But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh.
- BSB I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh.
- NKJV But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
- NASB I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I intend to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.
- NLT Well, I am begging you now so that when I come I won’t have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul pleads that he won't have to be severe when present against those who accuse him of living by worldly standards. He hopes for repentance rather than confrontation.
Overview
Paul prefers gentleness but is prepared to act boldly against opponents who allege he 'walks according to the flesh.' He would rather not exercise such severity. His words reveal a pastor's heart that longs for the church's correction without harshness, yet will not shrink from confronting error if needed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Cor 13:10Therefore 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.
- 2 Cor 13:2I 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:
- Gal 5:16–25This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
- Eph 2:2–3Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
- 2 Cor 12:13–20For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong.
- 1 Cor 4:18–21Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
- 2 Cor 11:9–13And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.
- Rom 8:1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- Rom 8:5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
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Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 10:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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