Grace and Peace

2018-08-11

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:3)

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:2)

Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, (Galatians 1:3)

Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:2)

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:2)

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:2)

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:1)

Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:2)

Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2)

Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (2 Timothy 1:2)

Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. (Titus 1:4)

Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philemon 1:3)

The apostle Paul blessed every recipient of his letters with grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, with minor variations (except the book of Hebrews, in which the greeting is absent). Because it is by grace that we are saved to serve Christ, it is appropriate for Paul to remind the churches of the grace they received. Because they had experienced God’s grace, they also received peace: peace with God and inner-peace from knowing Jesus Christ.

Some of the variations include “God our Father” and “God the Father,” where the latter is only in Galatians, 2 Timothy, and Titus. With Galatians being the only church with the latter, maybe Paul was sending them a message that they were not saved, and that God was not their Father? Considering the strong words Paul had for them, maybe this was the case.

For the Pastoral Epistles, the word “mercy” is injected between grace and peace. Maybe this is because James tells us, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1). These men would need to have God’s mercy. In Titus, we see that the words “our Saviour” are appended to the end of the greeting, which is a theme in the book of Titus. Jesus Christ is the God who is the Saviour.

Lastly, we note that this grace and peace comes from both the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father gave us grace and peace in the person of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. Both the Father and the Son are necessary to have God’s grace, mercy, and peace in this life.