Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 1:9
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
9. sentence ] The word thus translated occurs only here in the N. T. It is translated answer by Wiclif, Tyndale, and Cranmer: the word sentence having been adopted by our translators from the Geneva version. At that time, however, the word sentence had not quite the same meaning which it bears now, but had rather the force of the Latin sententia, opinion. See Act 15:19. The word signifies not the answer itself, but rather the purport of the answer, as though the result of the Apostle’s self-questionings had been a rooted persuasion, implanted from above, that, as he says in ch. 2Co 4:12, ‘Death worketh in us, but life in you,’ a rooted persuasion, that is, of the transitoriness of the natural life, of the permanence of the new life that comes from God. Cf. 1Co 4:9, especially in the Greek.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves – Margin, answer. The word rendered sentence ( apokrima) means properly an answer, judicial response, or sentence; and is here synonymous with verdict. It means that Paul felt that he was condemned to die; that he felt as if he were under sentence of death and with no hope of acquittal; he was called to contemplate the hour of death as just before him. The words in ourselves, mean, against ourselves; or, we expected certainly to die. This seems as if he had been condemned to die, and may either refer to some instance when the popular fury was so great that he felt it was determined he should die; or more probably to a judicial sentence that he should be cast to the wild beasts, with the certain expectation that he would be destroyed, as was always the case with those who were subjected to the execution of such a sentence.
That we should not trust in ourselves – This is an exceedingly beautiful and important sentiment. It teaches that in the time to which Paul refers, he was in so great danger, and had so certain a prospect of death, that he could put no reliance on himself. He felt that he must die; and that human aid was vain. According to every probability he would die; and all that he could do was to cast himself on the protection of that God who had power to save him even then, if he chose, and who, if he did it, would exert power similar to that which is put forth when the dead are raised. The effect, therefore, of the near prospect of death was to lead him to put increased confidence in God. He felt that God only could save him; or that God only could sustain him if he should die. Perhaps also he means to say that the effect of this was to lead him to put increased confidence in God after his deliverance; not to trust in his own plans, or to confide in his own strength; but to feel that all that he had was entirely in the hands of God. This is a common, and a happy effect of the near prospect of death to a Christian; and it is well to contemplate the effect on such a mind as that of Paul in the near prospect of dying, and to see how instinctively then it clings to God. A true Christian in such circumstances will rush to His arms and feel that there he is safe.
But in God which raiseth the dead – Intimating that a rescue in such circumstances would be like raising the dead. It is probable that on this occasion Paul was near dying; that he had given up all hope of life – perhaps, as at Lystra Act 14:19, he was supposed to be dead. He felt, therefore, that he was raised up by the immediate power of God, and regarded it as an exertion of the same power by which the dead are raised. Paul means to intimate that so far as depended on any power of his own, he was dead. He had no power to recover himself, and but for the gracious interposition of God he would have died.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. We had the sentence of death in ourselves] The tribulation was so violent and overwhelming, that he had no hope of escaping death.
That we should not trust in ourselves] The tribulation was of such a nature as to take away all expectation of help but from GOD alone.
But in God which raiseth the dead] This is very like the business at Lystra; and would be sufficient to fix the apostle’s reference to that fact could the time and other circumstances serve.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves; we verily thought we should have been killed; and so it is expounded by the last words of the former verse,
we despaired even of life. And this God did to teach us, that we should, when we are in dangers, look above the creature, and have no confidence in created means, but only look up to him, who
raiseth the dead; as Abraham offered up Isaac, Heb 11:17-19, accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead. Abraham had a promise to bottom such a faith upon; God had told him: That in Isaac his seed should be called: so had Paul, God having revealed to him, that he had a farther work for him to do. So have not all Christians; we do not know our courses, nor what work God hath in his eternal counsels laid out for us, and therefore cannot be confident of deliverances in this life by the Almighty power of God; but yet we, under our greatest trials, may trust in God, who will certainly raise us from the dead; of which faith we have an instance in Job, Job 19:25-27. However, for our comfort in our distresses we may observe: That God, in his great deliverances of his people, useth to suffer them first to be brought to the greatest extremities; that in the mount of the Lord it may be seen, and that they may learn to know that their salvations are from him; more from his Almighty power, than from the virtue of any means they can use, though yet it be our duty to use what lawful means his providence affordeth us.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. But“Yea.”
