Word of Encouragement (4/30/2021)
Today, let’s reflect on one more prayer from 2 Corinthians: “But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for” (vv. 7-9).
Here, Paul mentioned what he and his colleagues prayed for the Corinthians—“that you may not do wrong [or, bad, evil].” This is a lofty prayer, an impossible one, in fact. We know that we will never be sinless in this life. Not only is it sin to break God’s law (sins of commission, such as, “Do not steal”); it is also sin not to do what God’s law demands (sins of omission, such as, “Love your neighbor as yourself”). Not only do we sin consciously and willfully; we also sin unconsciously and unknowingly. But sin is sin whether we do it willfully or unwittingly, though the degrees of culpability may vary. So, we can see it is impossible to be sinless in this life so long as sin still dwells in the members of our body.
But Paul’s prayer reminds us that this present condition of ours should not be an excuse for us to sin. Our posture toward sin should be that of mortal combat, not of coexistence and cohabitation. Sin is not something we can live or flirt with: its only mission in existence is to destroy us. Either we mortify it or it will destroy us and everything we love and hold dear. We may not be able to obey any of God’s laws to its full extent—how many of us can say we loved our neighbors as much as we love our own selves, especially if our “neighbors” include our enemies? And who knows how many sins we are committing unwittingly every day? Even so, we should strive not to sin at least knowingly and willfully. As we do so, we should remember what John said: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
This prayer had a lot to do with Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians, particularly their question regarding the legitimacy of his apostleship. This came about because of the “false apostles” (11:13), who tried to discredit Paul’s apostolic authority on account of all the persecution he suffered for his ministry and his apparent “weakness.” That is what Paul was addressing in the middle when he spoke of meeting test (or, being approved), etc. (vv. 7b-9a). Then, he says at the end, “Your restoration [or, maturation, the process of being complete, perfected] is what we pray for.”
Paul’s prayer for the Corinthians did not stop with a passive goal that they do not do wrong; he also prayed that they might do what is right (v. 7) unto restoration/maturation/completion (v. 9). One of the best ways of not doing wrong is to do what is right, isn’t it? If a thief wants to stop stealing, he should get a job and start working with his hands and share with others (Eph. 5:28), instead of just trying not to steal. This will help him discover a different kind of thrill—that of working hard with his own hands and helping others—from the thrill of stealing. This should decrease his desire to steal from others and increase his appetite to do good.
What is the habitual “wrong” you do in your life? What is the right thing you can do, instead? I know that just because we know the right thing to do doesn’t mean we do it automatically or easily. That is all the more reason that we should pray for God’s help—not only to stop doing the wrong but start doing what is good and true and beautiful in the sight of God—not as an excuse to procrastinate but as an expression of our sincere desire to be more like Christ, who works in us to will and work for God’s good pleasure and will not fail to bring our salvation to its glorious completion!