The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 330

III. PASTORS, These fail from the pastoral ide:il gene1·ally after they have failed from the private Christian ideal. Shepherds aro reprobates when they nec,lect their rluty to their flock; when they feed themselves and not the flock; when th~y sec tlH1 wolf coming, 1md fl~e; nnd when they fail duly to ho~our the chief Shepheril hefore tho flock. ll111strat1on may be taken from the experiences of the City of Manson! ns figured by John Bunyan, in his' Iloly \Var.' Reprobates, such as nre here dealt with, are recoverablo by penitence, humiliation, and heart-return to Christ.-Il. T. Ver. 11.-.Finnl counsels. What should the godly minister most desire for his people? All his best wishes for them can be gathered up in the word" nnity." And the terms hero used embody the idea of unity. And this was the supreme want of the Corinthian Church, which had been so broken up by (1) party feeling, (2) false teach- ings, (3) immoral members. As this subject has been so often taken as a theme for sermons preached at the close of ministries in particular places, we only give an outline from the point of view which regards unity as the central idea of the passage. I. PERFECT. That is, exactly fitted together; a whole. H. OF GOOD COMFORT. 'l'his woul<l only come by the removal of the jealousies nnd envyings, which spoiled the unity and the brotherhood. III. OF ONE MIND. Giving up individual preferences ancl peculiarities, so that they might agree together, think and plan the same things. IV. LIVE IN PEAOE, Or show that thoughtfulness for others which is the grent secret of the peaceful life. Upon such unity as the apostle thus commends the Divine benediction is sure to rest.-R. '1'. Ver. 14.-The Ohristia'R, benediction. 'l'his is the closing sentence of a long letter. Letters bear the stamp of the age in which they are written. Their modes of begin- ning and ending, and their forms of salutation, are characteristic of nations and periods. This closing benediction may be compared with those of other Epistles. The most simple form is " Grace be with you," and this we find in Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and also in the Epistle to the Hebrews. A. somewhat fuller but still very simple form is this: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." This is found in Romans, Philippians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. The Epistle to the Gnlatinns closes thus: ".Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." Philemon ends in a similar way. In Ephesians there is a peculiar form: "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Comparing St. Paul's mode with ihat of the other apostles, wo find similarity with distinctive differences. St. Peter closes his First Epistle thus: "Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus;'' and his Second Epistle thus: "l3ut grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord an,! Saviour Jesus Christ." St. James has no greeting; nor has John, except to his Third Epistle, and there it is simply, "Peace be to thee." Jude closes with a doxology. From this comparison it appears that the Christian benediction, in its simplest form, is the wish that "grace" may be with the Church. The point of it lies in the word "grace," and in the ideas that St. I>anl attached to the word "grace," and to ibl "heina" or "continuirw" 0 with the believers. I. •i"'nE MEANING OF THE TERM "GRACE." It must be distinguished from the word "graces," as meaning the special gifts and endowments granted to the early Church. As used in the singular number, it sometimes means the free favour and \o,e of God as shown to us in our salvation by Christ. Then the full expression is, "the grace of God, and the gift by grace" (Rom. v. 15). A characteristic instance of this use of the Nord may be found in Titus ii. 11, 12. St. Paul, however, uses the term in quite another sense. He often means by it what we should call the state of grace, that condition of privilege and relation, that favour and o.cceptance with God, into which we are brought by Christ and in which we stand-a. state of justification and acceptance; a state of rightness with God through faith. This state o!" favour. h~ calls "~race.'' Illustrative references may be made to Rom. v. 1, 2; Gal. 1. 6; Phil. 1•. 7, ~nd also to 11 striking passage in 1 Pet. v. 12. It seems that the Lord Jesus Christ 1s rcgar,lc,l as the model or representative of this state or slnnding of acceptance and favour w1 th God 'l'ha Father himself testified to it, saying, "'l'hi~ i~ my beloved Son, in whom I  33.l '!'HE SECOND EPISTLE '1'0 'l'HE COlUN'l'liIANS. [011. xxu. 1-14.