in God which raiseth thedeadWe had so given up all thoughts of life, that our onlyhope was fixed on the coming resurrection; so in 1Co15:32 his hope of the resurrection was what buoyed him up incontending with foes, savage as wild beasts. Here he touches only onthe doctrine of the resurrection, taking it for granted that itstruth is admitted by the Corinthians, and urging its bearing on theirpractice.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,…. By the sentence of death is meant, not any decree of heaven, or appointment of God that they should die; nor any sentence of condemnation and death passed on them by the civil magistrate; but an opinion or persuasion in their own breasts, that they should die; so far were they from any hopes of life, that they looked upon themselves as dead men, as the Egyptians did, when their firstborn were slain, and said, “we be all dead men”, Ex 12:33, and to this extremity they were suffered to be brought by the wise counsel of God, for the following purposes, to learn to lay aside all self-trust and confidence:
that we should not trust in ourselves; in our strength, wisdom, and policy, to make our escape, and preserve our lives; and also to teach and encourage them to trust in God alone, and depend on his arm, on his almighty power:
but in God which raiseth the dead; who will raise the dead at the last day, and so is able to deliver persons when they are in the most distressed condition, and in their own opinion as dead men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Yea (). Confirmatory use as in 7:11, rather than adversative.
The answer of death ( ) This late word from , to reply, occurs nowhere else in N.T., but is in Josephus, Polybius, inscriptions and papyri (Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 257; Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary), and always in the sense of decision or judgment rendered. But Vulgate renders it by responsum and that idea suits best here, unless Paul conceives God as rendering the decision of death.
We ourselves have had within ourselves ( ). Regular perfect of , to have. And still have the vivid recollection of that experience. For this lively dramatic use of the present perfect indicative for a past experience see also in 2:13 (Moulton, Prolegomena, p. 143f.; Robertson, Grammar, p. 896f.).
That we should not trust in ourselves ( ‘ ). A further purpose of God in affliction beyond that in verse 4. “This dreadful trial was sent to him in order to give him a precious spiritual lesson (12:7-10)” (Robertson and Plummer). Note periphrastic perfect active subjunctive of , to persuade.
In (), upon, both ourselves and God.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Sentence of death [ ] . Apokrima, occurs only here in the New Testament, and not in classical Greek nor in the Septuagint. In the latter the kindred words have, almost uniformly, the meaning of answer. Josephus used it of a response of the Roman senate. Sentence, which occurs in some inscriptions, if a legitimate rendering at all, is a roundabout one, derived from a classical use of the verb ajpokrinw to reject on inquiry, decide. Rev., therefore, correctly, answer of death. The sense is well given by Stanley : “When I have asked myself what would be the issue of this struggle, the answer has been, ‘death.” ‘ Doth deliver [] . The correct reading is rJusetai will deliver, Rev.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,” (alla autoi en heautois to apokrima tou thanatou eschekamen) “But we have held the sentence of death in ourselves;” so near was Paul brought to physical death, death’s door by the persecution – induced affliction, that he was resigned to die there, and in that hour of near death, he found his peace, satisfaction, and sufficiency in Christ, Col 2:10.
2) “That we should not trust in ourselves,” (hina me pepoithotas omen eph’ heautois) “in order that we might not have trusted in ourselves,” but like Abraham in Him who was able “to raise him from the dead,” 2Co 4:14, Heb 11:19.
