2 Corinthians 6:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;

NIV: through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;

NASB: by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;

CSB: through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true;

NLT: We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors.

KJV: By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;

NKJV: by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;

This passage provides a long list of evidences for the integrity of Paul's ministry. He has listed terrible things endured by himself and his co-workers for Christ's sake. He has listed positive qualities they have shown and evidence of God's power through them.

Now he returns to describing how they have been treated in their ministry. He wants his readers to see that they have kept going even through these things. They have experienced both honor and dishonor in representing Christ. They have been both slandered and praised. Whatever Paul's detractors in Corinth were saying about him had likely been said before. Paul did not live for the praise of other people, but he wanted his readers to know that he received it for his work in the ministry, along with insults and lies.

In fact, Paul adds that they had been treated as impostors. It's possible that this is what was happening in Corinth, with some suggesting Paul and his team were false apostles. Paul addressed those accusations specifically in 2 Corinthians 3:1–3, asking the Corinthians to look at their own conversions to faith in Christ to remember that his work as an apostle among them was "true."

Second Corinthians 6:1–13 contains Paul commendation of himself and his co-workers to the Corinthians. He offers evidence that they have not been false apostles. They have faithfully represented Christ through every kind of suffering and God's power has been obvious in and through them. He declares that they have been faultless and urges the Corinthians not to miss the day of God's salvation through faith in Christ. He states warmly that his heart remains wide open to the church in Corinth and asks them to open their hearts to him again.

This passage appeals to the Corinthians not to miss the day of salvation. Paul insists that he and those who work with him have done nothing to keep anyone from believing in Christ. He points to the evidence that he has been a true apostle and representative of Christ and asks the Corinthians to open their hearts to him again. He commands them not to harness themselves to unbelievers since Christ can have nothing to do with Satan or darkness. God lives in them through the Holy Spirit, so they must separate from everything that is opposed to God.

Second Corinthians 6 is set up by the message of God's grace for sinners as spelled it out in the previous chapter. Paul begs the Corinthians not to receive it in vain. He declares that he and his team have done nothing to keep them from believing in Christ. Parallel to this, he commands the Corinthians not to be harnessed to unbelievers. This leads into a passionate discussion of affliction and comfort in chapter 7.

Second Corinthians returns to similar themes as those Paul mentioned in his first letter to this church. Paul is glad to hear that the church in Corinth has heeded his advice. At the same time, it is necessary for Paul to counter criticisms about his personality and legitimacy. Most of this text involves that subject. The fifth chapter, in contrast, contains comforting words which Christians have quoted often in times of hardship. Paul also details his expectations that the church in Corinth will make good on their promise to contribute to the needs of suffering believers in Jerusalem.