lean completely on God, not just mostly on God and partly on Paul’s physical presence with them. That Paul was keenly aware of this weakness is clear from the fact that he has hinted it once before. Note the aforementioned parallel between 1:27 and 2:12: 1:27 2:12 “Only continue to exercise your citizenship in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see y o u or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit,” etc. “So then, my beloved, even as you