1Cor 16:19-24 - Adieus and Anathemas

19-24 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.


Although this form of greeting is fairly standard with Paul, the felicity of it is wonderful to behold in view of the matters that have been addressed. Paul practices what he preaches. He reflects His Saviour. While unafraid to rebuke and admonish where warranted, he knows that such chastisements must not be allowed destroy hope, or the sense of love that lies at the root of all that Paul wishes for the Corinthian church.

The Corinthians undoubtedly knew Priscilla and Aquila because they had emigrated to Corinth when the Jews were expelled from Rome {Ac 18:2} and had accompanied Paul from thence to Ephesus {Ac 18:18}. I suppose the tent makers union had to stick together!

Paul is careful to take over from his amanuensis long enough to lend unmistakable authenticity to the letter by finishing it up in his own handwriting, which many in Corinth would have recognized. By this the Apostolic authority of its contents could not be legitimately questioned.

And finally, though Paul is conciliatory and gentle in the general tone of his greeting, he nevertheless lets his severity show with an anathema upon any who do not love Christ. Obviously he means any in the church, professing to be Christians. Paul’s attitude towards outsiders is always that they must be lovingly evangelized, not anathematized. His severest rebuke is not to the unreached lost, but upon the pretenders, the fakes, the false, the deceivers within the church. This stern warning would not offend any true believer because a true believer’s love for Christ would want the purity of the body to be maintained, for His sake.

And that seems to be an appropriate coda to a letter that has come to grips with some very serious issues that were indeed threatening the purity of the church at Corinth.

For the ears of the true saints there is the invocation of the grace of the Lord by and in which all Christians abide in His love.

(This brings the 1Corinthians study to an end. Next on the agenda is the first 3 chapters of Romans)