Good morning. For we are not like many, peddling the word of God,
but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.
The word peddling invokes the imagery of a movie about the old west where you
have a man in a wagon traveling from town to town selling various items to
people. These so-called preachers would travel from town to town “selling“ the
word of God to people in the churches. Do we need, as some, letters of
commendation to you or from you? Apparently these peddlers of the word as they
went from town to town would get someone from the church in the town to write a
letter of recommendation that they could take with them to the next town. By
the time that person discovered the truth about the “preachers”, it was too
late, they had already bilked the people in the next town out of their money.
Paul said “I don’t need no stinking letter“, I’ve got you as my letter of
recommendation to others. Father go with the reader and help him/her to have a
great day. Help him/her to know when to say yes and when to say no to situations.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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