2 Corinthians 13:2 Commentary and Bible Study

‘If I come again, I will not spare’ – in other words, he will come with apostolic discipline and he will reprove the false teachers and he will order the church to expel them. What do we draw from this? Well, the health of the church of Corinth, by and large. It’s not true that this church was a hot bed of immorality, false doctrine and squabbling. This was a problem for a minority, but the majority were willing to obey the apostle and one of the proofs of this is the fact that there is no question that when he comes, the majority of the people will heed his discipline. He is going to be able to walk into that church when he returns, convene a proper disciplinary process and order that certain people are put out. Now that couldn’t possibly be the case, if the church was in turmoil, if the majority of the people in the church had lost faith in the apostle and in the Lord, and were given over to immorality. There will be much unhappiness because they will feel so guilty and so bad about it, but they will perfectly well accept his strictures and the casting out of those who have done wrong. So this is another piece of evidence of the general soundness and acceptance of the apostolic word in Corinth.‘Since you question the authority with which I speak and whether Christ speaks in me,’ Paul says, ‘be careful that the proof you seek does not come in a most unwelcome form. The false teachers cast doubt on my apostleship, and some of you are too inclined to believe them, but Christ is not weak towards you but strong, both for building you up and for chastising you when you sin. Even if I am weak, Christ working through me is not weak as you will discover when I come if there is no repentance.’