Double Apostolic Blessing
T. Croskery Ephesians 6:23, 24 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle ends the Epistle by a blessing addressed first to the brethren at Ephesus, and secondly to all true lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ. I. BLESSING TO THE BROTHERHOOD. 1. Peace. This is not mere concord - "the peace to which they were called in one body," - but everything that is implied in the favor of God, repose of spirit under the sprinklings of the blood of Christ, a continuous flow of spiritual blessings. 2. Love with faith. That is, a love joined to faith, not love and faith as two distinct blessings. Their faith was an actually existing fact; the apostle desired that love should be there, as at once the characteristic and the discoverer of faith. 3. The full blessing is ascribed to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. All the graces spring from Father and Son in the power of the Holy Spirit; for God the Father is at once the God of peace and the God of love, and Jesus is our very Peace, in whom is fullness of grace and love. II. BLESSING TO ALL TRUE LOVERS OF CHRIST. The Epistle ends, as it begins, with grace and peace. The apostle implores God's favor upon all who love Christ in sincerity. 1. Christ is worthy of our love. He ought to be the supreme Object of our love, because of the loveliness of his character, because of his boundless love to his people, because of his work as our Mediator. 2. The love of Christ is a test of our religion. He who loves him has found grace in God's sight, and will stand high in the Divine favor. If we love him not, we are anathema; for we love not God, we love not man, we love not ourselves. If we love him, we have a grace of the Spirit, and we shall value his gospel, his Word, his cause, his people, and we shall delight in his presence. 3. The love must be sincere, free from those elements of decay or change that would work its destruction. It must be without hypocrisy, not in word only, but in deed and in truth. 4. The apostle wishes grace to all such lovers of Christ, so that they might have fresh discoveries of his love, a fuller enjoyment of his person, and a larger supply of all spiritual gifts. Amen. - T.C. Parallel Verses KJV: Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. WEB: Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.