“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” - 2 Cor. 13:14
As a follow up to yesterday’s sermon, I thought it might be helpful to consider another trinitarian text that shows our fellowship with the fullness of God.
As Paul closes one of his final letters, he speaks about the union that believers share with God. The sentence shows Paul’s understanding of each of the members of the Trinity in their relation to God’s people.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is an expression that Paul uses in Romans 16:20, and earlier in this book in 2 Cor. 8:9. Jesus shows grace to His people by offering Himself as a substitute for their sins, and caring for them.
The love of God is spoken of in many places in the NT. Paul speaks about the love of God being poured out in our hearts through the Spirit in Romans 5:5, and Jude appeals to his readers to remain in that love.
The fellowship of the Spirit is spoken of by Paul in Phil. 2:1, and expresses our awareness and enjoyment of the Spirit’s presence in our hearts.
All of these are offered freely to those who are God’s people. But what does it mean that Paul prays that these blessings would be ‘with you all’? If they’re freely offered, isn't that a foregone conclusion?
On the contrary, while Christ is always gracious toward His people, and God always loves His people, and the Spirit is always pursuing fellowship with His people, these things aren’t always experienced by us!
The issue, of course, is faith. These blessings are always flowing to us from God, but our experience of them (them being ‘with’ us) is contingent on our faith. We must believe these things, if we are to walk in them.
So - ask yourself: do I believe in the grace that Jesus has for me today? Do I trust that God loves me today? Am I conscience of the fellowship that the Spirit desires to have with me today?
Paul prays this, knowing that faith in these truths is the path to freedom, joy, and holiness.
