Made New to Live New Together

Transcript

GR 1831
02/28/2016
Made New to Live New Together
2 Corinthians 13:11-14
Gil Rugh

We've been studying the book of 2 Corinthians together on Sunday mornings, so I invite you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 13. We come to the conclusion of this letter by the Apostle Paul as we look at the closing verses of 2 Corinthians 13.

The Corinthian church was established by the Apostle Paul on that journey that carried him for the first time the Gospel to the continent of Europe. He crossed over into northern Greece, Macedonia to Philippi and carried the Gospel there to Berea and Thessalonica. And he traveled down to the southern part of Greece, the province of Achaia, to the city of Corinth and there he preached the Gospel. And the people in that great city heard and believed.

Turn back to 2 Corinthians 5. Here is the heart of what Paul declared to the Corinthians, what happened to them when they heard the message and what is foundational to what he has been writing to them concerning their present condition. In 2 Corinthians 5:14 we read “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” Look down at verse 17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, behold new things have come. Now all these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” A ministry declaring that people separated and alienated from God by sin can now be brought into right relationship with God through the work that God accomplished on their behalf in Christ, namely that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Paul came to the great city of Corinth and shared that message of reconciliation and a number of people responded and believed the truth that Jesus Christ had died for their sins and in Christ they could have forgiveness, in Christ they have new life. Verse 17, “if you are in Christ you are a new creature, a new creation. The old things pass away, new things have come.” God doesn't say clean up your life and I'll accept you, He says you come and believe what I have done and I'll clean up your life. And now you live the new life I give you.

Paul has had numerous contacts with the Corinthians since that time. Come back to 2 Corinthians 13. He is getting ready for his third visit, the second visit we are not told about but he had a second visit to the city of Corinth. He has written them at least two other letters. We have one of them as part of our Bible, in 1 Corinthians 5:9 he comments about a previous letter he had written. He has had personal contacts with people from the church at Corinth, he talked about that in his first letter, the family of Chloe who talked to him about the situation in Corinth. He has had some of his personal representatives visit the city of Corinth, like Titus, Timothy and others who had had involvement there. But Paul's concern, when you are made new in Christ you have a new life. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,” now we live our lives differently, the character of Christ is manifest in and through us. But there are inconsistencies in the church at Corinth—there are some things that are an encouragement to Paul, there are some things that have been a disappointment. But he never loses sight of the fact that because of their faith in Jesus Christ they are part of God's family, they are God's children. And he is concerned that their conduct be brought into conformity with what God has called them to be, so they can enjoy all the blessings that God has provided for them.

He is writing this second letter as we have it in anticipation of his third visit. Chapter 13 opened up, “This is the third time I am coming to you” as an apostle with authority, as their spiritual father, the one who brought them the Gospel, through whom they trusted Christ. He is going to have to exercise some discipline if things aren't corrected in the church at Corinth. He writes so they will have opportunity to make the corrections before he comes. And we've talked about it, it's just like our physical family. When you are raising your children you have certain things expected of them because they are part of your family. Sometimes your kids will say well, so-and-so doesn't do it; or so-and-so does this, why can't I? We say because they are not part of our family. That's the way it is with God's family. Doesn't matter what those outside His family are doing, here is what He requires of those who are part of His family. Paul says these things need to be dealt with.

In the letter there have been things encouraging as I said, but some discouragements. False teachers, false apostles have infiltrated among that church and they have gotten somewhat established and are having an impact on the thinking and behavior of the believers in that church. Paul is concerned about that and their doctrine, their teaching as he said in 2 Corinthians 11. Also there are certain conduct and behaviors that should not be going on among God's people. He talked about those at the end of chapter 12, verses 20-21. We have a new life in Christ, we are to be living a new life. He made us new so we could live new. What a privilege. What a privilege to be cleansed from the defilement and guilt of sin and to be credited with God's righteousness and now enabled to live a life that is pleasing to God. But they weren't being consistent with this.

