equally to the two preceding clauses: τοῖς ἁγίοις---καὶ πιστοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ, ‘To the saints and faithful who are in Christ Jesus.” Those whom he calls sadnts he also calls faithful ; Ergo, says Calvin, nemo fidelis, nisi qui etiam sanctus: et nemo rursum sanctus, nisi qui fidelis. Vo one ἐδ a believer who is not holy ; and no one 78 holy who is not a believer.
V. 2. Contains the usual apostolic benediction. Paul prays that grace and peace may be granted to his readers. Grace is unmerited favour; and the grace or favour of God is the source of all good. Peace, accord- ing to the usage of the corresponding Hebrew word, means well-being in general. It comprehends all bless- ings flowing from the goodness of God. The apostle prays to Christ, and seeks from him blessings which God only can bestow. Christ therefore was to him the object of habitual worship. He lived in communion with Christ as a divine person, the ground of his con- fidence and the source of all good.
God is our Father: 1. As He is the author of our being; 2. As we were formed in his likeness. He as a spirit is the Father of spirits. 3. As we are born again by his Spirit and adopted into his family. It is in reference to the last-mentioned relationship that the expression is almost always used in the New Testament. Those who are the children of God are such by regen- eration and adoption.
Jesus Christ is our supreme and absolute Lord and proprietor. The word κύριος is indeed used in Serip- ture in the sense of master, and as a mere honorary title
CHAP. I. vs. 3-14. 25
as in English Master or Sir. But, on the other hand, it is the translation of Adonai, supreme. Lord, an in- communicable name of God, and the substitute for Jehovah, a name the Jews would not pronounce. It is in this sense that Christ is, The Lord, The Lord of Leras, The Lord God; Lord in that sense in which God alone can be Lord—having a dominion of which divine perfection is the only adequate or possible foun- dation. This is the reason why no one can call him Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. 12, 3. It is a confession which implies the apprehension of the glory of God as it shines in Him. It is an acknow- ledgment that he is God manifested in the flesh. Blessed are all they who make this acknowledgment with sincerity ; for flesh and blood cannot reveal the truth therein confessed, but the Father who is in heaven.