We Do Not Peddle The Word Of God For Profit

2 Corinthians 2:16-17 - To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.


John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

2 Corinthians 3:6 - He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

1 Corinthians 5:8 - Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 9:12 - If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

Application:

· God’s opposition to evil is both total and permanent
· Have I been provided with love for God’s law? Have I been provided with the power to keep it?
· Do I speak before God with sincerity?
· Do I live in holy dedication to God?
· Am I ready to surrender my rights?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Whatever

Philippians 3:3-7 - For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

Luke 14:33 - In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Acts 9:4 - He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

Conclusions:

• The cost, Jesus warned, is complete surrender to Him
• Legalistic righteousness is righteousness produced by using the law as an attempt to merit God’s approval and blessing—a use of the law strongly opposed by Paul as contrary to the gospel itself
• Paul was faultless in terms of legalistic standards of scrupulous external conformity to the law
• To persecute the church is to persecute Christ, for the church is His body

Application:

• Have you surrendered completely to Him?
• Do you use the law in attempt to merit God's approval and blessing?
• Are you part of the church body?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible