2 Corinthians 13

KJV · Chapter 13/13

1This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

2I 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:

3Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.

4For 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.

5Examine 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?

6But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

7Now 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.

8For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

9For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.

10Therefore 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.

11Finally, 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.

12Greet one another with an holy kiss.

13All the saints salute you.

14The 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul announces his third visit to Corinth, warning that he will not hesitate to act firmly against those who persist in unrepentant sin. He asks the Corinthians themselves to examine whether their faith is genuine, and closes the letter with a blessing that would become one of the most widely used in Christian history.

Explanation

As he closes the letter, Paul takes on a final tone of serious warning, yet also of hope: he longs for the church to grow mature so that it will not need harsh correction when he arrives. The call to "examine yourselves" concerning the faith is an invitation to honest spiritual self-evaluation, checking whether Christ truly dwells and works in a person's life, rather than simply trusting in outward religious appearances. The closing trinitarian blessing — the grace of Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit — is one of the clearest early expressions of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament, uniting the three divine persons in a single formula of blessing. Today's practical application includes both a willingness for sincere spiritual self-examination and confidence in the grace, love, and fellowship that God continually offers to the church.

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