.frong w: and this alſo we wiſh, ever your perfection x.
u ome by IVeakneſs here underſtand a moral Impotency; as the
'\poſtle had ſaid, bs could not do ai'y thing opainſt the Truth; that-is, Vol. 13.
THIANS.
rightly and juſtly he could not. w And by ſirmg here, a ſpiritual
_
ſtrength, a reformation, growth and proficiency in grace. Theſe
ſhew among you my \poftolical power in puniſhing offenders, as that 1 thould be glad to find you fo trons, in the exerciſe of grace
that 1 ſhould find none to puniſh ; that 1 may be made we.:! (as © the putting forth chat power) by your ſpiritual ftreneth. 1 incline to a more general Interpretation. The A poſtle by this purgeth himſelf from any thing of Vain-glory, or leeking himſelf; 7 Pough (Faith he) / be weak, (as ſome among you report me) yet if you b2 frul Y ſtrong, I ſhall heartily rejoyce therein. x For I with nothins more than your perfection; my reputation is nothing to me compared with that.
10 * Therefore 1 write Uncſe things beige abicnt, :eit being preſent, I ſhould ute ſarpneK, according 9 the power which the Lord lath 2iven me to cdifica- tion, and not. to deſtruction y.
y The Apoſtle here lets them know with how much tender- nels he dealt with them; and whereas they might have charscd him with ſharpneſs in his Letters, he atſures them that ho therowore had ſo wrote, that he might prevent ſharper de:lings with them when he ſhould come to them, by their h-ark:.,g wothe admonitiong of his Letter. For otherwiſe he tells them, that after he came hw© muſt deal more ſharply with them in the execution of tha power with which Chriſt had intrufted him. Yet he furthor tet; them, that that Power was for their good, not for their harm ; for tneir edification, not for their d-(trution; which is the ſame with what he nad ſaid, Chap. 10. 8. and in the Verſe immediately prececding.
[1 Finally, brechren, tuiewel z: Be pertett a, be o: good comfort b, * be: of one mind c, live in peace d; and the God of love and peace ſha'l be with vou e.
ry form of Concluſions of Letters, wiſhing all happineſs to them. 2 But he addeth ſomething as a Chriſtian, and a Miniſter of the Go- ſpel: be ye perfect. The word wa7«g)iCs23 ſignifies to be compact, or united, as members of the ſam? body, or parts of the ſame houle ; the perfection of a Society lying much in the union of it. The 7--- jection the Apoſtle prefſeth here, ſeemeth to be the Perf-Qion of 12 body of the Church, by the reſtoring of ſuch as were ſeparated from its Communion, or had through a Spirit of Contention, withdrawn themſelves, rather than the Perſ-2:5;: of the particular Members of It, in the habits and exerciſes of Grace. The Greek word ſeemeth that way to carry the ſenſe; it properly lignifies the putting of Mem- bers loſed from their Joynts ipto their proper place again, and ſuch a Pertettion as followeth upon ſuch an Action, or any Attion Propor- tionable to it. 6 The word imports, Zxhorted, Comforted, Confirmed : Be exhorted to yield obedience to my precepts or counſ1s; be comn- forted in all the trials or afflictions you do meet with, or may far- ther meet with, for your proteſſion.of the Goſpel ; b- c0; ſirmed in the truths and holy ways of God. © Be cf 2 mind, if poſhble, of one and the ſame judgment in the Truths of God ; however, as purſuing the ſame ſcope and end; be one in affeftion. d Live i peace, free trom thoſe contentions and diviſions, thoſe debates and ftrifes, wraths and envyings, which I have before told -you of as faults a- mong you. .e This is the way for to have the preſence of God with you, for he is not the God of hatred and ſtrite, bur the God of / ove and Peace z who hath commanded Love and Peace among thole that; are Brethren, and will be preſent among them only who live-in obe- dince to his Royal Law of Love. ;
12 * Greet one another with an holy kiſs f.
j See the Notes on Rom. 16. 16. 1 Cor. 16. 20. * Twas an ancient cuſtom and of common uſe, when Friends met, for them (as a token of mutual Love and Friendſhip) to kiſs each other : The Chrifti- ans uſed it alſo at their Eccleſiaſtical Affemblings ; Tt muſt not be look'd upon as a Precept, obliging all Chriſtians to do the like z but only as diretting thoſe that then did uſe it, to uſe it innocently, chaftly, ſincerely, and holily.
13 All che Saints falute you g. . ; S That 1s, all about me in theſe parts of Macedonia, wiſh you ail happineſs; and by me ſend the remembrance of their love and re- ſpects to you.
.14 The grace of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt h, and the love of God z, and the communion of the Holy Ghoſt be with you all k. Amen |.
h The free love of our Lord Jeſus Chrift ſhewn in the applica- tion of his Redemption; that grace which floweth from him as the Fountain of Grace, or cometh by him as the Mediator between God and Man. 7 The actual love rf God, that good-will by which God the Father imbraceth Creatures in Chrift, and for his fake. t And all the gracious Comr; unications of the holy ſpirit of God, (by which he ftrengtheneth, quicknerh, or comforteth the Souls of God's People) be with all of you. Whether you value me or no, I heartily wiſh you well, and all the beſt things. In this Text is an emi- nent proof of the Trinity, all the perſons being diftinly named in it, (as in the Commiſhon about Baptiſm.) 'The Apoftle calleth the Father, God," the Son Lord: He attributeth Love to the Farher ; (moved by which he ſent his only begotten Son into the World, Fobn 3. 16.) Grace to the Son, who loved us treety, and dicd for us. Fellowſhip, or Communion to the #oly Ghoſt, by whom the Father and Sou communicate their love and grace to the Saints. 1 Amen is here uſed as a Particle of wiſhing or denring the thing beforc-mentioned *tis the ſame with, Tet zt jo be» Whether added by the Apoftle, or ſubjoined by the Church of Corinth, upon the reading, this Epi- ſte among them, (as ſome think) is not material.
T The ſecond Epiltle to the Corinthians, wes written trom Piil:prta City of Macedonia, by Titus and L ucas,