1This is the third time I am coming to you. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” 2I have warned previously, and I warn again, as when I was present the second time, so now, being absent, I write to those who have sinned before now and to all the rest that if I come again, I will not spare, 3seeing that you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me who is not weak, but is powerful in you. 4For he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with him through the power of God toward you.
5Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 6But I hope that you will know that we aren’t disqualified.
7Now I pray to God that you do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that you may do that which is honorable, though we may seem to have failed. 8For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 9For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray for this: your becoming perfect. 10For this cause I write these things while absent, that I may not deal sharply when present, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
11Finally, brothers, rejoice! Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of the same mind. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12Greet one another with a holy kiss.
13All the saints greet you.
14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s love, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice! Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of the same mind. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
In Paul’s parting words to the church in Corinth, he exhorts them to live together in harmony and peace. God’s formula for church behavior is pretty straightforward. We are to be joyful with one another. This includes celebrating each others’ victories. We should never be like the world in which competition is the rule. We’re not in competition with others in the church. We’re on the same team! We are to conduct ourselves in a mature way. That’s what is meant here by being “perfect.” Nobody’s perfect in the usual sense of the word. And when we rejoice together and walk in maturity, we will be comforted. You might wonder, “comforted from what?” Comforted from the way the world beats us up, chews us up, and spits us out. Life is hard and the world around us doesn’t make it any easier. There is that boss who is never pleased with anything you do. There is the guy on the expressway who knew you were coming up the on-ramp and cut you off anyway. The list goes on and on.
The church should be very different from the world. We should be of the same mind. This brings peace to the fellowship. I recall a time years ago when we had a conflict with a couple in our small Baptist church. When things were reaching a boiling point, he told me, “Well, I’m more of a Presbyterian than a Baptist anyway!” In a subsequent meeting, my wife asked them, “If you guys are so unhappy here, then why do you stay here?” Their answer was telling. One of them, and I can’t remember which, said to us, “Sometimes God sends you somewhere to straighten people out.” No friend, don’t go somewhere to “straighten things out.” Choose a piece of the Body of Christ in which you can be productive and where you are of the “same mind” as others. That will bring peace to your own heart as well as to the fellowship of believers with whom you worship. Paul says that we, as church members, should rejoice together, act with maturity, and do our best to be of one mind. This brings peace to yourself and to the group. These are Paul’s final words to this problematic church in Corinth, and they are a good word for us as well, regardless of where we worship.