Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ belong as a greeting to brethren gathered in council. The wish is not a mere formality but an invocation of divine favor and rest upon those assembled to deliberate and decide. It places the council under the authority and blessing of both the Father and the Son. The greeting stands joined to blessing God as the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. To speak grace and peace is therefore to turn at once to praise of God in His merciful fatherhood. He is acknowledged as the unfailing source of all true consolation. He comforts His people in all their tribulation, without exception. That comfort received from God qualifies and charges those comforted to comfort others who are in any trouble. The grace and peace wished thus flow outward in a ministry of comfort from the comforted to the afflicted.
Grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ belong as a greeting to brethren gathered in council. The wish is not a mere formality but an invocation of divine favor and rest upon those assembled to deliberate and decide. It places the council under the authority and blessing of both the Father and the Son.
The greeting stands joined to blessing God as the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. To speak grace and peace is therefore to turn at once to praise of God in His merciful fatherhood. He is acknowledged as the unfailing source of all true consolation.
He comforts His people in all their tribulation, without exception. That comfort received from God qualifies and charges those comforted to comfort others who are in any trouble. The grace and peace wished thus flow outward in a ministry of comfort from the comforted to the afflicted.