3Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.
Reminiscent of the apostle Paul’s writings, John extends his greeting of grace, mercy, and peace, something the former does in each of his letters, while the latter includes it only here in his writings. Both were fully agreed on the truth, for they were apostles of the same Jesus Christ. Spiritual truth is consistent throughout the NT, though the styles of the writers may differ.
Ancient salutations customarily included a wish for goodwill to the recipients of a letter. It is like saying, “I hope this letter finds you in good health.” However, because we take every word of the Bible to be inspired, no verbiage is wasted as superficial, literary filler material. Grace, mercy, and peace convey enormous blessings for Christians, and the apostles highlighted these on frequent occasions. These three words capture the gospel message concisely. Grace is the foundation for all God’s dealing with us, for He has no obligation to extend favor toward us at all because of our sinful disobedience against Him, our Maker. We have done and can do nothing to deserve or merit His forgiveness and eternal life. Mercy is God’s withholding from us what we do deserve, namely, eternal separation from Him and punishment for all eternity. Finally, peace is the state of communion with the God who created us, who extended His grace to save us from a lost eternity to create peace with Him forever.
The gospel message contains truth not only for the unsaved but for believers also. Paul wrote, “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2:6). So, the apostle John extends to his believing readers the confidence of God’s continued grace, mercy, and peace to the community of all believers (“us”).
Notice the Trinitarian nature of the gospel, involving God the Father and Jesus the Son. The Holy Spirit, no less important, though less apparent, bears witness of the truth, as John points out in his first letter (1 John 5:6). All three work together “in truth and love.” Because these truths are so significant and central to Christian living, John expresses overwhelming joy to hear that “some” of the recipients of this letter are already walking in the truth. Not all of them, though; the church involves believers at various stages of spiritual maturity. But John writes to encourage them all to grow in their faith.
Lord, I want to continue growing in the truth, so I can love as You loved me.
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