1 Corinthians 16:22

Two Aramaic words meaning "the Lord comes", added (perhaps as a kind of watchword) after the word Anathema, "let him be accursed", applied to those who do not love the Lord Jesus.

Agapao is the general term for loving, and it fits in every direction — to superiors, inferiors and equals. It is used of God's feeling toward man, and of man's toward God... On the other hand, phileo seems to be a narrower word, and it properly implies special affection and endearment... Just as little can phileo be reduced to the purely human regard of the heart. It is not so that the Father loves the Son or even us; nor can anything be more opposed to the true meaning of 1 Corinthians 16:22.

Paul uses it only twice: 1 Cor. 16:22 in full keeping with what we have found to be the rule in other passages, and in Titus 3:15.

These were grave errors and formidable evils — errors and evils which drew a sharp and stern rebuke from the inspired apostle. But when at the close he pronounces his solemn "Anathema Maranatha," it is not directed against those who had introduced the errors or practiced the evils, but against "any man" who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ... The only safeguard against every kind of error and evil is genuine love for the Lord Jesus Christ. A man may be so strictly moral that no one could put his finger upon a single blot in his character or a single stain in his reputation. Yet underneath that strict morality, there may be a heart as cold as ice, so far as the Lord Jesus is concerned.

Remember that the only basis for true morality, the only basis for sound doctrine, the only basis for "pure religion," is love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Where this love does not exist, all is cold, barren and worthless... But if the heart is truly touched with the living spark of love for Jesus, then every effort after pure morality, every struggle against our hateful lusts and tempers, every open hand of genuine kindness... every act of devotion, every outgoing of the soul, is precious to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

The coming of the Lord may reveal a solemn fact. Some have taken their place among the Lord's people who have never truly been touched by His love, and who therefore have no love for Him. So they prove that they are not the Lord's.

God loves His Son. He knows what He has done and suffered for mankind, and He rightly values His claims on their grateful love... But if we are careless about all this, and despise the One who brings us heaven's richest gifts, what will the throne of judgment say? Is there no crime in despising both the love and the authority of God, and in ignoring His demands for the honour of His Son?

To me it appears to go farther still. Yet it did not clash in the least with the love that stirred and filled his heart, as you can see from verse 23, and especially verse 24. It is doubtful whether love can be genuine without hating evil. And what evil can compare with bearing the name of the Lord while having no real attachment to Him?