2 Corinthians. Revised edition. By Colin G. Kruse. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2015. 287 pp. Paper, $18.00.

When I checked various Free Grace hotspots in this commentary on 2 Corinthians, I came away very impressed. This is an outstanding commentary that most JOTGES readers will find very helpful.

2 Corinthians 3:18. Excellent discussion (pp. 136–37). He says, “Paul’s idea of being changed into his [Christ’s] likeness from one degree of glory to another (v 18b) is better understood to occur while believers are beholding rather than reflecting the glory of God” (p. 136).

2 Corinthians 5:9–10. Kruse says that Paul is discussing rewards for service, not salvation (p. 162).

2 Corinthians 8:9. Super discussion of what it means that “He became poor…that you might become rich.”

2 Corinthians 13:5–7. Kruse says, “The result Paul expected from their self-examination was that they were certainly in the faith, and his purpose in urging them to do so was that they would conclude that the one who led them to faith in Christ must be a true apostle” (pp. 280–81). While that is not how I explain those verses, that interpretation is less problematic than many have of these verses.

2 Corinthians 7:10. This is the lone place where I had a major problem with the author’s view. He suggests, “Repentance itself is not the cause of salvation, rather God saves us and freely forgives our sins only when our repentance shows that we have renounced them” (p. 192). That sounds like doublespeak to me. However, this commentary is rarely like that.

Though it is not a Free Grace hotspot, I found I really liked his explanation of “Strive for full restoration” (“Be complete” in the NKJV) in 2 Cor 13:11.

I highly recommend this commentary.

Robert N. Wilkin

Associate Editor

Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society

Corinth, TX