Gospel Giving (2 Corinthians 8:8–15)

“While it is possible to give without loving, it is impossible to love without giving.” So observes Trent Casto. This succinctly summarises the text before us. God loves and thus God gives (John 3:16). Those saved by God’s gospel do likewise. If we don’t, we should examine our profession of faith. Robert Murray M’Cheyne said to his congregation, “There are many hearing me who now know that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudging at all, requires a new heart.” Casto comments, “Gospel-driven generosity is the proof of love and a proper response to the love shown to us in Christ.” Amen.

George Guthrie helpfully observes, “Our money and resources are integrated with our spiritual lives, and we need to take our stewardship of these resources seriously as an aspect of Christian discipleship.” This truth is all over this passage. It is gospel-driven truth.

Previously, we began to study this two-chapter section addressing the matter of grace giving. We continue this today under the related theme of gospel-giving. We might say, gospel-driven giving.” Grace and gospel are inseparable themes. The gospel is the good news of what God, by his grace, has done by his Son for believing sinners. It is the good news of reconciliation, the good news of the great exchange in which Jesus takes upon himself the punishment for our sins and in turn gives to us his righteousness and thus his right standing before God—forever (5:21). This is totally by the grace of God. And this grace was manifested by God giving his Son for sinners. It is this gospel conviction that informs Paul’s instruction to the Corinthian church about giving an offering for suffering Christians in Jerusalem. Their gospel-induced giving will equip the church in Jerusalem to persevere in her gospel ministry. This goal, fundamentally, is what Christian giving is all about. It is gospel grounded, gospel motivated, and gospel focused.

In this next section of his instructions concerning this compassionate collection, Paul identifies three gospel themes included in our giving:

Paul’s point in these vv. 8–9 is clear: “If the Corinthians’ love was sincere, the Macedonians’ example would stimulate them to follow their Lord’s example” (Prime). The apostle writes, “I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (vv. 8–9).

Paul has introduced the theme of grace giving and his appeal for the Corinthian church to participate by pointing to the example of the churches in Macedonia. He is not commanding the Corinthians to give (the only imperative in these two chapters is v. 11: “Finish what you started”); rather, he is motivating them via the same gospel grace experienced by the Macedonian Christians. As Prime points out, “If the Corinthians’ love was sincere, the Macedonians’ example would stimulate them to follow their Lord’s example.”

When the Macedonian Christians became aware of the offering, they begged Paul for the opportunity to participate (v. 4). Of course, they did so from the standpoint of grateful submission to the Lord. By submitting to him, they faithfully carried out his will (v. 5), which was this offering.

Paul is pointing to those churches to illustrate that, because they were saved, they gave. Because God saved them, they, like the Corinthian believers, had a “love” that was “genuine.” Paul therefore saw no reason to issue an authoritative command; rather, he assumed that the gospel would motivate the Corinthians to givetheir lives rather than to save their lives (Matthew 16:24–26). When we give our lives, we also give our livelihoods.

In giving graciously, the believers in Macedonia, and likewise the believers in Corinth, were declaring that they were saved by the grace of God through the gospel of God. Sacrificial giving is a means of declaring sincere, “genuine” trust in the gospel. And this example was a means of encouraging other churches, particularly the church at Corinth, to join in the declaration. Grace-giving continues to declare that one has believed the gospel.

When we are saved by the gospel, it means that we believe the gospel. We believe that God loves us. We believe that God gave his Son to die for us. We believe that God raised his Son from the dead. We believe we have been forgiven and repentance and faith indicate that our hearts have been made new to believe all of this. Believing the gospel means that we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to reconcile us to God, delivering us from our rebellion against him. With complete reliance upon the Lord Jesus, we are delivered from our greatest problem and our worldview is forever wonderfully changed. No longer controlled by the things of the world, we are delivered from self-promotion and self-preservation. For this reason, giving begins to characterise our lives. This is because the gospel is grounded in giving. “For God so loved the world,  that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16; see 1 John 3:16). God’s gospel initiative produces gospel incentive in the lives of those whom God saves.

