GRACE AND PEACE AS A GREETING
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace and peaceG1515 to you from God our Father.
Colossians 1:1-2
As with the letter to the Ephesians, Paul was writing to believers, those who had trusted Jesus, at Colossae and then at Laodicea, as many of his letters were read in one place then shared with another church. Paul indicated that Timothy was with him and sent greetings as well. Paul was not a loner. He often worked as a team with another minister. In fact, Timothy was one of Paul’s spiritual children, a man he had discipled and helped to grow in his faith to the point that he ultimately sent Timothy out to pastor a church. Paul extended his usual greeting to the recipients of the letter by pronouncing grace and peace to them from the Lord. We’ll look at grace and peace in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and then dive deeper into the full meaning of grace by looking it up in The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament:
G5485 Charis – . . .graciousness of manner or act: lit. fig., or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life . . (88)
G1515 eirḗnē, i-ray’-nay; probably from a primary verb eírō (to join); peace (literally or figuratively); by implication, prosperity:—one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again. (89)
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
G5485 cháris – (III) (B) Of the grace, favor and goodwill of God and Christ as exercised toward men: where cháris is joined with eirḗné (1515), peace, éleos (1656), mercy, and the like in salutations, including the idea of every kind of favor, blessing, good, as proceeding from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal. 1:3). Also, in the introduction to most of the epistles (Eph 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:2, Titus 1:4, Phile. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:2, 2 Pet. 1:2; 2 John 1:3; Rev. 1:4). (90)
Zodhiates, Spiros, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament
Grace as defined above was asking the Lord to effect transformation in their lives and bestow blessings on them. With the word peace, Paul was indicating his desire that the Lord set their lives in order, make them whole, and give them rest. He was believing the Lord would extend every kind of blessing to them. Perhaps we need to revive this greeting in our own letters, emails, or when we meet up with our Christian friends.
In your opinion, could we revive the greeting of “Grace and peace to you from God the Father?” Why or why not? Could we use this greeting with non-believers or with Christians only?
Father, let us pray for Your grace and peace in other believers’ lives. Let it not just be a way to begin a letter or greet a friend but our true prayer for them.
Pronouncing a blessing was not new to the Apostle Paul. We find a benediction that has been set to music many times in Numbers 6:24-26. Listen to one of our favorite settings. By the way, if you memorize this song, you have memorized Scripture!