Read the Bible: The New Testament in a Year

2 Corinthians 6. Day 173 - The New Testament in a Year

Episode Notes:

Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6 (CSB)
Podcast Homepage: The New Testament in a Year
Bible Reading Plan: Navigators Bible Reading Plan
Contact Sean: (seanbailey1985@gmail.com)
Follow NTIY on Facebook: facebook.com/newtestamentinayear

In Today's Episode
Now Is the Day of Salvation. Faithful Through Every Circumstance. Living Set Apart for God.

"Look, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!" — 2 Corinthians 6:2

Second Corinthians 6 begins with a sense of urgency. Paul has just explained that believers are ambassadors for Christ, carrying the message of reconciliation to the world. Now he urges the Corinthians not to receive God's grace in vain. "Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!" The gospel is not something to admire from a distance or something we plan to respond to someday. God's invitation demands a response. There is no better time to trust Christ, return to Christ, or fully surrender our lives to Him than right now.

Paul then gives us an honest picture of what faithful ministry can look like. He describes afflictions, hardships, beatings, imprisonments, sleepless nights, and hunger. Yet through all of it, he continued serving with purity, patience, kindness, sincere love, and the power of God. Paul was not measuring God's faithfulness by how comfortable his circumstances were. He could be sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, and seemingly having nothing while possessing everything. The presence of hardship does not mean the absence of God. Sometimes our clearest testimony comes from the way we continue trusting Him when life is difficult.

The chapter closes with Paul's command not to be "yoked together with those who do not believe." This is bigger than simply avoiding certain people. Paul is calling believers to remember who they are and to refuse relationships or partnerships that require them to compromise their allegiance to Christ. We belong to God. We are His temple, and His presence dwells among His people. That means following Jesus will sometimes require us to draw clear boundaries between what honors Christ and what pulls us away from Him. Second Corinthians 6 challenges us to examine what has our heart, what influences our lives, and where our deepest loyalties lie. Grace calls us to Christ, and that same grace calls us to live differently because we belong to Him.

2 Corinthians 5. Day 172 - The New Testament in a Year

Episode Notes:

Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5 (CSB)
Podcast Homepage: The New Testament in a Year
Bible Reading Plan: Navigators Bible Reading Plan
Contact Sean: (seanbailey1985@gmail.com)
Follow NTIY on Facebook: facebook.com/newtestamentinayear

In Today's Episode
Walking by Faith. A New Creation in Christ. The Ministry of Reconciliation.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." — 2 Corinthians 5:7

Second Corinthians 5 continues Paul's focus on living with eternity in view. Our earthly bodies are temporary, like tents that will one day be taken down, but God has prepared something eternal for those who belong to Christ. That changes the way we face both life and death. Paul says that to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord, and because of that hope, "we walk by faith, not by sight." We do not have to understand everything God is doing in order to trust Him. Our circumstances may change, our bodies may weaken, and life may not unfold the way we expected, but our confidence rests in something far more secure than what we can see.

Paul then reminds us that everyone will one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That reality gives urgency and purpose to the way we live. But Paul is not motivated simply by fear or obligation. He says, "For the love of Christ compels us." Because Jesus died for us, we no longer live simply for ourselves. The gospel changes the direction of our lives. And then Paul gives us one of the greatest promises in Scripture: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!" Jesus does not simply improve our old life. In Him, we are made new.

The chapter closes by explaining what this new life is for. God has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and then entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. We are now ambassadors for Christ, carrying His message into a broken world and pleading with people to be reconciled to God. And at the heart of that message is the gospel itself: Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Second Corinthians 5 reminds us who we are and why we are here. We are new creations, representatives of Jesus, and people living for a world we cannot yet see. So walk by faith. Live for Christ. And use the life He has given you to help others find their way home to Him.

2 Corinthians 4. Day 171 - The New Testament in a Year

Episode Notes:

Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4 (CSB)
Podcast Homepage: The New Testament in a Year
Bible Reading Plan: Navigators Bible Reading Plan
Contact Sean: (seanbailey1985@gmail.com)
Follow NTIY on Facebook: facebook.com/newtestamentinayear

In Today's Episode
The Light of the Gospel. Treasure in Jars of Clay. Fixing Our Eyes on Eternity.

"For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory." — 2 Corinthians 4:17

Second Corinthians 4 is one of the most encouraging chapters in Scripture for anyone walking through a difficult season. Paul begins by reminding us that the message we carry is not about ourselves. "We are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord." The gospel shines the light of Christ into hearts that have been blinded by sin, and the same God who once commanded light to shine out of darkness has now shined His light into our hearts. Our calling is simple. We do not have to make ourselves the center of the story. We simply point people to Jesus.

Paul then gives us one of the most beautiful pictures of the Christian life: "We have this treasure in jars of clay." The treasure is the gospel and the glory of Christ. The jar is us. We are ordinary, fragile, imperfect people carrying an extraordinary message so that everyone can see that the power belongs to God and not to us. Paul describes being afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned, and struck down but not destroyed. Following Jesus does not mean we will avoid suffering. It means suffering will never have the final word.

