Lesson 24 – 2 Corinthians Chapter 12:8-15
“The Power of Grace: What God Does When We Can’t”
Last week I had the privilege of talking about Paul’s vision of heaven, and how wonderful it really is. Paul was highly restricted as to what he could say about heaven. The Bible gives us many word-pictures as to what we can expect when we get to heaven.
Heaven, according to Randy Alcorn, in his book called “Heaven,” is a bright, vibrant, physical New Earth, completely free from sin, suffering, and death, and overflowing with Christ’s presence… a natural beauty, and rich human culture. He emphasizes that Heaven is not a fragile realm of clouds with disembodied spirits, but a real world where real people with resurrected bodies will live meaningful lives… eating, drinking, working, playing, traveling, worshiping, and discovering a perfect relationship with God and one another. Randy also invites us to imagine Earth as God originally intended it: restored, renewed, and bursting with joy, creativity, and purpose.
As we ended last time, we learned that God had given Paul, as the Bible says, “a thorn in the flesh,” to keep him humble. I tend to put Paul on a high pedestal, not even considering that Paul had moments where he wrestled with pride, but God knows Paul, and He knows each one of us, and exactly what we need to walk with Him.
A messenger of satan was sent to keep Paul from becoming proud. The irony is powerful. As I said last time, pride is what got satan thrown out of heaven, and God turned that same pride into a tool to humble Paul.
Let’s see how Paul reacts to this…
2 Cor. 12:8:
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.”
How many times have we asked God to take something away from us? As humans, we like to be comfortable all the time. When something happens to us that causes pain, we’re quick to ask God to take that pain or sickness away.
2 Cor. 1:3-4:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
We read Scriptures like this and ask, “Father, where is your comfort, I need to be comforted by You.”
Paul wasn’t any different than us, and like Jesus did at Gethsemane, he appeals to God three times to take this thorn away from him.
As a believer, have you ever noticed that when life gets harder, you find yourself drawing closer to God… even if it’s simply because you’re praying more?
Do you see what I did there? I gave one of the reasons why God allows trials and tribulations to happen in our life… we move closer to God in these times… at least we should.
I believe the worst thing we can do as believers is to try to handle our problems on our own. God wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives… in good times and in bad.
We can see the intensity of Paul’s emotions when he says, I pleaded with the Lord. I’ve done this, and I’m sure you have done this as well.
Matthew 8:5:
“Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
Mark 1:40:
“Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean.’”
Here’s two examples for us… one person is “pleading” with Jesus, and another is “imploring” Him.
Paul’s prayer wasn’t denied; it was met with a different kind of kindness. God chose not to take away the pain, but to walk with Paul through it, giving him grace that “proved” stronger than the struggle.
2 Cor. 12:9:
“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’”
Which begs the question, “how important is God’s grace?”
John Calvin stresses that salvation is entirely God’s initiative… grace is not God helping us do better, but God rescuing the helpless.
Warren Wiersbe highlights that grace empowers obedience, service, and endurance.
Charles Spurgeon often preached that grace is the fuel of holiness, not human effort.
God’s grace is absolutely central to the Christian life; nothing in our relationship with God works without it. Grace is the reason we’re forgiven, it’s the strength that carries us through our weakness, the comfort that meets us in suffering, and it’s the power that transforms us into people who look more like Christ.
Grace isn’t just something God gives occasionally; it’s the atmosphere a believer lives in, the steady lovingkindness from God that makes faith stronger and hope permanent. Grace means God does for us what we could never do ourselves, and then walks with us as we grow into it.
The Greek word for grace is charis, which carries the idea of God’s unmerited favor. One interesting fact is, in the New Testament Jesus is never quoted using the word charis. It goes without saying that much of what Jesus teaches us is full of God’s unmerited favor.
John 1:16-17:
“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”
John MacArthur says that grace, “Is a dynamic force, totally transforming believers’ lives, beginning at salvation and continuing through sanctification, to glorification.”
Non-believers sometimes think of their gods as harsh or hard to satisfy, but the God who’s actually alive is marked by grace, kindness, and unwavering compassion.
Romans 5:20 (paraphrase):
“God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,”
I’ve heard the picture of God’s grace being like the ocean, and when we reach for it, we only take a teaspoon… His grace is never exhausted.
