1 Corinthians 16:24 – grace as the final piece

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you! My love is with all of you in Christ Jesus! Amen!

These are the last words of the letter. It is very characteristic for Paul to close like this. In all his letters, not one excepted, he ends with the grace of the Lord who is with his readers. Not even subjunctive (“be with you all”) – but as a statement. Paul is sure that the grace with which he made them known would be with them. Grace is the punchline of the Gospel he preached among the nations. It is the saving grace of GOD that has appeared to all people! But grace, that is to say ‘joy for free’, is also the solid ground on which we can stand and walk and which gives us a constant view, so great! To experience that it is vital to stay with that GRACE. It is not without reason that Paul keeps hammering it over and over.

Paul exresses his love for the Corinthians, but it was not formed by human sympathies. Because such feelings include some and exclude others. No, Paul’s love is “in Christ Jesus” and therefore with all of them!

Delen: