God of Love and Fellowship of Believers

 2 Corinthians 13:11–13 CSB

Finally, brothers and sisters, 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 send you greetings. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

At times we tend to check out when someone begins to wrap up. Maybe it is our tendency to let our mind drift to the next task at hand. Maybe we have gone beyond our attention span. However, in the case of the letter to the Corinthians we would do well to focus on Paul’s closing words.

In this closing he has six admonitions, three encouragements, and one double encouragement. That is a whole lot packed into just five sentences. Let’s look at these.

First the Double encouragement. Paul says, “the God of love… … will be with you” and “the love of God… … be with you all.” The first statement is conditional on the following five of the admonitions that Paul lists in 2 Corinthians 13:11. More on these later. The second statement is a benediction of sorts.

It is interesting that the first statement “God of Love” shows that God is the possessor and origin of love. This promise is not so much that God’s love will be with the believers, but rather that God the author of love will be with us. This is significant in my estimation. It stresses the importance of being in a relationship with the “God of Love.”

The second statement though God is loving believers. In this case God is providing love to the objects of His affection “You all.”

Taken together then God is the possessor and giver of love. Time and again the Bible stresses how love and God are connected. It is the lifeblood of Christian experience to understand the source and receive the love of God. We cannot short ourselves in this way. We unhitch ourselves from sincere faith when we do not connect to the love of God. Without love Christianity becomes dead religion!

Paul connected God’s loving presence to five admonitions. Now to be clear God is everywhere. So, I think that Paul is suggesting if we want to experience the fullness of the God of love and peace then we ought to be engaged in these things. These five things are “rejoice,” “Become Mature,” “Be encouraged,” “Be of same mind,” and “Be at peace.” Two of these “Become mature” and “Be encouraged” are passive. That is to say that they are something that happens to us rather than something we do. The others “rejoice,” “Be of same mind,” and “be at peace” are things we actively do.

Becoming mature is something we are in the process of doing at this present time. Every moment of everyday we are growing into something. In this case we are growing into maturity in Christ. We are preparing for what comes next. We attend to this so that we are fully prepared when the time comes. Our part is to allow God to use the life lessons and His Word to train us for what God has in store for us. So often we grumble over the unpleasant things in life. I have done so many times. However, if we are to take this command seriously, we ought to embrace the preparation as an opportunity to grow in maturity.

It might seem strange that the depth of our relationship with God would be contingent on receiving encouragement. So often we tend to focus on the quality and sincerity of the one doing the encouraging. In this passage though Paul’s focus is on the one receiving the encouragement. One clue is the word used here is the same root word Christ used to describe the Holy Spirit as the counselor in John 14:16-17. One way to think about this is to refuse encouragement is one way that we quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). In the context of the body of Christ God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit may use the Spirit directly or God may use other Spirit filled believers to be an encouragement to us. When we through the hardness of our own hearts fail to receive encouragement, we stifle this work of the Spirit of God. Another way to say think about this command is that we must open our hearts to receive of God’s love whether directly from God or through other believers. Bottom line it is a heart issue as to whether we receive encouragement or not. One leading to Spiritual Blessing and the other leading to cynicism.

As Christians we are to rejoice. Let’s face there are many reasons to grieve. Even love is utterly distressed over unrighteousness (1 Corinthians 13:6). But notice that love rejoices in truth. So, what are these truths that we are to rejoice over?

