After Paul’s powerful words in chapter 15, you’d think that Paul would be finished with this letter. But he has a little more to say. In fact, some of these themes resurface in his second letter to the Corinthians. Wiersbe breaks down this final chapter into three important subjects of stewardship: (1) money, (2) opportunities, and (3) people.[]
(16:1) “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.”
Once again, Paul responds to their questions (cf. 1 Cor. 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1). Paul taught the importance of financial giving to multiple churches (at least Galatia and Corinth), and he used some sort of pledge system to collect money. Since he used this in multiple churches, we can infer that he liked this method. Paul refers to this financial giving campaign in his letter to the Romans. There, he writes, “The believers in Macedonia and Achaia [Corinth was located in this larger province] have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. 27 They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially” (Rom. 15:26-27 NLT).
Why was Paul collecting money for the Christians in Jerusalem? The Jerusalem church was being persecuted badly, including having their property seized (Heb. 10:32-34). Moreover, there had been a famine in AD 46 (Acts 11:28), and they were probably still recovering from this by the writing of this letter (AD 55).
Should we still collect our money today? Yes! Paul’s method has several advantages: (1) It’s anonymous. The church is giving the money, rather than an individual person. (2) By collecting money, we can meet big needs that individuals typically cannot on their own. (3) Individuals cannot always check where their money is going. But a church can send delegates to vet potential charitable groups regarding their authenticity, transparency, and effectiveness.
(16:2) “On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.”
“On the first day of every week.” Morris writes, “Paul does not mention worship, but it is probably in mind.”[] This is a very questionable inference from an otherwise very solid exegete. Paul doesn’t mention anything about singing, worship, or music. This probably says more about the influence of contemporary church culture, than it does about Paul’s statement here.
“Each one of you.” Financial giving is for all believers—not just the wealthy.
“Put aside and save… so that no collections be made when I come.” This could refer to saving at home,[] or it could refer to bringing their money together “in the church treasury.”[] Paul’s language of “on the first day of the week” implies that this refers to them gathering together to collect the money. Paul’s point seems to be that he doesn’t want to wait for several weeks, so the believers in Corinth could get their “paychecks” or their “bonuses” from their employers. Instead, they should deliberately put money aside to be ready to give a large chunk.
“As he may prosper.” Paul doesn’t mention how much believers are “supposed” to give. That being said, if the Law commanded a 10% tithe, then how much should grace teach us to give? If God has blessed you, then you should use that to bless others (“to the extent that God has blessed you” NET). Western Christians have been blessed (i.e. “prosper”) to an extraordinary degree. If we take this passage seriously, that means we should be extraordinary financial givers. Americans give more than any nation on Earth, but sadly, they give far less according to the percentage of their income. Elsewhere, Paul writes, “Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have” (2 Cor. 8:12 NLT).
While it’s fine to give impulsively to organizations, the Bible doesn’t promote “impulse giving” like this. Paul isn’t instructing the Corinthians to give based on their feelings. Instead, he is calling on them to make a discipline of setting aside money each week to give to the cause of Christ around the world. “Impulse giving” has many disadvantages:
(1) We don’t give as much. Nothing can beat a determined and disciplined lifestyle of giving regularly and in a committed fashion. In the end, our regular giving will beat impulse giving.
(2) We give based off of our feelings—not truth. Like most other aspects of the Christian life (e.g. prayer, Bible reading, serving, love, etc.), we are supposed to give because of the needs around us—not simply based on how we feel.
(3) We only give to glamorous causes—not key needs. No one is itching to pay for the electric bill in the church’s budget! But what if we didn’t have electricity?
(16:3-4) “When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem, 4 and if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me.”
The Corinthians were supposed to choose good men to carry this gift. This was a group of people carrying the money (“I will send them…”). Acts records that many men escorted this money, and these men all came from different local churches across the Roman world (Acts 20:4-5). Paul sent a group for the purpose of accountability (2 Cor. 8:21). Furthermore, a group would do a better job protecting this money from bandits and thieves. After all, this was a large sum of money, and Paul didn’t want the load to be lightened (or altogether lost) along the way.
What do we learn about how the church should handle its money from this section?