So Paul is going to conclude this letter rather abruptly. The closing of the letter is in 2 Corinthians 13:11-14. And he is writing, showing his confidence in them, he writes to encourage them in their walk with the Lord. Now you might think with the difficulties and problems we see in the first letter Paul wrote to them that we have in our Bibles and the second letter, Paul might be discouraged with them, frustrated in the sense, there is nothing I can do with you. Over the years I have poured my life into your lives and yet we still have trouble. But it's like your own family. Your kids may go through difficult times, but you don't give up, you don't quit, they are your family. You say we are family, you just can't let it go. And that's what Paul is with the Corinthians—we are family. So his closing remarks are encouraging. That's why it seems abrupt after what he has been saying in these closing chapters. He is going to speak positively and warmly to them, remind them of the blessings and potential that they can enjoy as God's children.

It starts verse 11, “Finally brethren,” wrapping up here. But note he calls them brethren. There is no arrogance on Paul's part, there is a humility. In spite of all your problems, in spite of the difficulties, as those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, we are family, we are brethren, I am your brother in Christ, you are my brethren in Christ. And I write to you as brethren, I write to you as a member of the same family, God's family, God's children. Appreciate in a letter like this Paul maintaining his balance and perspective. You give up on other people's kids, but you don't give up on your own. Sometimes kids' conduct that may be in the neighborhood or something, you just tell your kids you can't have anything to do with them, their conduct is not good. For Paul these are part of my family, they have been born again by the living and abiding word of God, they have been made new, they are brethren.

So I write to you as brethren, fellow believers. And he is going to give now five brief commands, present tense commands, we call them present imperatives, commands given in a present tense. These are the things that are to characterize them, to be ongoing. It is interesting, he concludes his first letter to them in a similar way.

Back up to 1 Corinthians before we look at these, 1 Corinthians 16, the earlier letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, we have as 1 Corinthians. And as he gets near the end of this letter look at verses 13-14. And what he has here are five brief present tense commands. They are not the same ones he'll give at the end of the second letter but it is in the same way in pulling together in a concise way things that they must be doing regularly, continually. These five commands here are be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, let all you do be done in love. We are going to see similarities in what he says at the end of the second letter. These are things you must be doing. They didn't follow through, they weren't as alert so false teachers and false apostles infiltrated among the church and so on. They were being shaken in their faith; they were being somewhat like children, blown about by every wind of doctrine, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians. They weren't acting like men, they weren't being strong and standing firm, they weren't functioning in love with one another.

Now you come to the end of the second letter, come back to 2 Corinthians 13. Paul gives these five brief commands, instructions, challenges to them. And the first one is rejoice. Rejoice, be having joy. Interesting. You'd think with all that is going on that needs corrected in this church, you'd think Paul might have started out saying be weeping, be sorrowful, be unhappy. But he says rejoice, be rejoicing. He doesn't write to discourage them as God's children, he writes to encourage them. It's God's intention that His children be experiencing the joy that He provides. This is part of the blessing He brings. We may live in a discouraging world. Some of the songs this morning reminded us of that, that in it all God intends for His children to have joy that He produces in their lives. Just like you for your children, you want joy in their lives. You don't act to make them miserable, your intention for them is to have joy, enjoyment in the life they have. This is the spiritual life we have.

Come over to Galatians 5. And here is the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit of God takes up residence in your life when you place your faith in Christ. He is there to produce and develop the character of God in us as His children. And you'll note what He produces, verse 22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.” Joy. God intends for us to have joy. May be a discouraging world, may be an unhappy world, things may not be going the way we would desire and like. There may be difficulties in the church, the Corinthian church surely had them, but what does God want to produce in our lives? His joy. Be rejoicing, be experiencing His joy, the joy that the Spirit produces in your life. That's our blessing.

Come over to Philippians 3. Paul says basically the same thing to the Philippians. “Finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” Rejoice in the Lord. God intends for us to be enjoying the new life He has given us, enjoying a relationship with the living God who is the source of joy. Joy. The world sometimes is overwhelmed, the people overwhelmed. Sometimes we as believers have a sense of being overwhelmed, then we are reminded, I belong to the Lord, He is my heavenly Father. Everything is under control, I am under His care, He provides for me, I rejoice in His work in my life. Then appreciate even in the difficulties He has a purpose for me.

