Useful Bible Studies > 2 Corinthians Commentary > chapter 8
Anyone who collects money for the work of God is accepting a very serious responsibility. That money belongs to God and not to people. Therefore, the person who collects it has a duty to God to deal properly with it.
Paul was arranging a large gift to help the poor Christians in Judea. Several years previously, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem had asked him to do that*. In the meantime, Paul had established many new churches, in several different countries*. It was the members of those new churches who were giving this gift.
Paul chose not to collect anyone’s gift himself*. Instead, two men would come with Titus to collect the gift from the church at Corinth. Paul does not give their names, but one of them was well-known in all the churches*. Paul did not select that man to carry out this task; the churches chose him.
Therefore, it was clear that Paul did not have control over the money. Because two men were collecting the money together, they would check each other’s work. Titus also would be with them, to introduce them to Corinth’s Christians and to see that they acted properly.
Of course Paul did not have to prove to God that he was honest; God already knew that. These arrangements were necessary in order to give confidence to the people who gave their money. In order to give generously, the people needed to know that Paul and the other men would deal properly with their gifts. They needed to be sure that their gifts would reach and help the right people. It was essential that the money benefited Judea’s poor Christians and nobody else. That was the purpose of the gift, so Paul had made careful arrangements to achieve that purpose.
Next part: Different meanings of ‘eager’ (8:22)
* See complete article for these Bible references.
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© 2016, Keith Simons.