In summary, the gospel provides the believer and the local church with all the incentive needed to be generous. Where church members live gospel-saturated, gospel-motivated lives, there will be joy that overflows in willing, voluntary generosity to those in need. A gospel-believing congregation will have no problem meeting a gospel-oriented budget. Though it is sometimes necessary to instruct a local church about giving, I am persuaded that, where the gospel is faithfully proclaimed and stewarded, that church will be incentivised to give willingly and sufficiently.

Paul roots his appeal in the reality of the incarnation (v. 9). Chrysostom observes, “If he had not become poor, you would not have become rich.” Guthrie concurs:

A close pastoral friend of mine was recently preaching through the book of Philippians. The week before Christmas, he was in Philippians 4, the great chapter where Paul thanks the church for their financial support. He preached about giving that Sunday morning. After the service he was criticised by a member who said, “It’s Christmastime. Why in the world would you preach about giving?” My friend was not sure if he should laugh or cry! The point of Christmas is precisely about God’s greatest of all gifts! We traditionally give gifts to one another because of God’s gift of his Son. How dare we give gifts to others at Christmas and yet conclude it is uncouth to speak about giving to God!

In v. 9, Paul points his readers to Christmas. He points to the incarnation as the supreme motive for generosity.

Paul’s “you know” is loaded with experiential meaning. The word speaks of relational knowledge. Having just spoken of their “genuine love,” he points to the reason for such love: their experience of the incarnation.

Paul expects the Corinthians to appreciate the amazing love manifested by God’s grace when God became a man. The incarnation was the greatest gift to mankind because, apart from God becoming man, we could not and therefore would not be saved. When the second person of the triune Godhead became a man, he “emptied” himself (Philippians 2:7)—in the sense that he went from the highest to the lowest. He who was rich with glory became poor when he took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3). We can never fathom what this was like. Not only did he live as a human being; he was treated like one. Though many loved him, many equally hated and hurt him. He was despised and rejected by those whom he had created. This, of course, culminated on the cross, where he experienced the ultimate poverty when he was forsaken by God. “God forsaken by God.” He did all this in order that we who were hopelessly spiritually impoverished could be enriched with the glories of his righteousness.

Don’t miss what Paul is doing. He is declaring doctrine as the foundation for giving. Paul was aware that the truth of the gospel is sufficient to motivate sincere, no-strings-attached, sacrificial giving. When we appreciate the overflowing riches of God’s grace in saving us from our sins, we will overflow with the desire to enrich others in their time of need. Understanding our at one time spiritual poverty will make us liberal givers.

Being mindful of the grace of Jesus Christ in giving himself for us is all we need to be gracious to others. We forgive because we have been forgiven. This helps us to “feed” others because we have been freely fed with grace.

The incarnation was not a zero-sum event. That is, in Jesus becoming poor, he did not give up everything, for he remained God. Further, because he willingly made himself poor, the Father blessed him with an inheritance of those who one day will perfectly reflect his glory throughout eternity (Ephesians 1:18; Romans 8:29–30). Because Jesus gave, others were blessed, and Jesus himself received a gift. While staying clear of the heresy of the prosperity gospel, the reality is that Christians engaged in grace giving will receive blessing from God. This blessing will not necessarily be financial, but fruit will be credited to our account (Philippians 4:17). No Christian is the poorer for becoming poor to enrich others.

Grace giving not only declares that we really believe the gospel but, as Paul next says, grace giving also demands that we continue to believe the gospel.

Those who believe the gospel certainly desire to be gracious, but they also persevere in doing what they desire. As Kent Hughes puts it, “If the Corinthians refused to complete their commitment, it would demonstrate that they were not part of God’s people. The implicit warning is: Past performance doesn’t count if there is no desire to be generous in the present. ‘You cannot serve God and money’ (Luke 16:13).”

Guthrie summarises well: “Paul’s words here remind us that a great deal of ministry involves challenging people to align their expressed desires with their actions.”

