Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Corinthians
Chapter 12: My Grace Is Sufficient for Thee
2 Corinthians 12 holds the treasure of the whole letter: strength perfected in weakness. Paul tells, reluctantly and in the third person, of being 'caught up into paradise' and hearing 'unspeakable words.' Yet lest such revelations exalt him, 'there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.' Three times he begged the Lord to remove it, and received an answer greater than removal: 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' So Paul learns to 'glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me,' and to say, 'when I am weak, then am I strong.' As a true father to the church, he will 'very gladly spend and be spent for you,' seeking 'not yours, but you,' even while fearing he may find sin unrepented among them. The chapter shows us the sufficiency of grace, the power of Christ perfected in our weakness, and the self-spending love of a true shepherd.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Corinthians chapter 12. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Paul learns that grace is sufficient and Christ's strength is perfected in weakness, and pours himself out as a father for the church he loves. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Caught Up Into Paradise
Paul was granted visions and revelations of the Lord.
A Thorn in the Flesh
A messenger of Satan to keep him from being exalted.
My Grace Is Sufficient
Christ's strength is made perfect in weakness.
Spend and Be Spent
Paul gladly spends himself for the church he loves.
My Strength Is Made Perfect in Weakness (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)
Given a thorn to keep him humble, Paul finds that Christ's grace is sufficient and His power is perfected in weakness.
When I Am Weak, Then Am I Strong
"It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
Word Study
"is sufficient," Greek arkeo (ἀρκέω). The word means to be enough, to suffice, to be adequate; and in the middle voice, to be content. The Lord answered Paul's threefold prayer, "My grace is sufficient for thee." The grace of Christ is arkeo, enough, adequate for every need, never exhausted, never falling short. Paul had asked for the thorn to be removed; Christ gave him something better than removal, grace enough to bear it, and His strength perfected in the weakness. Notice the tense of the promise: grace "is" sufficient, a present, standing reality, always available. This is the answer to every unremoved thorn: God may not take away the trial, but His grace is always enough to sustain us in it, and in that very weakness His power is displayed. So the believer learns not merely to endure but to glory in weakness, "that the power of Christ may rest upon me." The grace of the Lord Jesus is sufficient, always and for everything, and it is often in our weakness, not our strength, that we prove it so.
Explanation
Paul reluctantly tells of being "caught up to the third heaven," into "paradise," hearing "unspeakable words." Yet lest such revelations puff him up, "there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me." Three times he begged for its removal, and God's answer became the treasure of his life: "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." So Paul learned to "glory in [his] infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me," embracing the paradox that governs the gospel: "when I am weak, then am I strong." God's unremoved thorns become the vessels of His sufficient grace.
Gospel Focus
Reluctantly, Paul mentions his extraordinary experience: "caught up to the third heaven... into paradise," where he "heard unspeakable words." He speaks of it in the third person ("I knew a man in Christ"), refusing to boast, and will not even trade on it, "lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be." Then he tells of the counterweight God gave him: "lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me." What the thorn was, Paul does not say, perhaps a physical affliction, perhaps persecution, but it was painful and persistent, a tool of Satan yet permitted by God for a good purpose: to keep Paul humble. Naturally, Paul prayed for its removal: "I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." But the answer was not the one he asked for, and it was better: "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Christ did not remove the thorn; He promised grace enough to bear it, and revealed a deep principle: His power is displayed most fully not in our strength but in our weakness. A weak, dependent vessel shows the strength to be God's, not its own. So Paul's whole attitude is transformed: "most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." He no longer merely endures his weaknesses but welcomes them, because they are the place where Christ's power rests. "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake." And he sums it in a glorious paradox: "when I am weak, then am I strong." This is the heart of the Christian life: not the removal of every trial, but grace sufficient to bear it; not our own strength, but the power of Christ perfected in our weakness. The unremoved thorn becomes the very place where His grace and power are most fully known.
I Will Very Gladly Spend and Be Spent for You (2 Corinthians 12:11-21)
As a true father, Paul pours himself out for the church, seeking not their money but them, and fears finding unrepented sin.
I Seek Not Yours, but You
"I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps? Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed."
Word Study
"be spent," Greek ekdapanao (ἐκδαπανάω). The word means to spend utterly, to expend completely, to use up entirely, as one exhausts a purse to the last coin. "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you." Paul does not merely say he will spend his resources; he will "be spent" himself, poured out and used up entirely for the good of the church. This is the heart of a true shepherd, and it mirrors his Lord, who spent Himself wholly for us. And note the spirit: "very gladly," even though "the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." Paul will pour himself out for people who love him less in return, seeking "not yours, but you", not their money but their souls, as a father spends himself for his children, not the reverse. This is the opposite of the false teachers, who sought gain from the church; Paul seeks only to give, to be ekdapanao, spent utterly, for those he loves. Such is the love of Christ reproduced in His servant: not to be served but to serve, not to get but to give, gladly spending and being spent for the beloved.
