the-color-movement: Live in Peace (#cmdevo #LivingEpistles) Read: 2 Cor 13:11-14 We have come to t

the-color-movement:

Live in Peace (#cmdevo #LivingEpistles)

Read: 2 Cor 13:11-14

We have come to the end of our journey through the letters to the Corinthians. This was not the end of Paul’s relationship with this church, but it is all that God has seen necessary to include in our canonical Bible. He ends this letter a little different than he does many of his others. Normally he mentions his upcoming visits and expresses confidence in the readers. This time, both of those elements are absent. He has mentioned in the body of the text that he will be returning to Corinth, so that was not necessary here. As for the second aspect, the letter makes it pretty clear that Paul himself lacked confidence in the Corinthians at this point. He was hopeful and prayerful on their behalf, but he was far from certain that they would rise to the task before them of restoring their church. What he did include in this short and often overlooked conclusion is five exhortations, urging them to do these things for their own sake. All five of these commands are focused on the unity and harmony of the Corinthian church - two things they desperately need. These are also things that most of our own churches need, even if we do not find ourselves in as desperate of a situation as the Corinthians.

This section may be short, but it is full of applicable commands. As we go through these, think about how you can do these things in your own life and in your own church to encourage harmony in the body of Christ.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” - 2 Corinthians 13:11

1. Rejoice!

The first command in verse 11 is for the Corinthians, who Paul calls his brothers and sisters, to rejoice. After a rough letter of admonition and concern, that may seem a little odd. This may be translated better as “Cheer up!” He is saying that in light of all of this harsh judgment, the Corinthian church should be glad for the love of Christ and His strength in them. They may have walked away from Christ, but with His strength, they can walk back to Him and correct the errors that Paul has pointed out. Despite the tone Paul takes in this letter, all is not lost and the Corinthians are not doomed - we are never truly doomed when we are in Christ.

2. Mend Your Ways

This command is translated in many ways. Mend your ways; strive for full restoration; aim for perfection. I believe this is the most accurate way to understand it. Paul has said time and time again that he is praying that the Corinthians will heed his warning and correct course. Now he commands it. We are all sinning in some facet of our lives. If you can’t see it, pray to God that He will reveal it to you. Then fix it. I know its easier said than done, but the reality is that all Christians have the power of Christ in them. We are all capable of overcoming our sin because of His power in us. Settling to live in sin because of our flesh is a cop-out. We are commanded to “mend our ways” and be better. We are commanded to become like Christ.

3. Encourage One Another

One thing we know that the Corinthian church shares with the modern church is that there are a lot of people sinning in both. The Corinthian church saw sin and failed to even call it sin (1 Cor 5:1-2). We do this as well, but we are commanded to be better than that. We must call sin, sin, but also help our brothers and sisters overcome it. We are called to walk beside our fellow Christians through the thick of sin to restoration. We are to encourage our brothers and sisters so that none of us falls into despair, hides in shame, or becomes content in open sin. This is how we love in the body of Christ.

4. Be Of One Mind

This phrase is literally “think the same thing.” It is clear from these two letters that the Corinthians were nowhere near close to doing this. Paul does not truly mean that we all must become robots who like the same things, want the same things, talk the same way, etc. He does not want conformity in the worldly way, but rather he wants unity in the church. He wants us to have the mind of Christ.

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

- 1 Cor 12:12-26

5. Live in Peace

For the Corinthians to fulfill this command, they must first fulfill the first four. All of this is quite daunting. It’s hard sometimes to do just one of these things, much less all five of them at once. That’s why Paul also includes some encouragement: “And the God of love and peace will be with you” (v. 11). As Christians, we must always remember that we are never called to do a single thing alone. We will always have the power of God in our corner. He has given us the Holy Spirit so that we will always have the divine resources to be obedient to our God.

We have completed our journey through Corinthians. I hope you take Paul’s message to the heart, particularly this verse. As Christians were are called to live and work as one body in Christ’s name. The only way we can do that is if we have unity and harmony in the body, which is often an incredibly challenging task. The difficulty can never be an excuse. We are commanded to do this and we must find a way to obey with the divine resources God has provided us.

What can you do to improve the unity in your own church? What is causing discord? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, pray to God. He will not hide from you ways to improve the body of Christ. We can all do our part - even if it is just mending one damaged relationship. It will be worth it.

Devotional Series: Living Epistles by the Color Movement  (#cmdevo #LivingEpistles)

Posted by: Katlyn // Personal //  Color Movement