2 Corinthians 13 • Stand for Truth and Obedience to Christ
Why is it necessary to lovingly confront someone you love about their sin? What is the goal of doing so? What happens if you ignore such lack of obedience to Christ and hope it will resolve itself? This is post #12 in the God-Dependent Woman blog series. In the last article, we learned how and why God’s grace is sufficient for every need so that His power can be made perfect in our weakness. In this post, we will let 2 Corinthians chapter 13 teach us to depend on Christ as we stand for truth and obedience to Him.
Overview of 2 Corinthians
Through this blog series covering the book of 2 Corinthians, we have seen how personal and messy it is. It is messy because it is full of emotions and experiences. It is like life—messy—because people are messy, relationships are messy, circumstances are messy, and community within the church is messy.
In the midst of our messy lives, God wants us to learn to rely on Him more than on ourselves. Throughout 2 Corinthians, we have seen examples of Paul relying on God as he:
- Made plans and submitted them to God to be changed
- Demonstrated his authority and submitted that to God
- Asked for healing and submitted to God’s answer
- Preached the gospel in one city as his heart wanted to be in another city, but he waited for God to say “go.”
That is dependent living.
We have learned together how the Lord Jesus Christ will transform our lives as His children by teaching us to live dependently on Him in weakness and in strength. This “dependent living” will lead us to become stronger and more effective in life by relying on God rather than on ourselves.
We learn to live in dependence as we act according to the Word of God, depend on Jesus Christ for the power to do so, and trust Him with the results.
Jesus is all we need to find the best way to live! That includes standing for truth and teaching others how to do what is right in God’s eyes.
Stand for Obedience to Christ
Continual sin without repentance
At the end of chapter 12, Paul
We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged. (2 Corinthians 12:20-21)
Paul had genuine concerns (fears) about his next visit to the church. Fear is a normal human emotion designed by God to alert us to danger so that we can take action against it. The danger is deliberate sin that continues to plague this community of believers in Corinth.
The phrase “God will humble me before you is explained in the rest of verse 21. Grieving over the failures of his spiritual children will bring him humiliation. The Corinthians’ failure to repent had embarrassed him on his former painful visit (2 Corinthians 2:1-4). The list of sins here reflects a church in turmoil. If allowed to continue, such behavior leads to destruction of the community and many lives.
For the biblical process to deal with recognized sin in your life, read “2 Corinthians 6:11-7:16 • Purify Yourself from Contamination.”
God’s power through spiritual authority
In chapter 13, Paul continues to talk about the need to deal with sinfulness in those who call themselves Christians.
I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you. (2 Corinthians 13:2-4)
Paul shares many things with the Corinthians. All of them are “in Christ.” Their identity in Christ is equal. But authority is different. Paul has authority over the Corinthian church because Christ gave Him that authority.
God’s power shown through His representatives includes the authority to judge sin and correct sinful behavior. Paul as an apostle has authority over them from Christ. He takes his authority and responsibility of servant-leadership in the church very seriously. Those who were rebelling against Paul were actually rebelling against Christ who appointed Paul as His apostle.
Christ is not only speaking through Paul (verse 3) but is also working in His power among the Corinthians through Paul and his team (verse 4). Paul will deal with their sinfulness through the power of Christ. They are guilty of not staying true to Christ (chapter 10). The Corinthian church, and every local church, belongs to Christ who can certainly discipline it.
Use authority properly
As Paul has mentioned several times, everything he writes to them in this letter and when he is present with them is for their strengthening. He used his authority to build them up, not tear them down (2 Corinthians 10:8; 13:10). Because of that, he needed to follow up on his warnings of correction and the consequences of their sinfulness. He chose not to just ignore the problem and hope it would go away. His approach to ministry was not, “Out of sight, out of mind.”
Paul had written this earlier in 2 Corinthians 11,
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 11:28-29)
He loved them. He felt their weakness. He hurt with their sin. He needed to undercut the strongholds of sin and corrupting influences among them. That led to his standing for truth so they could stand firm in obedience to Christ first and foremost for success and joy in life.
Stand for Truth
Examine yourself
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored. This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down. (2 Corinthians 13:5-10)
The Corinthians had been examining him. Now he turned the tables and challenged them to examine themselves—not for salvation but for obedience to the Lord.
