2Cor 11:10 Cross References

2 Corinthians 11:10

10: As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, I will never stop boasting about this all over Greece.

In the presence of Christ, I speak with utter truthfulness--I do not lie--and my conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm that what I am saying is true.

But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose in concerted action against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment.

God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by telling others the Good News about his Son.

Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn't return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke.

Perhaps you think we are saying all this just to defend ourselves. That isn't it at all. We tell you this as Christ's servants, and we know that God is listening. Everything we do, dear friends, is for your benefit.

As a result, you yourselves became an example to all the Christians in Greece.
And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Greece, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it,

You know that Stephanas and his household were the first to become Christians in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to other Christians. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,

Once again, don't think that I have lost my wits to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little.
Such bragging is not something the Lord wants, but I am acting like a fool.

You must believe what I am saying, for I declare before God that I am not lying.

Please give my greetings to the church that meets in their home. Greet my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first person to become a Christian in the province of Asia.

Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you very well know. And God is our witness that we were not just pretending to be your friends so you would give us money!

This letter is from Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our dear brother Timothy. We are writing to God's church in Corinth and to all the Christians throughout Greece.

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows I tell the truth.

Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I would like to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my distinction of preaching without charge.
For preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't do it!
If I were doing this of my own free will, then I would deserve payment. But God has chosen me and given me this sacred trust, and I have no choice.
What then is my pay? It is the satisfaction I get from preaching the Good News without expense to anyone, never demanding my rights as a preacher.

Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him in this. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God's grace, had believed.

And I have been chosen--this is the absolute truth--as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles about faith and truth.

For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to our friends in Macedonia that you Christians in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of them to begin helping.

But I will continue doing this to cut the ground out from under the feet of those who boast that their work is just like ours.

Nor do we claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow and that our work among you will be greatly enlarged.

You yourselves are our witnesses--and so is God--that we were pure and honest and faultless toward all of you believers.

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