STANDING FIRM TO THE END

1 CORINTHIANS 16:13-24

NASB

13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

15 Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that [a]they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints), 16 that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. 17 I rejoice over the [a]coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have [b]supplied what was lacking on your part. 18 For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men.

19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. 20 All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21 The greeting is in my own hand —[a]Paul. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be [a]accursed. [b]Maranatha. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

16:15 [a]Lit it was  16:17 [a]Or presence  [b]Or made up for your absence  16:21 [a]Lit Paul’s  16:22 [a]Gr anathema  [b]I.e. O [our] Lord come! 

NLT

13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.[*] Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.

15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece,[*] and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,[*] 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion. 17 I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me. 18 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.

19 The churches here in the province of Asia[*] send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla[*] and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings. 20 All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.

21 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING —PAUL.

22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come![*]

23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.[*]

[16:13] Greek Be men.   [16:15a] Greek in Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula.   [16:15b] Greek brothers; also in 16:20.   [16:19a] Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.   [16:19b] Greek Prisca.   [16:22] From Aramaic, Marana tha. Some manuscripts read Maran atha, “Our Lord has come.”   [16:24] Some manuscripts add Amen.  

I see it all the time when I fly:

I know you’ve witnessed scenes like these —touching, heart-wrenching, sometimes downright agonizing. Most of us have lived moments like these.

At times of parting, some people drape the experience in a shroud of somber silence, knowing that too much chatter will cheapen their final embrace and that words will fail to express the depth of their sadness. Others, however, try to get in as many last words as possible: short, succinct, desperate farewells; blessings, promises, reminders; bits of advice before their loved ones are out of sight: “Take care!” “Text me when you arrive!” “Be sure to call us!” “Send our love to Aunt Rita!” “We’ll be praying for you!” “Don’t forget us!”

As the apostle Paul approaches the end of his letter of “tough love,” he begins to rattle off a similar series of final words as part of his emotional farewell. For all he knew, these could have been his final words to the Corinthians. Though he planned on visiting them in person (16:2-7), there were no guarantees that his plans fit God’s mysterious itinerary. As he wraps up this message to a messy church, Paul presents a rapid-fire series of exhortations (16:13-20), followed by a curse and a blessing —an appropriate finale for a bittersweet letter like 1 Corinthians.

— 16:13-20 —

Paul’s seven commands to his friends in Corinth at the conclusion of this letter address two topics. First, Paul gives some general instructions about how Christians should act toward the world (16:13-14). Second, he transitions to discuss how believers should treat one another in the church (16:15-20). For a worldly-minded church such as Corinth, beset with self-centered problems affecting their peace and unity, these final principles would be quite appropriate.

Paul’s commands for responding to unbelievers (16:13-14) were not merely to be memorized or written down —they were meant to be put into practice immediately and lived out continually. As we read Paul’s words to the Corinthians, let’s listen to them as if he were writing directly to us today.

First, “Be on the alert” (16:13). This phrase means to be “awake” or “watchful.” It implies having discernment. Paul similarly urged the elders of Ephesus to “be on the alert” (Acts 20:31). Jesus gave this imperative several times (Matt. 24:42-43; 25:13), and Peter used it to warn his readers of the wiles of the devil: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert” (1 Pet. 5:8). Clearly, the Bible helps us to be consistently aware of what is going on around us.

I have heard it said that the world can be divided into three categories of people:

  1. The few who make things happen
  2. The many who watch things happen
  3. The vast majority who have no idea what’s happening

Paul warns us not to be part of the ignorant masses who have their heads either in the clouds or in the sand. Rather, we are always to be aware. How aware are you of the realities of the world around you? Do you keep a keen eye on the subtle and obvious dangers, distractions, and desperate needs of the world? Or, like the vast majority who have no idea what’s happening, do you fall asleep at your Christ-appointed post? Be on the alert!

