NOTES for Co2 13:1-14

Paul calls his Corinthian brothers to test ("examine") and investigate first of all themselves - not in the sense of tests for conformity to some religious doctrines, but with regard to their faith. Here the apostle has in mind above all what he has already written much about to the recipients of his letter: personal relationships with Christ as the basis of Christian life, the life of the Kingdom as the foundational experience without which there is no Christianity. About himself Paul says that he is strong not against the truth, but for the truth. For him, however, truth is precisely that very experience of living Christian life against which he invites his readers to check themselves.

The apostle is not going to convince anyone of anything and will not prove anything to anyone when it comes to the many arguments and disputes that were then going on in the Corinthian church. He simply sees no point in it. Not because nothing can be proved that way - something can in fact be proved that way - but because even if one succeeds in proving something to someone, it will be completely different from what a Christian should care about at all. One can prove one's own rightness or an opponent's wrongness on one theological question or another, but who benefits, and how, from all such proofs? It is only a kind of intellectual sport, a contest of minds and erudition, in which victory proves nothing except the intellectual superiority of one rival over another or over others. In the spiritual life of those arguing, such a victory or defeat changes nothing, and if it does change something, it is not for the better: it gives the winner one more occasion for self-exaltation and arouses negative emotions in the defeated.

Paul is not going to Corinth in order to take part in contests of this kind. He does not want to prove anything to anyone - he wants the Christians of Corinth to wake up spiritually, leave useless disputes over words behind, and return again to that spiritual life in the true sense of the word, the experience of which they had, judging by the apostle's words. And if Paul succeeded in this, he would consider such an awakening his chief victory.

Some members of the Corinthian community began to doubt that Christ was speaking through the apostle and demanded proof (2 Cor 13:3). What answer can be given to someone who doubts whether he (or another person—in this case, the apostle) is in Christ? What proof can there be apart from the assurance of faith itself?

If there is no malice (for one can doubt simply because one wants to doubt and does not want to know the truth), then we have a wonderful means of assurance: Jesus Christ is in us; through faith He has made His dwelling in our hearts (cf. Eph 3:17), and our spirit that lives by faith in Christ—the “inner person”—is our truest essence. Doubt in faith then appears as a betrayal of ourselves, of our innermost truth, when “we are not what we ought to be.”

Paul tried more than once, in different words, to describe what Christian life is. And now he calls his fellow believers to test themselves: are they Christians? At first glance the question may seem strange, since everyone entering the Church, and in those days baptism was received only at a conscious age, knew perfectly well what he was doing and whom he was following. And yet, as we can see, the matter was not so simple.

Of course, if Christianity were only one more new religion, a choice made once, a promise pronounced once, a baptism received once would be enough: as long as the person who had made his choice did not renounce it, he would remain a Christian. But Christianity is not a new religion, but life in the Kingdom that the Savior brought into the world. Here one cannot limit oneself to one choice, one decision, one action, even if it is of fundamental importance. Life does not stop; it continues in the Kingdom, and the choice once made must then be confirmed again and again. That is why the apostle advises testing ourselves, watching our spiritual state, giving account to ourselves whether we are living Christ's life or not. For the life of Christ is the life of the Kingdom, and we remain Christians only as long as we live one life with Christ.

It would seem that for those who have entered the Church, it cannot be otherwise. And so it would really be if we had already completed the path of our transformation, if our human nature had been renewed to the end, as will happen at the end of times when the Kingdom is revealed in all its fullness. But for now the Kingdom is only entering the world, and we are entering the Kingdom, and just as the world has not yet been transformed to the end, so we have been transformed only partially. In such a condition sins, mistakes, and falls are still possible. Until full transformation, we still have something to fear.

And if so, then the constant self-control of which Paul writes is necessary. Every sin committed separates us from the Kingdom, and if in committing it we still do not lose our salvation, it is only because the history of the Kingdom has not yet been completed, the period has not been put, the doors have not been closed. But even in such a situation it is better not to take unnecessary risks and to reduce the possibility of losing the fullness of life to a minimum. This is what the apostle calls us to.