3) “But in God which raiseth the dead,” (all’ epi to theo to egeironti tous nekrous), “But on God, the one raising the dead;” The God who can raise from the dead may also be asked and trusted to bring men back from the gates of death, from great afflictions, when such afflictions are acts of divine chastisement upon his disobedient children. He did this for Hezekiah and for Nebuchadnezzar; 2Ki 20:1-19; Dan 5:18-22; Rom 8:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. Nay more, we had the sentence of death This is as though we should say — “I had already laid my account with dying, or had regarded it as a thing fixed.” He borrows, however, a similitude from those who are under sentence of death, and look for nothing but the hour when they are to die. At the same time he says, that this sentence had been pronounced by him upon himself, by which he intimates, that it was in his own view that he had been sentenced to death — that he might not seem to have had it from any revelation from God. In this sentence, (241) therefore, there is something more implied than in the feeling of anxiety ( ἐξαπορεῖσθαι) that he had made mention of, because in the former case there was despair of life, but in this case there is certain death. We must, however, take notice, chiefly, of what he adds as to the design — that he had been reduced to this extremity, that he might not trust in himself For I do not agree with what Chrysostom says — that the Apostle did not stand in need of such a remedy, but set himself forth to others as a pattern merely in appearance. (242) For he was a man that was subject, in other respects, to like passions as other men — (Jas 5:17) — not merely to cold and heat, but also to misdirected confidence, rashness, and the like. I do not say that he was addicted to these vices, but this I say, that he was capable of being tempted to them, and that this was the remedy that God seasonably interposed, that they might not make their way into his mind. (243)
There are, accordingly, two things to be observed here. In the first place — that the fleshly confidence with which we are puffed up, is so obstinate, that it cannot be overthrown in any other way than by our falling into utter despair. (244) For as the flesh is proud, it does not willingly give way, and never ceases to be insolent until it has been constrained; nor are we brought to true submission, until we have been brought down by the mighty hand of God. (1Pe 5:6.) Secondly, it is to be observed, that the saints themselves have some remains of this disease adhering to them, and that for this reason they are often reduced to an extremity, that, stript of all self-confidence, they may learn humility: nay more, that this malady is so deeply rooted in the minds of men, that even the most advanced are not thoroughly purged from it, until God sets death before their eyes. And hence we may infer, how displeasing to God confidence in ourselves must be, when for the purpose of correcting it, it is necessary that we should be condemned to death.
But in God that raiseth the dead As we must first die, (245) in order that, renouncing confidence in ourselves, and conscious of our own weakness, we may claim no honor to ourselves, so even that were not sufficient, if we did not proceed a step farther. Let us begin, therefore, with despairing of ourselves, but with the view of placing our hope in God. Let us be brought low in ourselves, but in order that we may be raised up by his power. Paul, accordingly, having brought to nothing the pride of the flesh, immediately substitutes in its place a confidence that rests upon God. Not in ourselves, says he, but in God
The epithet that follows, Paul has adapted to the connection of the subject, as he does in Rom 4:17, where he speaks of Abraham. For to
believe in God, who calleth those things that are not, as though they were, and to hope in God who raiseth the dead,
are equivalent to his setting before him as an object of contemplation, the power of God in creating his elect out of nothing, and raising up the dead. Hence Paul says, that death had been set before his eyes, that he might, in consequence of this, recognize the more distinctly the power of God, by which he had been raised up from the dead. The first thing in order, it is true, is this — that, by means of the strength with which God furnishes us, we should acknowledge him as the Author of life; but as in consequence of our dulness the light of life often dazzles our eyes, it is necessary that we should be brought to God by having death presented to our view. (246)
(241) “The Greek word is ἀποςκριμα, used here in this place only in the New Testament. […] The most genuine translation is sentence; for so Hesychius expounds the word κατακριςμα — ψὢφο ”, whom Favorinus followeth verbatim in this, as in many other particulars. […] The word then doth signifie a sentence passing upon him, that he must die. This he had received, but from whom? Not from God, for God delivered him; nor from the magistrate; there was no such decree that we read of against him. Therefore it was onely from his own feares, his own thoughts, which maketh him say — he had received it in himself. […] God’s thoughts were other than Paul’s. Paul absolutely concluded he should die, but God had purposed the contrary.” — Burgesse. — Ed.
(242) “ Il se propose aux autres comme pour exemple, non pas qu’il en fust ainsi quant à luy;” — “He sets himself forth, as it were by way of example — not that it had been so as to himself.”
