You Were There: (09/07/22)
Here, then, is that benediction, that clear signal that the letter has
come to an end. I don’t wonder but that many, as they sat hearing this
epistle read to them, longed for more. What? So soon? Has he nothing
more to impart to us? I can imagine appeals to the bearer of the
letter, seeking more news of the ministry, and more instruction from one
so near their founding father. This was, after all, an excited and
engaged church by all signs. And they knew their time with Paul had
been cut short. How they would thirst, then, for more instruction from
this man who had brought faith to their doorsteps.
I would be willing to assume that whoever came bearing this letter
found himself busily occupied for days with amplifying the messages
contained herein, and with offering his own preaching and teaching.
This was a hungry church, thirsty for more of this Good News. Can we
say the same? Do we remain hungry, or are we convinced we’ve already
learned what there is to learn?
New Thoughts: (09/08/22)
This is, clearly, a common formulation for Paul’s closing salutations.
We have it almost verbatim both in 2 Thessalonians and
Romans, and in all cases, there is this curious factor
that, at least as we parse things in English translation, there is no
verb in this sentence. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with you.
That’s it. But most of our translations supply either ‘be’
or ‘is’, depending on how they view the
message here. But it’s a curious thing, isn’t it? Where’s the verb?
As I am reminded, in having done a quick search on the matter, examples
are plentiful enough in English. If somebody asks your name, for
example, you likely reply simply by stating your name, not prefacing it
with, “my name is.” But the sense of that
clause is understood nonetheless.
Now, one article
I considered suggests that there are two forms to be considered,
one with no verb, period, and one with a ‘non-verbal
predicate’, which seems to be something where the subject is
present, but the ‘am’ part is missing. The
example given suggests that ego without eimi still implies the eimi.
Perhaps, I suppose, this is to avoid the power of ego
eimi, as the divine name. Per that article, the first form
must remain a dependent clause, but highlighting a new point to add to
what has preceded, whereas the second form stands alone.
So, which way should we hear this? Can it fit that second form, with
grace the subject, and the ‘am’ elided? If
that’s the case, then those translations that say the grace is with you
would seem to be correct. But if it isn’t, per this author, at least,
the clause should remain subordinate, and connected to what came
before. On that point, let me turn to the parallel in Romans
16:28. There, this final message is preceded by, “The
God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Well, if
we render that with a semicolon, so as to connect our clause to that
one, does it make sense? Could we reason that this crushing of Satan
comes about because the grace is with us? I suppose we could, couldn’t
we? It certainly isn’t happening because of our strength and wiles.
But I don’t think we generally consider grace as a weapon or a shield.
I’ll come back to that.
Here, what has preceded was that matter of full inclusion. Make sure
all are greeted. Make sure all have heard this message. And then, the
grace with you. If this is a dependent clause emphasizing a new point
related to the former subject, then this grace that is with us is,
perhaps, cause to ensure that unifying inclusion of all, for His grace
is with all who are called by Him. So, yes, I could
see this as a dependent clause which has been rendered as a separate
sentence due to English norms. But if that were the case, I would have
expected to see a gar to indicate
connection. Do this, for grace is with you. This shall be because
grace is with you.
There is the possibility, of course, that this being a closing
salutation, it is simply a formulaic way of expressing such salutation.
That is to say, the discussion of implications around these elided
clauses may fall by the wayside when considering the closing sentence of
a letter. Rules around such things follow their own course, don’t
they? Think of letters you have written in more personal, or intimate
situations. If it is to a fellow believer, you might sign off with a
simple, grace, or peace. If it is to family, you might just write,
love. Isn’t it entirely probable that this is something along those
lines, and digging for deeper implications but a desire for more
significance than is there? I expect so.
Alright, so what have we here, in this closing salutation? In reduced
form, we have, “grace with you.” But it is
that grace specifically which is “of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” And again, we have an inferred term. The of is no
more there than the be. Literally, what we have is “The
grace the Lord our Jesus Christ with you.” But that just
doesn’t parse at all in English, does it? The key, it seems to me, is
in the with. It’s meta. Now there’s a term
that’s taken on some strength in recent years. Everything, it seems, is
meta this or meta that. But I wonder how much anybody considers what
that actually means. It feels like another of those trendy, look how
modern we are, words such as have found their way into vocabulary over
the years. There was that era when everything was electro. Why?
Because electricity was something fairly new and novel, and connoted
promises of future wonders. Here was a tacit claim for a product, that
it, too, promised future wonders for you. It was electro! Is
it really that much different when somebody now says, Oh, that’s so
meta! I mean, what do they even mean? I think the intent is to suggest
a certain self-referential aspect, an inclusion of one thing into
another, larger thing, perhaps. OK. So, that’s not too far a drift
from the term’s meaning.
