11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. 13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Trung Nguyen

When it comes to our church family, does following Jesus make any difference when there’s conflict or sin in our church? 

This passage marks the end of a confronting letter from Paul to the Corinthian church. Paul has rebuked the Corinthians for their sin and worldliness, but he has been motivated by dutiful fatherly love for them. He has rebuked them so that the family of God can be what it is meant to be: a family that encourages each other, agrees with each another, and lives in peace (v11). 

The Corinthian church had gone through some big family conflict, so how could they possibly strive for full restoration after what had happened? The blessing of verse 14 is key: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The triune God himself will enable the family of God to strive for full restoration and be united. The grace that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ would motivate the Corinthians to treat people with kindness that they don’t deserve. The love of God would empower them to put others’ needs first. And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit would remind the Corinthians of their common bond in Christ, so that they would help each other to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus and become more like him.

I know that when there has been conflict with another brother or sister, I haven’t always been the one to strive for full restoration. I’m often content with a little greyness or ambiguity to the relationship, as long as we don’t get in each other’s way. So this passage has reminded me to strive for full restoration and remember that the triune God is the one who empowers His children to strive for restoration between one other. Is there a situation at the moment where you need to strive for full restoration with a brother or sister in Christ? Praise God that He is full of love and peace and is with us always, and ask him for his help to do it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trung is our Ministry Apprentice at our Fairfield congregations.