(243) “ De peur qu’ils ne saisissent plenement son esprit et son coeur;” — “That they might not take full possession of his mind and his heart.”
(244) “ Sinon que nous tombions en telle extremite que nous ne voyons aucune esperance en nous;” — “Except by our falling into such an extremity, that we see no hope in ourselves.”
(245) “ Comme il nous est necessaire premierement de venir comme à mourir;” — “As we need first to come as it were to die”
(246) “ Il nous est necessaire pour estre amenez à Dieu, d’estre reduits â telle extremite que nous voyons la mort presente deuant nos yeux;” — “It is necessary, in order that we may be brought back to God, that we should be brought to such an extremity, that we see death presented before our eyes.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) We had the sentence of death in ourselves.The word translated sentence (apokrima) does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, nor indeed in the LXX. Literally, it means answer, and was probably a half-technical term, used in medical practice, which St. Paul may have adopted from St. Luke, expressing the opinion which a physician formed on his diagnosis of a case submitted to him. The Apostle had found himself in a state in which, so far as he could judge for himself, that opinion would have been against the prospect of recovery. He ceased to trust in himself, i.e., in any remedial measures that he could take for himself. He could only fold his hands and trust in God. Recovery in such a case was a veritable resurrection. It may be noted, however, that a cognate word (apokrisis) is frequently used by Hippocrates in the sense of a morbid or virulent secretion, and possibly the word here used may also have had that meaning. In this case, what he says would be equivalent to We had the symptoms of a fatal disease in us.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Sentence Well expressed by Alford: “We had in ourselves the response of death; that is, our answer within ourselves to the question ‘life or death?’ was ‘death.’ The Greek word may signify sentence or answer. being the answer given by a judge when his sentence or verdict upon the accused was asked.
Raiseth the dead Esteeming his recovery as nearly a resurrection. And the greatness of the danger raised his thoughts from self to the Author of life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.’
Indeed they had felt themselves under sentence of death, and had accepted the fact that they were probably going to die, but he recognised that this had happened so that they might not trust in themselves, but in God Who raises the dead. It had forced them to face up to what the Gospel was all about. And so they had faced up to death, looking it in the face, accepting its inevitability, and yet willingly continuing on towards it, and they had done it because they believed in the God ‘Who raises the dead’ (compare 2Co 4:14; Rom 4:17).
What this experience was of which Paul was speaking we do not know. It may have been a severe bout of illness which appeared at first mortal, from which he was raised as one dead, although in that case we would expect his words to be in the singular, or it may be the same situation that made him speak of ‘fighting beasts at Ephesus’ (1Co 15:32), the opposition of violent men, or it may be that they had been caught up in mob violence time and again and had only just escaped with their lives, or it may be that they were under threat from the authorities. Acts, however, gives us no indication of such a situation, and there the authorities appear as reasonable men. Whatever it was it seemed to have passed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 1:9 . ] is the simple but , the contrast of the negation contained in , which contrast, nevertheless, no longer depends on : the independent position makes it all the weightier. There is therefore the less ground for taking as nay indeed , with Hofmann, and making it point to the following clause of purpose, whereby the chief clause . . . would be arbitrarily forced into a position logically subordinate viz., “if we ourselves, etc., it was to serve to the end, that we,” et.
] for our own selves in our own consciousness i.e. apart from what might take place from without, through divine interference, to cause a change in our position. This certainty in their own heart, however, could not but exclude all self-confidence; hence . . .
] not equivalent to (so most, following Hesychius), but to responsum (Vulgate, Billroth), the award, decision . Comp. . So in Suidas (see Wetstein) and Josephus, Antt . xiv. 17 (in Kypke). Chrysostom says well: , , , .
As to ., observe the perfect habuimus , which represents the situation as present. Comp. on Rom 5:2 .
. . .] divinely appointed aim of the . Comp. 1Co 1:15 .
