2 Corinthians 9:13, commentary and pictures

The experiment of this ministration is the practical test and proof supplied when generous ministry that meets need is experienced by those who receive it, and professed subjection to the gospel is professed obedience and submission to Christ and His message, while liberal distribution is generous sharing both with fellow believers and with all beyond them.
It belongs to Paul's appeal to the brethren at Corinth to kindle their zeal to contribute for the poor saints and the necessity of the church at Jerusalem, holding up the willingness of the churches in Macedonia who gave beyond their means to stir benevolent action.
Generous giving and service that supplies need demonstrates and proves willing submission and obedience to the gospel and gives visible evidence that profession of faith is genuine, and those who receive such help glorify God for that obedience and generosity with many thanksgivings abounding to God and with prayer for the givers and longing after them because of the exceeding grace seen in them.
This exercise of practical love counterworks selfishness, self-indulgence and selfish ambition, draws churches nearer together in Christian unity and strengthens brotherhood, completes Christian character with tangible evidence of sincerity, and by relieving the poor and oppressed awakens thanksgiving and praise that flows back to God and can open hearts to receive spiritual truth.
It therefore requires returning God's entrusted means through willing gifts and self-denial to sustain the proclamation of truth and the saving of souls and to relieve suffering and break every yoke of oppression, with cheerful givers receiving grace and sufficiency to abound in every good work and reaping bountifully as they sow bountifully.

Words and Historical Setting

The phrase about the test provided by this ministry means the practical trial and proof that appears when generous service that supplies need is actually experienced by those who receive it. By that proof those who are helped glorify God for the givers’ professed obedience to the gospel of Christ and for generous sharing with them and with all people, so that the wants of the saints are supplied, many thanksgivings abound to God, and the receivers pray for the givers and long after them because of the exceeding grace of God seen in them. The practical test of the ministry is therefore that it leads people to glorify God, while the recipients’ own generous giving demonstrates their professed submission and supplies the needs of others.

Professed subjection to the gospel of Christ is professed obedience and submission to Christ and His message, made visible in generous Christian service as evidence of that obedience. Liberal distribution to them and to all men is generous sharing both with fellow believers and saints in need and with others beyond them. Meeting physical and temporal needs in this way can also open hearts to receive spiritual truth, since help is given not only through preaching but also by relieving temporal want.

The verse belongs to Paul’s appeal to the brethren at Corinth to kindle their zeal and stir them to benevolent action by making a contribution for the poor saints and the necessity of the church at Jerusalem. He held up before them the example of the churches in Macedonia to inspire them, and the teaching of chapters eight and nine together is a call to a liberal spirit like the willingness of the Macedonians to give beyond their means, so that needed work in unentered fields can advance. Such benevolence that advances the kingdom and sustains every good work springs from appreciation of the rich endowment of God’s gifts, completes Christian character, returns to God His due as fruit from His vineyard, counterworks selfishness and self-indulgence, and gives tangible evidence in deeds of love of the sincerity of faith. Giving is not laid as a command but is drawn out by setting forth need and presenting the example of others who gave with fewer advantages and less ability.

The surrounding passage in 9:10-15 teaches that God gives people their abilities and brings success and increase to the work. The Lord gives the increase, so no worker should take the glory to himself. His servants should share the work according to their gifts rather than leave its burdens to one person.

Proof and Fruit of Giving

Generous giving and practical service that meets need demonstrates and proves willing submission and obedience to the gospel of Christ, giving visible evidence that profession of faith is genuine. This ministry supplies the needs of the saints and displays openhanded generosity toward them and toward others, and its liberal distribution confirms the givers’ faithfulness.

Those who receive such help glorify God for the givers’ obedience and generosity, with many thanksgivings abounding to God. Their gratitude and prayers testify to faithfulness and to God’s grace at work, and they pray for the givers and long after them because of the exceeding grace of God seen in them. Believers acting as Christ would act, as stewards of the grace of God handling the Lord’s money and strengthened by rich grace day by day to understand His will and be faithful in least and great, reflect back God’s benevolence in praise and deeds of mercy, and the impression thus made supplies want and proves professed subjection. When a prosperous institution restricts its own wants and sends help to a less prosperous branch, that ministration strengthens the bonds of brotherhood in God’s family and closes the door to selfish ambition, jealousy, and centering all means and power in one place.

Kindness that relieves the poor and oppressed deepens love for God and awakens thanksgiving and praise in the hearts of the needy that flows back to God. Angels join the songs of praise from human lips that glorify God. Relieving need in this way proves obedience to the gospel and leads those helped to glorify God for generous sharing.

