3 Corinthians

Third Corinthians

[The letter of the Corinthians to Paul, and Paul’s reply.]

[The Corinthians to Paul]

Stephanas and the elders with him, to Paul our brother: greeting. There have come to Corinth two men, Simon and Cleobius, who overturn the faith of some with corrupting words, which you should examine. For we have never heard such things from you or from the other apostles. This we hold fast: that the Lord Jesus the Anointed was truly born of Mary, of the seed of David. They say otherwise: that one must not appeal to the prophets; that God is not almighty; that there is no resurrection of the flesh; that man was not made by God; that the Lord did not come in the flesh, nor was born of Mary; and that the world is not God’s but the angels’. Therefore, brother, make haste to come to us, that Corinth may remain without offense.

[Paul to the Corinthians]

Paul, a prisoner of Jesus the Anointed, to the brothers in Corinth: greeting. I am not surprised that the teachings of the evil one run on so quickly. For our Lord Jesus the Anointed will hasten his coming, being rejected by those who falsify his words.

I handed on to you first what I myself received from the apostles who were before me, who were at all times with Jesus the Anointed: that our Lord was truly born of Mary, of the seed of David, the Spirit being sent from heaven by the Father into her, that he might come into this world and set all flesh free by his own flesh, and raise us from the dead in the flesh, as he showed himself the pattern. Because man was formed by God his Father, he was sought when he was lost, that he might be made alive by being made a son.

For the almighty God, who made heaven and earth, sent the prophets first to the Jews, to draw them from their sins; for he willed to save the house of Israel. He sent the Spirit upon Mary the Galilean, who believed with her whole heart and received the Holy Spirit in her womb, that the Anointed might enter the world and, by the flesh in which he came and in which he was crucified, win salvation for all flesh.

Those who say there is no resurrection of the flesh shall have no resurrection, for they do not believe in him who rose. They do not know, you men of Corinth, the sowing of wheat and the other seeds: that they are cast bare into the ground, and perish, and rise again by the will of God, with a body and clothed. And not only does the body that is sown rise, but it rises blessed and abounding. If we must take a likeness not only from seeds but from greater things: consider Jonah, who was three days and nights in the belly of the great fish, and was brought up again unharmed; and Elisha’s bones, which raised a dead man cast upon them. How much more shall you, who have been cast down, rise up with your flesh whole, as the Anointed rose.

If you receive anything other than this, let no one trouble me; for I bear these chains that I may win the Anointed, and I carry his marks in my body, that I may attain the resurrection of the dead. Whoever holds to the rule he has received through the blessed prophets and the holy gospel will receive a reward, and rising from the dead will obtain eternal life; but whoever turns aside from it, the fire is with him, and with those who go before him in that way, godless men, a brood of vipers. Reject them in the power of the Lord. And peace be with you.