Paul tried, not once to describe by various words, what is Christian life. And here is now he calls his coreligionists to examine himself: if they are Christian? At first sight, the question may seem strange: because every person entering the Church (and the baptism in those days was accepted only at the age of consciousness), knew perfectly what he does and Who he follows. And all the same, as seen, things are not so simple. Of course, if Christianity was only another new religion, a choice once taken, a promise once pronounced, a baptism once accepted would have been enough: until the one who chose did not abdicate from it, he would remain a Christian.

But indeed, Christianity is not a new religion, but life in the Kingdom, that the Savior brought to the world. It is impossible here to be limited to only a choice, a decision, an action, even if very important. Life does not stop, it continues in the Kingdom, and the choice once taken, must then be confirmed again and again. That is why the apostle advises to examine oneself, to check his spiritual state, to give account, are we living the life of Christ or not: because the life of Christ is the life of the Kingdom, and we remain Christian only as long as we live a common life with Christ. It would seem, for those who are in the Church, it cannot be otherwise.

It would have been in fact like that, if we had already ended the path of our transformation, if our human nature would have been renewed totally, as that will take place in the end of time, when the Kingdom will reveal itself in all its plenitude. Meanwhile, the Kingdom still only enters the world, and we enter the Kingdom, and since the world is not yet transformed to the end, so we also are transformed only partially. In such situation are still possible sins, and errors, and falls.

Prior to the total transformation we still have what to be afraid of. And if that was the case, this constant self-control, of which Paul writes, is necessary. Because every committed sin separates us from the Kingdom, and if committing it we do not lose all the same salvation, it is only because the history of the Kingdom did not end yet, the point is not set, and doors are not closed. But even in such situation it is once again better not to risk and to reduce the possibility of losing the plenitude of the life at least. It is what, in fact the apostle exhorts us.

What means the apostle, by saying that he himself and his brothers can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth? One would have been able of course to think that Paul, as every preacher of a new doctrine, is persuaded by his truth and is sure of the fact that the knowledge of truth and faithfulness in truth makes man stronger. He is persuaded and sure as all the real preachers of all times and all nations were persuaded and sure of the power of their truth.

If Christianity was a certain new philosophic doctrine, it would probably have been the case. And if we speak about a new religion, then in the persuasion is attached the assurance in the fact that in particular this new religion, being itself the plenitude of the revelation, with the help of God somehow wins the minds and hearts, and anyone who opposes the new religion therefore challenges not only the new religion, but God Himself. But what we could then say about the genuine Christianity, which represents not the religion and not a philosophic doctrine, but simply the life in the Kingdom, inflexible to the philosophic or theological concepts and to the religious rules?

It would seem that it is easier to witness of the "simple life". And on the other hand and more complex. Easier because there is nothing more obvious: man lives as he lives, one can’t replace life by any sermons or any theological reasonings, quite as one can’t replace it by any philosophic or moral statements.

If somebody lives the life of the Kingdom, he necessarily becomes a witness of the Kingdom. Well then the power of the Kingdom begins to witness of the authenticity of his testimony, and it is really difficult to stand such power. But the witness of life in more is most complex: because here it is necessary to witness non-stop, there is no possibility here to have a break, relax, get ready for the following testimony, as gets ready the preacher for the following sermon, it is necessary to simply manifest here the power of the Kingdom, which can only be the real testimony, every day and every hour.

And if at some point the inhabitant of the Kingdom changes what he lives, his witness breaks off not only this concrete moment, but also becomes in fact an anti-testimony: because such a treason depreciates not only this concrete moment of its life, when the treason occurred, but also all what was formerly said and made. The witness stops to have relation with the truth and loses the power of his testimony. Indeed, one can witness of the Kingdom only as long as he lives its life.

How's it "shall be with you"? Isn’t God with us all the time? But here is a common daily analogy: a man comes back from work home, his wife turns around him, but he remains sat with an air of detachment, because he is tired, or the ideas connected to work don’t leave him. The wife is with him, but he is not with her. Such is the case here: God is ready to be always with us (in fact, not because it is always pleasant to Him!), But we are not with Him, when we are gobbled up only by our concerns and problems.

And Apostle Paul enumerates some of these states, which accompany our attention on God's presence. These states are always positive ( “live in peace"), dynamic ("be perfect", " be of good comfort "), are not self-contained, but are opened towards others ("be of one mind"). This is the real life, isn’t it? A life in the presence of the God of love and peace.