2 Corinthians 13 KJV
Final Warnings and Greetings
2 Corinthians Chapter 13: Final Warnings and Greetings
The chapter's closing benediction (v.14) is the New Testament's most explicit Trinitarian formula, coordinating the distinct persons of Christ, God, and the Spirit in a single liturgical blessing that later shaped baptismal and creedal language.
1his 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.
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.
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.
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Did You Know?
The chapter's closing benediction (v.14) is the New Testament's most explicit Trinitarian formula, coordinating the distinct persons of Christ, God, and the Spirit in a single liturgical blessing that later shaped baptismal and creedal language.
Paul's citation of the 'two or three witnesses' rule (v.1) repurposes the Deuteronomic courtroom statute (Deut 19:15) to authorize apostolic discipline, transforming an Old Testament forensic principle into a mechanism for verifying charges within the Corinthian congregation.
Verse 8's assertion that 'we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth' articulates an ontological claim about apostolic power being constrained by divine reality itself, rather than by human authority or rhetorical success.
The self-examination imperative in v.5 employs the metallurgical term dokimazล, urging the Corinthians to apply the same assaying process used for precious metals to their own faith, thereby linking personal spiritual integrity to the chapter's broader theme of proven apostleship.
Paul's reference to his intended 'third' visit (v.1) functions as a deliberate inclusio with 2 Cor 12:14, framing the entire letter as a three-fold apostolic testimony that mirrors the very legal standard he invokes for judgment.