Come to Philippians 4, context here again is some difficulty, divisions among a couple of members of the church at Philippi. And he says in verse 4, “Rejoice in the Lord,” in the good times. No it says “always. Again I will say rejoice.” This is God's intention—always. Isn't it a blessing to know that God desires to produce His joy in our lives all the times?

Come back to 2 Corinthians 13. That's why it is in the present tense as a command here. In Philippians he added the word “always,” emphasizing it, the present tense. This is to be our continual experience—to be rejoicing. But what about all the troubles in the church at Corinth? Keep on rejoicing. They still have to be dealt with, but don't let that take your joy away. Keep on rejoicing.

The second command, “be made complete.” Now we've talked about this word before, related word, this is a verb. But back in verse 9 at the end of the verse you had the noun, “that you be made complete.” This we pray, that you be made complete. Now we have it as a command. The being made complete, what is he talking about? Remember, katartizo, some of you have taken Greek. It's a word that could be used in a medical context of setting a broken bone so you are restoring it. So the word you sometimes talk about, restore. That's what it means to be made complete. You break your arm you go to the doctor and it is reset and they put it in a cast or whatever, it is being made complete, restored to the way that it should be. That's what he is telling the Corinthians—be made complete, being restored. And that's an ongoing process.

It's like raising your children, you are never done. It's ongoing in your family and it's a process. You are not done. I'm a grandparent, my grandkids are getting older. You realize you are never done. You start having kids and they are so cute and you bring them home from the hospital. But they are not only cute, they are a lot of trouble. They don't know when to sleep, when to stay awake, they don't know we have certain times to eat and you have to wait. And you think they'll outgrow that. Yes, they grow into the terrible 2s and then they get to the awful 4s. But in all of it they are precious to you. You deal with the trouble and it's an ongoing process of helping them to develop to maturity. And then they become teenagers and they are independent enough to really be trouble. It's a work. That's what he is saying, be being restored, work on these things that need to be done, correct it, fix it. But Paul doesn't give up on them, he doesn't turn his back and say I've decided to skip the third visit. The others didn't do any good and if you are not going to work on it harder than you have, if you are not going to deal with it, I'm out of it. I have enough other churches to deal with. No, he said you don't quit.

That's what he is saying, be being restored. One translated it be mended, then you'll be complete. I want you to be all that God wants you to be and that's the work you have to do. That's why he is writing to them, so that they can be dealing with these things that have to be fixed. And that's for their good and their blessing. When your child breaks his arm, you don't take him to the doctor so he can have more pain. The child may say, it's all right, it doesn't hurt anymore because he doesn't want to go to the doctor. And it may hurt when he gets there. But it is for his good. So keep this process going. The Corinthians weren't working on restoring one another, they are working on fighting with one another, disagreeing with one another all too much. So be being restored, be made complete.

The third command, “Be comforted,” be comforted. Again I appreciate Paul. It's easy for us to forget we are a family, we are God's family. Be comforted. You might think he'd write I hope you are miserable, until everything is straightened out. But he loves them, they are his fellow believers and he wants them to experience God's comfort. Remember how Paul started this letter? Come back to 2 Corinthians 1, we saw this word a number of times, parakaleo, used of the Holy Spirit. He is the Comforter. Jesus promised He would send the Comforter. And we saw in 2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” And we noted how many times that word comfort was used down through verse 7. It's the last word in verse 7, “you are sharers in our comfort.” God brings comfort, sometimes translated encouragement because when you comfort someone you encourage them. Someone going through a trial, in times of sorrow you say I want to go and be a comfort to them, an encouragement. That's what we are talking about. God is the One who brings comfort and encouragement to us, He wants them to enjoy the comfort that God brings to the lives of His children in an ongoing way. And as long as they are resisting what God wants to do in their lives, they don't enjoy the fullness of all that God has for them. Sometimes when we are going through difficult times, we need to just stop and ask ourselves, am I really being what God says I need to be, functioning as God would have me function. He wants to bring me comfort, He wants to bring me joy, He wants me to be complete, He wants our church to be that way. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. This just isn't for an individual, but as individuals deal with it then the church is what it ought to be. The church is just not a blob of something, it is comprised of individuals. So as individuals function as they should, be comforted. The church is encouraged and comforted.

