• Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good Comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. (12) Greet each other with a holy kiss. (13) All the saints greet you. (14) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen

The second letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul – it is widely believed there was another, severe letter written to the church there but it has been lost. In chapter 13 Paul states he has already been in Corinth twice – he is qualifying that there has been sharpness and rebuke on his part (as an apostle) – Corinth was a pagan culture set up for the pleasures of the flesh. The truth of the gospel was alien in that city – completely foreign to their way of thinking and abuse of the Truth of the gospel endemic
So in chapter 13 Paul is making it clear that he will come again to Corinth with the power and authority of an apostle and means to exercise discipline and justice but conforming to the Mosaic system of justice calling for 2 or 3 witnesses testifying to abuse in the church. He is saying that he prays the Corinthians will be doing no wrong and things there will be set straight – he won’t have to exercise his discipline at all when he comes. That is Paul’s main focus of this letter – that the Corinthians will do the will of God, that they will live in saving grace. Paul longs for peace but not at any price and at his return he will exercise discipline. Remember that at that time there lived apostles; men with significant gifts and authority that does not exist today in any individual. Paul had this authority and to challenge him was to challenge the Lord.
Paul’s finals words in chapter 13 are to encourage; for the Corinthians to rejoice and be made complete – not that they will agree on everything (nonessentials) but there need be unity in the essentials of the Christian faith. Grace comes from Jesus Christ, not our grace shown to Him. To quote my favorite c.s.Lewis, “How God thinks of us is not only more important but Infinitely more important. Indeed how we think of Him is of no importance in so far as it is related to how He thinks of us.”