Bible Study 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

The format I use for Bible studies comes from one of the study Bibles I have. That Bible has worksheets in it for you to study scripture using the H.E.A.R format. That is Highlight-Explain-Apply-Respond. Highlight is the verse to study. Explain & Apply are pretty self explanatory. Respond is respond to the study with prayer.

I tweaked that a bit & turned it into H.E.A.R.T. Highlight-Explain-Apply-Respond-Takeaway. My format added a segment at the end to drive home the lessons learned that God wants readers to Takeaway from that scripture. Here is the HEART of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

H.E.A.R.T. Bible Study Format

Highlight – The passage you will be covering in this study

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (CSB)

EXPLAIN – Explain what this passage says

Before we get into this scripture lets take a look at what Paul went through before he wrote these verses. In the beginning of chapter 12 he writes about his experience going to heaven. He shows humility in these passages by referring to himself in the third person. 2 Corinthians 12:2 says, “I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago.” Who can tell me what the 3rd Heaven is? The 1st Heaven is the atmosphere around us. The 2nd Heaven is outer space & objects orbiting out there. The 3rd Heaven is the dwelling place of our Heavenly Father.

In verse 7 he tells us about a thorn that was brought to him by Satan to keep him from boasting. He writes, “so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself.” If anyone had a legitimate reason to brag it was Paul. Look at all the Lord had brought him through. God definitely favored him. Paul had survived experiences that would have killed most. He'd been greatly persecuted. Not only that but he had actually been in the third Heaven, God's dwelling place. How many people could claim that?

He then tells us about the thorn in his side. A thorn is something nags or irritates the human nature. God chooses His words meaningfully. The Bible is not specific about what this irritating thorn is. It could be something painful like a thorn from a bush, something spiritual like unconfessed sin, something to do with a trouble in the family, or many other things. The ambiguity of this irritation allows readers to apply this verse to mean many different things. We can apply it to whatever is irritating our soul. He tells us that Satan was the one responsible for bringing this thorn to him. God allowed that to happen because he had a good purpose behind it. The thorn was to keep Paul from exalting himself in spite of the astonishing things he had been through.

Paul asked the Lord three times to take this bothersome thorn from his side so he would be without that pain. (12:8) After making this plea the Lord replies, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” The New Living Translation reads, “My grace is all you need.” The Lord is telling Paul that when hard times hit His grace is all we will need. God will use our weakness for His purpose. One commentary tells us, “God does not take away our troubles and temptations, yet, if he gives grace enough for us, we have no reason to complain... His strength is made perfect in our weakness... We are strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we feel that we are weak in ourselves, then we go to Christ, receive strength from him, and enjoy divine strength and grace.” That's the greatest strength of all.

Now let's define the word “grace”. What is God's grace?

In the New Testament the word for grace is the Greek word “charis”. Holman Bible dictionary tells us charis is “undeserved favor given by a superior to an inferior. This undeserved favor given by God to man forms the background of the Christian meaning of grace.” Grace is God giving us a blessing we don't deserve. What's the greatest example of God's grace? Eternal salvation! None of us really deserve that.

Paul had received God's grace many times. Grace was something Paul wrote about often. It is a core element to all believers of Christ. He realized the grace of God was necessary because man was totally unable to save himself. In Ephesians Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) There's no way we can earn the graces of God through our works. God gives them to us. Paul also remembered he was once a great persecutor of Christians & totally unworthy of salvation. But God showed grace by calling him to a new life.