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"Our care for you in the sight of God..."

Text: 2 Corinthians 7:12

REASON FOR MINISTRY

There are always reasons behind a person’s ministry. Paul explained his reason why he wrote to the Corinthians to address their sin problems.

“Therefore, although I wrote to you,
I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong,
nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong,
but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.”
2 Corinthians 7:12

1. “Therefore, although I wrote to you”

a) A reference to what Paul had written.

b) There was acknowledgment of the ministry of writing epistles.

2. “I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong”

a) Paul did not target the wrongdoer.

b) His focus was not bias against the erring and sinful person.

3. “Nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong”

a) Paul also did not focus on the person who suffered wrong.

b) His focus was not sympathy for the sufferer.

4. “But that our care for you”

a) Paul, of course, expressed care.

b) The focus of his care was the Church.

c) General understanding

i) Individuals may come and go.

ii) Problems in the church will never go away completely.

5. “In the sight of God”

a) This phrase refers to the Presence of God.

b) Paul was always most conscious of the Presence of God in life and ministry.

c) Care must be appropriately administered.

6. “Might appear to you”

a) Paul’s actions could have been misunderstood as “bias”.

b) He sought to explain that his care was always correct and appropriate.

c) This care must become obvious to the Church at Corinth.