2 Corinthians 13:11

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Farewell ... is actually "rejoice";[23] for Paul is not saying "good-bye" until a little later. Lipscomb was impressed with the fact that "no names are mentioned here"[24] despite the fact of Paul's knowing so many of them. This is quite natural. Any minister writing to a great congregation where his acquaintance was extensive would never single out just a handful for personal reference. It is a failure to understand this evident fact which led to Brunner's repudiation of Romans 16 because of the many personal references in a letter to a church where he had never labored,[25] However, it was precisely because Paul had NOT lived in Rome that he could send greetings to all of his friends in a general letter to the church. To have done so here at Corinth would have offended every person whose name he might have omitted. See discussion of this in my Commentary on Romans, p. 14. Such a criticism proves that some scholars are totally ignorant of the personal relations problems invariably associated with a congregation of Christians.

Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace ... "This closing fourfold appeal aptly summarizes Paul's letter."[26] A similar summary of 1Corinthians is in 1 Corinthians 16:13. As this passage stands, it fails to give the vigorous impact Paul probably intended. Filson admitted that these words "may be in the middle voice,"[27] thus giving the meaning exactly as it is rendered in the Nestle Greek text: "restore yourselves" and "admonish yourselves." This is the true meaning, because as regards both restoration and admonition, it is the will of the person which is prerequisite to either one of them being accomplished. Thus the thought is similar to "work out your own salvation" (Philippians 2:12).

[23] Interlinear Greek-English Testament, Nestle Greek Text (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), p. 740.

[24] David Lipscomb, Second Corinthians (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company), p. 173.

[25] Emil Brunner, The Letter to the Romans (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1956), p. 11.

[26] Norman Hillyer, op. cit., p. 1088.

[27] Floyd V. Filson, op. cit., p. 423.