DO THESE THINGS (PART 5)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All God’s people here send their greetings.

2 Corinthians 13:12-13 NIV

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Five exhortations.

This is what we find the Apostle Paul offer the Christians in Corinth as he closed out his second letter to them.

To recap, here were the ones we covered over the past four messages:

1. Strive for perfection.

2. Listen to my appeals.

3. Agree with one another.

4. Live in peace.

This leads us to the last of the encouragements which is found in verse 12:

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

What was a holy kiss?

The answer is grounded in the word “holy”.

From a Biblical perspective, it means to be set apart, to be holy as God is holy. This means the holy person will be distinguished from the world and its ways just as God is.

So a holy kiss needs to be a special kiss, set apart from what the world would see a kiss to be. It was to be a sincere kiss grounded in devotion and care for the person being kissed. A holy kiss was not sexual in nature nor was it deceitful like the kiss Judas laid on Jesus on the night of His betrayal.

In New Testament days, people often greeted each other with a kiss. It was a special affection one Christian shared with another, a sign of unity and connection. Many new believers were excommunicated by their families and so their brother and sister Christians were often their new family. The holy kiss was a very important element of the new relationship within the church.

Paul wanted this sense of love to continue in the Corinthian church. He knew how critical it was for the body of Christ to stay united, one in Christ Jesus. The holy kiss was one component of maintaining this special, unified relationship within the church.

Today, we should continue to strive for harmony within the church through the special care and affection we feel and show one another, the very love and affection Jesus would give if He were worshiping among us. When you see a brother or sister, it’s perfectly biblical to greet with a holy kiss. If it was okay for the first Christian churches, it should be for us here in the twenty-first century.

Tomorrow, we’ll finish our study of Second Corinthians by looking at Paul’s closing benediction.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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