1 Corinthians 16:13-24 Final Words
11/28/04 D. Marion Clark
Introduction
We made it! We have reached the end of 1 Corinthians. We’ve waded through church disunity, disrespect for authority, sexual immorality, divorce, lawsuits, spiritual arrogance, unruly worship, leading fellow believers to sin against their consciences, idolatry, shaming fellow believers at the Lord’s Supper, and heretical notions about the resurrection. A TV producer could produce a hit series entitled “Corinth Church.” There would be plenty of material for scandalous drama.
But what we also ventured through were teachings about the gospel and the cross, teamwork ministry, using freedom to serve and to love; indeed, we read the noblest expression of love, the fullest treatment of church unity, and the grandest exposition of the resurrection of the body. We learned how important the church is to our Lord; we received the one clear instruction about the Lord’s Supper outside of Christ’s teachings. And now we come to Paul’s final words to his spiritual children.
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He begins with five commands: Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love. Let’s consider them in light of what we know about the Corinthians.
Be watchful: For what? For false teaching and resulting improper behavior creeping into the church. No church could have had more solid teaching when it was founded. Paul was their teacher. No stronger foundation could have been laid than the doctrine he gave them. What went wrong? Paul eventually left, and, evidently, the church leaders did not keep close guard over encroaching error. Why did error slip in? Why were they not alert? The sin of spiritual pride covered their eyes. Proud of their spiritual gifts, which included receiving revelation, they believed they had grown more spiritual and wiser than Paul. As the proverb says, “Pride goeth before the fall” (Proverbs16:18).
Stand firm in the faith. Stand firm in the gospel, the content of faith. The Corinthians were beginning to waver. They had grown impatient with preaching that kept harping back to the cross. They began to discount the resurrection of the body, not seeing its connection with Christ’s resurrection. How long would it be before faith in Christ’s resurrection was given up as essential? More and more their emphasis was shifting from the work of Christ to the presence of the Holy Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit certainly is critical for our faith, but when severed from the central place and work of Christ, it leads to heresy and, in their case, to immoral, unloving behavior.
Act like men. (No wisecracks, ladies!) That is an expression for “act with courage.” Such an exhortation may sound out of place to the Corinthians. In their minds, they are being courageous. Here they are “pushing the envelope” as their live out their status of “spiritual creatures” and of being “free in Christ.” They are not hung up, like their Galatian counterparts who are mired in legalism. Indeed, they have the courage to stand up to Paul!
Yes, well, while he is away. Even so, Paul’s point is that they are to be courageous against the world for the sake of Christ. Despite their claims of being super spiritual, the reality is that they could not be more worldly. And to get to the bottom for why, it is that they want to be like the world. They want to be thought wise; they want to be admired for their marvelous spiritual gifts; they like being able to indulge in the same sensual behavior of the world, while retaining their special status.
That is not courage; that’s caving in. Their behavior, matched with their claims of superiority, is ludicrous to Paul. He possesses to a greater degree any of their gifts, but instead of indulging in sensual immoral pleasure and winning acclaim for himself, he is daily taking hits from both the world and even from the church. Courage is denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following Jesus. The Corinthians are exalting themselves, taking up privileges, and following the world.
Be strong. Instead of going from weakness to strength, they have weakened; they have become as children, or rather, childish. Where are the leaders who should have kept back the false teachings? Where are the men and women who should have stood against the tide of immoral behavior? The Corinthians are giving up the “good fight.” The strong man, Satan, is binding them, the irony being that they think of themselves as breaking loose of their bondages. They need to be strong in faith, in courage, in will.
Let all that you do be done in love. The first four exhortations focused on their attitude towards the gospel; this one focuses on their attitude towards one another. For all the reasons they might give for their behavior, the truth is that they were not loving one another. If they had loved, the so-called stronger Christians would not have flaunted their “freedom” before weaker brothers, leading them to act against their conscience. If they had loved, they would not have been selfish at the Lord’s Supper, eating up all the food. If they had loved, they would not have formed their little political parties to vie against one another. If they had loved, they would have thought how to show love in all that they did. Thus, when they debated their theological issues and their activities, they foremost would have thought how to show honor to one another even while they disagreed. They would have thought how to criticize in such a way that they actually encouraged, instead of discouraged each other. They would have given more attention to coming to a meeting of the minds, instead of winning their debates. They certainly would have been more considerate towards their spiritual father and willing to listen to him.
Paul’s next remarks allude to this matter of showing due love.
15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— 16 be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men.
