2 Corinthians 10:1; By the Meekness and Gentleness of Christ

2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

The Apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthian church by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Christ’s meekness speaks of His obedience to the Father’s will. Christ’s gentleness describes how He is good and forbearing, kind and forgiving even toward the ungrateful. He was pleading for the church in Corinth to be persuaded to the veracity his exhortations in this letter and of his time spent with them when he brought the gospel to them and sought to ground them in the faith. But there was disparaging opposition in Corinth to the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

Matthew Henry applied well, “He addresses them in a very mild and humble manner… When we find ourselves tempted or inclined to be rough and severe towards anybody, we should think of the meekness and gentleness of Christ, that appeared in Him in the days of His flesh, in the design of His undertaking, and in all the acts of His grace towards poor souls… How humbly the … apostle speaks of himself, as one in presence base among them! So his enemies spoke of him with contempt, and he seems to acknowledge it. While others thought meanly, and spoke scornfully of him, he had low thoughts of himself, and spoke humbly of himself. We should be sensible of our own infirmities, and think humbly of ourselves, even when men reproach us for them.”

Thank God for such a godly example for our learning. Amen.