Explanation
Paul notes that "the signs of an apostle" were done among them, yet his love asks nothing for himself: "I seek not yours, but you," gladly to "spend and be spent" for their souls, "though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." His concern as he prepares to visit is not his own reputation but their holiness — he fears finding "debates, envyings, wraths, strifes" and unrepented sin, and having to mourn over many. The heart of a true shepherd is here: he pours himself out for a people whose love falls short of his, and grieves more over their sin than over their coldness toward him.
Gospel Focus
Paul closes his reluctant boasting with a rebuke wrapped in love: "I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me." The Corinthians should have defended him, for he was "in nothing behind the very chiefest apostles," and "the signs of an apostle were wrought among you," "signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds," done "in all patience." The only way they were treated worse than other churches, he says with gentle irony, was that he refused to burden them financially, "forgive me this wrong." Then he opens his father's heart. He will come again and still not be a burden, "for I seek not yours, but you," for "the parents" lay up "for the children," not the reverse. And he makes the great declaration of a shepherd's love: "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." Paul will pour himself out completely for people whose love for him is cooling, because that is what a true father does. He answers the slander that he was secretly making profit through Titus and the brethren, "did Titus make a gain of you?", by pointing to their consistent integrity: "walked we not in the same spirit?" And he clarifies his whole aim: not self-defense, "we speak before God in Christ," but "for your edifying," their building up. Yet he ends with a father's fear and grief: "lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would," but torn by "debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings," and, worse, that he will "bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed." Paul's love is not soft toward sin; the same heart that spends itself for them grieves over their unrepented sin and warns of coming discipline. This is the shepherd's love in full: pouring itself out gladly for the flock, seeking them and not their goods, laboring for their edification, and grieving with holy sorrow over sin, longing for their repentance. It is the love of Christ, who spent Himself utterly for us, at work in His servant.
Chapter 12 in Review
2 Corinthians 12 holds the letter's central treasure: strength perfected in weakness. Caught up into "paradise" yet given "a thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble, Paul begged the Lord three times to remove it and received a greater answer: "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." So he learns to "glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me," and to say, "when I am weak, then am I strong." As a true father, he will "very gladly spend and be spent for you," seeking "not yours, but you," laboring "for your edifying," even while fearing he may find among them sin unrepented, and grieving over it.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter answers the deepest question of the suffering believer: why does God not always remove the thorn? Because His grace is sufficient to bear it, and because His power is displayed most fully in our weakness, not our strength. The unremoved thorn is not the absence of God's care but the arena of His grace, where the power of Christ rests upon a weak and dependent vessel. So we learn, with Paul, not merely to endure our weaknesses but to glory in them, taking pleasure even in hardship for Christ's sake, because when we are weak, then we are strong in Him. And this chapter shows the love that such grace produces: a shepherd's heart that spends itself utterly for the people of God, seeking them and not their goods, pouring itself out even for those who love it little, yet never winking at sin but grieving over it in holy love. Rest in the sufficient grace of Christ, glory in the weakness where His power rests, and love the flock as He loved us, gladly spent for their good.
- The thorn was given to keep Paul from being "exalted above measure" (12:7).
- "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (12:9).
- Glory in weakness, "that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (12:9).
- "When I am weak, then am I strong" (12:10).
- A true shepherd will "spend and be spent," seeking "not yours, but you" (12:14-15).
- Love grieves over unrepented sin and longs for repentance (12:21).
Questions for Reflection
- Is there a "thorn" you have begged God to remove? Have you found His grace sufficient in it?
- Do you glory in your weaknesses as the place where Christ's power rests?
- Can you say with Paul, "when I am weak, then am I strong"?
- Do you love others enough to "spend and be spent," seeking them and not their goods?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Visions and the thorn in the flesh: 2 Corinthians 12:1-7; Acts 9:3-6; Galatians 4:13-14; Job 2:6-7. Sufficient grace; strength perfected in weakness: 2 Corinthians 12:8-10; 2 Corinthians 4:7; Philippians 4:13; Isaiah 40:29-31; 1 Corinthians 1:27-29. The signs of an apostle: 2 Corinthians 12:11-12; Romans 15:18-19; Hebrews 2:4; Acts 14:3. A shepherd who spends himself; grief over sin: 2 Corinthians 12:14-21; 1 Thessalonians 2:8; John 10:11; 1 Corinthians 4:14-15. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The thorn; sufficient grace; strength perfected in weakness: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Philippians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 4:7.
- The signs of an apostle: 2 Corinthians 12:11-13; Romans 15:18-19; Hebrews 2:4.
- A shepherd who spends and is spent; grief over sin: 2 Corinthians 12:14-21; 1 Thessalonians 2:8; John 10:11.