1  Their response was primarily to God's love

They could see that the measure of God's love for them was that He gave His only Son to die for them.  The Macedonian response to this was an overflowing joy, which welled up in rich generosity [verse 2].  They did not need to be coaxed or persuaded to give more - they just did it of their own free will [verse 3].

They were passionate in their response [verse 4].  The New Living Translation puts it this way: "they begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing..."

The Bible teacher, Clark Pinnock, wrote:

"This concern for the needy, this willingness to sacrifice one's own possessions did not arise (it seldom does) from a merely human resolution to be less selfish and more ethical.  It arose out of an encounter with the Spirit.  Perhaps the reason that today we are afraid to risk our property, to dig into our savings, to choose less lucrative careers, is that we are not really yielded to God, not really living in the full unhindered presence of the Spirit.  the love of God does not overflow in our hearts, and we fear that god is unable to take care of us."

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