Paul had a lot to say in his second letter to the church at Corinth, and frankly to us too. Some of the key verses of this chapter include 2 Corinthians 3:5; 3:18; 5:17; 5:21,10:5; and 13:4. And then at the end of chapter 13, Paul has these final remarks to say.
“Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete,
be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace;
and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
~~2 Corinthians 13:11~~
As I studied through these commands he gave these believers, I found the moods and tenses of these words and phrases particularly enlightening.
REJOICE (present/active/imperative). The present tense and active voice indicates that I am to do this right now…in this very moment. The imperative mood indicates that this is a command, not a suggestion. (My paraphrase — “You! Yeah, you! I’m commanding you to be full of cheer and be calmly happy.”)
BE MADE COMPLETE (present/passive/imperative). Again, the present tense indicates that it is to be done right now and the imperative mood makes this a command, not a suggestion. But this command is different than the previous one in that it is in the passive voice which indicates that I am the receiver of this action. God is the Doer of this action, and we are commanded to allow Him to do it. This word used for this phrase is (katartizo) , and it means to repair and adjust your thinking to align to what you have been taught, allowing the truth to bring you back to the right way, thus completing you thoroughly.
BE COMFORTED (present/passive/imperative). We are commanded to allow God to comfort us right now. Do you wonder why Paul may have put this command right here where it is in this list? Perhaps it is because when we realize that there have been errors in our thinking and living, we may have become discouraged? Just like it is a command to adjust and realign ourselves to God’s way (“be made complete“), it is also a command to allow Him to comfort us. The word comfort by the way (parakaleō) means to receive consolation. I looked up console in the dictionary and it means to alleviate the grief, sense of loss, or trouble of. This really spoke to me in light of how I beat myself up a lot. While God wants us to recognize and turn away from the wrong way of thinking and living, it is not God’s want for us to feel defeated because we fail, but rather for us to feel His love for us, to get back up and to try again.
BE LIKE-MINDED (present/active/imperative). I am the doer of this action, and I am commanded to do so right now. As each person allows the Spirit to align them to His truth, harmony between believers will be the result. Just like it only takes one “clunker of a note” to destroy the harmony in a score of music being played by a band, so it only takes one “clunker of an thought or action” to destroy the harmony between believers. This is a biggie considering the fact that Jesus said that people will know we are His disciples if we love one another, John 13:35.
LIVE AT PEACE (present/active/imperative). I am commanded to be the doer of this action, right now. “Live at peace” (eirēneuō) means to cultivate peace. That work cultivate really impacted me. The dictionary defines “cultivate” as, to prepare soil, breaking up and loosening the soil for the raising of crops– to foster the growth of something. Not one person in a group can have a hard heart and peace reign among. As each person yields to realigning and adjusting their thoughts and lives to God’s way (“being made complete”), only then will peace reign.
And just when these people may have been overwhelmed by this seemingly “tall order”, Paul gives them the last line of this verse as an assurance.
“…the God of love and peace will be with you.”
The Greek word for “with” (metá) is a preposition properly denoting accompaniment; “amid” (local or causal). As we strive to be obedient to these means that God is always present to help us. His Spirit is residing in each and every believer, and as each believe strives to align themselves to God’s way, God’s love and peace will be “amid” them as a body of believers as well. How cool is that?!!!
God never commands us to obey without enabling us by the power of His Spirit to live obediently. He’s so good to us.