Pervading Love Within Christ's Church
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From the last command in verse 14: “Let all that you do be done in love.” How does one see a pervading love within the church?
1. It is seen in our evangelism.
1. It is seen in our evangelism.
Paul reminds the church that the household of Stephanas were part of the first fruits of Achaia, the Roman province which included Athens and Corinth.
Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
Paul evangelizes because he has experienced the love of God through Christ himself and desires that all come to know Him. He will share Christ with anyone, whether Jew or Greek.
also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.
The first fruits were a promise of the harvest to follow. Stephanus, his family and servants consist of the household. it appears that all were saved through Paul’s witness of the gospel of Christ. They were saved just as we today are: placing our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
If we love in the way God loves, and in which Paul loved and the early church loved, we too will reach out with the gospel to those who do not know Christ.
Someone has said, “Evangelism is the sob of God. Evangelism is the anguished cry of Christ over a doomed Jerusalem. Evangelism is the call of Moses: ‘O this people have sinned, yet now if Thou wilt, forgive them; if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of the book Thou hast written.” Evangelism is the heartbroken cry of Paul: ‘I could wish myself accursed.’ Evangelism is the cry of John Knox: ‘Give me Scotland for Christ or I die.’ Evangelism is the weeping in the night of the parents of an unsaved child.” We need to ask God for that kind of love.
We often give up too easily when those to whom we witness resist the gospel, and in so doing we betray the thinness of our love.
These who were once gentile unbelievers were now a part of God’s family alongside their Jewish brethren who believed in Christ previously. Stephanas and his household became active believers.
2. It is seen in our service to each other.
2. It is seen in our service to each other.
Paul points out that the church in Corinth has personally experienced and benefitted from the service of the household of Stephanas.
Devoted themselves is in an intense form in the Greek, emphasizing that Stephanas and his household served entirely on their own initiative. It is perfectly appropriate for a church to assign ministries and responsibilities to its members, just as the early church did in Jerusalem. In order that they could devote themselves more to prayer and preaching the Word of God, the apostles instructed the Jerusalem church to appoint some qualified men as deacons to supervise the feeding of needy widows in the congregation (Acts 6:2–4).
But Stephanas and his family and servants did not wait to be appointed. They appointed themselves to the ministry of service to fellow believers. They spontaneously assigned themselves to help meet any need they saw among the saints. Their service was self-motivated and self-assigned. Though it was sometimes necessary for the early church to assign tasks, as with the appointment of deacons mentioned above, most work was done and still is done by those who simply see a need and meet it.
William Barclay writes, “In the early church willing and spontaneous service was the beginning of official office. A man became a leader of the church not so much by any man-made appointment as because his life and work marked him out as one whom all men must respect. All those who share the work and toil of the gospel command respect, not because they have been appointed by a man to an office but because they are doing the work of Christ.”
The text does not say they were elected leaders in the church. They did not wait for permission to do the work of ministry. They saw the need, and ministered to alleviate the need for the benefit of their church family.
Such service evidences a love for others, service on behalf of Christ.
3. It is seen in our submission to godly believers.
3. It is seen in our submission to godly believers.
Paul then says the church needs to be submissive to such men and honor them. Service done in love, not status, should be the basis for honor in the church. The church was to appreciate, not ignore, men like these and do the same to everyone who helps in the work and labors. In other words, the church was to treat others such as these with similar honor, by submitting to them as they minister among them.
But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
Paul wanted the selfish, unsubmissive Corinthians to submit to his model, just as he continually submitted to Christ’s model. We are all called to submit ourselves to those who have proved their own submission to Christ. Who is that person to whom we should submit? It is anyone who faithfully portrays and proclaims the Word of God or serves in His ministry, everyone who helps in the work and labors.
Christ’s people are not to fight for their own rights, privileges, and respect, but are to seek out and follow those to whom they can submit in Christ, who can be their teachers and examples. True love brings true submission. True submission would, by itself, save countless conflicts, squabbles, and hard and hurt feelings within God’s family. It would make His children both happier and more productive in their Father’s work.
4. It is seen in our companionship.
4. It is seen in our companionship.
Companionship is not something we directly do or give. It is the by-product of other things, things as simple as standing with a friend who is in trouble or sitting with someone who is sick, or as complex as mutual ministry. The main ingredient of companionship is togetherness; it cannot be experienced from a distance or secondhand.
The presence of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus with Paul caused him to rejoice. These three believers made the trip from Corinth to Ephesus to be with Paul. They may have been the ones who brought with them the questions that Paul responds to as well as a health report of the church in Corinth which occasioned this letter. It was very common in the ancient Biblical world for travelers to carry all mail except that which was government business.