.] is to be referred not only to the future awaking of the dead, but to the awaking of the dead in general , as that which is exclusively God’s doing. This characteristic of God is the ground of the confidence. For the awaker of the dead must also be able to rescue from the danger of death (2Co 1:10 ). Comp. Rom 4:17 ; Heb 11:19 . See on Rom. l.c. “Mira natura fidei in summis difficultatibus nullum exitum habere visis,” Bengel. Hence Paul, in spite of the human , 2Co 1:8 , could yet say of himself, 2Co 4:8 : .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
Ver. 9. But we had the sentence ] Gr. , the answer or denunciation of death. Here we must distinguish between answers of trial and direct answers. This was of the former sort, for Paul died not at that time. When Leyden was so long and so strictly besieged by the Duke of Alva, that they were forced for their sustenance to search and scrape dunghills, &c., and the duke, in the language of blasphemy, threatened the defendants with cruel death, that very night the winds turned, the tide swelled, and the waters came in, and forced him to raise the siege.
That we should not trust ] Hope is never higher elevated than when our state in all men’s eyes is at lowest.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9. ] , moreover , carries on and intensifies the description of his hopeless state.
We had in ourselves the response of death , i.e. our answer within ourselves to the question, ‘Life or Death?’ was, ‘Death.’ So Vulg., Estius, Billroth, Rckert, Meyer, De Wette.
. . may perhaps mean, the ‘ sentence ,’ as Hesych [1] : , , , and most Commentators. The perfect is here (see also ch. 2Co 2:12-13 ) in a historical sense, instead of the aorist: which is unusual. Winer, edn. 6, 40. 4 (see Moulton’s note 4, p. 340), illustrates the usage by ( ), Rev 5:7 ; see also Rev 8:5 .
[1] Hesychius of Jerusalem, cent y . vi.
] very similarly ch. 2Co 4:7 , , , .
. . ] Our thoughts were weaned from all hope of surviving in this life, and fixed on that better deliverance which God shall work when He raises us from the dead.
To see in this expression merely a figure (De W.), and understand ‘Who raiseth the dead ’ as = ‘Who delivers men from peril of their lives ?’ because such peril is below and elsewhere (ch. 2Co 11:23 ) called , is surely very forced. Understanding it literally as above, I cannot see how it can be spoken with reference to the Ephesian tumult. If it alludes to any external danger , I should be disposed to refer it to the same obscure part of Paul’s history to which he alludes 1Co 15:32 , where he also speaks of the hope of the resurrection as his great support. But there would be this objection, that these two passages can hardly refer to the same event; this evidently had taken place since the sending of the first Epistle.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 1:9 . . . .: nay, we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves; i.e. , the danger was so great that the sentence of death had been already pronounced, as it were. might mean “answer,” as the Revisers translate it (they give sentence , with the A.V., in their margin); cf. the verb . But in the other places where this rare word is found ( e.g. , Jos., Ant. , xiv. 10, 6, and an inscription of 51 A.D., quoted by Deissmann, Neue Bibelstudien , p. 85) it stands for an official decision or sentence. Cf. , “the sentence of death” ( Sir 41:3 ). The tense of is noteworthy; it seems to be a kind of historical perfect, used like an aorist ( cf. chap. 2Co 2:13 , 2Co 11:25 , Rev 5:7 ; Rev 8:5 , for a similar usage). . . .: i.e. , “the gravity of the danger was such as to impress upon me the vanity of putting my trust anywhere save in God, who has the power of life and death”. God can “raise the dead” (see chap. 2Co 4:14 ); much more can He bring back the dying from the gates of death.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
sentence = answer. Greek. apokrima. Only here. Compare App-122. The only issue he could see from his troubles wag “death”.
that = in order that. Greek. hina.
not. Greek. me. App-105.
trust. Greek. peitho. App-160. naiseth. Greek. egeiro. App-175.
the dead. App-139.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] , moreover,-carries on and intensifies the description of his hopeless state.
We had in ourselves the response of death, i.e. our answer within ourselves to the question, Life or Death? was, Death. So Vulg., Estius, Billroth, Rckert, Meyer, De Wette.
. . may perhaps mean, the sentence, as Hesych[1]: , , ,-and most Commentators. The perfect is here (see also ch. 2Co 2:12-13) in a historical sense, instead of the aorist: which is unusual. Winer, edn. 6, 40. 4 (see Moultons note 4, p. 340), illustrates the usage by ( ), Rev 5:7; see also Rev 8:5.
