Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 4:13

"But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak;" — 2 Corinthians 4:13 (ASV)

But what enabled Paul faithfully to discharge his ministry (3:6; 4:1, 5), even though it involved suffering? It was (1) his sharing the psalmist’s conviction that faith cannot remain silent and (2) his own Christian conviction that Christ’s resurrection guarantees the resurrection of all believers.

Regarding the first reason, Paul quotes Ps 116:10a (from the LXX): “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” The psalmist recounts a divine deliverance from a desperate illness and its accompanying despondency (vv.1–11) and then considers how he might most fittingly render his devotion to the Lord (vv.12– 19). In a real sense, then, the psalmist’s expression of thanksgiving arose from his vindicated trust in God: “I held firm to my faith and was vindicated; therefore I have spoken.” Similarly, Paul, for his part, could not remain silent about the Gospel he believed: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).

A second reason Paul proclaimed the good news with the utmost confidence (cf. 3:12) was a firm conviction of his personal resurrection and his being presented along with all believers before the presence of God or Christ (cf. 11:2; Ephesians 5:27; Colossians 1:22). Our being raised “with Jesus” (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:14) means that the resurrected Christ forms the prototype and ground of our resurrection. His resurrection from the dead is the firstfruits of the Easter harvest; ours is the full ingathering (1 Corinthians 15:23).