If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
Anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ stands set apart under an absolute curse to destruction and exclusion, which Christ himself will execute when he comes to condemn those who do not love him and to reward those who do. There is no middle ground between saved and perishing, for escape requires not merely avoiding open hatred but active and perfect love with faith, repentance, holiness and walking in the Spirit. Such love is the foundation and substance of true religion, and without it there can be no happiness anywhere in God's universe, since love constitutes heaven. That love, awakened by the gospel and the attraction of the cross, is necessary for restoration to the divine law, for a share in his death and mediation for justification and eternal life, and for standing in the battle in the day of the Lord and escaping the plagues when wrath falls on the ungodly. The same word of his coming is also prayer and joyful hope, O Lord, come, the cry of those who love and look for him, whose return will end sorrow and groaning, bring the exiles home to his glory, and usher in his reign.
Words And Background
Anathema is Greek for accursed, one set apart under an absolute and irrevocable curse, separated from the faithful and devoted to destruction and exclusion. To pronounce that curse on one who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ is true charity, for charity rejoices in truth and therefore boldly tells of wrong, warns of consequences and reproves rather than covering unrepented error to keep peace.
Maranatha is Syro-Chaldaic for the Lord cometh, also given as our Lord cometh, declaring that Christ will come to execute the curse by condemning those who do not love him and to reward those who love him. Paul, though writing in Greek, inserted the Syro-Chaldaic Maran-atha for emphasis, so the whole sentence means let him be accursed at the coming of the Lord.
The form of the curse reflects Jewish practice after Roman rule took away power to impose death: a death-worthy offender was pronounced accursed, expecting Christ to inflict the penalty at his coming. In the revised wording the phrase after the Lord omits Jesus Christ.
Maranatha is also read as a prayer, O Lord, come, and Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus: the cry and lively hope of apostolic Christians for their soon-coming Redeemer. The early church used Maranatha or Maran atha, the Lord cometh, as a common greeting and joyful expectation, and it fittingly named a mission boat for gospel work in Rotterdam harbor whose dedication encouraged believers.
Judgment At His Coming
Anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ is accursed when the Lord comes, let him be accursed at his coming, barred from God's presence forever unto eternal fire. The sentence reflects Jewish practice after Roman rule took away power to impose death, when a death-worthy offender was pronounced accursed with expectation that Christ would inflict the penalty at his coming. There is no neutral ground between the saved and the perishing, between gathering and scattering, righteous and wicked, life and death.
Escape does not come by merely avoiding open hatred or major sins, but requires active, perfect love and holiness of heart, with faith, repentance, holiness and walking in the Spirit, lest one remain under condemnation to death when Jesus comes to take vengeance. Not to love Christ's appearing is not to love Christ himself, which is unreasonable and inexcusable, a damnable heresy in practice. The Lord is coming with vengeance on his enemies who destroy the earth and with recompense and salvation to those who love him and look for him.
The coming announced is not the advent of the Holy Spirit as another Comforter but the personal return of the same Jesus himself, the Lord himself, about to be realized, when the redeemed will bid farewell to pain and sorrow forever. His return is the blessed hope that will end creation's groaning, bring the exiles home to see his glory and usher in his reign, restoring hope and strengthening faith, and his people look forward to seeing him. Apostolic Christians uttered the lively cry, O Lord, come, in hope of their soon-coming Redeemer, believing they lived just before his return in glory, yet they did not comprehend the definite time prophecies and clear-cut signs by which it is now known for sure that the advent is upon us.
The words anathema maranatha were later misapplied in church decrees to enforce religious uniformity by civil power, as a solemn sentence of condemnation in the sight of God unto eternal fire. They were used for branding dissenters as heretics, denying their assemblies the name of churches, and delivering them to divine justice with severe penalties. This use shows the spirit that forms creeds by conventions and councils and enforces them by casting out those who differ in faith and shutting meeting-houses and school-houses against those who believe the Bible, even requiring a king to swear before mounting the throne to permit no man who is not a Catholic to live in his kingdom on pain of that curse.
Love Required And Lived
Love to the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation and substance of true religion, and without that love a person remains under solemn condemnation. Mere outward form with a heart knowing nothing of love to God and to one another is grasping the shadow and missing the substance. Such lovelessness can bring no happiness in any part of God's universe, since love itself constitutes heaven.
