13:1 ¶ This is the third time I am
coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established. 2 I told you before, and
foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I
write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again,
I will not spare: 3 Since ye seek a
proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in
you. 4 For though he was crucified
through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in
him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. 5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the
faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus
Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 6
But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
Paul likens his visits and letters to the Corinthians to
eyewitness testimony. He gives a warning to those who are still engaging in the
sins he has warned about. Apparently, some there keep questioning Paul’s
spiritual authority. He tells them to examine themselves, to be self-critical.
Do they have Christ in them? He assures them that he and his fellow-ministers
do.
As these letters and Paul’s visits are a testimony to convict the
Corinthians of sin so does the Bible serve that purpose as one of its uses. In
this regard it is like a mirror we look into and see our faults and our
weaknesses. In its characters and in its statements, it reflects us. If we are not too proud and
full of ourselves we can see how God can change us to reflect His will for our
lives and His purpose for us.
Reprobate is defined in Romans 1:28 and context as an attitude
that seeks to sin, to defy God. Reprobates
would imply unsaved persons and as in Titus 1:16 someone professing to know God
but in reality a hypocrite. In the only Old Testament reference in Jeremiah
6:30 it is like the refuse that comes from refining silver, the dross in other passages. It is rejected
silver. Just think of those with a false profession of faith that Jesus refers
to here;
Matthew 7:21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Or think of the false ones in the parable of the tares and the
wheat in Matthew 13. There were many people, even in those early days, who
worked at cross-purposes to God even while professing to be representing Him.
Paul had to deal with Judaizers of the Jews and Gnostics of the Gentiles.
13:7 ¶ Now I pray to God that ye
do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that
which is honest, though we be as reprobates. 8
For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are
strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. 10 Therefore I write these things being absent,
lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which
the Lord hath given me to
edification, and not to destruction.
Although this passage is self-explanatory I think it is
interesting how Paul reinforces that whether he be harsh or not it is for the
Corinthians’ edification not their destruction. This should remind us of the
purpose of God’s sometimes hard reality we face. He never wants us to fall but
to grow. Notice in the following verse that by its construction God never tests
anyone of his people with the intention to make us stumble, with malicious
intention.
James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
For tempting as testing see Revelation 3:10 and compare Genesis
22:1 with Hebrews 11:17.
13:11 ¶ Finally, brethren,
farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and
the God of love and peace shall be with you. 12
Greet one another with an holy kiss. 13
All the saints salute you. 14 The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. « The second epistle to
the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus
and Lucas. »
In this final goodbye to the Corinthian church Paul gives a clear
statement of what people call the Trinity, the three parts of God, although the
word itself is not in the Bible. Here in 14 it is listed as the Lord Jesus Christ, God, suggesting God
the Father, and the Holy Ghost.
In the following verse the Trinity is listed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:
Again, in the following verse it is listed as the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
1John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
By comparing the word substitution in these three verses we see
the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son and the Word by which all things were created
as well.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.2 The
same was in the beginning with God. 3
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that
was made.
There are many references to these three parts of the same God in
the Bible; Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 12:28, Luke 3:22, John 14:26, John 15:26,
Acts 1:4-5, Acts 2:33, Acts 10:38, and others. One of my favorites is Romans
8:9 which shows that Christ is God.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The references in the Old Testament are to the plural nature of
the Godhead which is in evidence even though God is one such as Genesis 1:26
and 11:7.
In Genesis we have the three parts of God; the Father, the Word by
which all things were created, and the Spirit, working together.
Genesis 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth. 2 And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
3 ¶ And God said, Let there be
light: and there was light.
This is the end of my discussion on Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.
I hope to revisit it again to look for the things I missed on this go-round.
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