<p>13:14 <i>The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all</i>- Paul's parting statement is an appeal for them to allow the gift of the Spirit to be with them. &quot;Grace&quot; is <i>charis</i>, 'gift'. The gift of the Lord Jesus is the Comforter, the Spirit given to every baptized believer in Him- including the Corinthians (1:22; 5:5). Despite having received it, they were not spiritual (1 Cor. 3:1). There is a fellowship of the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14) in the sense that all who live the same spiritually-centred life will thereby be bound together in a powerful and inevitable fellowship. When, for example, two Christian mothers strike up conversation about the difficulty of raising children in this present evil world, when two brethren talk about the difficulties of living as Christ would in today&rsquo;s business world&hellip; there is, right there, in those almost casual conversations, the fellowship of the spirit. It isn&rsquo;t just a social connection because we belong to the same denomination.</p><p>Paul's farewell is no standard wish for their general wellbeing; it is a desire that they allow this gift to be with them. This is the fellowship or participation of the Holy Spirit in their lives which was and is the key to all spiritual progress. The &quot;all&quot; in &quot;be with you all&quot; is the last word, but is significant- for there were some without the knowledge of God, deeply in sin and now ignorant of the basic Gospel they had once espoused. But still Paul wished the activity of the Spirit in their hearts; he was not writing to some subgroup of more committed believers at Corinth. It was and is the only hope for transformation towards salvation.</p>