1 Corinthians 16:12-21
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.
13 Be watchful, 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, 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.
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.
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. [1]
In this letter, the apostle Paul has been striving to show the congregation in Corinth what a gospel community looks like – being tied together with chords of grace. We have come across many challenges and controversial questions, themes, and issues. Time and again, we have seen that the gospel has the power to shape any community in personal, practical, and powerful ways.
We come to the end of Paul’s lengthy letter. The apostle is concluding with very practical terms. He writes of his future plans and sends along personal greetings. What does this ordinary conclusion to an extraordinary letter mean? God communicated his word through inspired but ordinary human beings. He communicated in ordinary literary genres. First Corinthians 16 is just as inspired and profitable as first Corinthians 15. But what does this section mean for our ordinary Christian lives?
We have seen in this letter that all humans long for a common bond and for a part in a community that has positive characteristics. God created human beings not only to have a perfect vertical relationship with him, but also to have perfect horizontal relationships. This is why he said of Adam, “It is not good that man should be alone.”
The first such characteristic of horizontal community is love. All of us long for horizontal approval and acceptance. Everyone wants to be accepted for who they are, and every person wants to have the ability to love others. Another characteristic of community is mutual care. Everyone wants to know that in their time of need they will be cared for. Everyone longs to be able to truly care for others.
A third common gracious bond is characterized by a balance of community and individuality. Everyone wants to be part of a community larger than themselves. Yet, each of us want to remain distinctly ourselves. We don’t want our identity to be steamrolled by the community. Neither do we want to build our identity in isolation from community. Finally, common bonds of grace are characterized by connection. We want to be plugged in locally and globally. Because we are sinners, most of us err toward one side or the other. First Corinthians has given us a picture of a community characterized by all these things human beings naturally desire.
In our last look at this rich letter, we will examine these bonds of grace in hopes that we might experience some of them together. We will look at three aspects of these gospel bonds: their existence; their characteristics; and their recovery by the gospel community.
EXISTENCE
First, the church needs to acknowledge the existence of a common gospel bond. Paul is in Ephesus in Asia (the western edge of modern Turkey) as he writes to the congregation in Corinth (in modern-day Greece). That tells us local gospel communities were spreading widely and rapidly just 20 years after Christ’s death and resurrection. These far-flung communities interacted with one another by sending out representatives from their congregations. Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus were Corinthian believers who had traveled to see Paul in Ephesus (v. 17). They came with the Corinthian church’s letter for Paul.
Our membership in a local church connects us to a global movement, a global family. The word “brothers” appears three times in our text: verses 12, 15, and 20. In the context of their culture, global family members greet one another with holy kiss (v. 20). The Church of the 1st century was made up of a network of local gospel communities composing a richly intertwined global family network.
Not only was there local and global networking, but also individual and communal networking. Notice the many personal names mentioned in this passage: Apollos (v. 12), Stephanas (vv. 15,17), Fortunatus and Achaicus (v. 17), Aquila, Prisca, and their house church (v. 19b), Paul himself (v. 21), and Christ Jesus (v. 24). Not only do we know that other Christians exist in other parts of the world, but we have personal knowledge of individuals in other gospel communities. That reveals the familial nature of the church. We maintain our individuality still being tied one another in our gospel community. Apollos’ wishes and interests are respected (v. 12). Paul names Stephanas and his household and honors them for their devotion to ministry (v. 15).
Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus are refreshing gifts of ministry to Paul (vv. 17, 18). “The greeting from Aquila and Prisca probably reflects a twofold reality. First, these were former Corinthians (cf. Acts 18:2–3), who now join Paul in ‘warmly’ greeting old friends; second, this is most likely the house church in Ephesus to which Paul himself is attached. Hence the greeting comes not only from their friends, but from the church as well.”[2] In an era where there were no cell phones, or texting, or emails, or social media, it is amazing that this kind of deep and meaningful network was created outside the normal realms of business, politics, race, or class.
In Paul’s day, there were business communities, mutual political interests, groups divided along racial lines, and groups divided by class. But an entire community based upon none of those things, full of people who were used to dividing along such lines, would have been absolutely unheard of. Sadly, it’s still rare today. What were the characteristics of this gospel community? What was the nature of their common bond?
CHARACTERISTICS
First, and most important, the common bond of the gospel community is that it is reinforced by gospel truth. “13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” Paul instructs them to remain alert and engage their hope in the bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ, the man of heaven. Only he will set all things right. To “stand firm” is Paul’s shorthand for believing the basic doctrines of Christianity and the historical realities of what God has given them in Christ Jesus. Telling the Corinthians to act like men is not a contrast between masculinity and femininity, but a contrast between childhood and adulthood. Paul wrote in 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
To be mature in Christ means the fact of the gospel will be central to all that the Corinthians say and do. Their circumstances (uncertainty, the lack of a trustworthy leader, doctrinal confusion, and their desperate need for horizontal approval) should not distract them from growing into maturity. The only thing that can hold this fractured gospel community together is the historical, true message that the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnated into human flesh, came to earth to live the perfect life that Adam failed to live and die the blood-shedding death that is the wage of all our sin. Personal interests, preferences, and desires are not grounds for a true, lasting unity. Only the gospel, which is for everyone regardless of backgrounds or preferences, can overcome every boundary.
The second strand of this gospel bond is found in others-focused love (vv. 14-18). Verse 14 reads, “14 Let all that you do be done in love.” Love is to be a fundamental part of every Christian’s operating system. Every aspect of the gospel community should be touched and shaped by others-focused love. A community that has experienced the love of God in Christ will share that sacrificial love with one another. What does the gospel bond look like? Look at verses 15-18:
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.
