2 Corinthians 13

(1)  This 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. The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.

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1. What is Paul’s warning at the close of this epistle? Verse 1.

2. How does Paul intend to deal with loose talk and reckless statements? Verse 1.

3. What do you know about “the second time” Paul was at Corinth? Verse 2.

4. What is Paul’s message to those who have sinned? Verse 2.

5. How is this verse an affirmation of apostolic inspiration and authority? Verse 3.

6. What did it mean to reject Paul’s authority? Verse 3.

7. How was Christ crucified through weakness and how did he live through or by the power of God? Verse 4.

8. How is Paul’s condition toward Corinth like that of Christ? Verse 4.

9. Since some of them had demanded proof of Paul’s apostleship, what does he now demand of them? Verse 5.

10. How would they know whether they were “in the faith” and whether Christ was in them? Verse 5.

11. How would anyone know whether or not someone is a reprobate?

12. What is a reprobate? Verse 6.

13. What was Paul’s prayer for those at Corinth? Verse 7.

14. Did Paul want the Corinthians to do that which is honorable so that he and his helpers should appear approved or for some other reason? Verse 7.

15. Why would Paul not ever use his apostolic powers to appear approved to his critics at Corinth? Verse 8.

16. When would Paul use apostolic powers? Verse 8.

17. When would those at Corinth be “strong” and when would Paul be “weak”? Verse 9.

18. What was Paul’s wish for those at Corinth? Verse 9.

19. What reason does Paul give for writing the things he does while absent from them? Verse 10.

20. What was Paul’s fear if he should some in person and find them in sin? Verse 10.

21. What is Paul’s fourfold appeal to the church at Corinth? What will happen if they follow Paul’s instructions? Verse 11.

22. Would a kiss, the customary form of greeting in Paul’s time, prove discipleship? How was this custom to be regulated? Verse 12.

23. Why didn’t Paul name individuals who sent greetings in this epistle as he did in the epistle to the Romans? Verse 13.

24. Although the Bible nowhere uses the term “trinity” to refer to the persons of the Godhead, what does this final benediction show about that? Verse 14.