2 Corinthians 13:11–13
2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 13
A Concluding Admonition and Greetings. 2 Cor. 13, 1–14
The conclusion: V.11. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. V.12. Greet one another with an holy kiss. V.13. All the saints salute you.
Paul can not refrain from closing without some cheering remarks, altogether in his customary mild tone. He bears them no personal grudge, and all vindictiveness is foreign to his nature. He bids them
rejoice, Philippians 3. 1; 4. 1; 1 Thessalonians 5, 16;
to be perfected, to grow in the knowledge of the will of their Lord: to be comforted and to comfort one another with regard to all the things that have grieved them;
to be of one mind, to have such an affectionate regard for one another, such a tender interest in one another's welfare, as to put aside all factions and all party spirit;
and to live in peace, to preserve such outward harmony as to offer an unbroken front to any enemies from without. Compare 1 Corinthias 1, 10.
If this were the situation, then the God of love and peace would delight to be with them, to live in their midst. As brothers together and as children of the same heavenly Father they should be united to experience the richness of His grace and the abundance of His blessings.
With this hope of a faithful pastor Paul admonishes them to salute one another with a holy kiss, with the common form of Oriental salutation which became a part of Christian ritual at a very early date and indicated the brotherhood of the faithful in God's family.
To show them that they were thought of in brotherly love. Paul sends them greetings from the believers in Macedonia, where he was writing this letter.