager to give and also to receive joy from this kind of stewardship.
C. (:8-9) Promise of Abundant Grace
- Key Principle
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you”
David Garland: Reluctance to sow generously reflects a refusal to trust that God is all-sufficient and all-gracious to supply our needs. It also assumes we can only give when we are prospering and have something extra that we no not need for ourselves. Paul says that since God always provides us with all that we need and we will never experience a time when we cannot be generous.
Scott Hafemann: Verses 8–9 continue to ground Paul’s call to give by indicating why God approves only of those who give cheerfully (9:7c). Note 9:8: The foundation and focus of faith is that God has the power to do what he has promised (cf. Rom. 4:21; 14:4). Specifically, as an expression of his grace, God is able to provide for his people whatever it is they need in order to provide for others. Giving to others is simply what trusting in God’s promises looks like in a different dress.
- Meeting All Your Needs
“that always having all sufficiency in everything”
- Providing Extra Resources to Help Others
“you may have an abundance for every good deed”
Eric Mason: Increasing your giving capacity is what the reaping is about.
John MacArthur: Human wisdom teaches that prosperity comes from grasping for wealth, not from giving it away. But faith trusts in God’s promise to bless the giver and in His ability to keep His promises, knowing that He is able to “do exceeding abundantly beyond all that [believers] ask or think” (Eph. 3:20), guard and preserve them (2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 7:25; Jude 24), help them when they are tempted (Heb. 2:18), and raise them from the dead (Heb. 11:19). Believers, like Abraham, must be “fully assured that what God [has] promised, He [is] able also to perform” (Rom. 4:21).
God gives back magnanimously so as to make all grace abound to Christians who give generously. He gives so freely and abundantly that His children will always have all sufficiency in everything. In this context, that refers primarily to material resources, because the harvest must be of the same nature as the seed. Having sown material wealth by their giving, believers will reap an abundant harvest of material blessing in return. God graciously replenishes what they give so that they lack nothing; He will continuously provide the generous giver with the means of further expressing that generosity.
Frank Matera: Paul affirms that God is the source of all human generosity, because it is God who supplies the “blessing” to make one “sufficient” in order to perform every “good work.”
Mark Seifrid: As Paul makes clear, the grace of God has a purpose. The abounding of God’s grace to the Corinthians is to cause them to abound “unto every good work.” This does not mean that God’s grace serves an end other than the display and giving forth of his goodness. The Corinthians are not obligated to offer a return gift. Their relationship with God cannot be reduced to an economic transaction. The grace of God is to bring the Corinthians into real participation in his grace; they are to receive and know that grace afresh, as they give it forth. Indeed, only in the giving forth of God’s grace shall they know God’s grace in its fullness.
- (:9) Supporting OT Quote – Result = Abiding Righteousness
“as it is written, ‘He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor,
his righteousness abides forever.’” Psalm 112:9
Tasker: Paul now produces Scripture proof for the truth that the giver shall be provided with the means of giving. In Ps. cxii, after stating in verse 3 that the man who fears God will never lack riches, the psalmist goes on to say in verse 9 that the righteous man, who desires to express his righteousness in beneficence, will never lack the means of doing it. Righteousness is used here for “almsgiving” (cf. Mt. vi. 1).
R. Kent Hughes: What spectacular benefits go to the generous giver. First, sufficiency for any generous deed to which God calls us: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (v. 8). And second, a righteousness that endures forever, demonstrated by willing, generous giving that then is followed by a personal harvest of righteousness that extends to the church at large.
D. (:10) Promise of Supplying Both Abundant Seed and Abundant Harvest
“Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food,
will supply and multiply your seed for sowing
and increase the harvest of your righteousness”
God provides the capital for all spiritual investments
Scott Hafemann: In the original text, verses 10–14 form one long, complex sentence. Verses 11–14 support verse 10 by detailing the way in which God will “enlarge” the Corinthians’ “harvest”: God will provide for the Corinthians “in every way” so that they can be generous to others (vv. 11a, 12a, 13a). These people in turn will give thanks and pray to God (vv. 11b, 12, 13b), for God is the one who makes all this possible (v. 14b; cf. 1:11; 4:15 for this same principle, there applied to Paul). The Corinthians’ own “harvest of righteousness” will increase as their lives are blessed through being instruments for the praise of God and as recipients of the love and prayers of those whose needs they meet. For as we have seen, the righteousness of God is his just character as demonstrated in the consistency of his actions toward his creation.
Frank Matera: For Paul the work of the collection is the work of God. Consequently he began his exhortation by telling the Corinthians of “the grace of God” that was given to the churches of Macedonia and resulted in an extraordinary generosity on their part. Now he tells the Corinthians that the same grace is enriching them so that they can be generous as well. As a result, through the ministry of the collection that Paul is administering, thanksgiving will be given to God. From start to finish, then, the collection is God’s work. It begins with God’s grace, and it ends in thanksgiving to God.
George Shillington: Lest there be any lingering doubt about the meaning of the agricultural metaphor of sowing and reaping, Paul explains further in 2 Corinthians 9:10 (cf. Isa. 55:10). Since it is in God’s nature to supply seed for sowing and bread for food, he will multiply the metaphorical seed of the gift of money for the saints. God will increase the metaphorical harvest of justice (righteousness or benevolence) by distributing the surplus of the grace of God. The righteousness in this text bears some resemblance to the Jewish practice of almsgiving (Lietzmann: 138).
E. (:11a) Promise of Overall Enrichment
“you will be enriched in everything for all liberality”
Scott Hafemann: Since Paul is speaking of giving money to those in need, in 9:11 he uses the terminology of wealth to describe God’s commitment to meet the needs of his people (“you will be made rich”). But Paul’s own suffering as an apostle and his argument throughout 2 Corinthians both make it evident that in speaking of such “wealth,” he does not have material prosperity in view (cf. 1:5–6; 2:14; 4:8–10, 17–18; 6:10; 8:9, 14).
