D. Exhortation (16:13–14)
D. Exhortation (16:13–14)
Paul interjects a short, sharp exhortation. The Corinthians had shown a distressing immaturity in some things, and the apostle in a series of compelling imperatives points them to a better way.
13. Be on your guard (grēgoreite), like all the verbs in these two verses, is a present imperative. Paul is not speaking of momentary attitudes, but of continuing states. The word denotes more than the mere absence of sleep. It implies a determined effort at wakefulness: ‘Be on the alert’ (Barclay). It is often used of watching for the second coming (Matt. 24:42f.; 25:13; Mark 13:34ff.), and this may well be in mind here. Stand firm in the faith (or perhaps ‘in faith’, Barrett) points to the stability of the Christian firmly grounded in Christ, a stability distressingly absent from the Corinthians. Andrizesthe, ‘act as men (andres)’ may refer to courage (as NIV, be men of courage), but more probably it is meant to counter the immaturity so manifest in some of the Corinthians. Paul wants them to act like responsible adults. Moreover, they are engaged in a desperate strife with the forces of evil, and it is imperative that they play the part of men. Be strong (cf. Ps. 31:24) may be passive, ‘be made strong’. The strength of Christians is not something native and inherent in them; they derive it from God.
14. It is significant that Do everything in love follows the exhortations to manliness and strength. In manliness Paul is not looking for aggressiveness or self-assertion, but the strength that shows itself in love. As in ch. 13, he is concerned with the all-pervading nature of Christian love. Nothing we do is outside its scope. We should not overlook the significance of in. Love is more than an accompaniment of Christian actions. It is the very atmosphere in which the Christian lives and moves and has his being.