Paul doesn’t hesitate to bring up money—even when writing a tense letter. What do we learn from Paul’s leadership from his example here?
(16:5) “But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia.”
Paul already alluded to the fact that he would come to Corinth (1 Cor. 4:18-19; 11:34). Now, he makes this very clear. He plans to come, but doesn’t know when this will happen.
(16:6) “And perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go.”
“And perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter.” When Paul comes to Corinth, he won’t stay forever. Later, Paul’s enemies used this “fickleness” against him (2 Cor. 1:15ff). Yet, he didn’t claim that he would come with certainty (“perhaps I will stay…”).
“So that you may send me on my way wherever I may go.” This likely implies financial aid.[]
(16:7) “For I do not wish to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits.”
Paul wanted to spend a considerable amount of time to help this group he planted. But he viewed his travel plans underneath God’s guiding will. God could change his plans whenever He wanted to (“If the Lord permits…”).
(16:8-9) “But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; 9 for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
“A wide door for effective service has opened to me.” Paul made this decision based on what was more impactful for the gospel (2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3). He viewed both the spiritual fruit and the presence of enemies as a reason for staying in Ephesus. Paul’s utilized “both strategic insight and firm planning,” but he also allowed an “openness to the contingencies of God’s will.”[]
“There are many adversaries.” Paul already told them that his life was in danger in Ephesus (1 Cor. 15:32), but he didn’t want to leave the Ephesian church in the midst of a persecution. Paul believed that the enemies factored (positively!) into his decision to stay.
What do we learn about how to make complex decisions according to God’s will? What factors and attitudes were important for Paul?
Paul now spends considerable time talking about the great people in this church. Warren Wiersbe writes, “Money and opportunities are valueless without people. The church’s greatest asset is people, and yet too often the church takes people for granted. Jesus did not give His disciples money, but He did invest three years training them for service so they might seize the opportunities He would present them.”[]
(16:10) “Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be afraid, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am.”
“If Timothy comes.” Earlier Paul wrote, “I have sent to you Timothy” (1 Cor. 4:17). The indefinite construction implies an uncertainty of when Timothy will arrive—not if he will arrive.[]
Timothy was still a young leader years later (cf. 1 Tim. 4:12), so he must have been much younger during this time (AD 55). Timothy was Paul’s best guy, but he seems to have struggled with fear and timidity (cf. 2 Tim. 1:7). Paul acknowledges Timothy’s weaknesses, but he also supports him, speaks well of him, and stands behind him. Moreover, we should remember that Paul himself struggled with fear when he came to Corinth (1 Cor. 2:3). So, this many not have been a temperamental struggle of Timothy, so much as a circumstantial one. He was in Corinth after all!
(16:11) “So let no one despise him. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brethren.”
To paraphrase, Paul says, “Yeah, he’s fearful, but don’t you dare look down on him. I better hear that you’ve taken good care of this guy, because he’s a good man.”
“Send him on his way.” This could imply financial help (see v.6).
(16:12) “But concerning Apollos our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brethren; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.”
Throughout the letter, Paul has talked about Apollos’ ministry to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4-6, 22; 4:6). Paul was never against Apollos—only against the Corinthians’ poor view of leadership. Apollos wasn’t eager to come to Corinth. Perhaps, he didn’t like their man-worship of him either!
The Corinthians may have thought that Paul was keeping Apollos from coming. But Paul refutes this idea. Apollos probably wanted things to calm down before he came. Paul didn’t boss Apollos around. Apollos didn’t want to come to Corinth (“it was not at all his desire to come now”), and Paul deferred to Apollos’ decision (“he will come when he has opportunity”).
(16:13-14) “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.”
These commands all “reflect the kinds of things a general might say to his troops before they enter into battle.”[]
“Be on the alert.” This is more than simply not sleeping. It implies a mental awareness and eagerness to pay attention (1 Thess. 5:6; Mk. 13:33, 37), as well as standing on guard against the Enemy (1 Pet. 5:8). Imagine taking a long road trip and nodding asleep at the wheel. This is dangerous because you are moving a large mass of metal at high speed, and people’s lives are at stake. As Christians, we realize that the spiritual lives of others is at stake (1 Tim. 4:16). Much of our influence on others comes from thinking and praying for them—namely, being alert.
