1 Peter 5:14

Salute one another with a kiss of love. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ.

Kiss of love ... Paul similarly commanded this greeting (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26). Comment on this was made under all those references. "The practice seems to have been universal in those times."[39]

Peace be unto you all ... "This is the same blessing Peter had heard the Lord use, the old Hebrew blessing (Matthew 10:12f; Mark 5:34; Luke 2:14,29; John 20:19,21,26)."[40] The peace in view is primarily the well-being of the soul, the harmony of the recipients with the Father in heaven.

In Christ ... This incredibly important expression carries the thought that: (1) all blessings are exclusively for those in Christ, his baptized followers; (2) perfection and holiness without which no one may see God are achieved by the Christian's identity as Christ; (3) the ultimate grounds of all justification for human beings is the perfect faith and perfect obedience of the Son of God; etc., etc. For full discussion of this principal theme of the New Testament, see in my Commentary on Romans, especially in Romans 3, pp. 94-154. Peter's significant mention of this doctrine in this chapter fully establishes it as having been derived "from Christ himself."[41]

[39] B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 211.

[40] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 1048.

[41] Ibid., p. 1039.