It is likely that these men delivered the letter to Paul from the Corinth church, and to which this letter is a response. They then will return with it. Stephanas is the leader, and it may well be that Fortunatus and Achaicus are servants in his household. Even so, they are all leaders in the church. They have the distinction of being Paul’s first converts in Corinth. They were among the few that Paul actually baptized. But more to the point is that they have proved themselves as able and faithful laborers in the gospel and for the church. They have tried to follow the exhortations given above. Nevertheless, as men have remained faithful to Paul, they too are having their authority and ministry questioned; thus, Paul’s admonition to the church to be subject to them and to recognize their leadership.
Now come the final greetings, first from the churches in the area and two Christians who used to be members of the Corinth church: 19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings.
For that matter, since the letter is intended to be read in a public assembly, he exhorts them: Greet one another with a holy kiss. Let the love start now.
And then, his personal greeting. Paul dictated his letter. Now he closes with his own hand. 21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!
Verse 22 seems out of place for a goodbye, but it probably expresses Paul’s deep emotion that he is feeling for the church. He resents whoever it is that has sown heresy and discord in the church. He would agree with John that such persons are antichrists and deserve judgment; thus, come, Lord, to render judgment.
But he does close with blessing: 23The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Grace and love: these two words sum up what should be the Christian’s experience. We come into favor with God by grace; we are sustained throughout our lives by grace; and we will be received into glory by grace. The love Paul expresses is genuine precisely because it is in Christ Jesus, who loves him and who pours out his love in Paul to the Corinthians. We love, because God first loved us and filled us with Christ’s love. Amen, so be it.
Lessons
As we close this letter, we would do well to heed the same exhortations that Paul gave the Corinth Church.
We too should be watchful over the creeping in of false doctrine and improper behavior. The history of the Christian church reveals that these twin enemies of the church will always be trying to undermine Christ’s kingdom. The mainline churches of a liberal persuasion have caved into the attacks against the inerrancy of Scripture and many of the basic tenets of the Christian faith. The evangelical churches, of which we are one, have our hands full as well. We profess the “basics,” but we have little patience for doctrine, protesting that once we have gotten basic tenets down (and those basics keep shrinking) that doctrine is only an interest for intellectuals. Thus we refuse to examine with depth any practices and ideas that attract the world to us. The same is true for behavior. We rationalize that as long as we have faith in Jesus, we can look like and talk like the world. Indeed, the world has become our model for how we ought to appear as Christians and as the church. This is the same trap that the Corinth Church fell into. Always, we are to examine ourselves in light of Scripture.
One reason why many Christians and churches have moved off the path of orthodox Christianity is their aversion to the legalistic, cold-spirited manner of Christians and churches who in their zeal for being correct, have lost the spirit of love, both for their own brethren and for their neighbors of the world. Thus, we need just as much to heed the exhortation to do all that we do in love. Quite frankly, there are many with whom I agree in doctrine, but have no desire to be identified with because of the unloving, harsh manner in which they conduct themselves and by which they treat both fellow believer and unbeliever alike. Do we really understand how important love is? The Bible does. Listen:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:13,14).
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).
[M]ay the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another (1 John 3:10-11).
And our love is not to be restricted to the body of Christ.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” (Matthew 5:44-46).
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-29).
Jesus responded to the lawyer by telling the story of the good Samaritan. His point was that the matter of showing love is about being a good neighbor rather than choosing who are neighbors will be. We are to love whomever God places in our lives. We are to love; yes, get our doctrine right; but love!
Finally, and if you remember only one lesson I have taught the past five years, let it be this one, learn as much as you again about grace. Paul’s remark, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you” is not merely a spiritual way of saying “take care.” It is the blessing God has bestowed upon the Christian. It is the "matrix," the code that makes sense of the Christian life and should guide the way we think and live.
If we know grace, we cannot be arrogant, for grace removes the basis for arrogance – pride in ourselves. If we know grace, we cannot be selfish, for grace informs us of the unselfish love of God in Christ. Indeed, it is by knowing grace that we can truly love. Grace makes the love of chapter 13 possible for us to give.
You know the saying, "There but by the grace of God go I." That's a good statement, for it reveals a recognition that we have avoided the mistake of others only by the grace of God and not by our own superiority. But maybe we need to learn to say, "There by the grace of God go I." For in truth, grace teaches us that we are all the same. Our sins and failures may vary in their expressions, but we all commit the same sins; we all fail to live up to the same law of God; but more importantly, in Christ we all receive the same grace of forgiveness and blessing. Such is the gospel. By turning to Christ in faith, we take the first baby step towards knowing this grace. Devote the rest of your lives to its study.