Second, “Stand firm in the faith” (1 Cor. 16:13). It is one thing to hear the truth of the gospel, but quite another to receive it. The Corinthians had believed the truth of Christ’s death for their sins and resurrection from the dead (15:1-4). Yet Paul takes the personal absorption of the faith to a deeper level: standing firm in it. Believers live in a twisted, turbulent world —a world inspired by Satan to snatch the faith from our grasp and delude our minds with poisonous doctrines of demons. In this kind of environment, standing firm can be a challenge. We must counter Satan’s great challenges with our faith, rebuke his scoffing criticisms, resist his tantalizing doubts, and endure his alluring temptations.

Without doubt, the attacks will come. Suddenly. Unexpectedly. Aimed straight for the weakest chinks in our spiritual armor (Eph. 6:11-17). When they do, will you be able to repel Satan’s assault against your faith? Or will you waver and retreat at the first volley of flaming arrows? Understand this: The time to commit to standing strong is before the great battle.

Third, “Act like men” (1 Cor. 16:13). No, Paul is not a sexist, trying to urge tender men to man up and get in touch with their macho side, or implying that women are too weak to resist the devil. The original Greek word means “to conduct one’s self in a manly or courageous way.”[100] Essentially, it means to grow up, start acting like an adult rather than like a child, push toward spiritual maturity rather than wallow in your preschool mantra of “me, me, me.” Recalling that the struggle against spiritual immaturity ran deep in the Corinthian church (3:1-3), we can see that this exhortation is best understood in relation to the nonbelieving world around them. They needed to set aside their fussiness, whining, and complaining and instead progress toward maturity in Christ, but they had failed to shed their dependence on the blankies, bottles, and binkies that had soothed them in their baby Christian days. These “props” of comfort were closely connected to the secular world around them. How easy it was for them to slip back into the secular crib of their infancy rather than learn to walk on their own two feet by the grace of God and through the power of the Spirit!

What about you? Do you find yourself more “at home” with the world around you than with the family of God? Are you easily offended? Do you cling to your personal rights and privacy? Maybe it is time to grow up —to leave the nursery of the world and enter the school of higher spiritual learning.

Fourth, “Be strong” (16:13). Paul is not interested in physical strength for the Christians in Corinth. He could not have cared less about how they might perform in the Isthmian Games, how heavy a burden they could schlep, or whether they could hold their own in a fistfight. Rather, as he explains to the Ephesians, he wanted them “to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16).

The strength to obey the Lord is not connected to an Olympian physique. It comes by the power of God to the inner person —the unseen character, attitudes, affections, and passions that drive us toward the good and away from the bad. In Philippians 2:13, Paul lets us in on a secret about the inner power that transforms our outer lifestyle: “It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Our responsibility is to take on the world’s challenges with strength, but we must do so knowing that our strength comes from the Lord, not from ourselves.

Fifth, “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor. 16:14). The first four commands (16:13) sound like abrupt orders shouted by a platoon commander on a battlefield: Wake up! Stand firm! Be a man! Be strong! If we stopped reading there, we might think Paul was urging us to grit our teeth, square our jaws, puff out our chests, and take on the world with a militant, combative demeanor. The next imperative, however, puts everything in perspective: Do everything in love.

We should not forget that the brilliant “love chapter” (1 Cor. 13) is also nested amid the hard exhortations and tangled problem-solving of most of 1 Corinthians. Love is meant to hold the whole argument together. Without love, you will not be alert and discerning, but rather narrow and suspicious. If you stand firm without love, you will be an isolated fanatic, ugly in temperament and intolerant toward the lost. Without love to balance your maturity, you will be critical, judgmental, and harsh. And if you are strong yet have no love, you will lack the tenderness that will attract others to your bridled strength. Notice the one characteristic Jesus said would identify His disciples: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Sixth, “Be in subjection to . . . acknowledge such men” (1 Cor. 16:15-18). Paul now changes his focus from our responses to non-Christians to our treatment of fellow believers (16:15). Along with the change in his point of view, he also changes his tone of voice —from terse commanding to earnest pleading.