James 4:6:
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”
Whatever our need, whatever struggle we’re going through, whatever the season we’re in… God’s answer is always more grace.
Without God’s grace, Scripture paints a picture that is sobering, honest, and deeply humbling. Grace isn’t just something that improves our lives, it’s the very thing that rescues, restores, and keeps us. Without it, we would be in a place much darker than we could ever realize.
Hebrews 4:16:
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
The solution to life as we know it is God’s grace!
Verse 9 tells us God’s strength is made perfect in weakness…
This brings us back to the situation in Corinth. From a human standpoint, Paul had reached the end of his ability to handle the ongoing struggles with the Corinthians. Paul found himself at the end of his rope, we could say. The funny part is, that’s exactly where he needed to be.
Paul’s lacking becomes the very stage on which God displays His strength. The Corinthians didn’t need Paul’s human capabilities… what they needed was God’s supernatural help, and God provides it.
Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, faced a season where he was completely overwhelmed. His health was failing… Mission finances had collapsed… Several missionaries were discouraged or leaving… The work in inland China seemed impossible… And he felt utterly unable to fix any of it.
In a letter, Taylor admitted he had no strength left, no solutions, and no ability, humanly speaking, to carry the mission forward. He was at the same place Paul found himself in.
In that place of exhaustion, God met him. Taylor later described it as a quiet but overwhelming realization that the work was never his to carry. He wrote: “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
Taylor didn’t suddenly gain more energy, and the circumstances didn’t magically improve, but God poured strength into him that was clearly not his own.
Within months: New missionaries arrived unexpectedly. Financial support came from places he never contacted. Doors opened in provinces previously closed… and the mission expanded far beyond anything Taylor could have hoped for.
He later said that the turning point wasn’t the change in circumstances, it was the moment he realized his weakness was the very place God intended to display His strength.
Just like Paul.
Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me…
Paul is teaching us that we will be much better off when we rely on the power of Christ resting upon us.
A wise believer will say, “Lord, I’m not going to walk away from this marriage just because my spouse feels like a thorn in my side. I will trust You to work in me and through me.”
In the same way, a “wise and tender heart” learns to say, “Lord, I’m not going to chase the world’s quick fixes to escape the struggle I’m in. Instead, I’ll receive this moment as a place where You draw me closer. And in that closeness, Your strength becomes my strength.”
Though Paul could not disclose the wonders he heard in heaven, he did tell us the truth God spoke to him here on earth… that we are upheld and strengthened by God’s divine grace.
2 Cor. 12:10:
“Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(NLT) “That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
For Paul to be able to say “therefore,” means he fully understands the depth of God’s grace. Do we? Grace is everything for the believer, without it there is nothing for us. God doesn’t need grace… we do!
The world sees weakness as something to hide, deny, or overcome… not something to “take pleasure” in. To the world, strength comes from self‑confidence, self‑assertion, and self‑reliance. Paul’s statement sounds backwards to an unsaved world.
A Christlike perspective in hard times is one of the most important pieces of our walk. The moment we try to dodge every hardship, we lose sight of the deeper work God is doing underneath it.
As His children, we learn to receive the difficulties He allows… trusting that these very troubles are the tools He uses to shape our character into the likeness of Jesus.
James 1:2 (NLT):
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”
James emphasizes perseverance, steadfastness, and a single‑minded trust in God. This isn’t some kind of abstract theology that James is presenting, it’s the voice of someone who had been tested, and learned to trust God in the middle of suffering.
One commentary notes that James “knows from experience that we will have trials,” speaking as someone who had lived through them himself.
Paul understood this… it takes a steadfast believer to be able to say, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.
2 Cor. 12:11:
“I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.”
All of the testimony that Paul was compelled to do because of the Corinthians, still sticks in his craw. He’s basically saying, “Because of your actions, you made me act like a fool.”
For I ought to have been commended by you…
This nonsense that was going on shouldn’t have been a thing, but it was. Paul invested his time, talent, and treasure into the Corinthian people… and yet their actions prove otherwise. They are in a way, turning their backs on Paul, and it just isn’t right.
