Iin Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is our Amen

2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. ¹³ For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end; ¹⁴ just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁵ In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing; ¹⁶ that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea. ¹⁷ Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I decide, do I decide according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? ¹⁸ But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but has been yes in Him. ²⁰ For as many as the promises of God are, in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is our Amen to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, ²² who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

²³ But I call God as witness to my soul, that it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we domineer over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.

2 But I decided this for my own sake, that I would not come to you in sorrow again. ² For if I cause you sorrow, who then will be the one making me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? ³ This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy was the joy of you all. ⁴ For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

⁵ But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not for me, but in some degree—not to say too much—for all of you. ⁶ Sufficient for such a person is this punishment which was imposed by the majority, ⁷ so that on the other hand, you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ For to this end I also wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. ¹⁰ But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

In today’s text it says: For the Son of God, Christ Jesus was not yes and no, but has been yes in Him. For as many as the promises of God are, in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is our Amen to the glory of God through us. The promises of God are given to us through Christ Jesus. We cannot claim or expect to attain the promises of God if we do not say yes and Amen to Christ. In John 14:15 Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”It is not just the commandments that we agree with or think are relevant to us today that we are to keep if we love Him. It is all of His commandments. In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says: “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Some translations use the word relaxes in place of the word nullifies. We ourselves nullify the commandments and teach others to do the same if we relax them to accommodate the whims of our culture.  In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Not only are we to keep all of Jesus commandments, He has also commanded us that we teach others to follow all that He commanded. Can we say yes and Amen?

Of course, we cannot force others to follow all that Jesus commanded. Each person must choose for themselves, but for us, like Jesus, our yes must be yes and our no must be no. Like Jesus, we are to love sinners and outcasts, but like Him we cannot embrace the immorality of the world, we must call them to repent and embrace the righteousness of Christ. Romans 12:9 says: Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.  In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Can we say yes and Amen?