For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced. (II Corinthians 12:20-21)
When Paul first went to Corinth, he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. (Acts 18:11) After a few years of visiting other churches in other regions, he departed to go to Macedonia. Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece [Corinth] and stayed three months. (Acts 20:1-3) Paul had concluded his first letter to the church in Corinth stating, Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia). And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. (I Corinthians 16:5-7)
However, after getting a report from Timothy and Titus after his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul began his second letter by saying, Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. (II Corinthians 1:23) But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. (II Corinthians 2:1, 3-4)
All wasn't wrong with the church in Corinth, because Paul had praised them for many things throughout both of his letters. But he was very concerned about some behaviors that had continued among a few of the members and especially how some had allowed false teachers to come in and corrupt the teaching of the Word of God. Regardless, he still desired to return to the church. This is the third time I am coming to visit you (and as the Scriptures say, “The facts of every case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” [Deuteronomy 19:15]). I have already warned those who had been sinning when I was there on my second visit. Now I again warn them and all others, just as I did before, that next time I will not spare them. (II Corinthians 13:1-2 NLT)
There must come a time when, if a member of the body of Christ refuses to act Christ-like, that we who are also of the body of Christ must finally stop warning them and discipline them sternly; but first we must judge ourselves to make sure we are living our lives obedient to the Word of God. Then, we can deal with others disobedience in the way God instructs, as Paul clarified previously. I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” (I Corinthians 5:9-13)
We just have to remember the purpose of such harsh discipline is not to keep the person down, but for edification, to help them realize that they need to repent and start being obedient to the Word of God. But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. (II Corinthians 2:5-9)
I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak when he deals with you; he is powerful among you. Although he was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God. We, too, are weak, just as Christ was, but when we deal with you we will be alive with him and will have God’s power. (II Corinthians 13:3-4 NLT) Our authority to deal with disobedience among believers is given to us by God through our faith in Christ Jesus and His Word. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17) We should never try to deal with issues in the body of Christ based on what we think or feel, but only by what the Word of God says.
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority. (II Corinthians 13:5-6 NLT) We have to be sure we are what we profess to be before we can presume to help others deal with their spiritual issues. For Jesus said, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:37-38)
We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature. I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down. (II Corinthians 13:7-10 NLT)
Paul and the other apostles authority was given to them by God. Remember when Jesus prayed for them, and all of us who would be ordained by God through His Holy Spirit to lead and teach others, He said, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth." (John 17:17-19) We have to make sure our lives line up with the Word of God, and then we use the same Word of God to teach, reproof, correct and instruct in righteousness. The majority may not agree with the Truth, but they cannot oppose the truth, and we must always stand for the truth! God's Word is Truth!
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet each other with Christian love. All of God’s people here send you their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (II Corinthians 13:11-14 NLT) AMEN!
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