2 Corinthians 13:12-14 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All God’s people here send their greetings. 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Paul’s greeting at the end of this letter is rather simple in vv. 12-13. It is unusual for many modern people to think of greeting one another with a holy kiss. This is still a practice in some cultures. A kiss is a symbol of love and fellowship. As part of a Christian liturgy of greeting, it must have had deep meaning for Paul to urge this for the Corinthians at the end of a difficult letter. Such a kiss would help break down any barriers or divisions among the people. We cannot so easily bring this over to every culture today, but every culture has appropriate and meaningful greetings. A firm handshake with eye contact can have meaningful impact upon those who both give and receive it. A warm hug can express a degree of caring. A deep bow can show honor and respect that are supported by unconditional love. Whatever is appropriate in a culture, Christians can do with deeper meaning and with much love, honor, unity, and prayer.
Verse 13 indicates that Paul saw early Christians as part of one people of God. Paul was likely in Macedonia when he wrote this letter. The believers there were sacrificial and had grown much in their faith, as indicated in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and Philippians. They too had experienced difficult times but had come through with stronger faith. Their examples were an encouragement to the Corinthians. Greetings send from afar bring believers together into unity. The church is global and local. Individual churches contribute to the global church through fellowship, greetings and communication, giving to common causes (such as the Jerusalem offering), and prayer.
The last verse of the letter is a simple blessing, common in the closing of Paul’s letters. The blessing is simply stated yet has profound implications. It includes each person of the Trinity, although it does not explain the relationships of these members. The earliest Christians had not worked out the technicalities of theology that later Christians debated over and resolved in councils and with creeds.
Paul notes here that grace comes from or through the Lord Jesus Christ. It was through his sacrifice on the cross that we see the extent of grace. It is through faith in Jesus Christ that we experience and realize the depths of this grace. Paul uses what we could consider the full name of Jesus: the position of Lord, which shows his sovereignty. His activity as Jesus, the savior of the world. His title as Christ, the King of kings and anointed messenger from God. To acknowledge these three descriptions requires faith and commitment.
The love of God is an important theme in the Bible and describes the key characteristic of God. It ties together the other two qualities in this verse: grace and fellowship. God’s love is experienced most fully when we believe in the Son (John 3:16) and is best seen on the cross (Romans 5:8). This love is fathomless, limitless, and inexhaustive. The more faith we have and the more fully we give ourselves to God, the more love we will experience. This love changes us and empowers us for life and service in God’s kingdom.
Finally, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit makes this grace and love real in our lives. Part of fellowship is relationship. This relationship is spiritual in nature and is deeply experienced in a person through the consciousness and can be felt sometimes through the emotions. The Holy Spirit is neither of these but speaks to them. Paul uses the word “mind” at times to express this place in our being where the Spirit communes with us. The Holy Spirit especially speaks through God’s revealed word, the Bible. As we fill ourselves with the Bible, we can hear the Spirit speak to us. But the Holy Spirit is not bound to only the Bible but can speak to people in other ways, such with a deep sense of peace (Romans 15:13) and by helping us develop fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit is the bond that brings the grace of Christ and the love of God together in our lives. Grace, love, and fellowship are just what the Corinthians need, and it is just what we need today to face a challenging world that is desperate for this message but blinded by deception.
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