The love required belongs to the exalted nature the New Testament gives to Christ, standing alongside having faith in him as in the Father, trusting him as the Father, and honoring him as the Father. Love for God is a commandment, so refusing to love brings guilt and a curse rather than being free of penalty. Christian love therefore carries binding moral obligation, and love to God and to neighbor remains law with legal restraint and punishment, not removing obligation to the Ten Commandments even in heaven where love rules.
Love for Christ, awakened by the gospel and the attraction of the cross, is necessary for restoration to the divine law of faith and love before he comes. Those not drawn into this allegiance cannot share the New Covenant blessings promised to Israel. That same love is the condition for a sinner to have a share in the death and mediation of Jesus Christ for justification, remission of sins, and eternal life, and to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord and escape the plagues when the wrath of the Lamb is manifested against the ungodly, while without it a person remains under curse and condemnation to death.
Love is the test of spiritual connection with him, for genuine love binds the heart to its object and moves a person to act for Christ's glory and to share the gospel with others. Refusing to preach the gospel is grave enough to bring the curse upon those who commit it, and those who do not love the Lord are barred from God's presence forever. Success comes from proclaiming the advent and the preparation for it, for Maranatha means the Lord cometh, the age-long prayer Amen, even so come Lord Jesus, now to be told because his coming is about to be realized as the personal return of the same Jesus himself when the redeemed will bid farewell to pain and sorrow forever.
Those who do not love Christ give themselves to the world, making wealth, pleasure, or fashion their god and devoting their lives to pursuing it. They are unmindful of God, do not join in doing good, and withhold help from worthy enterprises. Love means willingness to take up the cross and follow in self-denial through duties and trials, so anyone who finds discipleship too hard or too far from the world should not remain among his disciples, for Christ wants no unwilling followers.
The coming announced is both solemn warning and persuasive call to love him, since Maranatha means our Lord cometh. To pronounce the anathema upon those who do not love the Lord Jesus Christ is true charity and not a lack of it. The same apostle who exalted charity in 1 Corinthians 13 spoke this curse, proving that charity does not cover unrepented error and wickedness to keep peace but boldly tells of wrong, warns of consequences, and reproves at all times because it rejoices in truth. The anathema maranatha is the divine curse that will rest on those who fail to end the saloon and its liquor trade.
Anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ stands set apart under an absolute curse to destruction and exclusion, which Christ himself will execute when he comes to condemn those who do not love him and to reward those who do. There is no middle ground between saved and perishing, for escape requires not merely avoiding open hatred but active and perfect love with faith, repentance, holiness and walking in the Spirit. Such love is the foundation and substance of true religion, and without it there can be no happiness anywhere in God's universe, since love constitutes heaven. That love, awakened by the gospel and the attraction of the cross, is necessary for restoration to the divine law, for a share in his death and mediation for justification and eternal life, and for standing in the battle in the day of the Lord and escaping the plagues when wrath falls on the ungodly. The same word of his coming is also prayer and joyful hope, O Lord, come, the cry of those who love and look for him, whose return will end sorrow and groaning, bring the exiles home to his glory, and usher in his reign.
Words And Background
Anathema is Greek for accursed, one set apart under an absolute and irrevocable curse, separated from the faithful and devoted to destruction and exclusion. To pronounce that curse on one who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ is true charity, for charity rejoices in truth and therefore boldly tells of wrong, warns of consequences and reproves rather than covering unrepented error to keep peace.
Maranatha is Syro-Chaldaic for the Lord cometh, also given as our Lord cometh, declaring that Christ will come to execute the curse by condemning those who do not love him and to reward those who love him. Paul, though writing in Greek, inserted the Syro-Chaldaic Maran-atha for emphasis, so the whole sentence means let him be accursed at the coming of the Lord.
The form of the curse reflects Jewish practice after Roman rule took away power to impose death: a death-worthy offender was pronounced accursed, expecting Christ to inflict the penalty at his coming. In the revised wording the phrase after the Lord omits Jesus Christ.
Maranatha is also read as a prayer, O Lord, come, and Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus: the cry and lively hope of apostolic Christians for their soon-coming Redeemer. The early church used Maranatha or Maran atha, the Lord cometh, as a common greeting and joyful expectation, and it fittingly named a mission boat for gospel work in Rotterdam harbor whose dedication encouraged believers.
