Bible Study - 2 Corinthians Chapter 13
Bible Study - 2 Corinthians Chapter 13
| 1 This is the third time I am coming to you. Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. |
Paul begins by repeating that his next visit will be the third. The first was the nearly two years in which he established the church. The second was the one where he was verbally and unjustly attacked by one person, and the rest of the church stood by. This was followed by the severe letter. (Considering the criticism of the two scriptural letters that we have because they are scripture, I imagine how much stronger Paul's third letter to the Corinthians must have been to be considered the "severe letter" by comparison.) Next Paul quotes Deuteronomy 19:15, which is from the part of Deuteronomy concerning investigations and trials for crimes and sins. Jesus uses the same quote in Matthew 18:16 for the same purpose of confronting sin, except His instructions are for any Christian to confront a sinning brother, whereas Deuteronomy's instructions are for the judiciary. There are a variety of opinions why Paul quotes this scripture here. However, one thing is clear, Paul is further emphasizing the need to conducting church discipline by referring to the process and rules in scripture. This particular verse is a call for true justice and restraint, and not to rush to judgement on a single accusation. This seems particularly the case in light of Paul's call for restraint in church discipline in 2 Corinthians 2:6-7. Unfortunately, churches are terrible at church discipline. 99.5% of the time they do nothing, standing by while the bad actors destroy the church. And if they ever do get moving on it they roll right over people with no sense of justice or truth, declaring people guilty without due investigation. This section of Deuteronomy is particularly apt today as the cancel culture and corrupt judicial system violate this constantly. A single accuser with zero evidence can get a good person cancelled or convicted with no investigation or justice. I've often thought that implementing the verses that follow would do more to clean up our justice system and promote real justice than anything else. You see, if someone tries to get someone else punished and it is found that they made a false accusation, they get the punishment they intended for the other person. The purpose was to be a major deterrent to people misusing the judicial process to harm others. If prosecutors, police, and witnesses knew they could face the penalty they were trying to inflict on a perceived enemy, they would be much more reluctant to do so. It should be noted that this provision in Deuteronomy included the death penalty if that was the punishment for the falsely accused crime. |
| 2 I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone, | When Paul was there in person on his second visit he warned them to repent of their sins. And now while he is writing to them remotely, he is warning them again that he will not spare any sinner if he comes a third time. The whole church has been warned to clean up their own rooms of sin, and to clean up the house of the Lord. |
| 3 since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. |
If Paul returns for a third visit, the proof of Christ they are wanting to see will be in the form they do not want to see. That is the Christ who forcefully overturned the tables of the money changers and sellers of doves for sacrifices in the temple and drove them out with a whip. This was not Jesus losing His temper but was God incarnate taking a stand for righteousness, particularly in the place of worship. Paul is warning he will operate like Christ did. Part of the warning is a reminder of God's power. This is using the terms Paul has been using to argue for the correcting the focus off of men and onto God by repeatedly saying that he, Paul, is weakness and God is the source of power and strength. God has not been weak towards the Corinthian church, but through the gifts of the Spirit they have personally experienced Christ's power working through them. In other words, since they know Christ's power in their personal experience they ought to know how foolish it would be to choose to be on the wrong side of Him. |
| 4 For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you. |
Being crucified was not just a horrific means to torture someone to death. It was the most humiliating means of execution both in Roman and Jewish culture. Jesus humbled Himself and allowed Himself to be crucified, which to the world was weakness. However, this weakness was not due to a lack of power, but due to Jesus being the servant leader, the good shepherd who protects His flock no matter the cost to Himself. In doing so he performed the most powerful act ever, covering the sins of all humanity. And death itself was defeated as he was resurrected by the power of God. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we who are his disciples are weak yet will live with Him because of that same power will defeat death for us as well. This is the center point of the gospel. Paul reminds them of this as the reason and motivation for his point in the rest of the chapter and letter. |
| 5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test? |
Again, Paul is calling for the Corinthians to clean up their own mess, both individually and corporately as a church. This is how it should be rather than Paul as a parent doing it for them.
