“Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul. If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Corinthians 16:21-24 NLT
Final words from Paul after his long letter, the second-longest (after Romans) that Paul wrote. He had answered all the questions from the believers in Corinth, so it was time to sign off. While the authorship of this letter was attributed to Paul, he probably had assistance from Timothy and others, and according to early church historians like Jerome, the letter was dictated by Paul and written by an amanuensis called Titus. So at the end of the letter, Paul wrote a greeting in his own handwriting. In the final verses of the epistle to the Galatians, we read, “Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting” (Galatians 6:11). It is thought that Paul had poor eyesight, preventing him from writing letters himself. That was perhaps confirmed by the episode in Acts 23:1-5, where Paul appeared unable to distinguish the High Priest’s person in the meeting of the High Council.
“whosoever believes in Him
will never perish
but have eternal life”
But in his final words, Paul summarised much of what he had said in this letter by saying that all those who didn’t love the Lord were cursed. Of course they were, and will be when they find themselves standing before Jesus, unless they repent of their sins and believe in Him. In Galatians 3:13, we read, “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree””. Why is it that Christians, then and now and in the ages in between, get so preoccupied with liturgies and doctrines, when the important thing is so simple – “whosoever believes in Him will never perish but have eternal life”. The colour of the altar cloth, or who sits in which pew, the beauty of the stained glass windows, or the splendour of the Prayer Book, will make no difference to those still living under the curse of sin.
1 Corinthians 16:22 ends with the Aramaic saying, “Marana tha”, meaning in this translation, “Our Lord, Come”. That thought must have often occurred to Paul, as he suffered so much for sharing the Gospel throughout his years of ministry. Those times he spent in jail, often chained and beaten, cold and hungry. If only Jesus would come and end his suffering, but it wasn’t to be just yet. He still had work to do. There was more gracious theology yet to flow from his pen to encourage the saints scattered through the Middle East.
“God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”
Paul then went on to give a blessing: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you“. Grace is a word much overlooked by believers today because we take it so much for granted, but the acronym “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense” defines it well. But if we really stopped to think about how God’s grace has impacted our lives, both now and for all eternity, we can do nothing else but fall on our knees before our wonderful and amazing God. The tragedy is that God’s favour in sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us and take on the punishment that we deserved, so that we could spend eternity with Him in heaven, is largely ignored and rejected by the majority of our fellow citizens. Society today has no place for God, let alone His grace, and it has pushed our Christian faith to the margins, considering it a domain for rather wacky and delusional people. But we pilgrims need God’s grace to live in this sad and bad world, because we are the only ones who have the words of eternal life. Imagine a society without God and His grace. Some would define that as hell on earth. And we thank God for those of our faith who are prepared to stand up and be counted, challenging, often at great personal cost, the evil ways in our society. One day, they will be vindicated, as those who have persecuted them stand before God to give an account of their evil ways.
Finally, Paul expressed his love for the Corinthians. It hasn’t been an easy letter to write, as he wrestled with how to put into words the Holy Spirit-inspired thoughts within him. But it was that love that he first experienced through his encounter with Jesus that he extended to the believers in Corinth. From all accounts, they responded positively to it, and a second letter followed a few months later. But more of that tomorrow.
Dear Father God. Thank You for Your obedient servant Paul, and the legacy that he has left us. May we too be gracious and loving servants, looking out for each other in this increasingly belligerent world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 