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#5.
"In Him is the Yea, and through Him the Amen"
(II Cor. 1: 20).
pp. 181 - 183
In our last article we learnt the valuable lesson that the promise made to Abraham's
seed did not contemplate individuals as such, but regarded them collectively as "all one
in Christ Jesus". "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed" is the apostle's insistent
assertion.
It will not be a waste of time if we pursue this subject further and learn that not only
the promise to Abraham, but all the promises found in the Scriptures are to be enjoyed
only in and through Christ. A passage that makes this very clear is II Cor. 1: 20:--
"For all the promises of God in Him are Yea, and in Him Amen unto the glory of God
by us."
To appreciate this statement some acquaintance with the context is necessary, and
although it is not our intention in this series to go into detail or to attempt a systematic
exposition of the passages before us, the context of II Cor. 1: 20 is so involved that it
will be a saving of time if we can see the structure of the section even though it be shorn
of all detail. Elsewhere (see The Apostle of the Reconciliation, page 183) we have given
the structure of II Corinthians as a whole, from which we find as one complete member
II Cor. 1: 13 - 2: 13. As this member contains the verse under consideration we will give
its structure in the simplest outline:--
II Cor. 1: 13 - 2: 13.
A1 | 1: 13-16. I was minded to come to you that ye might have a second benefit.
B1 | 1: 17-22. Yea and Amen.
A1 | 1: 23. To spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
A2 | 2: 1. But I determined this with myself that
I would not come again to you in heaviness.
B2 | 2: 2-11. Punishment and forgiveness.
A2 | 2: 12, 13. I came to Troas . . . . . I went from thence to Macedonia.
It will be seen that both statement concerning the promises of God, and also the reason
advanced in "B2" arise out of the projected journey of Paul to Macedonia and his
promised visit to Corinth. Without discussing the readings of the different Greek texts, it
is necessary to point out the distinction between two related words used here, boulomai
and bouleuomai. The former conveys the idea of a wish, the latter more of a determined
purpose:--