2 Corinthians 1:15-24

15: In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing;
16: that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea.
17: Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?
18: But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.
19: For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him.
20: For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
21: Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
22: who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

23: But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth.
24: Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.

*** 

Paul, who desired to visit the Corinthians in the confidence he had just spoken of, discussed his plans to visit. He said at first, he intended to come to them both on his way to and from Macedonia so that he could bless them, and they could help him on his journey. Yet he changed his mind before writing his first letter, so he hadn’t told them that was what he would do. He told them he would come after Macedonia (1 Corinthians 16:5). Yet somehow, they heard of his original plans and apparently were not happy about it.

Paul asked them, was he being indecisive by changing his mind, or did he make decisions according to the flesh which resulted in him not keeping his word? No. He hadn’t said one thing while intending another. He hadn’t said one thing and then did something else. What he had decided by the time he wrote them is what he would actually do. He gave the example of Jesus Himself saying that He was not inconsistent, changing for the time and place, but was the same always and everywhere, keeping His promises. Paul, and the others with him, were the same, and were established among them in Christ, anointed by God, sealed and given the Spirit of God.

No, Paul wasn’t inconsistent, (and how petty of them to get upset about this), but he delayed his coming so he wouldn’t have to rebuke them for the many issues he addressed in his letter. Instead, he wanted to give them time to correct those things he wrote about so their time together would by joyful instead.


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