II. (11b-14) THERE ARE IMMEDIATE RETURNS ON SPIRITUAL INVESTMENTS – GENEROUS GIVING BINDS BELIEVERS TOGETHER IN GLORIFYING GOD
A. (:11b-12) Produces Abundant Thanksgiving to God
(in addition to meeting the needs of the saints)
“which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.
For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.”
Raymond Collins: Describing the Corinthians’ generosity as that which produces thanksgiving to God through us, Paul introduces the theme of thanksgiving, which will dominate the rest of the chapter. Thanksgiving will be offered by believers in Jerusalem, but Paul is the instrument of their thanksgiving since he is a key player in the organization of the collection and its delivery to Jerusalem.
David Garland: The purpose of the collection that Paul gives here is twofold, material and spiritual. First, it supplies the needs of the saints, creates common welfare, and establishes solidarity among Christians of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Their gift, however, is not just a service for the poor. Second, though not second in the rank of importance, it is a service to God because of the thanksgiving that will redound to God’s glory. The recipients of their gifts cannot help but lift their voices in praise and thanksgiving to God.
Scott Hafemann: The combination of this terminology in 9:12 reflects Paul’s conviction that giving to fellow believers in Jerusalem is an essential part of the ministry of the gospel and a genuine expression of worship. Indeed, the collection is a ministry of the gospel precisely because it brings about worship. Its purpose is praise and prayer among those to whom it is ministered, the two essential elements of magnifying God’s character: We praise God for what he has done in the past, and pray for what we depend on him to do in the future.
R. Kent Hughes: The church-wide benefits of such giving are threefold.
- First, thanksgiving to God
- The second and parallel benefit is glory to God:
- The third benefit, perhaps unanticipated, was affection for the Corinthians themselves
B. (13) Causes the Recipients to Glorify God
- Because of Obedience to the Confession of the Gospel
“Because of the proof given by this ministry they will glorify God
for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ”
Raymond Collins: A Public Work — Leitourgia suggests an activity undertaken for the common good, the benefit of the greater society. The person in charge of distributing bread or grain to those in need was sometimes identified as a leitourgos in Hellenistic literature (see P.Oxy. 2925, 2941). The word group was occasionally used in a broader sense in reference to those who assisted the needy. Paul uses the vocabulary in this way to describe the work of Epaphroditus, who acts on behalf of Philippian believers to help Paul in various ways (see Phil. 2:25, 30).
As far back as Aristotle, the terminology sometimes enjoyed religious connotations. It is sometimes used in the Greek Bible in reference to the work of Levites (e.g., Num. 4:41).
- Because of the Generosity of the Gift
“and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all”
John MacArthur: The Corinthians’ sacrificial giving tangibly demonstrated love for their fellow believers, that mark of genuineness (1 John 2:10; 3:17–18; 4:20–21). It proved they were “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22; cf. Eph. 2:10). The Corinthians’ obedience proved the genuineness of their confession of the gospel of Christ. Their good works did not save them but gave evidence that they possessed a living faith, not a dead faith that is unable to save (James 2:14–26). All who heard of the liberality of the Corinthians’ contribution would give “thanks … to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 4:15).
C. (:14) Binds Believers Together — receiver prays for giver
“while they also, by prayer on your behalf,
yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.”
Relates to spiritual growth and ministry
John MacArthur: Not only would their fellow believers pray for the Corinthians, they would also yearn for a deeper, more intimate fellowship with them. That desire would be stimulated when they saw the surpassing grace of God in the Corinthians. Other believers would long both to pray for and to have fellowship with those in whom God’s grace was working so mightily.
Mark Seifrid: Paul here characterizes the grace of God as “surpassing,” “exceeding,” “extreme.” It transcends all human thought and expectation. This has been his theme. His instruction concerning giving is nothing other than a description of the wondrous working of God’s grace (v. 8). His encouragement to complete the collection is a call to grasp and know that grace of God afresh (8:7). His last word concerning God’s grace especially recalls his first word concerning the remarkable grace of God given in Macedonia (8:1). His description of it here as “surpassing grace” deflects all attention away from the Corinthians, or any comparison they might be tempted to make between themselves and the Macedonians. It is not the persons or the churches that are outstanding, but the grace of God “upon them.”
(:15) BENEDICTION
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
Some think this refers to God’s grace in the life of the Corinthians to spur them to giving … but it must refer to God’s incredible gift of His Son (John 3:16).
John MacArthur: This simple concluding benediction is one of the richest statements in Scripture. God’s indescribable gift is, of course, His Son—the most magnanimous, glorious, wonderful gift ever given, the gift that inspires all other gifts.
David Garland: These words of thanksgiving conclude Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians to renew their ardor for the undertaking and to fulfill their promise. They reveal that “all Christian giving is carried out in the light of God’s inexpressible gift.” Remembering thankfully Christ’s sacrifice (8:9) and God’s grace, which human words fail to capture, should cause them to finish the preparations for their gifts diligently, unselfishly, and cheerfully. Their gift would then model in a small way the indescribable gift God has given to them.
* * * * * * * * * *
PREACHING CHRIST:
1) Christ is the supreme example of sowing abundantly; of giving purposefully (setting His face to go to the cross); of giving freely and cheerfully.
2) Throughout His earthly ministry, Christ had all of his physical needs met by His heavenly Father and was prospered in righteousness.
3) The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about giving and should produce in us a spirit of generous giving if we are obedient to our confession.
4) Words are not adequate to describe the incredible gift of Jesus Christ (and the associated grace) which has been given to us by the Father.