Examine yourselves could also be worded, use discernment to see if you really are Christians, that is, disciples of Christ. If we are His disciples, then Christ is in us, and we should be able to see that in ourselves and in others of the church. If we cannot see this, then we have failed the test. (Literally, we are unapproved, unqualified.) It is shameful if someone who knows us is surprised to find out we are Christians. An important point of this verse is that the Corinthians, partly due to the goading by the fake apostles, have been looking at Paul with a critical eye. This would be a good thing except the standard they are measuring Paul against is not Christ but a worldly pagan standard. Before we can judge another, we must judge ourselves and make sure we are right with God, using Christ as our standard for ourselves. Only then can we rightly judge others by the correct standard. |
| 6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test. |
Paul is a true apostle of Christ and he and his team have passed the test. In essence, Paul is saying his credentials as an apostle are open for their examination. Implied is that they should do so, and also examine the credentials of the fake apostles. What the Corinthians should have realized is that if Paul fails to be a true apostle of Christ, then they fail to be a true church of Christ. Paul was their founder and teacher. If he is wrong, so are they. Without realizing it, they were condemning themselves in more than one way. |
| 7 Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. |
Paul shared the content of his prayers for them. This was both as another means of preaching, and as a call for them to add their prayers to his. Sharing what we are praying about, (when it doesn't break a confidence shared in private,) is a good practice for Christians. The motivation for Paul's prayers is not selfish. Whether he has the appearance of being approved or not, he is praying that they will do right for their own sake. The point of praying that they do no wrong is so they will be right with God. |
| 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. | This is a direct stab at the false apostles peddling a false gospel. Paul and his team can only teach, work for, and live by the truth which is the true gospel of Christ. They cannot go against the truth like the false apostles. Paul's hopes and warnings about a third visit to Corinth are dependent on the Corinthians themselves. If they turn away from lies and deception and toward the truth, then Paul can visit in joy. If they do not then Paul's visit will be a harsh one. Either way, Paul will serve the truth. |
| Verses 9-10 are a summary of chapters 10-13. | |
| 9 For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete. |
Paul continues to flip the meaning of weakness and strength from the pagan and false apostle definitions. Paul's definition of Jesus' weakness in crucifixion is the strength of those who follow Him. In human weakness God's power is most clearly shown. Some translations use "improvement" for katartisin, but this is not an accurate rendering. Others use "restoration", which is much closer but does not convey the meaning as well as "completion". The concept here is "put in the proper condition". In essence, Paul is praying for the repair and restoration of what was broken in the Corinthian church to a fully complete state. This state is not just "like new" as in a glued vase, because that still has cracks showing. It is a state that is indistinguishable from that which was never broken. |
| 10 For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down. |
This is the conclusion of chapters 10-13. The purpose of these chapters is a correction and a warning. It is a call for the Corinthians to clean up their own house so Paul doesn't have to do it like a parent coming home and finding things requiring severe discipline. However, Paul makes it clear is is willing and able to do so if they leave him no choice. While Paul states plainly that the authority given him by the Lord is for the building up of the churches and not tearing them down, this does not exclude tearing down false teachings, false teachers, and even false churches. Ultimately, Paul is clear that tearing down such things is actually to build up the church. Failing to confront and remove evil in the midst of a church is to tear it down. We don't have clear writing as to how Paul's third visit went. However, there is evidence that Paul did visit, and while there wrote the epistle to the Romans. In Romans Paul's concern is for the future rather than the present, and there is no appeal for prayer for them. And his missionary plans were to push westward to Rome and Spain, which seems unlikely if the Corinthian church was still a mess. So whether he had to be the disciplinarian on his arrival or the joyful apostle, it seems at that time the Corinthians were in right relationship with God and Paul. However, non-scriptural writings make it clear that some time after Paul was in prison in Rome, or after his execution, the Corinthian church again turned away from Christ and the gospel. It seems that things were so much worse than before that those who stuck with the truth had to separate from a "church gone wild" and seek Christ separately. |
| Verses 11-14 are the benediction of 2 Corinthians. | |
| 11 Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. |
This is a call to be righteous, and in that way to live in unity. Some leave off the righteous part. But that is the first condition of this verse, be made complete, which is to be fully mended. There can be no unity with unrighteousness and sin. The next is to be comforted. This word in Greek means to urge and to exhort. In other words, we are to encourage each other as Christians. Then comes two calls for unity. However, it bears repeating that sin and truth cannot be "like-minded". Righteousness cannot "live in peace" with evil. Once those preconditions are met, then God will be with us. It is an important point that there are conditions for God to be with us. This verse contradicts the frauds that are the prosperity preachers of today that say silly and anti-biblical things like, "God loves you just the way you are." Scripture makes it clear that God loves us despite the way we are. Not to mention scripture makes it clear the way we are needs to change to be more like Christ. Being a Christian is conditional. Universalism is plainly contradicted by scripture. |
| 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. |
In the culture of this time a kiss was used as a greeting and as part of the rituals of governance both civil and when dealing with royalty. It is very likely that outside of family members this was not done between men and women. The equivalent in our culture is the bro-hug. The term "holy kiss" may have indicated that the practice of kissing had become part of religious practice much like the handshake has become part of corporate culture in greeting and when giving out accolades and awards. It is almost certain this was already a common practice in the Corinthian church, and Greek churches in general. It is likely that Paul's application of the "holy" label was to ensure that this was not an empty gesture, but that it was done with real Christian brotherly love. |
| 13 All the saints greet you. |
Some translations put verse 13 as the end of verse 12 instead of it being a separate verse. Saint is the same as Christian. The two words are interchangeable in the New Testament. It does not mean a special class of Christian above the others as later denominations added, like the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. Who specifically Paul is referring to is not clear. It could be the Christians of the church he was writing from, most likely Philippi. Or it could just be the members of his team. But it could also be a reminder that the Corinthian church is part of the Christian church as a whole, including the churches in Macedonia, Jerusalem and elsewhere. |
| 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. |
Paul usually signs off his letters with "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ". This letter ends with a distinctly trinitarian benediction. This may just be an additional opportunity to teach the trinity. But it also may be that this was one last counter to the false apostles from Jerusalem in emphasizing the trinity, which was a concept Jewish fake Christians have difficulty with. He also finishes with "be with you all", where he normally does not add "all" to the end. Considering the issues going on in the Corinthian church, this addition is probably to emphasize that everyone, even those that have been critical of Paul, are included in his blessing on the church. |
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.