Come back to 2 Corinthians 13. You'll note, Paul doesn't speak from arrogance—if you function like I function as an obedient child of God, you'll experience God's comfort and encouragement. He began the letter by saying you are sharers in the same comfort we do, because even though they weren't in every way what they should be as a church, there were many ways that they were being faithful. It's the inconsistencies. It's just like in our physical family. Doesn't mean your child is bad in every area, we appreciate that. But that doesn't mean that the areas they are not functioning properly are acceptable. But we appreciate there are areas that we see growth. That's how Paul is dealing here.

Back in 2 Corinthians 13. “Be like minded.” Now I love these things because he gives them as commands under the direction of the Spirit. That being the case, it's clear indication that God intends as we submit to Him to enable and empower us to do what He is telling us we have to do. He didn't tell me, flap your arms and fly like a bird. I can't do that. He doesn't intend for me to do that so He doesn't command me to do that, He doesn't empower me to do that. But He does command “be like minded.” And that's an ongoing thing. Literally, think the same thing, phroneo, we carry that out—it's phrenic, it's to think. And the word same, we think the same. Believers are to think the same. That doesn't mean we don't have differences, there is diversity, we don't all have the same spiritual gift as Paul has talked about in his first letter to the Corinthians. We don't all like the same color. There is diversity but at heart we all think the same. We are family, God is our heavenly Father. We all have a mind to serve Him, to please Him, to obey Him. We want to reflect what He would desire and want.

Come back to Romans 12, and we won't take the time to go through a lot on these different commands. They come up in various portions of Scripture, but just as an example, Paul's letter to the Romans which he will later write when he visits Corinth. And in Romans 12:16, he instructed them in verse 15 to “rejoice with those who rejoice,” and there will be weeping. But we have joy in knowing that the night will pass. Joy comes in the morning, as the psalmist says. Verse 16, “Be of the same mind with one another,” think alike. Now there is a negative side, “Don't be haughty in mind.” Associate with the lowly, don't think you are better than someone else. Well, I am more gifted, I am more intelligent, I'm more well off. The Corinthians had this kind of thinking going on. I'm more spiritual. “Don't be wise in your own estimation.” That's what he means, think the same.

Turn over to Romans 15:5, “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement.” We talked about the God of all comfort, He gives comfort, be comforted, be encouraged. Here we have it, it comes from God. He gives encouragement, comfort. “Grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus.” We are to think like Christ things. Where does the conflict come? “So that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore accept one another just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” Then he goes on to talk about the Jew/Gentile issue. We have racial divides and the more we work on settling it, the more divided we become. But in Christ we have unity, we have one mind, we have one voice, we are joined together with one purpose—to give glory to the God who has brought us salvation.

Keep coming over to 1 Corinthians 1:10. “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree, that there be no divisions among you, that you be made complete, in the same mind and the same judgment.” Why? “I've heard that there are quarrels among you,” he goes on to say. What are we fighting about? What are we quarreling about? We are committed to one purpose, to obedience to one God. We have one Lord Jesus Christ. Is He divided among Himself? I have to be careful, in arrogance I think I am right. Wait a minute, we are family. We are not in competition with one another. We are joined together and that brings us together. Right? We believe this is the Word of God, we believe there is only one Savior and only one way of salvation. We are like minded. The things we may differ on are superficial—one likes one color and another likes the other color. Fine, that's not a spiritual issue. And I wouldn't divide over the color, unless it's the carpet. We move right along here.

We are in 1 Corinthians 2:16. You know the difference between the believer and the unbeliever? The unbeliever does not know the things of God, does not have the mind of God, is not interested in the things of God. But we have the mind of God Himself. The end of verse 16, just for time. “We have the mind of Christ.” We are not deity but we have been made new in Christ, we become partakers of the divine nature as Peter wrote, we have the mind of Christ. Why should the Corinthians be quarreling? Christ is not divided among Himself. We imply that we have a schizophrenic Lord? That would be blasphemy. We have the mind of Christ. That gives us unity.

