Ambrosiaster — Commentary on Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:18

It is obvious that since nothing like this was done by any of Paul’s colleagues, the unanimous verdict on him was that he was of good character, with no trace of avarice in him.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:19

Paul wants the Corinthians to love and respect him, without becoming a burden on their finances.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:21

Paul is saying that some have repented but others have not. This contradicts Novatian, who claims that fornicators cannot repent or be received back into communion. Paul is affirming that they have indeed repented, and because of this they have been received back into the peace of the church.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:1

Paul is here appealing to the law, saying that it applies to the Corinthians as well.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:3

The Corinthians are seeking proof that Christ is speaking in the apostles. When they do not obey Paul’s teachings, they want to test him to see whether he will dare to exact retribution.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:4

Paul is referring here to the personal experience of the apostles, who were made weak by being treated badly, imprisoned and beaten.… Believers are made strong by being weak. Death inflicted by unbelievers is life as far as believers are concerned, for they will rise again to reign with Christ.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:5

Paul is saying this because if we do not know how to put one another to the test, we do not know whether Christ is in us or not. To fail to meet the test is not to know the faith inherent in our religious profession. A person who has a sense of faith in his heart knows that Jesus Christ is within him. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

2 Corinthians 13:6

Paul is calling them to a knowledge of the faith and an upright life. Once they have recognized the authority of the apostle and his worth in God’s sight, they will start to be concerned about themselves.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:7

Paul is praying that he and his colleagues will be humbled, as it were, by seeing the Corinthians so well behaved that he will not dare rebuke them. If they are humbled in this way, they will appear to be false. It is when they judge sinners with the authority granted to them that they are seen to be approved as genuine by God. If then there are no people for them to judge, it looks as if they have been proved false through the lessening of their authority.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:8

Paul is saying this because there is no power against the truth. They cannot reprove someone who is living a good life, but only someone who is an enemy of the law. This power will come to nothing if people have done what is good.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:11

The joy referred to here will come when the Corinthians mend their ways, after which it will be possible for them to mature in faith. But before that there will be consolation, enabling them to abandon the pleasure of the present in favor of hope for things to come. The peace of God is one thing, but the peace of the world is another. People in the world have peace, but it works to their damnation. The peace of Christ is free from sins, and therefore it is pleasing to God. A person who has peace will also have love, and the God of both will protect him forever.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:13

Paul is calling the Corinthians to holiness, so that they may be bold enough to return the greeting of the saints. For they are greeted by the saints with the intention that they should imitate them.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 13:14

Here is the intertwining of the Trinity and the unity of power which brings all salvation to fulfillment. The love of God has sent us Jesus the Savior, by whose grace we have been saved. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to possess the grace of salvation, for he guards those who are loved by God and saved by the grace of Christ, so that the completeness of the Three may be the saving fulfillment of mankind.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES