(NRSV, 1989)

1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!

Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 from the LXX. Here’s the quote in context:

“This is what the LORD who rescues you, the God of Israel, says: ‘Sanctify the one who despises his life, who is abhorred by the nations, the servants of rulers. Kings will see him and arise; rulers will also worship him for the sake of the LORD; because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘I have listened to you at the acceptable time, and I have helped you in the day of salvation. And I have formed you and given you as a covenant for the nations, to establish the land and to allot disserted lots, saying to those in chains, “Come out!” and to those in darkness, “Be revealed!”

“’They will be fed in all the ways, and their pasture will be in all their paths. They will not hunger or thirst, and the burning heat and the sun will not strike them, but the one who shows mercy will comfort them, and he will lead them through springs of water. And I will turn every mountain into way and every path into a pasture for them.

“’Look! These people will come from afar, these will come from the north and the sea, and others from the land of the Persians.’ Be cheerful, heavens, and let the earth rejoice! Let the mountains burst forth with cheer, because God has shown mercy to his people, and he has comforted the low among his people.” (7-13, The Lexham English Septuagint)

These verses from Isaiah are the foundation of Paul’s message to the Corinthians and to the Church. We work together with Christ to bring reconciliation to the world as Christ’s “ambassadors”. Paul tells the Corinthians that God heard their cries and has brought them salvation through Christ from the death of sin, and now they are charged with a purpose, that is to become God’s righteousness and presence in the world. Just as the Holy One has made a way for us to come into God’s presence—to be reconciled to Him—so, too, must we now do the same. Because the Corinthians have died to self they can now live for God.

3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Here, Paul provides the Corinthians with proof that his new life is in keeping with the purpose for which it has been given. He isn’t trying to make them feel as if they cannot live into Isaiah 49; he doesn’t want them to feel guilty for their failure but to use his own life as an example of what the ministry of reconciliation looks like. Starting in verse 8b, Paul reminds them of something that he wrote to them in 1 Corinthians: the world will see his life as a failure and nothing to emulate, yet quite the opposite is the true: His is the only way to live for it is Christ’s life.

11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13 In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.

Paul’s concern for the Corinthians is genuine; his “heart is wide open”. He loves them unconditionally, although, it seems, this is not reciprocated. Paul’s heart remains vulnerable because he has chosen to live life as it has been defined by his call to an apostle. Interestingly, here Paul delivers his instruction to the Corinthians commandingly: He doesn’t include any caveats like, “decide for yourself,” etc. He speaks to them “as to children,” and commands them, as their spiritual father, to “open wide their hearts” as he has to them—to make themselves vulnerable and to share the gospel and live their calling unreservedly. He wants them to love others—and himself—as freely as he has loved them and as God has loved them through Christ. He wants their relationship to be as it once was before the strain.

14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will live in them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore come out from them,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch nothing unclean;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be your father,
and you shall be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”

Paul’s fatherly command to his spiritual children goes further. Not only do they have no choice but to open their hearts to Paul and others, they must also cease contact with the way they used to live their lives. The life of Christ is a full-time commitment. His examples are of extreme contrasts: light and dark, Christ and Beliar—a name for Satan—believer and unbeliever, “the temple of God with idols”, for God’s people, God’s Church, is the temple of God, the place to where the nations come to find life.

Paul closes this chapter with a combined quotation from the LXX’s Isaiah 52:11,12 and 2 2 Kingdoms 7:14a (2 Samuel 7:14 if you are following along in your bible):

“Depart! Depart; come out from there and touch no unclean thing! Come out from the middle of her; be separate, you who carry the vessels of the LORD, because you will not come out with trouble or go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the one who gathers you is the God of Israel.” (Isaiah) “I will be like a father to him, and he will be like a son to me.” (2 Kingdoms)

When the verses that precede Isaiah 52:11,12 and follow 2 Samuel 7:14a are considered, Paul’s point comes into focus. In the former’s case, Isaiah 52 is a rallying cry for God’s people to “Put on [their] strength” (1) and prepare to be redeemed. Through them, God will declare salvation and “the good news of good things…and will make [their] salvation h...