And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
All Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 12:9 Go To 2 Corinthians 12
Tertullian of Carthage
AD 220
All proof of abstinence is lost when excess is impossible; for sundry things have thus their evidence in their contraries. Just as "strength is made perfect in weakness".
Is he then the same God as He who gave Satan power over the person of Job that his "strength might be made perfect in weakness?" He will love the flesh which is, so very closely and in so many ways, His neighbour - (He will love it), although infirm, since His strength is made perfect in weakness. In this way also "shall strength be made perfect in weakness".
Lastly, when Paul is praying the Lord for its removal, what does he hear? "Hold my grace sufficient; for virtue is perfected in infirmity." For in other respects, too, injustice in proportion to the enmity it displays against righteousness affords occasion for attestations of that to which it is opposed as an enemy, that so righteousness may be perfected in injustice, as strength is perfected in weakness.
