Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.
Ancient epistles began, as here, with salutation and good wishes: religion consecrates, as far as may be, old forms, and turns compliments into real expressions of life and love. Here we have, as usually, I. The saluter, not expressed by name, but by a chosen character: The elder.
Commenting on 2 John 1:1-4
Grace be with you, mercy and peace,.... This form of salutation, or wish and prayer for the blessings mentioned, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, is the same used by other apostles; see Ti1 1:2 and See Gill on Rom 1:7.
Verse 3. Grace be unto you. etc, . This salutation does not differ from those commonly employed by the sacred writers, except in the emphasis which is placed on the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is "the Son of the Father." This is much in the style of John, in all of whose writings he dwells much on the fact that the Lord Jesus...