Joel M Bradshaw

11Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.–2 Corinthians 13

Paul concludes with five commands and one promise.

1. REJOICE. This is actively living the fruit of the Spirit, JOY, in your life by how you respond to the situations you find yourself in. Other people are to see this fruit displayed. Everyone will know if you are joyful. Your rejoicing tells God that you celebrate His guidance in your life.
2. RESTORATION. This Greek word actually means ‘be perfect, complete.’ Regarding you and God, seek to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as He progressively makes you more like Jesus, completing the work of sanctification. Practice the grace necessary to restore and forgive. See the Gospel transform your relationships by owning what you can own and staying intentional about the right things.
3. COMFORT. The church should be a place of rest and encouragement for our weary lives. Comfort doesn’t mean making excuses for sinful habits or enabling hypocrisy. Comfort seeks the best for another during a difficult season in a manner that glorifies Jesus.
4. AGREE. There are doctrines that should divide and others that shouldn’t. I feel pretty confident about my rapture position, or my unpacking of the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel. But at the end of the day it’s not that important that you agree with me on those. We must, however agree on a verse like John 14:6. The church needed to be in agreement on matters of doctrine and practice. They needed to be both preaching and living the Gospel. People can go elsewhere to find a group that lives with quarreling and disagreement.
5. PEACE. Another fruit of the Spirit that should be present! Peace means handling conflict appropriately and seeking restoration biblically. Peace thrives in an environment of confession and repentance. Peace depends upon grace given to the undeserved who own their wrongs and seek forgiveness.

And Paul promised that the God of love and peace would be with them. All their Roman neighbors would go to their temples and give sacrifices to all their gods and goddesses, seeking to connect with the divine. But their God is nicknamed Immanuel, He is with them. Our God promises peace and His love is the reason any of us is saved (John 3:16). Are those 5 above present in your life? What would your spouse say? Your kids? Your coworkers?–JMB