Loving relationships of mutual subjection display the common bond of Christian sacrificial love. That subjection takes place apart from position, pedigree, or any other identity or boundary marker. We naturally dislike the idea of mutual subjection because it takes away our delusion that we have control and power over our own lives as if God were not absolutely sovereign over all things, including our own storylines. Some do not like mutual subjection because it calls our comfort and approval into question. Only the resurrection power of Christ through his Holy Spirit allows power-hungry control freaks and self-comfort seekers to change their mindset.
Gospel bonds form through loving and self-giving service, resulting in the refreshment of others. Members refresh leaders even as leaders refresh members. Refreshment flows both ways as each member is equipped to serve others in the gospel. That fact provides context to verse 22, “22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” If a person willingly refuses the love of God in Christ, then that person is to be put outside of the blessings of the gospel community.
Such a principal bothers no one who actually desires to be a part of the gospel community. Those that don’t want it don’t get it. Those that want it receive, and pass on, the refreshment of the community because they have the refreshment from Christ. In Corinth, certain leaders rejected Paul and wanted him cut out of their community entirely. But Paul was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. His commands are the commands of Christ. To reject Paul was to reject Christ himself, to have no love for the Lord. They were actually trying to push Jesus out of their gospel community. In writing this ending, Paul is trying to show the Corinthians that they need to make community one of their core values.
Their common bond produced joy across great distance (vv. 17-20). Paul writes in verses 19-20, “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.” The apostle is asking the Corinthians to recognize their core connection to Christians in other parts of the world. As this letter is read during a Sunday service, he wants them to hear the joy of connecting with other believing communities. He wants them to broaden their interest beyond their own group. He wants them to pray for the advancement of the gospel in the whole world, to build inter-regional and international relationships, and to support gospel growth with their finances.
Think of the connections you have to your extended family. Your connection to other Christians should be at least that strong. The worldwide Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is your extended family filled with your brothers and sisters who are due our love and mutual submission. Unfortunately, most of our interactions are not characterized by love.
Some communities deemphasize the individual for the sake of community. Others devalue community for the sake of the individual. We approach our gospel community with hierarchical viewpoints, Valuing flashiness over faithfulness. Rather than reaching across great distances, we isolate ourselves.[3] how can we recover the gospel bond among Christians?
RECOVERY
Paul writes in verses 23-24, “23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.” The only basis for a mutual gospel bond is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only human being who ever lived who did everything out of love! He submitted himself to our desire to destroy him. He did it to restore and rescue us. He is the one and only Son who welcomes brothers and sisters into God’s family by means of his perfectly-lived life and sacrificial blood-shedding death. Union with Christ (through our God-given trust into his person and work) is the basis for our common bond.
Paul begins and ends this letter to the Corinthians in the same way. He introduces his letter with, “grace to you and peace.” He ends the letter with “grace… be with you.” Communion in the gospel community only happens through our grace union with Christ. Union with the Lord brings us into communion with one another. When we are trusting into Christ together as a community, we all live and move and have our being in Christ. So, we live and move and have our being in one another as a grace gift from Jesus.
In a works-based community, people calculate out of a sense of fairness. One does not receive love unless she shows herself worthy. No one subjects himself or herself to someone unless that person is considered qualified to receive it. No one is recognized unless they do something outstanding.
But in a grace-infused gospel community, no one has to calculate fairness; no one expects anything in return; no one is in it for reciprocation. Grace is not equality. Grace is loving others though they deserve only hatred. We do not respond in judgment or disdain according to what we think others deserve, we respond to them in the same way as Christ responds to us. We respond with generosity, love, grace, and peace because we understand that we are completely undeserving of Christ’s love and grace and peace.
Grace communities are to treat others in the opposite way of what they deserve. Equity is about being fair when somebody has been wronged. It’s giving the payment we’re making proportionate responses to the extent of the other person’s offense. We might consider ourselves to be very fair people. But fair doesn’t always mean gracious. United to Christ, we can love people who are unworthy. We can be loved when we are unworthy. We can be in subjection to someone less qualified. We can be empowered to do things we have never done before.
We can share honor and recognition in ways that run counter to our old Adam 1.0 hardware. Within the common bond of our communion with Christ, all of our lives are shared with one another. No one is supposed to live in isolation. We are all to live as one. The Bible has two main usages for the word “one.” The first usage we’re first to something unique or singular. The other usage signified many individual things gathered into one singular thing. The contrast to unity is division.
When we read through the Old Testament, we see an emphasis on the singularity and uniqueness of the one true God. Faithful Jews recite the basic monotheistic creed from Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” The concept of “one” was also used to highlight the meaning of unity, as opposed to division, among God’s people. The first usage highlights singularity, and the second usage emphasizes unity or the oneness of many individuals.
The New Testament authors and Jesus himself say that he is singularly unique as the one true God. He is the one and only Son given by the Father for the salvation of the world (Jn. 3:16). But the New Testament also applies the word “one” not only to God’s people as the gospel community, the church, but also to the internal communion of the Godhead.
Jesus, in his farewell address, prays for his disciples to “be one even as we are one” (Jn. 17:22). Just as the Father and the Son are “one,” Jesus prayed for his disciples to be “one,” meaning unified. The gospel community cannot be singular like the Godhead because the Godhead is unique. But we can be united and unified just as the persons of the Godhead are unified even in their diversity.
The loving foundation that the Son has with the Father is what energizes our love for one another in the gospel community. “20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Our common grace bond with the Lord Jesus Christ enables believers to create and enjoy a refreshing culture of others-centered love.
14 Let all that you do be done in love. …24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 16:12–2 Co.
[2] Fee, 835.
[3] Um, 301. Kindle Edition.
