II Corinthians 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?
Once again Paul was directed to state that this was the third time he was coming to them. God is patient. He gave the Corinthians several opportunities to reconsider their present beliefs and to change them to be more consistent with beliefs that a true child of God will have.
The apostle Paul reminded the saints that he was not a part of a kangaroo court. False teachers do not care about God’s law. They misuse the Truth to try to gain the advantage they are looking for.
God decreed that there needed to be two or three witnesses to an accusation regarding the breaking of the law of God. Paul had not travelled alone. He had Titus and another companion with him. He had also left Titus in Corinth for a time.
The apostle Paul had full authority to deal in the way he was. He was functioning under God’s authority. In verse 2 he reminded them of his previous statements. He was being patient with them. However, if they did not want to listen and yield to the Lord Jesus Christ’s authority in their lives, he would expose them further when he came back. He reminded them of the fact that they were not ignorant of what the situation was. As we have noted many times in the past, sin cannot run rampant among God’s people. The lost are prone to sin. They cannot help themselves. They need to be saved first of all. Paul was not dealing with unrepentant sinners here. He was dealing with stubborn saints, who were reluctant to yield to the authority they had been bought by.
In salvation the repentant sinner is bought with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The curse of eternal death is removed from that person and they are given eternal life. They are given a new nature, and they have the capacity to please God. Their soul, which has been made alive in Christ, has the desire to please God. The flesh can fight against that, but it is not stronger than that soul that has been made alive through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
In verse 3 Paul again addressed the source of his authority. He was not a big man. He could easily be overpowered physically. However, he was coming to them as a servant of the true God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul had no power, physically, to make them change. However, in Christ he had all the authority needed. He would not whip them into shape. He would use a much more powerful tool. He would proclaim the Word of God to them and the Word of God is powerful in the life of a true child of God. It is powerful in the lost, in bringing conviction. However, the lost person can resist that Word until it is eternally too late. The saved person must submit to that authority. God has the power to shorten the life of a rebellious saint. God does not make empty threats. He wants to bless His children. Serving Him is the place of blessing.
In verse 4 Paul answered the accusations of the unbelieving Jews and the unbelieving Gentiles. They mocked Jesus at His trial and as He hung on that cross. They assumed He was weak and that is why He was hung there and died there. They did not realize that it took great strength for Jesus to resist the power He had available to Him, to avoid arrest and death. He chose to yield Himself to His Father’s will and thus subjected Himself to the whipping and mocking and ultimately the crucifixion.
He proved His power in rising from the dead three days later. In Christ, believers may seem weak to the lost. The lost will use force to protect their heresies. The saved are willing to be slandered, arrested, beaten, imprisoned, and killed for the sake of the Truth. They do not deny the Truth, regardless the cost.
New Evangelicalism and the ecumenical movement, compromise all the time. They change their message to suit the situation. They try to remain relevant, but they are becoming less and less relevant all the time. Even lost people recognize that those secular movements have nothing to offer. Some people will attend those meetings because they like the wild music, etc. However, they will also go to bars and dancehalls because they are all the same.
In verse 5 Paul needed to challenge the recipients as to their spiritual life. Were they saved or not? If they were saved, they needed to submit to their Master — the Lord Jesus Christ. That is not optional for the saved. The saved are not saved by works. However, once a person is saved, they are saved to serve God.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Lost people will fight against that. The New Evangelical camp will fight against that. However, true Christians may hesitate for a time, but if they are truly saved, they need to submit to God’s will.
Paul reminded them that Christ was in them unless they were reprobates. A reprobate was an unsaved person. Again, we see that the situation is quite clear. There is nothing grey or ambiguous about the Scriptures. It is the natural man that tries to make them confusing. It is Satan who tempted Eve and told her that God was not being honest with her. Adam and Eve both found out that God was completely honest, and the devil had tricked Eve and she convinced her husband to take of the forbidden fruit. Adam knew full well he should not take of that fruit. He ignored the facts and disobeyed the Truth and became a sinner and plunged all of God’s creation under the curse.
Salvation provides the means to live victorious in Christ. It does not promise absence of sickness and disease. It promises forgiveness of sins committed after salvation, when confession is made.
The Corinthians were a picture of the philosophies so common among professing Christians today. Those who want to follow the New Evangelical/ecumenical lies, need to prove from the Bible that they are going the right way. Of course they cannot do that, and that is why they use one of the many perversions, but even then they have to twist and turn things according to their own imaginations.
The wise person listens to God’s Word and submits to Him. That is the only way of blessing. Be sure you are living within the bounds of God’s blessings.
Pastor Bartel