“Stand firm in the faith.” This can be understood as being “in the faith” or “in faith.”[]
“Act like men.” They are not supposed to act like men, rather than like women. Instead, they are to act like men, rather than like not boys (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1; 13:11; 14:20). Paul is telling the men and women to grow up and be strong.
“Be strong.” This could be taken in the passive sense: “Be made strong.”[] (cf. Eph. 6:10; Ps. 27:14; 31:24)
“Let all that you do be done in love.” Never forget chapter 13. Morris writes, “In manliness Paul is not looking for aggressiveness or self-assertion, but the strength that shows itself in love.”[]
(16:15) “Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints).”
Paul personally baptized these people (1 Cor. 1:16). They were godly servants, who committed to building up the church.
How can he say that these people were the “first” converts? Paul had converts in Achaia before he came to Corinth (Acts 17:34). This can be resolved in a number of ways: (1) Paul had met them before going to Athens, (2) Paul is referring to the first “household,” rather than individual people, or (3) Paul is using the name Achaia as synonymous with Corinth, rather than the larger region, as he does elsewhere (Rom. 15:26-27).[]
(16:16) “That you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors.”
These men had the recognition of leadership because of their hard labor of servant leadership. NRSV captures this wordplay: “They have devoted themselves to the service of the saints; I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people, and of everyone who works and toils with them.” Paul is saying, “These men served you, so you should serve under them.” Morris writes, “It may not be an accident that his verb (hypotassō) is a compound of the verb he has just used of the household of Stephanas setting themselves (tassō) to lowly service.”[]
Imagine if a number of dogs pulling an ice sled. Now suppose that each of them started to pull in different directions. It would rip the sled apart, and get you nowhere. Similarly, God has installed leaders to guide people, and they should be respected when it comes to spiritual things.
(16:17) “I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking on your part.”
Is this a rebuke on the Corinthian church? Or is it an encouragement for these men? Or both? These guys must have brought the concerns of the things addressed in this letter—most likely from “Chloe’s people” (1 Cor. 1:11).
(16:18) “For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men.”
“Refreshed” (anapauo) is used by Jesus in Matthew 11:28.
“Acknowledge such men.” In the Greek, this is a forceful imperative.[] Paul must’ve had a regard for human leadership—even “regular leaders” like these men who weren’t apostles.
(16:19) “The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.”
“Aquila and Prisca” had a church in their house in Rome as well (Rom. 16:5). They were always opening up their home for the Lord’s work. Banks writes, “The entertaining room in a moderately well-to-do household could hold around thirty people comfortably.”[]
(16:20) “All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
Blomberg states that this was generally done between men and men (or women and women). But it wasn’t often practiced between men and women.[]
(16:21) “The greeting is in my own hand—Paul.”
Paul usually wrote through a scribe (an amanuensis). But here, he picks up the pen himself to show what his handwriting looked like.
(16:22) “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha.”
“Maranatha.” Morris writes, “Being Aramaic, the expression cannot have originated among the Greeks, but must go back to the early days of the church in Palestine.”[] While there is dispute on how to translate this, it mostly likely translates as “Our Lord, come!” (rather than “The Lord has come”).[] This is the same idea—though written in Greek—in Revelation 22:20.
(16:23-24) “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”
Paul started and finished his letter by writing about the grace of Jesus Christ. Morris writes, “Notice the all. He had some doughty opponents at Corinth, and there were some whom he had had to rebuke sharply. But he bears no malice. He sends his love to all of them, a love in Christ Jesus. Paul’s last word to the Corinthians is Jesus.”[]
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 621.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 227.
Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 292.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 228.
Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 300.
Mark Taylor, 1 Corinthians, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 28, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 423.
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 622-623.
Mark Taylor, 1 Corinthians, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 28, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 424.
Roy Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 855.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 232.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 232.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 232-233.
Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 305.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 234.
Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 292.
R. Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community [Anzea, 1979], pp. 49f. Cited in Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 235.
Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 307.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 237.
Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 307.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 238.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