In case you’ve joined us late in our study, the nonsense I’m referring to is that the Corinthian believers (and at this point, I use the term loosely) were buying everything the false apostles were laying down. Everything Paul taught them slid right off, like water on a duck’s back, leaving no lasting impact. This must have stretched Paul’s patience to the limit.
There was no cause for them to be so unsettled. He had been their teacher and spiritual father, and it would have been fitting for them to rise up and support him. At this moment, they remain spectators… present, but not yet stepping forward in faith.
For in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing…
(NLT) “For I am not at all inferior to these “super apostles,” even though I am nothing at all.”
Paul understood that by God’s grace, he could stand shoulder to shoulder with these so called “super apostles” …his life and work spoke for themselves.
These aren’t the Twelve Apostles we’re familiar with. Paul mentioned the eminent apostles back in chapter 11:5, with a sarcastic tone. In comparison to Paul, these false apostles were nothing but a pain, like a mosquito waiting to be swatted.
Though I am nothing…
This is Paul’s humility shinning through like it always does. When I read the phrase, though I am nothing… the hymn “Nothing but the blood of Jesus” pops into my head… and rightfully so. It’s always about Jesus; Paul knows he’s nothing without Jesus… which applies to us as well.
Paul didn’t leave any room for doubt; he demonstrated that he was a true apostle, and his explanation also emphasized how the apostles were uniquely equipped and empowered by God.
2 Cor. 12:12:
“Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.”
One theologian writes; “The apostles had a one-of-a-kind, non-repeatable, and non-transferable role in the history of the church.”
Hebrews 2:4:
“God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.”
The true apostles preformed signs, wonders, and miracles… and of course Jesus did.
Acts 2:22:
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know.”
Though Acts gives no detailed account of miracles in Corinth, Paul’s ministry there was still marked by God’s supernatural activity… our verse says, they were accomplished among you.
Miracles were God’s way of saying, “Listen to these men… My authority is on them.” The apostles weren’t just teachers, they were eyewitnesses of the risen Christ (Acts 1:22).
Jesus said miracles were signs that the kingdom had come near (Luke 11:20). The apostles continued that same kingdom‑announcement in their ministries. The miracles showed that God’s reign was breaking into the world through Christ… after all, the New Covenant was in place, this is the Church Age, and salvation was spreading.
This was Paul’s calling, he was called to be an apostle… Jesus called him, “His chosen instrument.”
Acts 9:15 (NLT) [Jesus speaking to Ananias]:
“But the Lord said, ‘Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.’”
When God taps you on the shoulder and says go… you go. In a supernatural way, God tapped Moses on the shoulder, to be His instrument to set Israel free. He was reluctant at first, but he did what God asked him to do.
Instead of tapping Paul on the shoulder, Jesus knocked him off his horse and struck him blind… that totally got Paul’s attention. From that point on, Paul served God till Nero had his head cut off.
As an apostle, Paul did miracles, wonders, and signs… and the great part is, it never went to his head.
In Acts 14:8–10, Paul saw a man who had never walked, perceived he had faith, and commanded him to stand. The man jumped up instantly.
Then as prisoners, Paul and Silas prayed and sang, God shook the prison, opened every door, and loosened every chain. A miracle of divine intervention.
Acts 20:9-12 (NLT):
“As Paul spoke on and on… a young man sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘he’s alive!’ Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. Meanwhile, the young man was taken home alive and well, and everyone was greatly relieved.’”
All of these acts of God served one purpose: to confirm the gospel and reveal the living Christ working through His servant. To be sure, Paul didn’t go around boasting about all that he did. Why? Because he knew that miracles are not what produces faith.
Romans 10:17:
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
2 Cor. 12:13:
“For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!”
(NLT) “The only thing I failed to do, which I do in the other churches, was to become a financial burden to you.”
I kind of see this verse as a “spiritual dad joke,” the only thing the Corinthians didn’t get from Paul was a “bill.”
The false apostles told everyone that Paul didn’t take money from them because he knew his ministry was worthless… the false apostles were “gaslighting” the Corinthians.
The other spin talk they were spewing was that Paul didn’t want the Corinthians’ money because he just didn’t love them, and with that, he didn’t want to be obligated to them in any way.
