2 Corinthians 12:19; For Your Edifying
2 Corinthians 12:19 Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.
The Apostle Paul’s continuing work in the gospel was to benefit the spiritual lives of the saints in the church in Corinth and in the other churches which were established during his missionary journeys. He said it was for their “edifying”. The word means “a building up”. The act of building as a process to speed them along toward spiritual maturity. Indeed, the Lord equipped His servant for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:12-13).
MacDonald observed well, “He wanted to strengthen them in the Christian life and warn them against the perils that were facing them. He was more interested in helping them than in defending his own reputation.”