The salutations given by one saint to another are to be given through prayer having both the word of God and the will of God in mind.
The apostle Paul knew the saints of God and desired to greet them by name. This serves as a tremendous demonstration of brotherly love!
Paul’s salutation was so important to him that although he did not personally pen most of his epistles, he personally penned his salutation.
The Bible often defines words through their associations. For instance, the words salute, saluteth, and salutation involve a greeting.
The believer’s relationship with God is twofold consisting of a positional relationship and one of practice. Positionally, the believer enjoys Christ’s imputed righteousness (Romans 4:6-8). In this position, the believer has been forgiven of all trespasses (past, present, and future) (Colossians 2:13). John confirmed this truth as he wrote to believers saying that their sins were already forgiven (1 John 2:12). Because of God's complete forgiveness, sins can never and will never affect a man’s position in Christ. However, man must also consider his practice (his daily walk before the Lord).The sins that cannot harm a man’s position in Christ can adversely hinder his fellowship with the Lord. Though all our sins are forgiven, we still should daily confess our sins to the Lord in order to keep our fellowship right (1 John 1:9).
Prior to salvation, every individual comes to understand the need for forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is directly associated to the nature of man’s relationship with God. Yet, apart from the need for initial forgiveness, most Christians have a very shallow concept of how the Bible defines forgiveness in general. According to scripture, forgiveness is directly connected to the covering of sin (Psalm 32:1). Psalm 32 does not stand alone as Psalm 85:2 exhibits the same association: “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.” It is important to understand the Bible correlation of something being forgiven and covered. Interestingly, the Bible connects being forgiven and covered with financial expressions. For example, the Bible uses forgiveness as a financial term in Matthew 6:12. The term forgiveness suggests a removal of responsibility, while the term covered suggests that the debt was settled by another.
According to the Bible, before a man trusts Christ as Saviour, he remains the enemy of God (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21). But God, in His great mercy, saves His enemies as they individually choose to trust in Christ’s payment for their sins. Though a Christian has the indwelling Spirit, he never fully comprehends all that the Lord has done for him through salvation. This is why the Bible says that God’s love passes all knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). However, the more a man draws nigh to God, the more he learns about the kindness God has shown him through Jesus Christ. No matter how we learn in this life, eternity will continue to reveal to the saints the depths of the kindness of God. No wonder the greatness and marvellous nature of His love is truly beyond comprehension.
Our previous studies revealed that the word kind is connected to a term suggesting family relationships. Therefore, today’s passage associating kindly with brotherly love makes perfect sense. The book of Romans instructs believers to be “kindly affectioned one to another.” By being kindly affectioned, believers will naturally exhibit “brotherly love” toward each other. The Bible reveals God as the Christian’s Father. This relationship indicates that each believer is related as a part of the same family, the family of God. How should family members treat other family members? The context of today’s passage reveals that believers should prefer others before themselves (Romans 12:10), distribute to the necessities of other saints (Romans 12:13), and give themselves to hospitality (Romans 12:13). In other words, believers should treat other believers as members of one’s family. As many Christians soon find out, the relationships enjoyed between fellow believers will frequently be closer than those enjoyed with blood relatives.
Our previous study revealed that kindness refers to treating someone as a cherished member of the family. The Bible proclaims that God is great in kindness (Nehemiah 9:17). It also reveals that kindness is marvellous (Psalm 31:21) and full of mercy (Psalm 117:2). Believers should be thrilled to know that God demonstrates this kindness toward His beloved creation. By nature, men are the children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). Yet, each person has the opportunity to be treated like a beloved member of God’s family as a result of Christ's sacrifice on the cross (Titus 3:4). Those who have trusted Christ as Saviour have been granted the inestimable privilege of being “heirs” of God (Titus 3:7) and “joint-heirs” with Christ (Romans 8:17). This blessing, generally intended for and limited to family, is extended to those whom God counts as family.
The Christian life is a life of continual blessings, though it also contains many experiences in life's difficulties. The believer is blessed by God’s provisions in the past and offered hope through God’s promised future provisions. Psalm 68:19 proclaims that the Lord “daily loadeth us with benefits.” These benefits include both spiritual and physical blessings of salvation, answered prayers, good health, and family. However, David specifically described the blessedness of a man imputed righteousness apart from his works. Our passage records his words as he proclaimed, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven.” Though forgiven of past, present, and future sin, man's capacity for sinning remains unabated within his natural body. Every faithful Bible student knows never to minimize forgiveness of one's sin as one of the greatest blessings of all!
