According to Paul’s word in verse 11, if we rejoice, are perfected, are encouraged, think the same thing, and are at peace, then the God of love and peace will be with us. The Corinthians were lacking in love (1 Cor. 8:1; 13:1-3, 13; 14:1) and short of peace through being disturbed by the distracting teachings and confusing concepts. Hence, the apostle wishes that the God of love and peace shall be with them for their adjusting and perfecting. They need the love and peace of God to fill them that they may walk according to love (Rom. 14:15; Eph. 5:2) and have peace with one another (Rom. 14:19; Heb. 12:14).
Because the believers at Corinth had strife and rivalry, they certainly were short of love. The book of 1 Corinthians has an entire chapter, chapter thirteen, devoted to the subject of love. Now in his conclusion of 2 Corinthians Paul emphasizes the God of love. He does not emphasize the God of power or the God of miracles. Here Paul seems to be telling the Corinthians, “You are lacking in love, and therefore you need the God of love. Because of your situation, you do not need the God of power or the mighty God. The One you need is the God of love and peace.”
When many Christians think of God, they think of Him as the powerful One, the mighty One, the One who performs miracles. But here Paul’s emphasis is on the God of love and peace. He indicates to the Corinthians that they need the God of love and peace. They emphasized the gifts, in particular, tongue-speaking. For this reason, they may be regarded as ancient Pentecostals. From experience I know that Pentecostal people especially need the God of love and peace. They may embrace each other one day and be divided the next. They have much difficulty knowing what is genuine, for they are lacking in the God of love and peace.
We need to rejoice, be perfected, be encouraged, and be at peace. We also need to think the same thing. If we have all this in our experience, we shall enjoy the God of love and peace.
Actually, love is the motivating factor of rejoicing. If we are lacking in love, we shall not have any joy, and we shall not be able to rejoice. You may try to rejoice if you have hatred in your heart, but it will not work. Likewise, we cannot rejoice if we are full of jealousy. A rejoicing one is one who is filled with love, kindness, and peace.
It certainly would be worthwhile to put 2 Corinthians 13:11 on our wall at home. But more important, we should keep these words within us.
In verse 12 Paul says, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” This is a kiss of pure love, without any contaminating mixture. Paul’s word in verse 12 implies that in our Christian life there should be balance. It is not sufficient simply to have love and peace. Our love needs to be balanced with holiness. Realizing the need for this balance, Paul charges the Corinthians to greet one another with a holy kiss. Then in verse 13 he says, “All the saints greet you.”
Among the sixty-six books of the Bible, 2 Corinthians is unique in that it concludes with a blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This blessing is composed of attributes of the Triune God: grace, love, and fellowship. The love of God the Father is the source, the fount, and grace is the flow, the expression, of love. With love as the source, we may do something for others or give something to them. This is grace as the outflow and expression of love. For example, I may desire to give a watch to a brother. The giving of the watch is an expression of my love for him. The love within me is expressed by my giving him a watch. We may use this to illustrate the love of God and the grace of Christ. Love is with the Father as the source, and grace is with the Son as the course, the flow, the expression.
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is a matter of communication, transportation, transmission. Therefore, love is the source, grace is the flow, and fellowship is the transmission of the flow with the source. In this way we have love, grace, and fellowship as our enjoyment, and we participate in them.
Second Corinthians 13:14 clearly says that grace is of Christ, love is of God, and fellowship is of the Holy Spirit. Because the book of 2 Corinthians emphasizes grace, grace is mentioned first in 13:14. Elsewhere in this book Paul speaks strongly of grace. For example, in 1:12 he says, “For our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in singleness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we conducted ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.” Then in 8:1-15 we see grace from four parties, in particular, the grace of Christ. In 8:9 Paul says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, being rich, for your sakes He became poor, in order that you by His poverty might become rich.” Then in 12:9 we have perhaps the most famous verse on grace in the whole Bible: “And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”
Grace as presented in 2 Corinthians is actually the Triune God embodied in the Son and transmitted into our being through the Spirit for our enjoyment. Hence, grace is the Triune God as our life, life supply, and enjoyment. This grace issues out from the Father’s love and is transmitted into our being by the Spirit. Therefore, we have the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit—the full enjoyment of the Triune God.
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