³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

How you begin your letters or emails to fellow Christians sets the tone for what you are about to say. Of course, many communications between people are rather perfunctory, just conveying information, like, “Let’s plan on meeting at 7:30 this evening.” Paul could have jumped right to the point in his appeal to Philemon. But as he does in all of his letters, he lays the foundation for all Christian fellowship, the background for having a conversation that matters, especially one that has the potential for conflict.

So after identifying himself as the author (along with Timothy “our brother”) and addressing Philemon as the intended recipient (describing him as “beloved brother and fellow worker”), expecting others will read it as well and extending greetings to them, Paul then makes his literary mark in verse 3, extending to them the desire for their experience of grace and peace.

Grace and peace are absolutely essential to the Christian life, as Paul continually reminds all the recipients of his letters. God’s attitude toward believers is completely motivated, saturated, and energized by grace. The very fact that we are believers is ultimately God’s gift to us, for He could have justly left us in a condemned state. Remember what the Lord Jesus said: “[H]e who does not believe has been judged already” (John 3:18b). We were already under the judgment of God when we were unbelievers. Thus it is God’s grace toward us that we were granted faith, as Paul writes elsewhere: “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil. 1:29). Grace enriches us immeasurably.

Mercy, although not mentioned here but implied in grace (see 2 Tim. 1:2), humbles us, for our Lord granted us a reprieve from the judgment we deserved. We earned our separation, as it were, from God, and we merited eternal punishment. But God granted us a permanent reprieve. Further theological reflection shows that the debt of our sin has been paid; the anger of God has been spent on Christ. And we are the beneficiaries; God has made peace with us. We need to continually remind ourselves to live in the daily consciousness of this peace with God. What an amazing life we now have!

Since all of Paul’s letters deal with current issues among believers, his greetings of peace are a poignant reminder that since we have peace with God, we should now strive for peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ. How appropriate is this salutation, considering he is about to challenge Philemon to accept back his runaway slave as “a beloved brother” (vs. 16).

Lord, help me to accept all my fellow Christians as “beloved” siblings.