Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The epistle falls within a letter addressed to Christians scattered across various regions, giving practical instruction about Christian duties and comfort to those facing persecution, and warning and strengthening believers in view of dangers in the last days. It joins a greeting of Christian charity and fellowship with a wish for peace to all who are in Christ Jesus, and that peace is the fruit of the gospel. The injunction to greet with a kiss of charity is to be obeyed from a prepared heart that does right in a right manner from a right motive, and obeying it brings peace to all who are in Christ Jesus.
Greeting one another with a kiss of charity was a command from Christ given through His apostles, carrying Christ's own authority because He sent His apostles as the Father sent Him and gave them authority to teach, so that hearing their words is hearing His words. The verse is an instruction given to the apostolic churches and is used as an example of a divine command that a disciple might choose to follow or set aside on the grounds that it belonged to the apostolic age, showing that such selective obedience is a matter of choosing which commands to observe rather than a difference in principle. The verse commands greeting one another with a kiss of charity and shows the practice is proper to continue, with Scripture alone as the rule for it and the time and occasion left to those who take part.
The verse's instruction about greeting with a kiss as a religious practice does not make the custom mandatory. Like sharing a communion cup, the practice may pose health risks for some people, though the extent of the danger is questioned and it may be less when the kiss is on the cheek. God made the kiss and gave it its own true place in common human life, and the verse's greeting belongs in the home and in the purest Christian fellowship between man and man and between woman and woman, never in general society, ordinary society, or courtship. To avoid jealousy brethren salute only brethren and sisters only sisters, and the verse gives no young man a right to kiss a woman because he accompanies her.
The epistle falls within a letter addressed to Christians scattered across various regions, giving practical instruction about Christian duties and comfort to those facing persecution, and warning and strengthening believers in view of dangers in the last days. It joins a greeting of Christian charity and fellowship with a wish for peace to all who are in Christ Jesus, and that peace is the fruit of the gospel. The injunction to greet with a kiss of charity is to be obeyed from a prepared heart that does right in a right manner from a right motive, and obeying it brings peace to all who are in Christ Jesus.
Greeting one another with a kiss of charity was a command from Christ given through His apostles, carrying Christ's own authority because He sent His apostles as the Father sent Him and gave them authority to teach, so that hearing their words is hearing His words. The verse is an instruction given to the apostolic churches and is used as an example of a divine command that a disciple might choose to follow or set aside on the grounds that it belonged to the apostolic age, showing that such selective obedience is a matter of choosing which commands to observe rather than a difference in principle. The verse commands greeting one another with a kiss of charity and shows the practice is proper to continue, with Scripture alone as the rule for it and the time and occasion left to those who take part.
The verse's instruction about greeting with a kiss as a religious practice does not make the custom mandatory. Like sharing a communion cup, the practice may pose health risks for some people, though the extent of the danger is questioned and it may be less when the kiss is on the cheek. God made the kiss and gave it its own true place in common human life, and the verse's greeting belongs in the home and in the purest Christian fellowship between man and man and between woman and woman, never in general society, ordinary society, or courtship. To avoid jealousy brethren salute only brethren and sisters only sisters, and the verse gives no young man a right to kiss a woman because he accompanies her.