What is the 'holy kiss' of Romans 16:16, and does it still bind Christians today?
A viewer asks what the holy kiss mentioned in Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, and 2 Corinthians 13:12 is, and whether it was just a cultural thing or still binds us today.
Answer
No, it does not bind us today; the New Testament is just telling us what they did in those times. It was a custom of the day that Christians shared among themselves so they could easily recognize one another. Sometimes people would try to infiltrate the church, and if everyone greeted everyone with a holy kiss, that was a familiar sign they could exchange to know who was who; heretics were reticent to do it, so you might pick them out or at least hold them in suspicion. Christians traveled from church to church and often did not know many people when they arrived in a city, and a holy kiss broke down the barriers right away. Remember, they lived under Rome, which tolerated them only to a point, which is why we have the catacombs; so the apostles encouraged the holy kiss to make it easy for everyone to know who you were and what your intentions were. We have religious freedom today, so we do not need it that way.