Episode223- Stand firm in faith and love - 1 Corinthians 16:13-24

1Cor. 16:13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

1Cor. 16:15 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 people.

1Cor. 16:19 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. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

1Cor. 16:21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

As mentioned in our last episode, the final chapter of this letter is the “tieing up loose ends” for this communication from Paul to the believers at Corinth. Paul has finished addressing questions raised by them and sought to correct problems in their community of faith and worship. Yet, there are nuggets of truth right up to the end that are valuable for us to consider.

Notice verses 13-14, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.” Now, if we can set aside our own culturally informed responses to statements like “act like men,” we need to ask ourselves, What is the point of this concise exhortation?” Paul starts with the imperative to “Be watchful.” By itself, it is a little ambiguous without the rest of the exhortation. We could ask, “Be watchful for what?” The answer is in the context of the whole letter as well as the immediate context. The Corinthians are to be watchful for people and ideas that would undermine the gospel of Jesus Christ, divide the community of faith, and bring shame upon the name of Christ through the way they conduct themselves. Is that valid for us today? Absolutely! By being watchful, we must stand firm, be committed to our faith in Christ, and not compromise to appease people. This requires being strong. But notice how the exhortation concludes: “Let all that you do be done in love.” (v. 14) It’s easy to read the first part to be watchful and strong and conclude that we need some form of a hard-nosed posture for scrutinizing each person who comes into our church. But standing firm in our faith requires us to live it out as Christ did by loving others. This exhortation is a summary of his teachings throughout this letter. Demonstrate love to all while not allowing everyone to do what they want to do.

In verses 15-16, he instructs the Corinthians to “be subject to” the first converts in that area and others like them in their service. What is his point? I believe he is saying to identify those who’ve been in the faith for a while and learn from them. They’ve been on this walk of faith for a longer period of time and will have wisdom in how to stand firm and watchful in love. That is good advice for us!

Paul then says he rejoices at the coming of “Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus” because “they have made up for your absence.” The word absence does not speak of the Corinthian believers being absent at a location when they should have been there. It speaks about what the Corinthian believers could not or would not provide in terms of either spiritual or possibly financial support. Paul is saying that God provided through these three people what the church at Corinth could not. We don’t see any chastisement for the church's inability or refusal to provide what Paul needed. He is simply saying that these three people were used to provide what he needed. Not only did they minister to Paul, but these people also “refreshed the spirit” of the Corinthians as well. Paul suggests that the church recognizes such people. I take this as being thankful and letting such people know you appreciate their ministry to you and others.

Verse 21 says, “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.” We might ask, “What did you write the rest of the letter with?” What is being indicated is that Paul had a secretary of sorts write most of the letter as he dictated. This scribe was called an amanuensis. But the greeting at the end of the letter, Paul wrote in his own hand. With his own hand, Paul delivers one more rebuke. “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” (v.22) Let me ask you this question. To whom is he writing? He’s writing to the church at Corinth. It’s hard to think there might be people in our churches who do not love the Lord. I think that Paul expresses this curse toward those people because they are the ones who are the troublemakers within the church. They are the ones who question the resurrection and would rather be a self-centered glutton than look out for the needs of others. So Paul’s closing words are to express his desire for the return of Christ and that the grace of Christ and his love be with them all.

The fundamental problem within the church at Corinth was that there was pride among them, and Christ was not the center of their focus. They were more concerned about themselves than they were about the edification of others. May the Lord help us keep Christ at the center and do everything in the love of Christ for the benefit of others.