2 Corinthians 13:8

οὐ γὰρ δυνάμεθά τι. For we cannot do anything against the truth. ‘It is morally impossible for one in my position to wish that you should do evil, in order that he might prove that he had the ἐξουσία of Christ: that would be against the whole spirit of the Gospel.’ Chrysostom understands S. Paul to mean that if he were to sentence (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20) the penitent, God would not allow the sentence to be executed. For τῆς� comp. 2 Corinthians 4:2; Galatians 2:5; Galatians 2:14.

ἀλλά. Understand δυνάμεθα.