Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Earlier in this same passage (2 Corinthians 10:12), Paul said, "Not that we [that is, Paul and those who were working with him] venture to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding."

In the sense of the passage, therefore, Paul is contrasting Christians who measure their self-proclaimed "greatness" in their service to God by comparing themselves to others (and thus view themselves as worthy of God's commendation as long as they are doing more to serve God than those others are doing), with the true standard of comparison, which should be perfect obedience to God and to His commands, in which all of us fall short of the example set by Christ.

Paul is saying that the Christian whom God will commend is not the one who is self-satisfied because he perceives himself as doing more in service to God than he sees others doing, but the one who has his eyes only on Christ; who is striving to achieve the same perfection in faith, obedience, and service to God and others that Jesus exhibited; and who is never satisfied with himself, or never feels that he is "good enough" merely to be doing more than others are doing, so long as he is aware of how far short of Christ's perfection he still falls.

It is those who constantly maintain this awareness, and thus never stop striving to be better and to do more in service to God and to others (not as a means of being saved, but out of love and gratitude to God for salvation already granted by God through faith in Christ), whom God will commend. As long as Christians maintain that perspective and effort, they can be assured of God's commendation.

December 11 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report