[1] Hesychius of Jerusalem, centy. vi.
] very similarly ch. 2Co 4:7, , , .
. . ] Our thoughts were weaned from all hope of surviving in this life, and fixed on that better deliverance which God shall work when He raises us from the dead.
To see in this expression merely a figure (De W.), and understand Who raiseth the dead as = Who delivers men from peril of their lives? because such peril is below and elsewhere (ch. 2Co 11:23) called ,-is surely very forced. Understanding it literally as above, I cannot see how it can be spoken with reference to the Ephesian tumult. If it alludes to any external danger, I should be disposed to refer it to the same obscure part of Pauls history to which he alludes 1Co 15:32, where he also speaks of the hope of the resurrection as his great support. But there would be this objection, that these two passages can hardly refer to the same event; this evidently had taken place since the sending of the first Epistle.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 1:9. , but) i.e. nay; supply, for this reason we ourselves, etc.; that not, etc.- ) Hesychius says, , , . , to pass sentence on one condemned, to consider him as dead. The antithesis is trusting. Simonius takes a different view.- , but in) illustrating the wonderful nature of faith in the greatest difficulties, which seem to have no means of escape.-, who raiseth) 1 Corinthians 15. He had written at great length on the resurrection of the dead; he now repeatedly touches on the same doctrine, and, taking for granted, that its truth is admitted by the Corinthians, urges its bearing upon their practice.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 1:9
2Co 1:9
yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:-His escape was as though delivered from the dead; just as Abraham is said to have acted when he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back. (Heb 11:17-19).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sentence: or, answer
that: 2Co 3:5, 2Co 4:7, 2Co 12:7-10, Job 40:14, Psa 22:29, Psa 44:5-7, Pro 28:26, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24, Jer 17:5-7, Eze 33:13, Luk 18:9
in God: 2Co 4:13, 2Co 4:14, Eze 37:1-14, Rom 4:17-25, Heb 11:19
Reciprocal: Gen 22:13 – behind Jdg 15:18 – and fall 1Sa 2:6 – he bringeth 1Sa 17:37 – The Lord 1Sa 20:3 – but a step 1Sa 26:24 – let him deliver 1Sa 30:6 – was greatly 2Ch 18:31 – Jehoshaphat 2Ch 20:12 – we have Job 17:16 – rest Psa 9:10 – hast Psa 16:1 – for Psa 18:4 – sorrows Psa 27:9 – thou Psa 88:4 – counted Psa 91:15 – deliver Psa 118:18 – chastened Psa 141:7 – bones Pro 14:32 – the righteous Isa 38:10 – General Eze 37:3 – O Lord God Dan 3:28 – that trusted Jon 2:7 – I remembered Luk 8:24 – Master Joh 5:23 – all men Act 14:20 – as 2Co 4:10 – bearing 2Co 11:23 – in deaths
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
TRUST
We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God Which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in Whom we trust that He will yet deliver us.
2Co 1:9-10
The first duty of a child of God is to exercise faith by believing Gods Word and submitting to His authority; but in order to secure the true blessings of life in action instead of enjoyment we must turn the objective gifts of God into subjective experience of man. We must do this by the exercise of the quality which the Scriptures call trust. Faith is totally distinct from trust; they may be called co-partners, but are not the same in any sense, and it is essential that we should understand the difference not only of the terms, but also of the action involved in the exercise of faith and of trust. No life of rest, no life of peace and joy and power, can ever be enjoyed until the Christian takes Gods gifts by faith, and by trust gives himself into Gods hands. By faith we claim our privileges; by trust we prove that we have taken possession of the gifts of God, and that they have become to us what God intended them to be.
