Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 1 Corinthians · About this commentary
Watch, Stand Firm, Be Strong
1 Corinthians 16:13-18
13 Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong! · WEB
Four sharp commands, a fifth that governs them all, and then a request to submit to the household that had come to see him.
Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong! 1 Corinthians 16:13.
Four imperatives with no connecting words, and they read like a summary of the whole letter. Watch — the posture of people waiting for a revelation 1 Corinthians 1:7. Stand firm in the faith — against a congregation that had let a denial of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:12. Be courageous and be strong are the words spoken to Joshua at his commission and to Israel at the Jordan Joshua 1:6–7 Deuteronomy 31:6.
Let all that you do be done in love 1 Corinthians 16:14.
The fifth, and it governs the other four. Watching, standing firm and being strong are all capable of turning into their own vices, and this congregation had demonstrated how — conviction that produced parties, strength that despised the weak 1 Corinthians 8:9. The chapter on love was not a digression 1 Corinthians 13:1; here it is compressed into seven words and applied to all that you do.
You know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to serve the saints 1 Corinthians 16:15.
Stephanas was among the very few Paul remembered baptizing 1 Corinthians 1:16, and his household were the first converts in the province. The commendation is not for gifts or eloquence but because they have set themselves to serve — a self-appointed commitment to the practical needs of other believers.
That you also be in subjection to such, and to everyone who helps in the work and labors 1 Corinthians 16:16.
And here is a striking reversal for this letter. A church that had been ranking celebrated teachers is told to submit — to the people who do the work. The qualification named is labor, not position, and the same principle appears where those who work hard among a congregation are to be respected 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13. Leadership in this letter is a matter of who has been serving.
I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus; for that which was lacking on your part, they supplied. For they refreshed my spirit and yours 1 Corinthians 16:17–18.
These three had made the crossing to Ephesus, and they are probably the men who carried the church's letter of questions 1 Corinthians 7:1 and the report of its troubles. That which was lacking on your part, they supplied is generous rather than reproachful — the delegation stood in for the congregation.
And they refreshed my spirit is worth pausing on. The man who has spent sixteen chapters correcting these people is glad to say that some of them did him good. Therefore acknowledge those who are like that 1 Corinthians 16:18 — the last instruction before the greetings is to notice the people who serve.
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