2 Corinthians 13:11-13 (HCSB)
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
Paul’s final greeting in this letter contains four commands and some powerful theological truths.
The first two commands tie in closely with what Paul just urged: that the Corinthians listen to his appeal and allow it to move them to strive for maturity, completeness in Christ. Mature, whole Christians are far less likely to fall prey to those who were trying to use them to build their own reputations, and far less likely to be trapped in the sinful mindsets and actions that were endemic to Corinthian society.
The other two commands were that the Corinthians be of the same mind and that they live in peace with each other. Christian harmony, resulting from unity in the Spirit, is not only essential to maintain unity within the body, it is an essential basis for the witness of the Church in the broader community. A Church that is full of divisions, strife, backbiting and competition has literally nothing to offer to those in the world. They already see and experience those things where they live and work. But unity, love, cohesion, those things are in short supply in the world, and draw the unsaved like a starving man to a rich banquet.
If the Corinthians will obey Paul’s commands, they will experience the presence and power of the God of love and peace. He will enhance their best efforts and complete all that is lacking.
Paul sends his greetings, and those of the workers with him on the road. And he encourages them to pass on his greetings to one another in the form of a holy kiss, which he would give himself if he were present with them.
Finally, Paul blesses the Church with a trinitarian blessing. He blesses them with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, through which they were saved and by which they are maintained in their relationship with God, if they are willing. He blesses them with the Father’s love, through which they experience His provision and His power in their day-to-day lives. And he blesses them with the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, through which they can have deep and abiding fellowship with the Father and the Son, as well as with each other, a fellowship on a deep level that few can ever experience outside the Church.
Father, few of us see these urgings of Paul as actual commands. They are often taught as softer things: suggestions, encouragements, or even just hopes. But Paul sees that the faith of the Corinthians is in a precarious place. They are at a point where they must choose to be the people of the kingdom, or they will choose to be a people who don’t belong to the kingdom. And all four of his commandments are a challenge to do those things that will result in them staying united as Your people. That same decision point faces Your people today: to either be 100% people of your kingdom who live in unity and holy maturity to serve you, or to pull back and be people of the world, albeit people with a slight religious patina about us. Half measures and partial devotion will lead to us falling away and being lost. In Your kingdom it has always been all or nothing, because any part of us that is not ceded to You and to Your complete control is a part of us where the enemy has control, and where he immediately begins to build strongholds for his own power, and to eat away at our faith. Help me to choose today to be 100% yours. Amen.