1Corinthians 16:19-24 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. All the brethren greet you. Greet you one another with an holy kiss. The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
‘The churches of Asia salute you’ – the congregations of Asia Minor. He was at Ephesus in this Asia, proving further that he was not at Philippi, as some teach (1Cor. 16:8).
‘Aquila and Priscilla’ – They had a congregational group in their house (Rom. 16:3-4). They are always mentioned together as man and wife (Acts 18:2, 18, 26; 2Tim. 4:19).
‘Church that is in their house’ – The company of believers who worshipped in their house at Corinth, as all other congregations did.
‘The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.’ The salutation was by Paul’s own hand,
(2Thess. 3:17) some of his letters were written by scribes as Paul’s dictated God’s Words to them (Rom. 16:22; Col. 4:18).
‘Let be Anathema Maranatha’ – Let him be accursed; our Lord comes. This is directed against the Jews and heathen who delighted to call Jesus accursed (1Cor. 12:3). ‘In Christ Jesus’ – The word IN means “in union with” and when used of persons it does not mean “bodily entrance into,” except in the case of disembodied spirits, or demons. We read of God being in Christ (2Cor. 5:19) and Christ being in God (John 14:10-11, 20); of man being in Christ (2Cor. 5:17) and Christ being in man (Rom. 8:10); of man being in the Spirit and the Spirit being in man (Rom. 8:9); and of satan entering into man (John 13:27); but it never means in these cases “bodily entrance into,” for all these persons have bodies and cannot get inside each other bodily. When Paul said of believers, “I have you in my heart” and “you are in our hearts” (2Cor. 7:3; Php. 1:7), he could only mean “in union with,” not “bodily entrance into.” The Bible doctrine of interpenetration means “the union of two or more persons together for the same end.” Thus, persons can be one with each other to a common end without literally getting inside each other or without being one single person. Being one with and in each other does not depend on bodily contact, or the loss of either personality. Persons can be in each other and one with each other though they are apart bodily. Thus, when God dwelled in Christ and Christ dwelled in God, it did not mean they were one person or that they dwelt inside each other bodily. They were one in union – one to the same end, in the same sense that men and Christ, or men and men, dwell in each other. “He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit” (1Cor. 6:17).
Living the Word 