THE GREAT UNITY SALUTATION
Every one of Paul’s 13 letters includes the words “grace” and “peace” in the salutation. It’s as though he couldn’t write anything else until he had first greeted the Christians with these two beautiful and beneficial words. Paul always mentions grace before peace. Grace, God’s unmerited and undeserved favor, is the fountain from which all blessings flow. “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). Peace is the result, the realization, and the reward of the one who has been saved by grace. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Salvation from sin brings satisfaction to the soul.
However, Paul signs off each of 13 letters with only the word “grace.” Paul had learned from the Lord that grace was sufficient. “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9). Grace is the firm foundation in the house of God, and peace is the roof under which we live in harmony with one another.
“Grace is the firm foundation in the house of God, and peace is the roof under which we live in harmony with another.”
In Paul’s day, the Greeks would greet one another with the word chairein. This word was similar to charis (charm, favor), the word that charmed Paul and that he favored in his writings: grace. Although Paul used the Greek word for peace, eirene, from which we get our English adjective irenic and the woman’s name Irene, he knew full well that it sprang from the Hebrew root word shalom, an ancient word meaning “peace” that is still used by Jewish people when they meet or part with a friend. Shalom means both the temporal and spiritual health of a person – a person’s highest good. The Romans greeted one another with a word signifying health, an intermediate salutation of both grace and peace. Paul’s signature salutation of “grace and peace” was a masterstroke. He took the choicest words of greeting from both Gentile and Jewish worlds and joined them together in a great unity salutation. And what God has joined together, let no man put asunder!
Paul, like Jesus, had a great concern for the unity of all believers. He stated that all who are “in Christ” (an expression he used more than 80 times) are one. Whether they were Jew, Greek, slave, free, male, female, circumcised, uncircumcised, Barbarian, or Scythian (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11) mattered not one whit to him. Paul’s great concern sprang from the passion of Christ who longed to gather Jerusalem’s children together (Luke 13:34), fervently desired “other sheep” to be added to His fold (John 10:16), and earnestly prayed for the unity of all believers (John 17:20-21).
When Paul penned an epistle, he opened with this great unity salutation: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:3 et al.). Paul Butler said, “Unity has its origin or source in the nature and character of God. Grace and peace come from God our Father and Jesus Christ.” Yes, grace and peace come from God, but sometimes men withhold it! Grace and peace emanate from God our Father, but He is not the exclusive property of any one man or group of men. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father, who is in heaven.” Paul declared, “There is . . . one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:4, 6). William Barclay said, “It would be greatly to our good if sometimes we lifted up our eyes beyond our own little circle and thought of ourselves as part of the church of God which is as wide as the world.” Dear Lord, lift our eyes!
Grace and peace also come from the Lord Jesus Christ. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us” (Eph. 2:14). This was a costly peace, because Christ made peace “through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).
The great unity salutation is all-inclusive. Paul wrote, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace and peace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2-3). Please notice that he wrote to the church of God in Corinth. The church in Corinth had no copyright on Christ. Christ was available for all people in every place who called on His name. He still is! Jesus is Lord of all who call on Him, regardless of nationality, race, color, or creed. We decry Him when we deny them! The ground is level at the foot of the cross. There is room for all in the Father’s house. “Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth, her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth” (Samuel J. Stone).
Two are better than one. Two are needed for oneness. Paul’s trademark greeting reminds us that through grace and peace we have oneness in Christ. Hey, it’s enough to write home about!