These three men helped make up for the absence of the fellowship with the church in Corinth. Paul desired to be with those believers, but the work of ministry kept him for now in Ephesus. Paul couldn’t come to the church, so representatives of the church came to Paul, refreshing his spirit. This ministry they did for Paul was just like that which they did for the believers in Corinth as well. This may have also included material support as well
But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.
and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
because (Epaphroditus) came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.
One of the finest compliments we can be paid is for our Christian friends to say that we are refreshing to be around. That is a mark of true companionship, just as companionship is a mark of true love. Companionship builds up God’s family. Companionship can help heal our wounds even before our friends know we hurt; it can comfort us even when those around us are not aware of our sorrow; it can encourage us even when we ourselves hardly realize that we are discouraged.
Companionship is also a preventive. Just being with loving Christian friends can keep us from getting hurt, from falling into sin, or from losing heart. One of the surest ways we can get into spiritual trouble is by neglecting fellowship with other believers.
5. It is seen in our respect for faithful workers.
5. It is seen in our respect for faithful workers.
These men did not shirk in ministry either with those in the church, or for Paul. Paul commands the church to give them due recognition for their faithfulness in the work for Christ Jesus.
Paul is not speaking of setting up ornate plaques or statues inscribed with the persons’ names. He is simply calling for respect and appreciation, which sometimes will be public and sometimes private. Proper appreciation of deserving persons in the church not only is not wrong but is pleasing to the Lord.
Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard;
But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,
When we find someone who is faithful to the Word of God and who gives his life to the work of Jesus Christ, we should do our utmost to imitate that person. And we should give him or her our greatest respect. When that is done, Christ’s church will function as an organism, a living body, not just as an organization.
Those worthy of honor do not seek it. What makes them honorable is their humility before the Lord in their service for Him. But though they do not desire honor, those they teach and serve should desire to give them honor. To give such honor is pleasing to God.
6. It is seen in our hospitality toward each other.
6. It is seen in our hospitality toward each other.
“Greet” occurs four times in verse 19. “Asia” is a Roman province in western and southwestern Asia Minor, today this area is western Turkey.
This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Over a two-year period many churches were established; each of them having the same gospel in common. Paul emphasizes the common faith and the common greeting to the church in Corinth. The church is bigger than just Corinth.
From the area churches, Paul then relays the greetings of a couple the Corinthians are quite familiar with. Aquila and his wife Prisca/Priscilla are fellow believers, who are co-workers with Paul.
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;
also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.
He first met them in Corinth, and when he left there to go to Ephesus, they followed Paul to Ephesus. Yet they still care deeply for their brethren in Corinth. That care for them has been passed down to the believers that gather in their home. That may seem strange to us today, but church buildings were unknown until the third century A.D. Hospitality was the order of the day.
In the early church the homes of believers were used for almost every type of Christian activity—for eating together (Acts 2:46); for teaching and preaching (5:42); for preevangelism and evangelism (10:23, 27–48); for worship and preaching (20:7); and for witnessing and discussion (28:23). Often the home of a believer was the regular meeting place for worship and fellowship. It was in behalf of the house church of Aquila and Prisca, … with the church that is in their house, that Paul sent greetings to Corinth.
When Christians traveled from place to place in New Testament times they could expect, almost without exception, to be entertained with great care and love by fellow Christians. There were no strangers among believers (Acts 2:42–46). Hospitality was second nature, a matter of course, a natural outgrowth of their love for Christ and for all who belonged to Him. Every Christian home today should be an open, transparent, and loving haven for those who need hospitality.
7. It is seen in our affection for one another.
7. It is seen in our affection for one another.
Paul was not afraid to tell them to greet one another with a holy kiss. It was more than a formal act. It demonstrated affection for other believers within the church, but it was not unseemly. It was a holy moment because saints exchanged it as a mark of Christian care for one another.
This ‘kiss’ was a symbolic expression of the love, forgiveness, and unity which should exist among Christians. It became associated with the Lord’s supper as a prelude, then became a mark of the familial bond which united believers, There is no indication that it was restricted to one’s own sex in the New Testament, for example Luke 7:37
And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,
“You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.
It was in the late 2nd century A.D. that criticism from non-Christians and the danger of erotic abuse that limited the holy kiss to the same sex.
Paul was speaking of the genuine and spontaneous expression of brotherly or sisterly love, which in that day often was expressed by a kiss. A warm, affectionate handshake or an arm around the shoulder can express the same affection. In most of the church today the danger is in showing too little affection rather than too much.
One of the dangers of large churches is that they easily allow strangers to remain strangers. A shy person is often not noticed, and some Christians, unfortunately, do not want to get involved in the fellowship. But where there is genuine love, Christians will find ways to make friends with strangers and to show affection to Christian brothers and sisters.
