Watch, Stand Fast, Be Brave!

1 Corinthians 16:13 NKJV

13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

After Paul has written his response to the church in Corinth, he concludes this letter with a warm remark. He encourages and admonishes the members of the Corinthian church to be vigilant, firm, bold and strong in affirming their faith.

Study Critically

One would ask why Paul concluded this letter in this way. To answer this, you must critically and hermeneutically study the biblical text to grasp the emotion behind this book.

Issue at Hand

Infighting, Dissension, Immorality, Factions, Susceptibility to different teachings, etc

You will come to see that at the heart of this is a church, a people, who have newly found Christ, but they quickly slip into old habits, traditions and actions.

There is infighting, dissension, immorality, factions, susceptibility to different teachings and the like.

But do we blame these people? No! The reason being that:

the church in Corinth was a nascent body at the time (no more than 4 years old). It was still growing and trying to find its feet.

they were doing something entirely new and out of the norm but nonetheless extraordinary.

Watch, Stand Fast, Be Brave!

Thus, we can conclude that Paul was encouraging them as to the following:

Watch: as anticipation of some future event

Stand fast in the faith: as they were susceptible to false teaching, this was to ensure that they always refer to that which was given to them by Paul.

Be brave: emphasising bravely maturity and boldness.

Exhortation

Numbers 13:30–31 NKJV

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

Numbers 14:6–9 (NKJV)

6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;

7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.

8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’

9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”

Doing something new is terrifying!

Going to a new place is terrifying!

A change of the status quo is terrifying!

Conquering something bigger than you is terrifying! 

But the Bible tells me it is possible!

Final Conclusion

In conclusion, a Christian is always in danger, therefore, should ever be on the watch. He should be fixed in the faith of the gospel and never desert or give it up. By this faith alone, he will be able to keep his ground in an hour of temptation. Christians should be careful that goodwill not only reigns in their hearts but shines in their lives.