One more passage on this, come over to Philippians 2, he talks about the encouragement we have in Christ. There we go again, similar things, the comfort we have in Christ. “Consolation of love, fellowship of the Spirit,” keep that in mind, we'll be talking about fellowship that the Spirit produces among believers in a moment. “Affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind with the same love, one purpose.” The other side, “Do nothing from selfishness, empty conceit, with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Don't be focused on your own interests but on the interests of others.” The example? “Have this attitude,” verse 5, “which was also in Christ Jesus.” He sacrificed everything for our benefit. How selfish we can become. Paul says be of the same mind. That's an ongoing thing, don't forget that. You are to be thinking. It is sometimes said the thoughts of God after Him reflecting Him, His will, His desire. How does your congregation with all those people get along so well? Well, we have the same mind. You are robots. No, we have so much diversity but we have the same mind about those things which God would have us be agree on. That's what he is telling these Philippians.

Come back to 2 Corinthians 13. This will correct the problems mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:20, the end of that verse says that Paul is afraid in the church there will be “strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances.” Doesn't sound much like the same mind, does it? Yet you are to be continually characterized by thinking the same thing. We can't come to an agreement. This is what God says, this is what we do. We yield to one another. We don't compromise truth but we are of the same mind.

Then finally the result of this will be “live in peace,” be living in peace. 1 Thessalonians 5:13 says “live in peace with one another.” That's our goal. Sad, black mark on the testimony of the church is the division that occurs. Why? So many of them are trivial, they come down to like the Corinthians. They divide among personalities—I am of Paul, I am of Peter, I am of . . . What's the difference? The doctrine is the same, Paul had not different doctrine than Peter, Peter didn't have a different doctrine than Apollos. This is not a personality contest—well, I didn't like the way they did this. Well, get over it. We tell our kids, you better stop the sulking, we're not going to have that in our family. But in the church we sulk and pout, then go home and tell our kids not to do it. That's selfish, get over it. We have to do that.

We are to live in peace with one another. This is God's family. Do you think He is causing division in His family? He's the One who is instructing us through Paul, you be continually living in peace. That ought to characterize the church. If there is disruption, it should come from outsiders who infiltrate the church and try to corrupt its doctrine or its conduct and they are not tolerated because the church is of one mind. It doesn't matter whether they have good personalities or not, doesn't matter whether they are likable or not. We are of one mind, we serve one Lord, and we do not tolerate those who would promote rebellion against our Lord. It has to be dealt with, of course.

Come back to Romans 12:18, I want to make just an observation Paul makes in Romans 12:18. We read verse 16 where it says “be of the same mind,” and if you are of the same mind you will live in peace. But he comes down to verse 18 and says, “if possible so far as depends on you, be at peace with all men.” We manifest the work of God in our lives in our relationship with one another, but we ought to be careful in dealing with the outside world that we don't create antagonism and conflicts we don't have to. So if there is conflict it may come because of the position we have on the Word of God, we may be unpopular because we say there is only one way of salvation, there is only one Savior, those things. But we ought to be careful about getting too intense. We are in a political season and we have the privilege to have different views and vote our views. We need to be careful that we don't create unhealthy conflicts that don't need to be. And that's true in our positions on the Word. People might say that our church is homophobic. We are not homophobic, I don't have an irrational fear of homosexuals; I'm not kleptophobic, I don't have an irrational, unhealthy fear of those who steal. And on we go. But I do feel certain things are sin, I believe that is true. So someone says your church is against homosexuals, I say I don't think you have the correct understanding. I don't think they are anymore lost than I was, and I never was a homosexual. The Bible says “all have sinned.” Now it's true, homosexuality is sin, pride is sin, all these things that the Bible calls sin are evidences of rebellion against God. But you going to heaven or hell is not settled by whether you are homosexual or not. You can stop that and still go to hell. Doesn't matter if you stop stealing, that doesn't mean you go to heaven. Because we are sinners, all of us.

