KISSIN SAINTS

Ever notice how saints will choke on a gnat in emphasizing insignificant shades of doctrine than swallow a camel ignoring very clear commands of scripture. Take for instant the command, “Greet one another with a holy Kiss.” Deconstructing this verse:

* “Greet” is the Greek aspazomai, a greeting which means, contextually, “to embrace.”

* “One Another” is identified as “The Brethren”, being substituted as such in one passage. 

* “Holy”: This adjective is spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Holy Spirit and included in the Christian community, assumed of all who profess the Christian name. Here holy qualifies its noun kiss as a sacred Christian act, the pledge of Christian affection. 

* “Kiss” is the Greek philema which means “a kiss, a token of love and affection, by implication, on the cheek.

* Peter further clarifies this command by adding the phrase “Of Love”: “Embrace the brethren with a holy kiss of love.” This “Love” is the Greek agape, the love which is of and from God, which God lavishly pours into the willing hearts of His children. But this agape love is not to be a stagnant inward directed pool but rather an outwardly directed river of living water. When we greet our brethren with an embrace and holy kiss of love we are demonstrating our willingness to live out Christ’s second Great Commandment, to love others as we love our Self.  

This verse appears five times in the New Testament, always in the aorist imperative, a command. The God of love is determined to force His children to learn to love His way, to demonstrate sibling affection, for we saints are brothers and sisters in a greater sense than any human relationships. We just don’t act like it, and don’t want to act like it... do we?  And remember what Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” The first Great Commandment, to love God, is imbedded in the second... we love God by loving others... Selah. God tests our hearts with simple truths like this command; the force of our resistance to obedience is a measure of the truth’s importance. We can debate and rationalize... and eventually swallow the camel, but we will, one and all, give an account as to why we chose to ignore such a clear and direct love command of God’s word. Some are probably sorry they read this...

 “AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE”

(Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14; Matt. 22:37-39)