It is all warm fuzzies of greetings. The churches send their greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send their greetings. The church in their home sends greetings. The brothers send greetings. There is an instruction to greet one another with a holy kiss which is a warm way of greeting. Then there is Paul taking such care for them he sends the greeting part in his own writing instead of just a scribe.
“The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss” (1 Cor 16:19-20).
And then BAM. The warm fuzzies crash into a brick wall.
“If anyone does not love the Lord — a curse be on him. Come, O Lord” ” (v. 22).
Wait…what?
We know this is true in the sense that outside of Christ, our sins remain on our head.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36).
Is this what Paul is talking about? That if we reject Christ that we reject the curse Jesus took on the cross for us? Considering Paul’s central message of the cross, this is likely.
But we also must understand that “love” in the Bible is not the same love as defined in the English language. Love is about respect, obedience, and honor.
“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (John 14:23).
If anything, it is all of the above. It is the cross that says Jesus took the curse upon us. It is the obedience he is calling the Corinthians to in order that they not abandon the cross and the belief in the resurrection of the dead. It is about the hope of the Christian that we are rescued.
And for us who are in Christ, we can eagerly look to His return. It is why Paul says, “Come, O Lord!”
This return is our hope, given to us in Christ. It is why Paul ends with this:
“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen” (1 Cor 16:23-24).