I wonder if the false apostles showed any love to the Corinthians… I doubt it.
Then Paul says, Forgive me this wrong!
Another statement from Paul dripping with sarcasm. I’ll bet Paul was a lot of fun at parties down at the local temple. If anything was “left out” for the Corinthians, it was just the part about helping carry the load for Paul, and the brothers working alongside him.
2 Cor. 12:14:
“Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.”
To recap a little, on Paul’s first visit to Corinth he founded the church; his second was the painful disciplinary visit, which he talks about in chapter 2. When he went to Corinth for the third time, he would still refuse to be a burden to the church.
For I do not seek yours, but you…
This is a fancy way of saying, “Guys don’t you know it by now, I don’t want your money, all I want is your hearts.”
Truth be known, what Paul wants here is what God wants from every one of us… He wants our hearts, and everything that comes with it.
Matthew 22:37:
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”
By saying Paul wanted their hearts, I’m saying he wanted the Corinthians to be fully committed to God’s kingdom, walking in faithful obedience to the Scriptures… for the honor of God’s name.
For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children…
In other words, parents provide for children, not the other way around. It’s the parents who take responsibility for caring, providing, and sacrificing for their children.
Children aren’t expected to build up resources for their parents. Paul’s saying to them, “That’s how love works. The mature care for the immature.”
Paul is telling the Corinthians: “I’m your spiritual parent. I’m not here to take from you… I’m here to give to you.”
He’s reminding them that his role is to serve, protect, and build them up, not to drain them or demand from them.
2 Cor. 12:15:
“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.”
Similar to what Jesus did for the whole world with His sacrifice (and I’m not comparing Paul to Jesus), Paul was willing to sacrifice for his spiritual children… the Corinthians.
Paul wasn’t thinking about himself at all when it came to the Corinthians; he was ready to spend himself for their spiritual good. Honestly, how many people do you see with that kind of heart?
In Romans 5:7, Paul makes the point that human love, at its very best, is still limited compared to Christ’s love.
Here’s the key line quoted briefly; “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person… though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.”
Paul’s point is simple and profound: Even in the best of circumstances, a person might give up his life for someone truly good; but Christ went far beyond that… He died for us while we were sinners, not “good people.”
In a less dramatic way, Paul was willing to give his life to these people, even though we might see them as totally undeserving.
Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved…
Sometimes love hurts…
This is painfully honest, and this plays out in real life more often than we’d like to admit. A parent sacrifices, gives, serves, and loves deeply… yet the child pulls away, resents boundaries, or misreads the parents motives.
A shepherd prays, teaches, counsels, and carries burdens… but some people respond with suspicion, criticism, or even coldness.
Paul lived this, as do many pastors.
This also applies to some marriages when a spouse tries to heal the marriage but the other withdraws. One partner leans in with patience, forgiveness, and tenderness… while the other grows distant, defensive, or indifferent. The more one loves, the less love they feel back. I hope you can’t relate to this.
Why does this happen?
Because real love is costly… it exposes you, it makes you vulnerable. Sometimes people respond to sacrificial love with discomfort, suspicion, or even rejection.
Paul isn’t complaining… he’s revealing the cost of Christlike love.
The deeper truth: this is exactly how Jesus loved us. He loved abundantly… and was loved less in return. Paul is simply walking in the footsteps of his Master.
Christian love isn’t fueled by how people respond, it’s fueled by Christ’s love for you. Paul loved the Corinthians not because they loved him back, but because Christ loved him first (1 John 4:19).
I’m sure Paul was always praying for them, and holding on to what the Holy Spirit gave him as a ministry.
Eph. 4:15:
“But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head… Christ.”
One thing you could always count on with Paul was his consistency; he remained true to the teachings of Jesus.
How would Paul “fix” this? Not by loving them less, but by loving the way Jesus would… with wisdom, prayer, truth, and a heart anchored in God, rather than in the other person’s response.
Our take-away is, we might have experienced this in some way, or we will experience this one day. Bath it in prayer because prayer should always be our first defense. Then ask yourself, “How would Jesus handle this?” Then ask the Holy Spirit to help, He is our helper!
Paul displays his father-like love for the Corinthians, and he can only do this by God’s grace.