Paul closes by explaining how he continued when life became difficult: he kept his eyes on what could not be seen. Outwardly, our bodies are wasting away, but inwardly God is renewing us day by day. Our present suffering is real, and Paul is not minimizing its pain when he calls it "momentary light affliction." He is comparing it with something infinitely greater: the eternal glory waiting for those who belong to Christ. Second Corinthians 4 reminds us that what we see right now is not the whole story. The pressure is temporary. The pain is temporary. The things we can see are temporary. But what God is doing in us and what He has prepared for us in eternity will last forever. So we do not give up. We keep our eyes on Jesus, trust the treasure He has placed within these fragile jars of clay, and remember that even in our weakness, His power is still at work.

2 Corinthians 3. Day 170 - The New Testament in a Year

Episode Notes:

Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3 (CSB)
Podcast Homepage: The New Testament in a Year
Bible Reading Plan: Navigators Bible Reading Plan
Contact Sean: (seanbailey1985@gmail.com)
Follow NTIY on Facebook: facebook.com/newtestamentinayear

In Today's Episode
Living Letters of Christ. The Glory of the New Covenant. Being Transformed into His Image.

"We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit." — 2 Corinthians 3:18

Second Corinthians 3 begins with Paul describing believers as something remarkable: letters of Christ. The Corinthians themselves were evidence that God had been at work through Paul's ministry. Their changed lives were a letter written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. There is an important reminder here for us. People may never read a sermon or open a theology book, but they will watch the lives of those who claim to follow Jesus. A transformed life remains one of the clearest testimonies to the transforming power of the gospel.

Paul then contrasts the old covenant given through Moses with the new covenant established through Christ. The law was glorious because it revealed the holiness and righteousness of God, but it could expose sin without giving sinful hearts the power to overcome it. The new covenant brings something greater. Through Christ, the Holy Spirit gives life and writes God's truth upon our hearts. Paul is not diminishing the Old Testament or suggesting that God's law was bad. He is showing us that what the law pointed toward has now been fulfilled in Jesus. The glory of the new covenant surpasses the old because through Christ we are given forgiveness, freedom, and the indwelling presence of the Spirit.

The chapter closes with the picture of Moses' veil. Paul explains that apart from Christ, there is a spiritual veil that keeps people from fully seeing God's glory. "But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed." And once that veil is gone, something incredible begins to happen. As we behold the glory of Christ, the Holy Spirit gradually transforms us into His image. That is the heart of Christian growth. We do not simply try harder to become better people. We keep turning our eyes toward Jesus, allowing His Spirit to change us from the inside out. Second Corinthians 3 reminds us that the Christian life is a life of transformation. The more clearly we see Christ, the more our lives should begin to look like Him.

2 Corinthians 2. Day 169 - The New Testament in a Year

Episode Notes:

Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2 (CSB)
Podcast Homepage: The New Testament in a Year
Bible Reading Plan: Navigators Bible Reading Plan
Contact Sean: (seanbailey1985@gmail.com)
Follow NTIY on Facebook: facebook.com/newtestamentinayear

In Today's Episode
Correction That Leads to Restoration. The Power of Forgiveness. The Aroma of Christ.

"For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." — 2 Corinthians 2:15

Second Corinthians 2 gives us a beautiful picture of what grace looks like when it is lived out in relationships. Paul had previously written some difficult words to the Corinthian church, and he makes it clear that his correction did not come from anger or a desire to hurt them. It came from love. Sometimes love requires difficult conversations. Biblical correction is never meant to tear someone down or prove that we are right. Its goal is repentance, restoration, and ultimately a closer walk with Christ.

Paul then urges the church to forgive and comfort a man who had apparently repented after being disciplined. The correction had accomplished its purpose, and now it was time for restoration. Paul warns that continued condemnation could overwhelm the man with grief and even give Satan an opportunity to divide the church. There is an important lesson here for us. When repentance is genuine, God's people should be eager to forgive. We cannot preach a gospel of grace while refusing to extend grace to someone who has turned from their sin. Forgiveness does not pretend that sin never happened, but it refuses to let that sin have the final word.

The chapter closes with one of Paul's most memorable pictures of the Christian life. He describes believers as "the fragrance of Christ." In the ancient world, a victorious king would return from battle in a triumphal procession accompanied by the smell of incense. Paul uses that picture to remind us that Christ is the victorious King, and our lives should carry the fragrance of knowing Him wherever we go. To some, the gospel will be welcomed as the aroma of life. To others, it will be rejected. Our responsibility is not to control how people respond but to faithfully represent Jesus. Second Corinthians 2 challenges us to love enough to correct, forgive enough to restore, and live in such a way that when people encounter us, they catch the unmistakable fragrance of Christ.