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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
October 4
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Today's Pathway:
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Paul is concluding his epistle. He gives greetings, then a warning, then he gives what could be referred to as a benediction. He starts with the greetings. The first comes from the churches of Asia. The "Asia" of the New Testament is not the continent of Asia. When Paul writes about Asia he is speaking of a region that would be found in western Turkey. It is known today as Anatolia or Asia Minor. Ephesus would be one of the major cities there. After the general greeting from the churches, he gives a specific greeting from Aquila and Priscilla. From Acts 18 we know that Aquila and Priscilla traveled with Paul from Corinth to Ephesus, and that Paul left them in Ephesus to minister there. They started a church in their home and it was that congregation which also sent greetings to the Corinthians. Finally Paul sends general greetings from all the brethren in Ephesus. He then tells the Corinthians to greet each other with a holy kiss. The key word here is "holy". This was not a sensual kiss, nor was it a phony kiss like the one that Judas gave to Jesus when he betrayed Him. It was the custom of that time to kiss someone as a gesture of love and fellowship. Though kissing is not our custom today, John MacArthur writes,
"Paul was speaking of the genuine and spontaneous expression of brotherly or sisterly love, which in that day often was expressed by a kiss. A warm, affectionate handshake or an arm around the shoulder can express the same affection."
In verse 21 Paul notes that he is writing the closing greetings in this letter himself. We know that there were times when Paul dictated his letters and someone else wrote them down for him (Romans 16:22). However, there were also occasions where people other than Paul wrote letters and pretended to be Paul (II Thessalonians 2:2). Because of this, Paul wrote in II Thessalonians 3:17,
"The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write."
It was important that the Corinthians church knew for a fact that it was Paul that was writing this to them, for he did not want those in the church who opposed him to be able to deny the authenticity of the letter.
In verse 22 Paul gives a strong warning. There are two untranslated words used here. The first is "anathema". This word appears five other times in the New Testament, and each time it is translated "curse" or "accursed". The statement is that those who do not love the Lord will be cursed by Him. It is worth noting that the Greek word translated "love" is not "agape" (self-sacrificing love), but rather "phileo" (fondness or friendship). While there are various interpretations of this verse, the idea seems to be that if an individual does not even have a fondness for the Lord then he clearly is not saved, and thus he will be cursed. The word "maranatha" is not Greek, but Aramaic, and means "the Lord is coming". It is thought to have been an expression of faith that the early Christians used among themselves. For the believer, the promise of the Lord's return is a blessing. The Christian will be raptured, and those who oppose God will be punished. For the unbeliever, the Lord's return spells his eternal doom. Warren Wiersbe concludes,
"Not to love Christ means not to believe in Him, and unbelievers are accursed (John 3:16-21). If a person loves Jesus Christ, he will also love His appearing (II Timothy 4:8)."
So the question is, do you love the Lord?
In verse 23 Paul gives a standard closing to his letter. Then in verse 24 he adds that he loves the Corinthian believers. Some might have seen his letter as being written in hatred because of his constant rebukes, but he reminds them that he has written this because he loves them. Proverbs 27:6 tells us that "faithful are the wounds of a friend". Paul was not their enemy; he loved them dearly and his desire was that they would be in a right relationship with the Lord.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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