Judgment At His Coming
Anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ is accursed when the Lord comes, let him be accursed at his coming, barred from God's presence forever unto eternal fire. The sentence reflects Jewish practice after Roman rule took away power to impose death, when a death-worthy offender was pronounced accursed with expectation that Christ would inflict the penalty at his coming. There is no neutral ground between the saved and the perishing, between gathering and scattering, righteous and wicked, life and death.
Escape does not come by merely avoiding open hatred or major sins, but requires active, perfect love and holiness of heart, with faith, repentance, holiness and walking in the Spirit, lest one remain under condemnation to death when Jesus comes to take vengeance. Not to love Christ's appearing is not to love Christ himself, which is unreasonable and inexcusable, a damnable heresy in practice. The Lord is coming with vengeance on his enemies who destroy the earth and with recompense and salvation to those who love him and look for him.
The coming announced is not the advent of the Holy Spirit as another Comforter but the personal return of the same Jesus himself, the Lord himself, about to be realized, when the redeemed will bid farewell to pain and sorrow forever. His return is the blessed hope that will end creation's groaning, bring the exiles home to see his glory and usher in his reign, restoring hope and strengthening faith, and his people look forward to seeing him. Apostolic Christians uttered the lively cry, O Lord, come, in hope of their soon-coming Redeemer, believing they lived just before his return in glory, yet they did not comprehend the definite time prophecies and clear-cut signs by which it is now known for sure that the advent is upon us.
The words anathema maranatha were later misapplied in church decrees to enforce religious uniformity by civil power, as a solemn sentence of condemnation in the sight of God unto eternal fire. They were used for branding dissenters as heretics, denying their assemblies the name of churches, and delivering them to divine justice with severe penalties. This use shows the spirit that forms creeds by conventions and councils and enforces them by casting out those who differ in faith and shutting meeting-houses and school-houses against those who believe the Bible, even requiring a king to swear before mounting the throne to permit no man who is not a Catholic to live in his kingdom on pain of that curse.
Love Required And Lived
Love to the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation and substance of true religion, and without that love a person remains under solemn condemnation. Mere outward form with a heart knowing nothing of love to God and to one another is grasping the shadow and missing the substance. Such lovelessness can bring no happiness in any part of God's universe, since love itself constitutes heaven.
The love required belongs to the exalted nature the New Testament gives to Christ, standing alongside having faith in him as in the Father, trusting him as the Father, and honoring him as the Father. Love for God is a commandment, so refusing to love brings guilt and a curse rather than being free of penalty. Christian love therefore carries binding moral obligation, and love to God and to neighbor remains law with legal restraint and punishment, not removing obligation to the Ten Commandments even in heaven where love rules.
Love for Christ, awakened by the gospel and the attraction of the cross, is necessary for restoration to the divine law of faith and love before he comes. Those not drawn into this allegiance cannot share the New Covenant blessings promised to Israel. That same love is the condition for a sinner to have a share in the death and mediation of Jesus Christ for justification, remission of sins, and eternal life, and to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord and escape the plagues when the wrath of the Lamb is manifested against the ungodly, while without it a person remains under curse and condemnation to death.
Love is the test of spiritual connection with him, for genuine love binds the heart to its object and moves a person to act for Christ's glory and to share the gospel with others. Refusing to preach the gospel is grave enough to bring the curse upon those who commit it, and those who do not love the Lord are barred from God's presence forever. Success comes from proclaiming the advent and the preparation for it, for Maranatha means the Lord cometh, the age-long prayer Amen, even so come Lord Jesus, now to be told because his coming is about to be realized as the personal return of the same Jesus himself when the redeemed will bid farewell to pain and sorrow forever.
Those who do not love Christ give themselves to the world, making wealth, pleasure, or fashion their god and devoting their lives to pursuing it. They are unmindful of God, do not join in doing good, and withhold help from worthy enterprises. Love means willingness to take up the cross and follow in self-denial through duties and trials, so anyone who finds discipleship too hard or too far from the world should not remain among his disciples, for Christ wants no unwilling followers.
The coming announced is both solemn warning and persuasive call to love him, since Maranatha means our Lord cometh. To pronounce the anathema upon those who do not love the Lord Jesus Christ is true charity and not a lack of it. The same apostle who exalted charity in 1 Corinthians 13 spoke this curse, proving that charity does not cover unrepented error and wickedness to keep peace but boldly tells of wrong, warns of consequences, and reproves at all times because it rejoices in truth. The anathema maranatha is the divine curse that will rest on those who fail to end the saloon and its liquor trade.