Paul has just pointed to the Macedonian churches as an example of grace giving that the Corinthians were to emulate. But in v. 10, Paul begins to make the point that they likewise are an example to the churches in Macedonia (see 9:1–5). Apparently, Paul had told the Macedonian churches that, when he had written to the Corinthians about this collection for the church in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1–4), they made it clear they wanted to participate. They made a commitment to do so. But as we have seen, due to some problems and change of plans, they had not yet been able to carry out their desire. They were determined to do so but had not yet had the opportunity. At least a year had passed, yet Paul makes the point that that now was the time for them to persevere and to “finish doing it as well” (v. 11).

Note, in v. 10, how Paul seems to get the order wrong. He says that “a year ago they started to … do this work” and that they also had the “desire to do it.” In other words, they did not respond to the request out of a sense of guilt, but rather they truly willed to give. Their desire produced their determination. Their commitment was not superficial. I believe the reason for their desire and determination persisting a year later was because of the ongoing influence of the gospel. (See Acts 11:27–30 for a similar example of follow through.)

When we live constantly mindful of God’s amazing grace to us in his gospel, our delight in him grows, as does our sense of dependence upon him, as does our devotion. This equips us and empowers us to persevere in our commitments: difficult marriages; godly parenting; the challenges of church life; pursuing holiness in an unholy world; and our stewardship.

Promises are easily made and sadly all too often easily broken. But the gospel-saturated person is enabled to persevere in commitments. Paul has this in mind in the next chapter when he says that God loves a cheerful giver (9:15). Cheerful givers are gospel-filled believers. “Generosity in giving is tested by willingness rather than by wealth” (Erdman).

By way of application, we can observe that it is spiritually beneficial (v. 10) for us to do what we say we will do. But again, the motivation for perseverance in our promises derives from believing the one who has saved us (v. 9). If we can trust him to save our souls, we can trust him with our sustenance.

Second, we must note the implication that Paul understands that sometimes our situation changes between a commitment and the time to fulfil that commitment. This seems to be his point in vv. 11b–12.

The repeated idea expressed in the phrases “out of what you have” (v. 11) and “according to what a person has” (v. 12) seemingly indicates that, perhaps a year later, at least for some, circumstances had changed and what they promised they were no longer able to fulfil. Paul pastorally helps them to see that they can only give what is available, which is reasonable. For instance, perhaps you made a commitment to give X amount to missions based on your present income. But since then you have lost your job or your salary has been cut. You can only give what you have, not what you don’t have. The point is that our giving is not be the result of guilt but is rather a matter of gladness because of grace.

Gospel giving is what makes our gifts “acceptable” to God (v. 12). God looks at the heart when we give. When we have a godly desire to give for the adoration of his name, for the advancement of his kingdom, and for the assistance of his people, it is “well-received” by him.

The word translated “readiness” (vv. 11–12) speaks of one’s inclination, one’s being predisposed and thus willing and committed to a particular course of action. When, from a posture of worship, we are willing to give to the Lord out of what we have, this pleases to him. The issue is not the amount but the attitude.

We should also note that these verses deal a death blow to the idea of hoarding when there are known needs in God’s work. This is true for all Christians, and particularly so for those whom Paul identifies as rich in this world (1 Timothy 6:17–19).

Finally, an important take away from these verses is the understanding that, though the gift was corporate, it required individual participation. Each member’s contribution mattered and still matters. As we grow in our love for and trust in the gospel, our body will continue to persevere in gracious giving to the glory of God for the spread of the gospel and for the ministry to the saints.

Finally, Paul writes,

This is a beautiful statement pointing the local church to the privilege of partnership with likeminded, gospel-loving, gospel-trusting, gospel-proclaiming churches. It is also wonderful instruction concerning the matter of equitable living and giving.

Perhaps there were some who were complaining (or gossiping) that this collection was not fair. After all, the fact that the province in which Corinth was situated was relatively wealthy and commercially advantageous should not overburden them with responsibility to care for poor believers elsewhere. Perhaps in their day, a version of what in our day is called “white privilege” might have been “Corinthian privilege” and some in the church would have none of that “woke” business! Regardless, Paul made the point that those who, by God’s providence, had “gathered much” must be willing to share with those who needed more. Uncomfortable, but irrefutable.

