But I plead with you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence with which I think to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
For those who are under the influence of the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are under the influence of the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
When I therefore was thus minded, did I do it carelessly? Or the things that I decide to do, do I decide according to the flesh, that with me there should be yes yes, and no no?
Therefore I write these things being absent, so that being present I need not use severity, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification, and not for destruction.
I told you before, and tell you beforehand, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to those who previously have sinned, and to all others, that, if I come again, I will not spare: