Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | December 7, 2011

Greet every Saint in Christ Jesus: Grace and Love to all in Christ Jesus

Today’s devotion comes from 1 Corinthians 16:19-24.
 
“19 The churches of Asia greet you.  Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.  20 All the brethren greet you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.
 

21 The greeting is in my own hand—Paul.  22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha.  23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.  24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.  Amen.”  1 Corinthians 16:19-24.

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The purpose of this daily devotion is not to comprehensively cover whom we should greet and how to greet.  I have broadly included some Scriptures found in my keyword search of “greet” that teach on this subject (which, after I included them, do seem consistent with Paul’s greeting), but we will focus on the greeting that Paul gives in the Scripture for today:  “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.   My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.”  And, then to emphasize that his greeting is to all in Christ Jesus, Paul teaches:  “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.”  

2 Corinthians 13:12
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
 

 

2 Corinthians 13:13
All the saints greet you.
 

 

Philippians 4:21
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you.
 

 

Philippians 4:22
All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.
 

 

1 Thessalonians 5:26
Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
 

 

2 Thessalonians 3:17
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter;  this is the way I write.
 

 

Titus 3:15
All who are with me greet you.  Greet those who love us in the faith.  Grace be with you all.
 

 

Hebrews 13:24
Greet all of your leaders and all the saints.  Those from Italy greet you.
 

 

1 Peter 5:14
Greet one another with a kiss of love.  Peace be to you all who are in Christ.
 

 

2 John 1:10
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;
 

 

2 John 1:11
for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
 

 

3 John 1:15
Peace be to you.  The friends greet you.  Greet the friends by name.
 
 
This devotion will not answer the question presented by these Scriptures as to whether or not we should ever greet non-Christians, and if so, how we should greet non-Christians.  I think that we should be very hesitant to interpret these Scriptures that way, and it is way beyond my knowledge and my desire to press that point.  As one example, Scripture strongly and repeatedly teaches us to love our neighbor, and greeting our neighbor seems to be a big part of loving our neighbor.  I will not even infer such a point;  to do so would make me the biggest hypocrite, because I greet non-Christians every day. 
 
But, first, this devotion will at least stand for the point that we should:  “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.  …”  Philippians 4:21  “… Greet those who love us in the faith.  …”  Titus 3:15  And second, this devotion will at least stand for the point that a good model for such greeting to Christians is the greeting that Paul uses:  “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.   My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.”  We certainly do not need to use those exact words, but that is the spirit of our “best wishes” greetings to Christians. 

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