Paul introduces a man and his family who were well-known to the Corinthian Christians. Stephanas had been among the earliest converts to the faith when Paul first arrived in Corinth (1:16; 16:15). He also had visited Paul in Ephesus along with two other representatives from Corinth, Fortunatus and Achaicus (16:17).[101] Paul urges his readers to “be in subjection to such men” as Stephanas, as well as “to everyone who helps in the work and labors” (16:16). In this way, they would “acknowledge” these men (16:18). The Greek term for “acknowledge” (epiginōskō [1921]) means “to respect” —the kind of respect that leads to submission. Paul therefore exhorts the Corinthians to submit to the leadership of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus out of respect for their office as leaders in the church and because of their obvious faithfulness in serving in their ministries.

Paul’s words should cause each of us to reevaluate our approach to selecting church leaders. David Prior writes: “We tend to give leadership to those who have received one particular kind of education, who have a measure of articulacy and general ability to think and speak on their feet, who measure up to worldly criteria for leadership. . . . [But what Paul says] indicates that the authentic, solid leadership of a local church will come from people who give themselves to serving the saints.”[102]

Once leadership is in place in a local church, church members are expected to respect and submit to that leadership. Such a concept of submission to appointed church leaders may fall on unsympathetic ears in our world of rebellion, independence, and over-the-top individuality. But Paul is not alone in his exhortation to be subject to properly appointed local church leaders. The author of Hebrews writes, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17).

Seventh, Greet one another with a holy kiss (1 Cor. 16:19-20). In these two verses, Paul uses the Greek word for “welcome” or “greet” (aspazomai [782]) four times. These greetings reinforce the notion of the larger body of Christ that extends beyond the local church in Corinth —a fact that the self-absorbed, immature believers in Corinth may have forgotten. But the need for close fellowship within their own church ran even deeper than interchurch formalities between congregations separated by rivers, mountains, and seas. In fact, Paul had to exhort the Corinthians themselves to “greet one another”! Their own local church, marred with schisms, desperately needed to foster an environment of acceptance and forgiveness.

Even today, in our stiff, hands-off society, in which real personal relationships and life-on-life intimacy are cheapened by online networks, many of us feel afraid to literally reach out and embrace somebody. We would just as soon text them, email them, or leave a voice message. But we need to freely give and receive tangible signs of affection —the squeeze of a hand, a friendly embrace, a genuine expression of affirmation. One of the best ways to truly communicate our love to others is through personal presence and tangible contact.

— 16:21-24 —

If you had been reading the original letter written to the church in Corinth, you would have noticed a sudden change between verses 20 and 21. At that point the penmanship changes from the neat, tidy, and stylish script of a secretary to the large, heavy scratches from Paul’s own hand (see Gal. 6:11). In his own words scribbled with his own distinctive handwriting, Paul brings his long, winding letter to a close with words that first shine like sunlight, then rumble like thunder, and finally refresh like cool rain. What a fitting conclusion for an epistle filled with both high praise and profound disappointment, comforting words and scolding rebukes.

The first words from Paul’s own hand are of warm greetings (1 Cor. 16:21). Though Paul had hurled some stern words at the Corinthians for their sinful behavior, he now reassures them that they are bona fide members of his family. With his very own hand he extends a “greeting” to the church in Corinth. He does not, however, leave the rabble-rousers and heretics in Corinth without a final warning. He puts his harsh condemnation in what Greek grammars call a “first class condition” —“If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed” (16:22). The grammar does not imply that Paul suspects any particular Corinthian readers of this sin; rather, it makes a general warning to anybody who might be listening in about the consequences of failing to love Christ. The word for “love” in this statement is phileō [5368], the love of friendship, dedication, and affection, not the unconditional, supernatural love expressed with agapaō [25]. Therefore, I conclude that Paul didn’t expect a miraculous devotion to Christ, but a genuine affection for Him. Those whose hearts refused even this? Anathema!

