Paul's Thorn In The Flesh

"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

What was Paul's thorn in the flesh? I have heard some say it was a physical infirmity but I have also heard people say it was some sort of struggling with sin. I feel this problem was Paul's eyesight. Now before you disagree with this assessment let's go through and see if we cannot support this claim. I understand that this is speculative as I feel the other side is speculative, however, I have heard people use this reference as a crutch in supporting their own misconduct. So needless to say it is very important how one interprets this passage of scripture in either living a defeated life in sin or a victorious one over sin. First we will discuss Paul's blinding experience.

I will start with the road to Damascus, Acts 9:3,8&9 state,"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:...And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Notice that this light was so bright that Paul was instantly blinded, he had to have help getting back to Damascus. Now God sent a fellow brother to lay hands on Paul so that he could receive his sight back, Acts 9:17&18 states, "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." Ok so he was healed right? It appears to a degree he was. Notice the Bible says "immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales."
Remember when Paul back-talked the high priest? Acts 23:2-5,"At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck! Those who were standing near Paul said, You dare to insult God's high priest? Paul replied, Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' Now notice with me that Paul didn't even recognize the high priest, he even said "brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest"! By what I understand, the high priest wears attire that distinguishes between him and the others in the group, so for Paul not to see him suggests bad eye sight! Also in Galatians 4:15 Paul says, "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me." So now we have Paul admitting himself that he has an eye sight problem that bugged him enough to mention it to this church. We also have Galatians 6:11, "See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!" So it is clear it appears he had a problem with his eye sight.

Ok, now for the reason I believe this was the "thorn" in Paul's flesh and not a sin. Notice how Paul says, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Now correct me if I am wrong but if he was struggling falling to a sin in his life I believe I could properly render this verse as "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my sin, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Wait a minute! The same Jesus who said in John 5:14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee." Ok now this doesn't sound quite right, could Paul actually boast in his sin? If that wasn't enough look at what Jesus said to Paul,"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " So could I render this verse, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in sin."? Would Jesus tell one man in the temple, "go and sin no more lest something worse befall you." and then turn around and tell Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in sin."? NO WAY! This violates the scripture that tells us to not quench the Spirit and quenching the Spirit is to sin, 1 Thessolonians 5:19 "Do not put out the Spirit's fire;" We know that when we walk in the flesh it actually puts out the Spirit's fire in our lives and when the Spirit is not flowing in our lives this keep's us from being effective!

So what about the "Messenger of Satan to buffet/torment me" part? Can you imagine healing people just by praying over cloths just because they touched them? Can you imagine seeing the power of God demonstrated through you to others in that magnitude and all you want is to be healed with that same power you are exercising over other people? This is where alot of heavy speculation comes in but this is my take on it, the demon was trying to effect Paul's faith. I can hear the mocks and jeers now going through Paul's mind, "God uses you to heal others but you are not worthy enough to receive it yourself! You think God is with you? Then why won't he heal your eyes Paul?" So what did this cause Paul to do (in my opinion)? It caused him to fall face down and ask God not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES to take his infirmity away from him. I am not saying that my assessment is gospel, but this torment sounds oh so familiar in regards to Jesus dying on the cross. Matthew 27:42, "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." I will forever maintain that Paul was not talking about gross misconduct being the thorn in his flesh or how else would he have been able to call out sin in the churches in good conscience? Do not take my word for it, pray over these issues and research them.

Finally, the reason I feel this passage is so important to understand is because I have heard believers use this saying of Paul to support settling with their own personal sin. We are to appropropriate Jesus word and what will happened? John 8:32 "The truth shall make you free!" We are not just saved in theory! That same power that rose Jesus from the dead not only has the power to save you but also to set you free from what makes you a slave. 1 John 3:8 says Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil! "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." Now please do not hear me wrong! We will all stumble on occasion but it must be immediately taken in repentance to the cross, not this settling attitude that says, "Well Paul had sin so I might as well give into it when it beckons me." This is a scary attitude and will lead to a complacent attitude towards sin, which leads to perpetuated sin, which leads to death. When we sin it should genuinely be a blindsiding event, if you fall GET UP! But do not say you are bound to fall to that exact same sin your whole life, that is a defeated attitude and may prove true in your life! So fight! (See devotional, Rhema Resistance) There is a difference between stumbling and fighting verses stumbling and accepting and please never let Satan convince you otherwise! Thank you for your love and support brothers and sisters! Let's stop using crutches and fight!
Sincerely,
Chris Goff