The word translated “eased” connotes being relaxed and at ease; relieved from any burden. Paul says that his request for the collection from the church at Corinth was not for the purpose of impoverishing some churches to enrich others. At the same time, he makes the point that, in all fairness, at present the bulk of the responsibility does fall to the church at Corinth. He goes on to explain that there may come a time when they themselves might be in need and other churches whom they had helped might be in a position to now assist them.

There are at least three things to glean from this.

First, the reality and privilege of gospel-partnership. Gospel partnership is precisely what our missions ministry and giving is all about. We desire to practically partner with those with whom we doctrinally and ecclesiologically align. We appreciate the men, churches, and ministries we support, and one way to demonstrate our fellowship in the gospel is through our faithful funding. It is not a burden, but a blessing to help our brothers and sisters. The more the merrier!

Second, those with more are expected to do more. This is a matter of equity. There is a biblical expectation that churches give attention to being equitable when it comes to provision and stewardship of that provision.

This, for some is a sticking point but there is no reason it should be. When God provides in abundance for a church, rather than hoarding, it should be looking for opportunities for helping.

I have been in numerous discussions over the years with pastors and missionaries about equitable responsibility. Sometimes, such discussions have been very tense due to two extremes.

One extreme position argues for complete economic equality. This is the argument that all churches should have the same standard of living. I don’t find that in the Bible. Just as with the numerical size of a church, God sovereignly gives some churches more economic opportunity. Churches need to guard against envy.

An opposite unbiblical extreme is that those with more are to spend more on themselves while ignoring the needs of those with less. There is no gospel mindset in that outlook!

Paul is teaching is that “the general principle will result, not in securing for each individual the exact amount of worldly goods which each other believer possesses, but in a situation where none will be in distress while others know the need and have the means to give relief” (Erdman). As Randy Alcorn states it, “Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. It’s his provision for me to help others to live.”

I often think of a church and its wonderful pastor-teacher that considered selling its facilities, moving to a smaller place, and dividing the funds from the sale of the land among churches in townships. That is commendable. That is the kind of mindset we need. Just because God has given to us more does not mean that we need more. It probably means that others need more.

Paul’s point is that churches are to be sensitive to the material situation of others and to be equitable. Casto is right: “To live in affluence while brothers and sisters in Christ lack the basic necessities of life is a form of injustice.”

Third, giving is a form of saving for the future. Paul is saying that, in the future, the tables may be turned. The Corinthians may be in need and the churches they are presently helping may be able to help them. In a sense he is saying, “Invest in the future.” Though the prosperity preachers have abused the truth, the biblical promise remains: “Give and it shall be given to you” (Luke 6:38).

Paul concludes with an illustration lifted from Exodus 16 and the story of God providing manna for his people in the wilderness. In that account, God promised daily provision for his people by raining manna every day. Each individual was supplied with two litres of the sweet, coriander-tasting white “bread from heaven” (16:31).

When they gathered each day, depending perhaps on the amount of time spent and physical ability, some gathered much while others gathered little. Nevertheless, each received the same daily amount. How so?

Quite clearly, those with much shared with those who had less. Those with over-abundance shared with those who had less so that “whoever gathered little had no lack.” That is beautiful. That is biblical. That is our model.

We should note that those who ignored God’s instructions and chose to hoard found out that hoarding did not benefit them (16:19–20). Brothers and sisters, when we hoard rather than using our resources to help we face the danger of ruin (1 Timothy 6:9–10; James 5:1–3).

The mention of manna would probably remind Paul’s readers of the ultimate Manna from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:2, 16–17; John 6:35–51). Again, this illustrates the truth of v. 9. Heaven was rich and gave of its wealth to bless spiritually poor sinners. The gospel came to earth to reconcile us to God. Jesus, God’s Manna, was given to give life to sinners.

In this gift, every Christian shares equally in the person and work of Jesus Christ. No one gets more or less of him than another. This gospel reality equips us with a disposition of helping rather than hoarding. Therefore Christian brother and sister, if we believe this gospel, we will demonstrate our belief by persevering in practical gospel partnerships.

AMEN