Download I. Paul is Hesitant to Come Again to Corinth, 12:19-21

2 Corinthians 12:19-13:4
The Third Coming
November 26, 2006
Introduction
No, these notes do not promote a heresy of the third coming of Christ! The title comes
from 13:1, where the apostle Paul says his next visit will be the third time he has come to
the Corinthian church (see also 12:14).
I. Paul is Hesitant to Come Again to Corinth, 12:19-21
Paul is now making a final wrap-up on the defense he has been offering, in which we
see that Paul is not merely defending himself as if he is irked that his name has been run
through the mud. His personal reputation is by far secondary to the apostolic office invested in him by Jesus Christ, and the authority that comes with it. His defense is of the Lord’s
work in and through him. He has made his whole appeal to the church “before God” and
“in Christ” with the purpose to build them up. Defending the apostolic ministry serves to
keep them on the straight and narrow path, saving them from being led astray by false
teachers. We glean from this that an important aspect of “doing church” is the edification
of the saints—that is, to fortify, build up, strengthen (Acts 9:31).
You can imagine the tension in the situation—the church has had problems for a long
time, the apostle Paul has written four times, traveled there twice, and things are still in
rough shape. Who wants to deal with problems? Well, some people have to. But there are
two reasons that Paul gives as to why he is hesitant to come. These are:
A. Paul Will Not Find the Corinthians in Acceptable Shape
The first reason Paul is hesitant to come is that the church might be in dire condition,
and he would rather not see it firsthand. The list in verse 20 contains all kinds of “people”
problems that really should not be in the church:

contentions – strife, discord, quarrels (Rom. 1:29, 1 Cor. 3:3)

jealousies – jealousies, party strife, factionalism (Acts 5:17, James 3:14-16)

outbursts of wrath – anger, rage (Rom. 2:8, Gal. 5:20)

selfish ambitions – rivalry, strife, factions (Rom. 2:8, Gal. 5:20 has all of these
first four items, Phil. 1:17)

backbitings – evil speech, slander, defamation (1 Peter 2:1)

whisperings – gossip, talebearing

conceits – puffed up, pride, arrogance

tumults – disturbances, disorder, unruliness, unrest (1 Cor. 14:33, James 3:16)
The list in verse 21 consists of primarily sexual sins. They are:

uncleanness – impurity, immorality, viciousness (Matt. 23:27, Rom. 1:24, Gal.
5:19)

fornication – unchastity, prostitution, immorality, any unlawful sexual intercourse (Acts 15:20, 1 Cor. 6:13)

lewdness – licentiousness, debauchery, sensuality (Rom. 13:13, 2 Peter 2:18)
Sandwiched between the first and second lists are three words that describe this sinful
behavior. First, these people had sinned before. They sinned and remained in a sinful lifestyle (perfect tense). Second, they did not repent. That is, they did not change their mind
with regard to sin. Third, they practiced the sins. These were not just one-time sins. The
whole sentence emphasizes how they lived in sin! Granted this was just a subset of the
Corinthian church—but still!
The really scary thing here is that a true believer has changed his mind with respect to
sin (Acts 11:18, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20). Furthermore, a true believer does not practice unrighteousness (1 John 3:6-10). Remember 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21: people who practice
such things are simply giving evidence that they are not Christians! There was a very real
possibility that some had professed faith but were as unsaved as they come.
B. The Corinthians Will Not Like How Paul Has to Deal with Them
The serious problems in the church would cause Paul to be humiliated or ashamed
(the word humbled has this idea). Sin should always have that kind of effect on us—
whether in our own lives or in those we care about. Further, he would mourn over them,
that is, he would grieve and be very sad when he saw firsthand the conditions there.
Mourning often goes with death, and his fear is that some who are attached to the church
are actually not saved—they are spiritually dead.
II. But Paul Will Come with Authoritative Discipline, 13:1-4
Despite the apostle’s misgivings about the upcoming visit, he has to carry through for
the good of the church. He is not of a mind to give up on them.
A. Witnesses Establish the Condition of the Church, 13:1
The sentence that mentions “two or three witnesses” comes from Deut. 19:15. One
witness is not allowed to condemn a man, because he could easily be lying. More than one
independent witness has to testify about a person’s crime. In fact, Deut. 19:16-20 teaches
that a false witness was to be punished with the same punishment he was hoping the innocent man would get! That would put a quick stop to lying when under oath!
In this case, the “witnesses” are the visits of the apostle. If the situation is the same after three times, he will know the Corinthians are guilty as charged. Notice how the tables
are turned: they have been putting Paul “under oath” to test if he really is an apostle or not.
But using this courtroom language, Paul is saying that it is the Corinthians, not him, who is
at issue here. They are the ones who are in trouble and who are doing wrong, not Paul. In
fact, in v. 5, Paul will tell them to examine themselves—and stop examining him, something that has required him to write the better part of three chapters (10-12) to address.
B. Warning of Discipline, 13:2
This was the second warning for them, and after two warnings, Paul was justified in
meting out discipline. Titus 3:10-11 says, “Reject a divisive man after the first and second
admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”
Discipline is the idea—unpleasant though it may be, and unpracticed as it is in modern churches today. When he says “I will not spare” he is referring to dealing seriously
with those in sin in the assembly. He includes those who sinned before and the rest, so that
no one escapes from his observation.
They just may get the spectacular proof they seek of Paul’s apostleship, the Bible says
in 13:3-4, because Christ is at work in Paul. And though Christ was crucified in what the
world considered weakness, he was raised by God’s almighty power and therefore shares
in that power with God the Father. Christ’s servants may also seem weak in the world’s
estimation, but they also have access to the power of Christ (for instance, see 2 Cor. 12:910 again).
Conclusion
Earlier, 10:8-11 shared the idea of exercise of apostolic authority for edification of the
church. What this means is that Paul was concerned about using his God-given abilities to
strengthen the church, not to harm it.
Now that we have been through almost the whole book, we have to recognize that
Paul is indeed an apostle, and that God used him to write much of the New Testament. If
we throw out Paul, we throw out Jesus too, because Jesus wants us to hear His word
through Paul.
One big application from this text is church discipline. We have not covered this
much at Fellowship Bible, at least in the recent past. But it is Biblical—consider Matt.
18:15-17, 1 Cor. 5:4-5, Rom. 16:17-18, Titus 3:10-11, 2 Thess. 3:6, 14. Sometimes people
have to be removed from our circle of fellowship to protect the church from sin, and to
convey how important purity is to the offender.
MAP