Paul wanted the Corinthians to take a hard look at themselves with the expectation they would discover that Jesus Christ was truly in their lives and working in their midst. They would only fail the test if they had never trusted in Christ. As believers, they needed to remember the truth, “Christ Jesus is in you.” They were new creations in Christ with a purpose to represent Him well in their community.
Seek maturity
The Greek word translated “fully restored” in verse 9 carried the idea of “strengthening, perfecting, training to be completely ready to take on whatever is needed.” Other translations say “become mature” or “become complete.” The goal is to move forward in your transformation to become more like Jesus Christ and serve Him well. Seek maturity.
Paul did not care what others said about him as long as the truth he taught took hold in their lives. He wanted them to remain totally committed to Christ and depending on Him daily. Then, they would not be “blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14). They could recognize false teachers and stop following them. Their church community would be healthy again, enjoying the full benefits of being in Christ.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. … May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:11, 14)
A mature church community strives for restoration, encourages one another, lives in peace with one another while maintaining pure devotion to Christ. That is the one mind aspect. Such fellowship reflects the united work of the Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Believers can know firsthand the grace, the love, and the fellowship that freely flow to them from the three Persons of the one Lord God.
Pray for those you are discipling
Depend on the power of God to work in the hearts of those you are discipling.
Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. (2 Corinthians 13:7)
We teach. We mentor. But only God can work in the hearts of those we are discipling. It is not dependent on us doing everything right. Each person is responsible to God for their own obedience to Him. We can pray for our children and grandchildren to do what is right and not wrong even though we may have failed to prepare them for something. Isn’t it wonderful to trust Him and His work in their lives rather than thinking it all depends on us?
Do we pray as if everything depended on God or us?
Our last saying to evaluate is this, “Pray as if everything depended on God. Work as if everything depended on you.”
That one sounds good, doesn’t it? But is it really possible to work like it depends on you and pray like it depends on God? What happens? You start taking credit for the work you do. Or your efforts fail and you blame yourself for not working hard enough. Others may blame you for not working hard enough because failure is not an acceptable outcome in the human mind. This is especially true in the western world where we put so much pressure on standing on your own two feet and working zillions of hours on a project that is over in a day.
The two aspects of trusting God are this:
- The first one is that you must depend on Him as you step forward and do your part His way.
- The second aspect is that you must trust Him to do His part in the areas over which you have no control.
Getting back to our saying, it leaves out the trusting God while you are working to do your part His way. This saying is not good advice.
Reasons Why God Wants Us to Depend on Him More Than on Ourselves
We are called to dependent living. From our passage, here are some reasons why God wants us to depend on Him more than on ourselves:
- To live by God’s power to deal with people. (13:4)
- To gain assurance that you are in Christ by your faith in Him. (13:5)
- For our disciples to do what is right even though we may fail. (13:7)
- To stand for the truth. (13:8)
- To be fully restored/matured in pure devotion to Christ. (13:9)
- To be concerned for disciples’ growth more than your own personal reputation. (13:7, 9)
- To build others up and not tear them down. (13:10)
- To rejoice, mature, encourage others, be united, and live in peace with other believers. (13:11)
Jesus Christ Satisfies Your Thirsty Heart
If you have read my blogs, you have seen me say the Bible teaches that God has created every woman with a built-in spiritual thirst for a relationship with Him. This spiritual thirst is as real as physical thirst. But the way to have it satisfied is not as obvious.
Here’s the truth: A relationship with another human cannot satisfy that thirst. Only God can satisfy the thirsty heart. His plan to do that included coming to earth to take on a human body and live as a human among us. During His life, He demonstrated how much He loves and values women. This was revolutionary for His time and still is today. Hallelujah!
To see how and why Jesus is the one who not only understands women but is also the one who satisfies your heart, read, “New Testament Women: Trust Jesus to satisfy your heart needs.”
Jesus Christ satisfies your thirsty heart. That is why I end every podcast and blog with the words, “Let Jesus satisfy your heart with __________ (something).” Jesus satisfies your heart with the goodness of His love, with His truth, with hope, with joy, with the power of His presence, with His Spirit’s transforming power, and with confidence that you can depend on Him in every area of life. For (this God-Dependent Woman series, it is this:
Let Jesus satisfy your heart with confidence that you can depend on Him. Then, live each day as a God-dependent woman!
All of the above information is covered in The God-Dependent Woman Bible Study of 2 Corinthians.
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