Read 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete….”  (2 Corinthians 13:11)

The Apostle Paul is known for long and drawn out farewells in his letters. But in this letter to the Corinthian church he keeps his final benediction unusually short and succinct. It’s full of a dozen or so commands and consolations, yet all within just four verses.

The most significant of these, however, is Paul’s command to become complete. What an interesting command. How is that we are to do this? What is involved? Whatever could it mean?

I believe the treasure found behind this command comes by taking a closer look at the original language. The phrase “become complete” is really the translation and expansion of a single Greek word. The word carries the idea of something which goes through a transformation unto maturity. Politically, the word was used to describe taking chaos and putting it into order. Militarily, the word was used to describe taking untrained men and turning them into soldiers equipped for battle.

Jesus also uses this word in reference to a disciple becoming perfectly trained:

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40)

Understanding the definition of the word, then, helps us see more what Paul is commanding. He desires that the Christian go from a state of disorder to order, from untrained to fully equipped, from shaky to established, from a novice disciple to a perfectly trained disciple.

How then does the Christian do this? We get our answer by looking at the word again, but this time at its grammatical tense, which is the passive tense. The passive tense means the action is being done to you. You are not the one doing the action; instead you are the one receiving the action. You are not the one responsible for making it happen; you are the one responsible for letting it happen. Wow — what a significant implication!

What Paul is commanding, then, is not that we become complete through our own doing and efforts — but that we become complete through God’s mighty power and working in our lives. It is not us who completes us, it is God who completes us in Him.

“[We are] confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” (Philippians 1:6)

We get ourselves into trouble as soon as we take the responsibility to become complete because we do not actually have the power to do this. Rather, we must surrender our control and become recipients of God’s working to complete us. This is what the Christian life is all about. It’s about surrendering our own strength for God’s power and casting off our own efforts for God’s energy. God is the one working in us by His Spirit. We are the ones receiving by being molded under the strokes of His tender hands.

Dear Christian, have you relinquished your control to the Master Potter? Have you ceased working and entered the rest of your Lord who completes you? If not, I pray you would do so quickly. Become complete in Him. Surrender, and be set free.

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20–21)

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” (1 Peter 5:10)

“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” (Colossians 2:9–10)