The Greek word anathema was used to translate the Hebrew word herem [H2764] (cf. Lev. 27:28-29; Josh. 6:17-18) in the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. Here it means that the person who did not love the Lord was reckoned as standing under condemnation —the eternal wrath of God. It is roughly equivalent to saying “let them be damned” without making a vulgar curse. At minimum, it meant for the Corinthians that such people should be put out of the loving fellowship of the church and rejected as unbelievers. Yes, Paul wanted the Corinthians to love one another, greet one another affectionately, show their unconditional affection for the true brethren —but godly love has its limits. Christian love has no place for tolerating outright rebellion against the authentic person and work of Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus’ command: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matt. 7:6). The truth is, not everyone who wants our Christian attention and affection is a true brother or sister in the Lord.

After calling down the curse of God’s judgment upon those who despise the Savior, Paul calls down the Savior Himself with the Aramaic phrase marana tha [3134] (1 Cor. 16:22), which means, “Our Lord, come!” Paul didn’t translate this for his Greek-speaking readers, who knew what it meant because it had likely been used in songs and hymns that had originated in the earliest Christian communities in Aramaic-speaking Judea.[103] In the same way, we understand the Hebrew word hallelujah [H1984/H3050] as a universal word of joyful praise. For those who love the Lord, the coming of Christ means blessing and reward; but for those who despise him, it means judgment and cursing.

At this point in his letter, Paul has exhorted, refuted, corrected, encouraged, reminded, counseled, and rebuked. When he finally comes to his farewell, he opens his arms to give the believers in Corinth —his beloved children in the faith —two gifts that will comfort them: grace and love (16:23-24). Nothing less than the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ could heal their divisions (16:23). Nothing could encourage their hearts more than to hear that despite their shortcomings, Paul’s love was with them (16:24). How those final words must have soothed sore consciences! They were accepted, faults and all, by their Savior and by their teacher.

APPLICATION: 1 CORINTHIANS 16:13-24

Keep Your Kisses! How about a Holy Hug?

Most of us live in a no-touch, keep-your-distance society. If we brush up against somebody, we apologize, and if a man puts his hand on a woman, he’d better be married to her! It’s even true in our families. A father who embraces a son embarrasses him: “Aw, Dad, don’t do that.” In our culture, showing affection for one another has been reduced to a cautious pat on the back, a brisk handshake, or an awkward, one-armed, side hug.

But this “don’t touch me” attitude wasn’t part of the early church. Five New Testament epistles mention the “holy kiss” as an appropriate expression of love for brothers and sisters in Christ (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thes. 5:26; 1 Pet. 5:14). In the first century, this was a common form of greeting between family members as a sign of affection.[104] Applying this same gesture toward the members of one’s spiritual family made sense. After all, Christians referred to one another as brothers, sisters, and children of the same heavenly Father.[105]

Like the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the “love feast,” the “holy kiss” was meant to reinforce visibly the unity of the brethren. The great fourth-century preacher John Chrysostom said, “Having then knit them together by his exhortation, he naturally bids them use the holy kiss also as a means of union: for this unites, and produces one body. This is holy, when free from deceit and hypocrisy.”[106]

In some Middle Eastern and European cultures, people still greet loved ones with a gentle kiss on the lips or on the cheek. In most Western cultures, however, this kind of greeting has been replaced by a “holy handshake” or “holy hug.” Either way, the message is the same: “I love you like a brother or sister.”

Think of some other obvious expressions of genuine love you could exhibit among your brothers and sisters in Christ. What kinds of actions would communicate as plainly as a brotherly kiss or a warm embrace? How about providing a meal to a family in need or a car ride for a person who has lost the use of a vehicle? What about encouraging your church leaders with cards and gifts rather than tearing them down with complaining and gossip? How about spending time with loved ones beyond your immediate family?

In our fast-paced world, it’s so easy to get away with a nod and a wave when we walk by people we know in our churches. But we’re called to a greater degree of affection and a greater commitment to love. We’re called to get up close and personal with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Anything we can do to strengthen these relationships in our churches will move us closer to the depth of love and fellowship enjoyed in the first century.