I. This idea of trust is illustrated in the case of St. Paul in connection with the trouble which befell him in Asia, and for which he sought relief on every hand (2Co 1:8). There has been much argument as to what was the trouble of which he speaks, but I care not what the occasion was; it suffices to say that in Pauls experience there came a moment when he realised that he was in the very face of death, and the pressure upon him was so great that it seemed impossible for him to obtain deliverance. He looked out, he looked around, he even looked up; but it seemed as if there was no possibility of escape. At last he looked in; and then he says, Moreover, we have the sentence of death in ourselves. He looked in as a man might who is in a sinking ship in the midst of the broad Atlantic, and who realises from the face of the captain and the sailors that there is no hope, no possibility of a near sail, no lifeboat ready, and who at last looks within and says, It is death; there is no escape. But just as human despair seizes upon him, St. Paul turns from man, he turns from circumstances, he turns from all earthly conditions, and he looks up into the face of God and says, We have the sentence of death in ourselves, that what?that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God Which raiseth the dead. Like Abraham on Mount Moriah, in one instant his gaze goes up to God, and he feels that God can deliver, but no one else can. So St. Paul felt that there was no deliverance in man, no hope in himself, but that this was the moment for trusting God, for giving up his whole being to Him. This is trust far more than faith; faith takes, trust gives; by trust you commit into the hand of God, with perfect certainty of deliverance and blessing, that which in itself brought you nothing but the absolute certainty of death.
II. But there is something further which is meant by this word trust.It is very distinct in the original from our word faith. The noun only comes six times in the New Testament, and is only once translated trust (2Co 3:4). In the other five passages it is translated confidencea very blessed word, but it is not the same as trust, because confidence and boldness are the outcome of faith and trust. Faith takes into the soul what God in His mercy reveals, and believes God against all comers. Trust hands over to God what God has given us, and says, Keep, Lord, and use, for I cannot. Then comes a holy confidence and assurance of soul which prevents us from ever being disturbed under any circumstances whatever, and out of that confidence there comes a boldness which enables us to act for the glory of God. Faith, when it has conceived, bringeth forth trust; and trust, when it is finished, bringeth forth confidence and boldness.
III. In the Bible faith is distinguished from trust in that by faith we take Jesus Christ, and trust takes us to God through Christ.Let us see how it acts. Notice how sin is treated of in the Epistle to the Romans. First there is the sense of guilt. Faith takes the doctrine that in Christ God was satisfied in regard to me as a sinner; trust goes to God through Christ and says, I have now no fear of judgment. I walk up to God with perfect confidence as to my guilt, for it is put away. Then faith takes the word of God that Christ is a Saviour from the power of sin; trust steps out into the place of difficulty into which God calls me, believing that the Christ will really deliver me. Faith takes the doctrine that I am delivered from the action of death in sin; trust, when I yield myself to God as a man that is alive from the dead, passes my whole being into Gods hands for keeping, for power, for service. Faith takes the fact that there is no condemnation; trust believes that there is no separation, and that I am joined to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thus trust is to be exercised in every department of salvation. God alone knows your trial, and He will help you.
Rev. Prebendary Webb-Peploe.
Illustrations
(1) A friend went one morning to the house of the great Sir Robert Peel, and found him with a large number of letters lying before him: he was bowed over them in prayer. The friend retired, and returning a little later, said, I beg your pardon for intruding upon your private devotions. Sir Robert replied, No, those were my public devotions; I was just giving the affairs of State into the hands of God, for I could not manage them. If you will just hand the letter-bag over to the Lord you will find that you can trust it to Him. It may contain vital matters to your firm, to your nation, perhaps, which you think only you can manage. Try trusting the living God with your letter-bag or your housekeeping; do not ever fret or fidget again; put everything into His hands, and say, Now, Lord, undertake for me. That is quite distinct from faith.