So I need to be careful that I don't get engaged in a battle that goes nowhere. As much as possible I want to live in peace with all men. Of course we have to preach what sin is, and sin is sin, and that's just a manifestation of hearts that are in rebellion against God and only God can change those hearts. So I want to be careful I don't get drawn into a battle that I don't need to be in. I may have a personal preference for whom I would vote for in a political office, but I don't want to make that a dividing line. I don't want people to say I wouldn't go to that church because I am politically conservative and they are politically liberal. I don't know, does that church have a political position? They may surmise certain things because of our position on the Word of God but I believe political conservatives are just as lost as political liberals. Don't you? Everybody is in the same sinking boat until they are rescued by Christ. All right, that was a little aside.

Peace. If we don't have peace in the church, how can we talk about it elsewhere? Aren't you the church that battles about this and battles about that? Well, we are taking stands on doctrine, morality and so on, yes. But you always have a personal issues if this and that. I talked to someone who used to go to your church and they said they left because they didn't like this. If you believe the Lord wants you to leave, leave with a good spirit. If the Lord doesn't want you here, we don't want you here. I can't think of anything worse than having a church full of people that God doesn't want here. That's trouble. Be where the Lord wants you, and if you are where the Lord wants you, don't be upset with me or us. Be glad you are where the Lord wants you. And it's good to remember as the Lord moves us from place to place.

And note the promise here at the end of verse 11, and I just love Paul's attitude toward these that he loves, you see his love. “The God of love and peace will be with you,” the end of verse 11. You commit yourself to do what He instructs you to do and the God of love, the God of peace will be with you. To say He will be with you is to say He is there to enable you, to give you the grace you need to do it. He's the God of love. We sometimes quote the verse “God is love” from 1 John. But the God of love produces love.

Come over to Galatians 5, we read the fruit of the Spirit, “the fruit of the Spirit is love.” God is love in His very character and He produces that character in His children who have become partakers of the divine nature. And He is the God of peace so He will produce His peace. And so you have in verse 22, “love, joy, peace.” We saw that in the instruction to be at peace with all men. I don't think I can do that. Well, did God love you miserable, wretched, unlovable? Yes. Well, can that God not enable you? Well, I don't want Him to because I don't like them. Why would I want to love them? That's the way it was at Corinth—there are quarrels, there is conflict. We have to stop. The God of love and peace will be with you, and He is with you to produce His character in you. And what more do I need? It takes out I can't do it. God promises us He will enable us to do it. Then it comes down to I don't want to do it.

It's like your children, they want to pout, they want to be unhappy. I'm not happy, I'm going to go to my room and get my suitcase. I'm leaving. It's sometimes like that spiritually, we are spiritual pouters. I don't want to. Well, you have to. Then what am I saying? I don't want God to do that, I don't want God to be with me, I don't want Him to enable me to do it. That's what we are really saying, right? He has instructed me to do it, then I have the promise He will be with me to do it. What are the Corinthians? What are they in such a puddle for? What's the mess? I just love that Paul hasn't lost hope, he hasn't given up on them. He won't let them go. We have the song, Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go. Paul is demonstrating that, it's God's love, through Him. Who else but God could love this church with all they are and all the problem they have been to Paul and some of them have turned against Paul. I just want you to know the God of love and peace will be with you, He'll enable you to do all that He has instructed and commanded you to do.

And then you just love the next verse, like it is all settled. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” I've decided we can work this out—I'm sitting on the north side, they can sit on the south side; I'll go out the north entrance, they can go out the south entrance. That's how we have resolved it. How am I going to kiss them? The point is, this holy kiss, the kiss was the standard greeting. You remember what Judas did and Jesus said to him, you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? A kiss was to be the expression of your affection, of your relationship. Judas used a kiss for just the opposite, to betray Christ. Here it is a holy kiss. And there is a play on words here that we don't pick up in English. The word holy, and many of you know, the word saints are the same basic word. So you could translate it greet one another with a holy kiss, all the holy ones greet you. He's reminding them, that's not just a church family there at Corinth but this family is larger than the church at Corinth and all the other believers. Paul is in Macedonia where churches like Philippi, Thessalonica, believers in Berea live. And he is probably speaking beyond that because he writes to the Romans in Romans 16. He tells them that all the saints greet you. This is just a reminder, we are part of the family of God and we are the family of God in this place. But the family of God is bigger than us, and they all send their greeting. And you can express your greeting to one another in a more personal way as we do. Doesn't mean we have to start kissing. In our society it's a little different, but we have to express our affection for one another. Sometimes we do it with a hug, sometimes we do it with a special handshake.

