<p>13:4 <i>For he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives through the power of God. For we also are weak in him; but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you-</i> Paul's much mocked &quot;weakness&quot; in the flesh was on account of his identification with the crucified but glorified Christ. Because we are in Christ, His death was not an isolated historical event. We also are weak <i>with</i> Him, on account of having been baptized into Him (2 Cor. 13:4 RV), such is the identity between us and Him. When Paul reflected upon his own sickness which the RVmg. calls his stake / cross in the flesh, he could say in all sober truth that he gloried in his weakness, because his identity with the weakness of Christ crucified also thereby identified him with the strength and power of the risen Lord (2 Cor. 11:9). The same spirit of Christ which is within us now is the basis upon which we shall be immortalized in a bodily form at the last day. Rom. 8:11 says this explicitly: &quot;But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you now, He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall then, at the last day give life also to your mortal bodies- through His Spirit that dwells in you now&quot;. This is why if we do not have the Spirit of Christ transforming us now, we are none of His both now and eternally. That same &quot;power of God&quot; was as equally available to the Corinthians as it was to Paul; he would live eternally with Christ on account of God's power &quot;toward within you&quot;. All accusation and answers to them would unnecessary if they would only perceive that the same Spirit worked within Paul as was within them. It was Judaism which did not know &quot;the power of God&quot; (Mt. 22:29) and their influence led the Corinthians to likewise not recognize that power which was potentially within them by the Spirit.</p>