In these chapters, Paul is defending his ministry to the church at Corinth. He does so by giving reasons why he did not charge the church for his services, he gave his credentials which was based not on how many churches he started or the miracles done through him, but based on how he has suffered for the Lord, and then he explained about a mystical encounter he had with the Lord in the "3rd heaven" or paradise. When we read this section we recognize that the story of Acts focused on how the gospel spread from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth, and it was not a biography on the life of Paul, because so much of what Paul shared is not mentioned in Acts. Paul prepared the church for his third visit, and he hopes it does not have to be a painful one. He then told them, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test" (13:5)? Paul reminded them that they are not alone but there are saints all over that greet them. Paul ended his letter with "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you." The Trinity works together in the process of our sanctification.
