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2 Corinthians 6:1

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—
2 Corinthians 6:1 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Working together, we entreat also that you not receive the grace of God in vain,
  • KJV We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
  • BSB As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
  • NKJV We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
  • NLT As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

As God's coworkers, Paul urges the Corinthians not to let the grace they received be wasted. Received grace must bear fruit in genuine, persevering faith.

Overview

Working together with God (and as Christ's ambassadors from the previous chapter), Paul appeals to the Corinthians not to 'receive the grace of God in vain.' This is a pastoral warning against a profession of faith that produces no real transformation. True grace takes hold and changes a life.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Heb 12:15looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;
  • 1 Cor 3:9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.
  • 1 Pet 4:10As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.
  • 2 Cor 5:18–20But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;
  • Gal 2:21I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”
  • Rom 12:1Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
  • Gal 4:11–12I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.
  • Heb 12:25See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven,
  • 2 Cor 8:1–2Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia;
  • Gal 3:4Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain?
  • Acts 14:3Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
  • Matt 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
  • Titus 2:11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
  • 2 Cor 10:1Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ; I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.
  • Jer 8:8“‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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Commentaries & study tools

Christ at the center

In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.

How 2 Corinthians 6:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.