1 Corinthians 16:23

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Corinthians 16:23-24. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ — All the blessed tokens and effects of his favour; be with you — And rest upon you for time and eternity! My love — My most sincere, tender, and affectionate regards; be with you all in Christ Jesus — Who is our peace, and the bond of our union with God and one another. There is a great propriety and beauty in this manner of ending an epistle, in which the apostle had so sharply reproved the Corinthians. By assuring them of his love, he showed them that all the severe things he had written proceeded from his anxiety for their eternal welfare, and thereby removed the prejudices which his reproofs might otherwise have raised in their minds. Amen — An expression which I add in testimony of my sincerity and seriousness in this and in all the things I have written.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:19-24 Christianity by no means destroys civility. Religion should promote a courteous and obliging temper towards all. Those give a false idea of religion, and reproach it, who would take encouragement from it to be sour and morose. And Christian salutations are not mere empty compliments; but are real expressions of good-will to others, and commend them to the Divine grace and blessing. Every Christian family should be as a Christian church. Wherever two or three are gathered together in the name of Christ, and he is among them, there is a church. Here is a solemn warning. Many who have Christ's name much in their mouths, have no true love to him in their hearts. None love him in truth, who do not love his laws, and keep his commandments. Many are Christians in name, who do not love Christ Jesus the Lord in sincerity. Such are separated from the people of God, and the favour of God. Those who love not the Lord Jesus Christ, must perish without remedy. Let us not rest in any religious profession where there is not the love of Christ, earnest desires for his salvation, gratitude for his mercies, and obedience to his commandments. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ has in it all that is good, for time and for eternity. To wish that our friends may have this grace with them, is wishing them the utmost good. And this we should wish all our friends and brethren in Christ. We can wish them nothing greater, and we should wish them nothing less. True Christianity makes us wish those whom we love, the blessings of both worlds; this is meant in wishing the grace of Christ to be with them. The apostle had dealt plainly with the Corinthians, and told them of their faults with just severity; but he parts in love, and with a solemn profession of his love to them for Christ's sake. May our love be with all who are in Christ Jesus. Let us try whether all things appear worthless to us, when compared with Christ and his righteousness. Do we allow ourselves in any known sin, or in the neglect of any known duty? By such inquiries, faithfully made, we may judge of the state of our souls.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The grace ... - See the note at Romans 16:20.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

23. The grace, &c.—This is the salutation meant in 1Co 16:21; and from which unbelievers (1Co 16:22; compare 2Jo 10:11) are excluded [Bengel].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That is: The Lord Jesus favour you, and bless you with all spiritual blessings: this is the apostle’s ordinary salutation, Romans 16:24.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. This is the apostle's salutation in all his epistles, and is a token of the truth and genuineness of them; See Gill on Romans 16:20; and is a wish for a supply of all grace from Christ, and an increase of it in the saints; that they may have the communications of it to them, to quicken, invigorate, and draw forth into exercise the grace they have received, and to enable and assist them in the discharge of every duty.

Geneva Study Bible

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Bengel's Gnomen

1 Corinthians 16:23. Ἡ χάρις, grace) This is the salutation set forth at 1 Corinthians 16:21 at 1 Corinthians 16:22, the unworthy are excluded; comp. 2 John 1:10-11.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. This is a gnorisma, or "badge of confidence," which, in one or other of its forms, is found at the end of all St. Paul's Epistles. Here it is the same as in 1 Thessalonians 5:28. "With you all" is added in 2 Thessalonians 3:18; Romans 16:24; Philippians 4:23. In Galatians and Philemon we have "with your spirit." In the pastoral Epistles and Colossians, "Peace be with you." In Ephesians 6:24 it is confined to those "who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity." In 2 Corinthians 13:14 alone we have the full "apostolic benediction." 1 Corinthians 16:23