2 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV)
This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
A man wrote me to chide the use of tithing in New Testament churches. He relegated the tithe to the Old Testament and, using the very epistle we are herein considering, said we are not under law but under grace and thus are responsible to give bountifully only if we desire to reap bountifully. He also strongly suggested these gifts don’t necessarily need to go to the church, but to any need one sees.
I can’t help but expect the same man would have no concern whatsoever with associating our passage today with the Old Testament. It is obvious, plainly so, that the Apostle meant to point to Deuteronomy 19:15 here.[1]
There is no argument about applying the Old Testament’s "two or three witnesses" in a New Testament criminal case. The problem with applying the Old Testament only arises when it has to do with our pocketbook—probably more to the point, when it has to do with our liberties. We like freedom—even freedom from God.
It’s pretty difficult, isn’t it, to separate the reference to a third visit and the two or three witnesses? There are two suggestions regarding what Paul means.
That he refers to his consistent testimony.
He visited them personally one time. He wrote them the first letter to Corinth. He is here writing a second letter. In the legal system, a witness is questioned more than once, with records being kept and compared. The goal is to either confirm the witness by his consistency or else discredit his witness due to inconsistency.
That Paul means to say that when he arrives, he will hear testimony and, should two or three witnesses be produced, he would then judge surely and promptly.
Verse two seems to give credit to this interpretation.
My practice, whenever a passage of Scripture has more than one solid application, is to expect that God intended both applications to be used. Perhaps Paul intended them both. His witness was consistent, and he would hear the testimonies of those witnesses against the false ministers.
I love my Bible. It is of no private interpretation, meaning we can’t make it say whatever we want it to say. But it is of such supernatural wealth that we could never strip it of all the spiritual gold it contains.
#BiblicalTruth #ScriptureInterpretation #GodsWord #BiblicalAuthority #SpiritualWisdom
Witnesses and Warnings: A Reminder of Biblical Accountability
[1] Deuteronomy 19:15 (KJV)
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
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