(2) When in York Minster I was suddenly moved by the beauty of the place to say aloud, What a grand building! what a wonderful building! how splendid! thank God! A voice at my side said, Yes, it is very beautiful. I turned, and there at my left sat an old man about seventy-five years of age, in a smock-frock, with a stick in his hand; he looked very sad, and very, very hungry. After talking with him for a moment I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out eighteen-pence. I know not why I did it. In an instant the old man said, as I rose up to go, Stop, sir; you wont be ashamed to take an old mans blessing, will you? Do you know what you have done for me? You have just saved my life. I had word last evening that my daughter was dying, so I started off and walked into York last night, and arrived with fourpence in my pocket. I went to a lodging-house, and found they would give me a dirty bed for twopence and a clean one for fourpence. My Father told me always to keep clean, and I did not think, though I was hungry, that He would wish me to go to bed dirty; so I took the clean bed for fourpence, and trusted Father. I came here at seven oclock this morning to Fathers house, that I might talk to Him, and I have been waiting until Father sent the bread. I knew He would send it, and you are His messenger. I said, You dont mean that you have been here since seven oclock this morning? Yes. It is seven oclock at night; and have you had nothing? He said, I have just been waiting Fathers time. It is Fathers time now, and He has sent you. That old man knew what it was to trust God.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2Co 1:9. Sentence of death. Paul was so certain that he would die that he resigned himself to his fate. He was enabled to take such an attitude because of this trust in God which raiseth the dead.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Observe here, The great and imminent danger which the apostle was in: his very life was in a hazard, nay, even despaired of; he looked upon himself as a dead man: but when he had thus sentenced himself, a divine power, which wrought above all his thoughts and rational conjectures, reprieved him, and revived him.
Hence learn, that the almighty power of God sometimes works beyond all creature expectations, beyond all human probabilities, beyond all rational conjectures, to help and deliver his people in hopeless and helpless trouble.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
yea, we ourselves have had the sentence [or answer] of death within ourselves [i. e., when we asked ourselves, “Can we possibly live?” we were compelled in our hopelessness to answer, “No; we must die”], that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 9
Sentence of death in ourselves; a strong presentiment that we should not escape death.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1:9 But we had the sentence of death in {f} ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
(f) I was resolved within myself to die.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The "sentence of death" was the assurance Paul had that he was going to die as a result of this affliction.
"The great lesson of this overwhelming affliction which had befallen him was that he (and all who are Christ’s) should trust, not in self, but in God, ’the Raiser of the dead.’
". . . in the wake of this trying experience that was tantamount to death there followed a further experience that was tantamount to resurrection." [Note: Murray J. Harris, "2 Corinthians," in Romans-Galatians, vol. 10 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 322.]
"This is, indeed, a theme which provides a key to the whole epistle. Is Paul assailed by anguish of spirit? It is God who always leads him in triumph in Christ (2Co 3:13 ff.). Do we have the treasure of divine glory in earthen vessels? It is that it may be seen that the exceeding greatness of the power is of God, and not of self (2Co 4:7 ff.). Is the Apostle always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake? It is that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in his mortal flesh (2Co 4:10 ff.). Is the outward man decaying? Yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2Co 4:16). . . . The climax is reached in the twelfth chapter where Paul explains how through the endurance of a ’thorn in the flesh’ he was taught that God’s grace is all-sufficient and that His power is made perfect in weakness (2Co 12:7 ff.). This was a principle to which even our Lord submitted in providing our salvation, for He was crucified through weakness, but is alive through the power of God (2Co 13:4). It is a theme, therefore, which points to the unity of the epistle, and which in particular links the concluding to the opening chapter." [Note: Hughes, pp. 20-21.]
Some translations (e.g., AV) render 2Co 1:10, "delivered . . . does deliver . . . will deliver" (past, present, future). The better rendering (e.g., NASB, NIV) is, "delivered . . . will deliver . . . will yet deliver" (past, future, more distant future). In either case the meaning is clear. God delivered Paul from this past affliction, would continue to deliver him from the same or similar afflictions in the future, and would always deliver him.
"He says ’death’ rather than ’peril of death,’ because he had regarded himself as a dead man." [Note: Plummer, p. 19.]
"When God puts His children into the furnace, He keeps His hand on the thermostat and His eye on the thermometer (1Co 10:13; 1Pe 1:6-7)." [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, 1:630.]
Paul teaches us then that affliction does four things for us. It makes us more sympathetic. It gives us a greater appreciation for God’s super-abounding comfort and encouragement, which He brings to us with the affliction. It causes us to trust in God more, and it gives us greater confidence in God’s power and greater hope for the future.