• The Birth of Christ (Matthew 2:10; Luke 1:14)
• Insults, persecutions, personal attacks, sufferings because of standing for Christ (Matthew 5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23; Acts 5:41; Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 4:13)
• Our names are written in heaven / Our salvation (Luke 10:20; Acts 8:39)
• Sinners that repent / are saved (Luke 15:7; Acts 11:21-23; Acts 13:46-48; Romans 16:19; 2 Corinthians 7:5-16)
• Restored Relationships (Luke 15:32)
• Hearing Jesus (John 3:29)
• Sorrow turns to Joy (John 16:19-22)
• The resurrection of Christ (John 20:20)
• An encouraging word (Acts 15:31)
• In Hope (Romans 12:12)
• With others that are rejoicing (Romans 12:15)
• Fellowship with fellow servants (1 Corinthians 16:15-18)
• In your own weakness and others strength (1 Corinthians 13:9)
• When the Gospel is preached (Philippians 1:18)
• Sacrificial service to others (Philippians 2:17-18)
• When believers recover from sickness (Philippians 2:27-28)
• In the Lord (Philippians 3:1; Philippians 4:4)
• When others support you (Philippians 4:10)
• Obedient Christians (Colossians 2:5; 2 John 4; 3 John 3)
• Return of Christ (Revelation 19:7)

We have much to rejoice. And so, if we want the fullness of the “God of love and peace” we do well to dwell on these things (Philippians 4:8).

As Christians we are called to unity. This is hard. However, Paul is connecting unity to having God’s presence in our lives. Unity is always not 100% agreement on all things. This is a general disposition to be in a right relationship with one another. We see this described in greater detail in Romans 12:13-16

Romans 12:13–16 CSB

Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

This is a good description of what it means to be of the “same mind.” It is more of a disposition than it is conformity.

God of Love and Peace reveals Himself to those that are actively pursuing peace. Jesus says “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9) and to “be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50). Paul explains that we have an obligation to “live at peace with everyone” and building up of others (Romans 12:18; Romans 14:19). The writer of Hebrews says that “pursing peace with everyone” is connected to Holiness and without these we will not see God (Hebrews 12:14). Peace is something that is actively pursued. There is no indication that we are to passively wait for others to make peace with us. It is hard when we feel justified in our stance to avoid making peace. However, we must pursue peace with others even when part of us may not want to. This is a real struggle for me at times. However, if I want the fullness of the God’s presence in my life, I must pursue peace.

The last admonition is “Greet one another with a Holy Kiss.” We live in a vastly different culture here in the United States than the time that this was written. There are some cultures today in which this verse could be taken quite literally. However, if you walked up and kissed someone (not a family member) at church that would be quite odd. So, what are we to do with this admonition?

Often acts that are portrayed in scripture are representative of a deeper truth. If we can understand what the act is intended to convey, we can still live out that truth even though we do not do that specific act.

The first thing to note is that the act is Holy. That is to say without deception (Matthew 26:49), or lust (Galatians 5:16). On the positive it is with sincerity. The act of the kiss itself is a ritual greeting of affection and welcome.

In our modern times then, an affectionate greeting could be a wave, kind “hello,” “welcome,” of “glad you are here,” handshake, fist bump, hug (side hug). There are many ways to affectionately greet one another. So as believers we are to affectionately greet one another. Keep in mind this is not merely limited to believers with whom you already have affection. Church life should be welcoming to all.

Paul ends his letter with four important encouragements (2 Corinthians 13:12-13). We are a part of a larger body of believers. We are encouraged when other “saints” send warm greetings and we bless other churches when we do the same. The grace of Jesus Christ is with us. God’s unmerited favor rests on all who follow Christ. That is the grace of Jesus Christ. The love of God is with us. This was already discussed earlier. The final encouragement is that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with us. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that gives life, love, worship, Bible study meaning and purpose. The fellowship of God’s Holy Spirit with our Spirit is fundamental to all that we do as believers. When we venture out and the fellowship with God’s Spirit is quenched or grieved, we lose our ability to walk by the Spirit and end up pursuing works of the flesh.

In conclusion then, God is love and peace! God's love is toward those that rejoice, receive encouragement, are becoming mature, pursuing unity, and pursuing peace. We express affection and welcome to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ both in our local church as well as to other believers from other churches. Finally, we are encouraged by the presence of Jesus’ grace, God’s love, and Holy Spirit’s fellowship.

May God Richly Bless You.

~BJ