This exercise of practical love cures selfishness, self-indulgence, selfish ambition and jealousy, draws the churches nearer together in Christian unity, and strengthens brotherhood. It increases love to God and faith in God, completes Christian character, and gives the very best tangible evidence in deeds of love of the sincerity of faith. By meeting physical needs it can open hearts to receive spiritual truth, and those helped give thank offerings because God has bestowed the grace of benevolence on the brethren and has not forgotten those in distress, leading them to commit soul and body to Him as a faithful Creator. Such liberality is a work of the Holy Spirit and a grace believers receive and share, not depending on wealth or education, while withholding generosity leaves a Christian incomplete.

Such giving expresses stewardship of God’s grace and the Lord’s money and appreciation of the rich endowment of God’s gifts, returning to God His due as fruit from His vineyard. It is drawn out by setting forth need and presenting the example of others who gave with fewer advantages and less ability rather than laid as a command. It is to be every man according as he purposeth in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for the Lord loveth a cheerful giver, with sowing beside all waters meaning continual imparting of gifts received from God in word and deed in the simplicity of Christ. God is able to make all grace abound with sufficiency for every good work, so that as believers impart grace they receive it more abundantly, the Lord enriching in every good work through heaven’s light shining into the heart and grace constantly imparted. Property is a trust from God to advance the work of saving souls, with bountiful sowing bringing bountiful reaping, and the whole chapter is a practical lesson in acknowledging God as Giver to whom account must be given, bringing the will into conformity to the will of God, refusing the world’s habits and extravagance, and spending with an eye single to God’s glory for greatest benefit to fellow men.

Calls to Generous Action

The verse calls for returning means entrusted by God through willing gifts and offerings to supply the needs of His work. Such giving involves self-denial and sustains the proclamation of present truth for that time, and when the need of the work is seen under the moving of the Holy Spirit, believers deny themselves and contribute. Property is a trust from God, and giving it to advance the saving of souls is service to Him, with the rule of sowing and reaping applied to financial support so that those who sow bountifully reap bountifully. Cheerful givers receive grace and sufficiency to abound in every good work.

Liberal distribution that proves subjection to the gospel advances the kingdom and sustains every good work both by financial help for the cause and by personal attention to relieve suffering and break every yoke of oppression that comes under notice. Zeal for the cause never justifies neglecting the pressing necessities of brethren, for the cause of God is the cause of the oppressed and the poor, and rightly representing Christ before the world demands feeding the hungry and caring for the sheep. Help is therefore to be given not only by preaching but also by meeting temporal needs. Sowing beside all waters means continual imparting of gifts received from God in word and deed in the simplicity of Christ, talking the truth and praying the truth, with the light of heaven in the heart and grace constantly imparted so that God enriches unto abundance for every good work as each purposes in the heart not grudgingly or of necessity.

Prosperous believers and institutions glorify God when they restrict their own wants, cease spending God's money on things that can be done without and on selfish gratification and extravagance, and by self-denial place that means in God's treasury for missionary need. When a prosperous branch sends help to a less prosperous branch, want is supplied, many thanksgivings to God are produced, prayer and affection are drawn out for the givers because of the grace seen in them, the bonds of brotherhood are strengthened, and the door is closed to selfish ambition and jealousy and to centering all means and power in one place. All are to do something to fill the gap when the work is in debt, so that indebted institutions such as those in Scandinavia can stand in freedom, and those who give in this way feel it only as receiving the blessing of God. The same call to abound in good work applies to loving service such as helping free the Colorado Sanitarium from debt so it can better serve the sick and bless the world.

Opportunity to take hold and give is to be given to the many who are ready to deny themselves, since meeting need by large donations from a few deprives them of the rich blessing that flows in upon God's people through self-denial and self-sacrifice. Devoting means to God together with giving self to His service proves subjection to the gospel even in deep poverty and hard times, as when poor believers give from daily labor to build a humble church where they can assemble to worship God and let their light shine to others. Willing sharing of what one has to meet a need honors God, and a timely gift for building a house of worship is an answer to prayer and cause for gratitude to God whose Spirit moved the givers.

Liberal distribution to the destitute Southern Field is the proof of professed subjection to the gospel, and chapters eight and nine together are to be studied and kept ever before the churches for that work. A hard field is no excuse for doing scarcely anything in it, and the Lord is not pleased with its neglect. The wrong is increased when the entire profits of books that should have been used in that destitute field are diverted by deception to fields that have had much better advantages in every way, and that neglect will be met in the judgment. What is required is more than beginning where work ought to have begun years ago, with restitution of means diverted from the field, since the design originated with God and the facilities were His from His treasury, and He will reward according to neglect of His purposes and His specified methods.