Ephesians 6:23

Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. LOVE WITH [ meta (G3326 )] FAITH. Faith is presupposed: he prays that love may accompany it (Galatians 5:6)....

23._Peace be to the brethren. _I consider the word _peace, _as in the salutations of the Epistles, to mean _prosperity. _Yet if the reader shall prefer to view it as signifying _harmony, _because, immediately afterwards, Paul mentions _love, _I do not object to that interpretation, or rather, it agrees better with the context. He wishes the Ephesians to be peaceable and quiet among themselves; and this, he presently adds, may be obtained by brotherly _love _and by agreement in _faith _From this prayer we learn that _faith _and _love, _as well as _peace _itself, are gifts of God bestowed upon us through Christ, — that they come equally _from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. _...

19-24 The gospel was a mystery till made known by Divine revelation; and it is the work of Christ's ministers to declare it. The best and most eminent ministers need the prayers of believers. Those particularly should be prayed for, who are exposed to great hardships and perils in their work. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith. By peace, understand all manner of peace; peace with God, peace of conscience, peace among themselves. And the grace of the Spirit, producing faith and love, and every grace. These he desires for those in whom they were already begun. And all grace and blessings come to the saints from God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace, that is, the favour of God; and all good, spiritual and temporal, which is from it, is and shall be with all those who thus love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and with them only....

Verse 23. _PEACE BE TO THE BRETHREN_] If the epistle were really sent to the _Ephesians_, a people with whom the apostle was so intimately acquainted, it is strange that he mentions no person by name. This objection, on which Dr. Paley lays great stress, (see the preface to this epistle,) has not been successfully answered. _PEACE_] All _prosperity_, and continual union with God and among yourselves; _and love_ to God and man, the principle of all obedience and union; _with faith_, continually increasing, and growing stronger and stronger, _from God the Father_, as the fountain of all our mercies, _and the Lord Jesus Christ_, through whose sacrifice and mediation they all come....

PEACE BE TO THE BRETHREN - The Epistle is closed with the usual salutations. The expression “peace to you,” was the common form of salutation in the East (see the Matthew 10:13 note; Luke 24:36 note; Romans 15:33 note; compare Galatians 6:16; 1 Peter 5:14; 3 John 1:14), and is still the “salam” which is used - the word “salam” meaning “peace.” AND LOVE WITH FAITH - Love united with faith; not only de

EXPOSITION EPHESIANS 6:1 CHILDREN, OBEY YOUR PARENTS IN THE LORD: FOR THIS IS RIGHT. The first duty of children is obedience, and "in the Lord," _i.e. _in Christ, this duty is confirmed. The ἐν Κυρίῳ qualifies, not "parents," but "obey," and indicates that the element or life which even children lead in fellowship with Christ makes such obedience more easy and more graceful. The duty itself rests on the first principles of morality—"for this is right." It is an obligation that rests on the very nature of things, and cannot change with the spirit of the age; it is in no degree modified by what is called the spirit of independence in children. EPHESIANS 6:2 Honor thy father and mother (which is the first c

PEACE [BE] TO THE BRETHREN,.... The members of the church at Ephesus, who stood in a spiritual relation to each other; meaning all prosperity outward and inward, temporal, spiritual, and eternal; especially peace of conscience under the sprinklings of the blood of Christ, and a view of peace made with God by that blood: AND LOVE WITH FAITH FROM GOD THE FATHER, AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST; that is, an increase of these graces, and of the exercise of them, is wished for; for otherwise these brethren had both these graces, faith and love; see Ephesians 1:15; which go together; faith works by love, and love discovers faith, and both are imperfect; faith has something lacking in it, and love is apt to grow cold, and need reviving and increasing; and these, and the increase of them, are from God the Father, who is the God of all grace, and from Jesus Christ, in whom all fulnes

Ephesians 6:10. _Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might._ Everything depends upon that. Whether you are called upon to work, or to wait, or to watch, or to suffer, you have need to be strong. If you are not yourself strong, the very armor that you wear will be a burden to you. It is of the utmost importance that Christians should be as strong in grace as they can possibly be. And the power that is to be in them is to be the power of God: «the power of his might.» What a wonderful power that is! The power of flesh is weakness, and the power of man is fading but the power of God is almighty and unchangeable; and if we can be girt about with this power there is scarcely any limit to what we may successfully attempt. «Finally,» as if this were a matter of the highest importance, to be considered first and last. «Finally, my brethren, be strong in

7. THE CONCLUSION CHAPTER 6:21-24 In the preceding verses the great apostle asked the prayers of the saints for himself Thereby he testified in a practical way to the great truth of the body of Christ, the church. The conclusions are brief. Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in Christ, would make known to them all things, and he was sent also by the loving apostle to comfort their hearts. What a marvelous document this epistle is! What a solid rock to stand upon! What revelations concerning God, and ourselves as redeemed by the blood of His Son! God grant that all His people may increasingly enjoy the riches of this richest portion of His Holy Word....

CLOSING WORDS. The bearer, Tychicus, will give full information as to the writer's present condition. Peace to the brethren and grace be with all who in incorruptibility love the Lord Jesus. EPHESIANS 6:21. The emphasis of the wording in the original suggests that the writer is answering inquiries contained in a letter in which his correspondents had given similar information about themselves....