1 Corinthians 16:22

If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be anathema. Marana tha. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anathema ... means a thing accursed, leading to the necessary deduction that a refusal to love the Lord makes one an enemy of God.

Marana tha ... The comment of F. F. Bruce on this expression is as follows:

If this word is divided as Marana tha, it means "Our Lord come"; but if we divide it Maran atha, it means "Our Lord has come." It is an Aramaic phrase which found its way into the liturgy of the church from its earliest days.[29]

The point to be emphasized is that this expression just as easily means "Our Lord has come" as it does the other proposition, "Our Lord come." There is no need whatever, then, to accept as binding the latter meaning as indicated in English Revised Version, the Revise Standard Version, and other versions, leading to the hurtful and erroneous idea that the apostles believed the Second Advent was at hand. Phillips translated this, "May the Lord come soon."

It is far preferable to divide the word Maran atha, as in the King James Version, giving the true meaning that "Our Lord has come in his incarnation." The scholars who prefer the other division are influenced by some of the literature (unbiblical) of ancient times in which the other division is the usual one; but Bruce explained that, by early post-apostolic times, these verses had become a kind of liturgy used at the Lord's table; and in that usage, it had reference to the Lord's coming to be with his followers in the assembly, as he had promised (Matthew 18:20). Thus, upon examination of this, it is certain that there is no reference whatever in this word to the Second Advent.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you ... For a discussion of this characteristically Pauline greeting, see my Commentary on Romans, p. 13. This beautiful greeting, which Paul so frequently used, was not enough in this first epistle to Corinth. Paul had written some of the sternest rebukes in the holy Scriptures, and he had borne down upon them with all of his apostolic power to force a correction of their shameful abuses; therefore, he would not close with the usual greeting, adding to it an affirmation of his love for every one of them.