2 Corinthians 1:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Since the words, "that we should not trust in ourselves," might have seemed a general accusation and rebuke, and therefore might have fallen upon some of the Corinthians, he again softens what he said.

He ascribes great intercession to their prayers, and at the same time shows that we must struggle unceasingly throughout our whole life. In the words, "we trust that He will still deliver us," there is a prediction that many temptations will still come.

In them again we shall not be abandoned, but shall receive help and assistance from above. Then, lest they lose heart on hearing that they must continually wrestle with afflictions, he first showed the profit of afflictions.

Their profit is that they keep us in continual humility: "that we should not trust in ourselves." Through them our salvation is accomplished, together with many other blessings, such as communion with Christ.

"The sufferings of Christ abound in us," he says (v. 5). There are sufferings for the benefit of believers: "If we are afflicted," he says, "it is for your consolation and salvation."

There is also the greater manifest certainty of the salvation of believers, "which is accomplished," he says, "in enduring the same sufferings." There is strengthening in endurance.

Beyond this, there is a clear proof of the resurrection, set almost before the eyes: "Who delivered us from so near a death." There is confirmation for us in struggles and in unceasing looking toward God.

"We trust," he says, "that He will still deliver us." Finally, there is training in diligent prayer: "you also helping together by prayer for us."

I do not mean those gracious gifts that are in us for our own sake. I mean those gracious gifts that work in us for the sake of many.

Thus, for us alone, many give thanks to Him, and He is glorified by many on our account.

The Stundists keep insisting that Christ is the one Mediator between God and men (1 Tim 2:5). On this basis they think they can refute the Church's teaching concerning the intercession of the saints for us.

But in the passage cited, the intercession of many is clearly mentioned. Christ is called the one Mediator because His mediation has no equal in power and significance.

Without His mediation no one, not even the saints, would dare to raise prayers before God, since by nature they were children of wrath (Eph 2:3).

Yet the prayers of believers for one another are received by Christ as a pleasing sacrifice, expressing their unity and love. The petitions of some for others are fulfilled so that a benefit granted to one may become a cause of joy and thanksgiving for others who prayed for him.

Thus the heavenly blessedness and glorification of the saints are increased because the Lord hearkens to their prayers for us who remain alive, and fulfills their petitions concerning us.

Without this, their glory and heavenly joy would not be complete.

Dwelling on the Apostle's words, "who delivered us from so great a death," Saint Chrysostom says: "Since the resurrection of the dead is still a future matter, he shows here that it also happens daily.

"When God snatches from there a man who has despaired and drawn near to the deadly gates of Hades, what else does He do but raise the dead, taking from the very jaws of death one who had fallen into them?

"Therefore, at the unexpected freeing of someone from a hopeless condition, many have come to say by custom: in this man we have seen the resurrection of the dead."

In the first Epistle, the Apostle also mentioned the fight with the beast among the arguments persuading one to believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Deliverance from mortal danger is very like resurrection from the dead. Therefore among us also, concerning those delivered from such calamities, people say: he has risen from the dead.

But since there was still no actual death here, the Apostle notes: "we were burdened beyond strength." That is, we represented ourselves as overloaded beyond possibility, as happens with ships that sink for this reason. Or, as the Apostle says further, "we had the sentence of death in ourselves."

"Why, then, did God permit them to undergo such danger that they lost hope and even despaired of life?" asks John Chrysostom. He answers with the Apostle's words: "that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God."

"Nevertheless, Saint Paul said this not because he himself was disposed to self-reliance. No. Under the form of a narrative about himself, he wished only to instruct others.

"Moreover, he spoke so according to his characteristic humility, and in order to bring to the same humility those who imagine much about themselves and are proud of themselves."

But lest anyone think that the Apostle attributed the whole work of deliverance only to himself, or even consider it without common interest, he communicates his confidence that this wondrous work was accomplished also through their common prayer.

In this way he stirs all of them to thankful feelings toward God, the common Comforter and guide of all toward salvation.

According to the explanation of Bishop Theophan: "The Apostle points to a deed already accomplished. Yet in it he also points to the laws of God's providential actions by the power of the prayer of many.

"God hears the prayers of many and grants what is asked, so that many may give thanks for what was given through the prayer of many.

"What then? Does God need thanksgiving? No. But dear and precious before His eyes is that which calls forth thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is called forth by a sense of well-being, and well-being is the goal of God's generous giving.

"Thanksgiving is the testimony that God's generosity is poured out upon many, received by many, and establishes well-being among them. In this is God's repose.

"But this sense of well-being is more precious in God's eyes when people feel it not because each one has received something from God's hand, but because others have received it.

"In this case thanksgiving is anointed with the fragrance of unselfish love, and it places those who give thanks in a disposition like that of the Giver. Such are the principles hidden in the Apostle's word!"

He takes one who had fallen into the very jaws of death and draws him out. For this reason, when someone is unexpectedly freed from a desperate condition, many have become accustomed to say, "In this man we have seen the resurrection of the dead" (Chrysostom).

Among us they say, "He has risen from the dead." And He delivers. Earlier he spoke of the great affliction that occurred in Asia. Here he speaks of the afflictions from which he had only just escaped.

He means the anguish of heart experienced in Troas, and the outward conflicts and inward pains that troubled him in Macedonia. Afflictions continue. Close behind them comes the mercy of God, which delivers from them.

The hand of God, which holds and protects me, is never withdrawn. I feel this and confess it. "In Whom also we have hoped that He will still deliver us." "We have hoped" means, we have come to hope.

We have undoubted hope, firmly believing that it will always be so, as long as God has appointed us to live and labor for His glory, planting the gospel faith upon the earth.

It will be so: God will deliver us from every extremity. We seem to be appointed to sufferings and afflictions. We know this and expect nothing else ahead.

Yet this neither troubles nor stops us. For as certain as troubles and afflictions are for us, so certain is deliverance from them. One expectation covers the other, and the peace of our spirit remains firm.

The Apostle speaks as if to say, "We must struggle unceasingly throughout our whole life. Many temptations still lie ahead. In them again we shall not be abandoned, but shall receive help and assistance from above" (Chrysostom).