Immediately after the sender and salutation, we find a greeting in the second verse of Ephesians:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!”
Eph 1:2
The greeting is a blessing. Grace and peace are at the very beginning of all Paul’s letters. It doesn’t matter how difficult the situation in the community is or whether it is a personal letter. Paul begins in every place with “grace and peace”. In a few letters, he then adds the word “mercy”.
Basis and impact
Imagine how you shape your own communication when you start with such positive statements. However, Paul does not place the words “grace and peace” in a vacuum. It is not an anemic formula. It is not about well-meant advice for everyday life. His context is his confidence, which is characterized by the following statement. Grace and peace are:
“… from God, our Father,
and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Eph 1:2
Grace and peace have one source. The apostle relates the blessing greeting to the origin of grace and peace and refers to God (who is: our Father) and the Lord (who is: Jesus Christ). Grace and peace have everything to do with the gospel of grace, with which Paul was mentored (Acts 20:24; Ephesians 3:2). Peace is the result of grace received and a defining element in all his letters. Peace is also part of the ninefold fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) and what Paul had in mind for the churches (Eph 6:23).
The blessing describes the attitude with which the apostle writes this letter. His words should testify to grace and peace, even when he makes a clear statement. He does not simply want to “be nice” and does not avoid confrontation in his letters and beyond (). That is also a role model for us. Paul writes to the Philippians, for example:
“Be imitators of me, brothers, and watch out for those who walk as you have us for an example.”
Phil 3:17
Grace and peace should therefore also characterize our actions. This is not a characterless “being kind”, but an attitude characterized by love and therefore also by clarity. Paul did not compromise his clarity when he spoke of grace and peace, but knew how to distinguish himself and assert himself when his task required it (2 Corinthians 10:10-11).
God and Lord are two
This greeting also testifies to something else. This is easily overlooked if you don’t read carefully. Paul mentions two persons here as the source of grace and peace:
- God, namely the Father
- Lord, namely Jesus Christ.
It should be clear from this that only the Father is God. Paul writes similarly in many other places, mentioning God and the Lord as two different persons. God is not a proper name, but a function. In absolute terms, this only applies to the father. Only He is absolutely God. Only He is divinity. This only applies to the father. Likewise, there is only one Lord, namely Jesus Christ. There is no confusion there either.
There is only one God, namely the Father, and only one Lord, namely Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6). Anyone who has been brought up from an early age with the fanciful doctrine of a Trinity will quickly read past these references. However, Paul never confuses the terms. Of course, Ephesians 1:2 is merely a greeting and not a teaching. However, it reflects what was logical for the apostle. Nowhere in the New Testament is a Trinity attested. However, Paul describes how it is in many places, such as here: God is One. God is the Father. It is even the case that Jesus also has a God and Father, as the very next verse testifies (Eph 1:3).