In 1 John 4:1, John challenges his readers not to believe every spirit, but to “test the spirits”. That is, he wanted them to closely examine the thoughts, ideas, and words being taught to them to determine whether or not they were from God.
In 2 Corinthians, we see Paul doing this very thing. In this letter, Paul examined the teachings and practices of the so-called “super-apostles.” Although these “super-apostles” were likely were very skilled in public speaking, they lacked the humility characteristic of Christianity and were disrupting the church in Corinth (2 Cor. 11:5-7).
Boasting In Weakness
Paul, however, lived with a different mindset. While these “super-apostles” boasted in their strengths, Paul posted in his imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks, dangers, and hunger (11:21-29).
He said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Because these they lacked the humility and weaknesses associated with Jesus and the gospel, Paul claimed that their claims were completely illegitimate.
For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
2 Corinthians 11:4
Not only did these “super-apostles” teach a different Jesus and a different gospel, but those who accepted their teaching had received a “different spirit” from the Spirit they received through obeying the gospel.
A Different Spirit
Throughout 2 Corinthians, Paul teaches a gospel that is noticeably different from that of the false apostles. Rather than boasting in his own strengths, Paul shared in the suffering of Christ.
For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
2 Corinthians 1:5-6
The idea of sharing in the suffering of Christ sets the tone for all of 2 Corinthians. Paul goes on to say:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have this same Spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” so we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
2 Corinthians 4:7-14
There is much that can be learned about the Holy Spirit by reflecting on these verses. Observe:
- Paul refers to his suffering as “sharing in the Spirit of faith.”
- To “share in the Spirit of faith” is to “carry in the body the death of Jesus… always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake.”
- When we “share in the Spirit of faith” by suffering with Jesus, we do so knowing that “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus.” The one who raised Jesus, and the one who will raise us, is elsewhere in Paul’s writings identified as the Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:11).
What we learn about “Spirit of faith” here in 2 Corinthians is the same thing we learn about the Spirit in Romans, Galatians, and 1 Corinthians. Namely, to share in the “Spirit” is to look, act, and think like Christ.
Notice how Paul states this explicitly in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Observe:
- The Lord IS the Spirit
- It is by the Spirit that we are transformed into the image of the Lord.
To live by the Spirit is to look like Christ. Since he suffered, we suffer. Since he loved, we love. Since he was faithful, we are faith. By the Spirit, we look like Him.
Now we can see why Paul would stress that the “super-apostles” demonstrated “another spirit.” That is, because they did not share in the humility and suffering of Christ on the cross. Instead of looking like the image of the Lord, they boasted in their own strength. Paul tested their spirit, and saw that it was not from God.
What This Means for the Church
Although we may always have unanswered questions about the Holy Spirit, one aspect of the Holy Spirit that is clear, and very important to grasp, is that we must look like Christ. Right in the middle of a long list of Christ-like sufferings and attributes, Paul mentions that we commend ourselves by the Holy Spirit.
As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, by purity, knowledge, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God.
2 Corinthians 6:4-6
According to Paul, what sets Christians apart is that we believe that the “surpassing power belongs to God, not to us.” (2 Cor. 4:7). If we boast in anything at all, we are to boast in the things which make us weak (2 Cor. 11:30). We share in the Spirit only as we suffer with Christ (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
There are many today who focus on the exalted glory and power of Christ, yet without emphasizing the suffering which was necessary for him to achieve this glory. Christ was exalted as king was by suffering in the Spirit, and being raised by the Spirit. As soon as Christianity becomes an endeavor to wield our power and influence in the world, yet without doing it the way Christ did, by means of suffering, we cease to live by His Spirit.
The Christian Exile 