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GOD OF ALL COMFORT

GOD OF ALL COMFORT? Really? Why is life full of discomfort? Our common view of comfort today is based more on emotional results and deliverance than on God Himself. God has Paul write this letter for the church so that we can truly know the One who will come along side us, the GOD OF ALL COMFORT. #2corinthians #2023

Starter

Pray

Thank you God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ that you came from heaven to earth to come along side us and bring us your comfort. Thank you for the comfort of godly grief that produces a repentance not to be regretted leading to salvation. Lord keep us from the false worldly grief that produces death, no change, and no joy. Thank you that repentance produces in us: a desire to clear ourselves, an indignation, a fear, a deep longing, a zeal, a justice, and a purity. Thank you for the process of repentance that sanctifies us and brings us to You the God of all Comfort. Amen

Study Questions

Paul, an apostle, is writing God’s word to a church just a few years old that he founded and then left to plant other churches. The church has encountered numerous problems from inside and outside the church. Other self appointed leaders have worked to undermine Paul’s influence and God’s authority so they could substitute their own. God has Paul write to deal with these issues and help the church deal with the problems they are having like holiness and hardship, generosity and church order, and their testimony to the non‐Christians around them. He wants them to know and cling to the GOD OF ALL COMFORT.

The word comfort God has Paul use is not a feeling or a deliverance from circumstances. It is the word Paraklesis which means to come along side. It is the same root word Jesus uses for the advocate and counselor the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26). God wants to come along side us through life feeling what He feels and becoming more like He is so that we can know and show others the GOD OF ALL COMFORT.

READ: 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:16

6:14-7:4

  1. What are the reasons Paul gives to believers in Jesus – both in his letter and by quoting Old Testament scriptures – on why they should live repentant holy lives? (6:14-7:4)
  2. What kind of repentant separation is Paul calling the Corinthians to practice? (6:14-7:4)
  3. How can believers in Jesus strike a balance between repenting and separating themselves from sinful practices that mess up their spiritual lives while at the same time maintaining friendships with lost neighbors and co‐workers? What about you personally?
  4. How do you think the modern church tends to… push back against people living repentant holy lives?… push people back into living self righteous unrepentant lives?

7:1-7:11

  1. Believers are told and commanded throughout the Scriptures to fear not. Why? (7:1-7:7)
  2. What caused Paul’s fear, and how did God help him to repent (turn) from that fear? (7:1-7:11)
  3. Why is being honest about our fears a better option than pretending we don’t have any fears?

7:5-16