Here, the idea is of being amid. The grace of Christ is amid you. But
that doesn’t really do it. Strong’s notes that the term can indicate a
locative sense, as for example, my being amid my brethren when at
church. But it can also take on a causal sense, which is something
quite different. If, in fact, we have the causal sense here, then
perhaps we can take this as being something of a subordinate clause, and
maybe even stretch it to say it is a subordinate clause to the letter in
its entirety. And wouldn’t it be fair to say that such a salutation is
exactly that? But here, it is adding a note of importance. All of the
foregoing material is to the point on the basis of Christ’s grace being
with you. All of the instruction that has preceded predicates on the
reality of you having been recipients of God’s unmerited favor.
And suddenly, the message becomes rather more important, doesn’t it?
It begins here. That grace is unmerited. It is not reward. It is not
something earned by good behavior. If anything, it is the causal force
behind said good behavior. You can operate in this
all-inclusive fashion that cares, truly cares, for all your
fellow believers because our mutual Lord’s grace is with
you. This is not, I don’t think, a request made of God in prayer, but
rather a statement made to the Church. It’s not, may this be so. It’s
this is how it is. God’s grace is with you. God’s grace motivates and
empowers you. As the ERV observes in footnote, this love and kindness
from God demonstrates His complete willingness to bless those He favors
in ways they don’t deserve. That’s us. We don’t deserve this grace.
Barring its completed work in us, we never shall.
As I observed in preparatory notes, His grace comes to us in spite
of us. His love, that agape love
which is defined by His essence, was upon us when we were yet His
enemies. It came in spite of our antipathy. It overwhelmed our
defenses, and rendered of our animosity friends of God, indeed, adopted
sons of God. But that grace comes not as reward for keeping our noses
clean, but more, as the undergirding power to even try to do so. It
comes in spite of our past sins. It comes in spite of our present
failures. It comes in spite of those things we will almost certainly do
in future which are still sins against our most holy God and King. I
wrote of these as near future, not as suggesting it only extends for the
next few weeks or months, but as extending until that time at which our
Lord has completed His work in us, perfecting us in His image, beyond
which point sin will have become a thing wholly of the past, to which no
reference shall further be made.
Well, isn’t that something? So, what is the declaration here? His
grace is upon you. It is so simply because He chose to make it so. It
is not your good behavior that has drawn His gracious response, but His
grace which is producing in you a certain graciousness. This grace of
which Paul speaks is, as Thayer writes, “the
spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace.”
We have, then, both cause and effect in this one word. His grace is
with you, and because it is, it governs your spiritual condition. It
drives your spiritual condition. And that spiritual condition, being
powered by the grace of God, expresses in thanksgiving. How can it
not? You are not who you were. You have become something you could
never have aspired to be. And it has come about not because you’re so
special, but because God decided to make it so. He has poured out His
grace upon you. He has made you what you are, and He is continuing that
work, so as to make you as you were designed to be.
The army has that slogan, or at least did, “Be all
that you can be.” But the emphasis there is on you. You will
have to work hard. You will learn. You will train. You will be
pushed. But in the end, it’s up to you to excel. In this Christian
life, the emphasis is wholly upon Him. You will be
all that you can be because He is doing it. He has
done it. It is finished. You’re just in the curing process,
if you like. You’re in the kiln, as that beautiful glaze of grace cures
into an impenetrable finish on the vessel that is you. And you, dear
one, have been created a vessel of honor. You have been given this gift
of grace, made gracious and beautiful in the sight of God and man
alike. And therein, as grace and graciousness must, you find produced a
heartfelt thanksgiving. How could you not?
You are being made all that you can be by the One Who made you! You
are in the hands of the ultimate Master Craftsman. He never errs, never
paints a stroke or strikes the chisel mistakenly. He never needs to rub
out what He has done and try again. His workmanship is perfect, and His
workmanship is being put on display in you! Give thanks! You are not
the mess of miry clay you used to be. You are not a vessel fit only to
take out the refuse. No! You have been fashioned a vessel of honor,
fit to contain the costliest perfume. You are a beautiful vessel,
because the beauty of your Lord is in you, and can’t help but show
through. It gleams from that gracious finish He has applied. It exudes
from you. And the chief way we can exude His presence is in this
attitude of gratitude, of thanksgiving for His unexpected goodness
towards us.
God’s grace is cause for graciousness. It’s presence in us is
motivational cause for us to be gracious in turn. It’s presence in
others is enticement for us to respond with graciousness to them. In
all, we have infinite cause to be thankful to our Lord for this grace
which He has poured out on undeserving us. We have cause to be thankful
for this epistle which He caused Paul to write. We have cause to be
thankful for all the epistles, even those which are admittedly hard to
take, and touch on painful subjects. We have cause to be thankful in
all of life, in blessings and trials alike, knowing that both flow to us
by the Providence of our loving Lord, and as such, are most assuredly
sent our way for our great good. They are shaping us into that which we
should be, making us all that we can be.
Thank You, Lord, for Your attentiveness to our development. Thank
You for Your sure and gentle touch by which we are being given proper
shape, the shape of Your grace. Find us, I pray, malleable under Your
hands. Find us amenable and compliant to the form You give, that we
may indeed be pleasing in Your sight. And thank You without end for
having called us into Your light, into Your kingdom, to be true sons
of our true Father, to the glory of His name, unto all eternity.
Amen.