But we need to remind ourselves we are family. This is in the context we are to be like minded, to be at peace, to be mended, restored together. And often you do. You have had something come up in your family and there has been distance. You end up usually putting your arm around one another and expressing the fact that you are settled, we are back in relationship with one another. We're not in relationship at a distance, but we are back together. That's what he does with greet one another with a holy kiss. Paul mentions this at the end of a number of his letters.

Then “all the saints greet you.” Reminder you are part of a larger family, manifest it where you are.

We come to the end of this letter, verse 14, and I almost took a whole message just to do this because this is probably the greatest verse on the trinity that we have in all the Bible, affirming the trinity. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This is Paul's benediction, this is his desire for them—the grace of the Lord Jesus. Back up to 2 Corinthians 8, we don't have time to go through all the verses on each of these. But 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that those He was rich yet for your sakes He became poor so that through His poverty you may become rich.” Look what He did for you, His grace. He left the throne of glory to come to this poverty stricken earth to take your place on a cross to pay your penalty so you could have all the riches of glory bestowed on you. That's God's grace, the provision of salvation in Christ, “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“The love of God,” referring to God the Father obviously here. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, in order that whosoever believes in Him,” not just hears about Him but believes in Him “should not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 5:8 “This is the great demonstration of love in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

Come back to Romans 8, we read this. “Who is the one who condemns?” Very familiar passage. “Christ is the One who died,” Romans 8:34, “who rather was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us.” So down in verse 38, “I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” God's love provided His Son when His grace paid our penalty. And that love is ongoing. You'll note it just wasn't shown to us at a point in time any more than the grace of Christ was limited just to that point of our initial believing. That was the beginning of ongoing grace that floods our lives, the beginning of ongoing love as God bestows His love on us as His children. How remarkable is this. “And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” This is the bond He produces.

Let me read you Ephesians 4:3, we are to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” And the preceding was to show tolerance for one another in love. See all these things, and they just are woven through so many portions of Scripture. “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, one Spirit,” and so on as Paul went on. The fellowship we have, that's a bond of the Spirit. You see what he is saying here, there is one God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He reverses the order here because our relationship begins with the work Christ did for us, which is a manifestation of God's love. But all three now continue to work in our lives as His children when we don't function as we should. How disobedient we are. What a tragedy. Paul pronounces this benediction as his desire for the Corinthians, that God's grace might exude in and through them and from them, that God's love would be displayed. If God so loved us, brethren, we ought to love one another. That bond established by the Spirit—by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body. This is His ongoing work to preserve that unity and develop that relationship we have, sharing in common with one another. We don't mature and grow in isolation, God didn't intend us. Sometimes Christians say I have the Bible, I have the Holy Spirit, so I don't need to be part of a church. That's another way of telling God, I think I have a better plan. God says I have put you together in My family and My family is manifested in local congregations, local families in various places. And there you grow together, you struggle together, you work together to restore, to mend, to love one another, you maintain the bonds you have. You grow together, and in so doing we demonstrate what God alone could do—the greatness of His grace in cleansing selfish, self-righteous, self-centered sinners, cleansing them, forgiving them, making them new and now empowering them to manifest His character in their conduct together. May that be true of each of us.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. Lord, we are in awe that You our heavenly Father, Your Son our Savior, the Holy Spirit, the One who has identified us with Christ and joined us with Him and with one another, Your work as the one true and living God continues in our lives individually and in the life of our church. Lord, it is as we individually obey these things that we as a church will manifest Your work in our lives. We commit ourselves to You to that end. In Christ's name, amen.