“Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
My Notes
What Does Ephesians 6:23 Mean?
"Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Paul's closing benediction to the Ephesians wishes three gifts: peace, love, and faith — all from two sources: God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The three gifts cover every dimension of the Christian life: peace (the settled relationship with God and between believers), love (the active, outward-flowing affection that defines Christian community), and faith (the trust that sustains everything).
The phrase "love with faith" (agapē meta pisteōs) pairs two things that Paul rarely separates: love that operates through faith, faith that expresses itself as love (Galatians 5:6). The two are a package — you can't have genuine love without faith, and faith without love is dead.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Which of the three gifts (peace, love, faith) do you most need from God right now?
- 2.What does 'love with faith' look like as a paired experience rather than separate virtues?
- 3.How does knowing these gifts originate with God (not with your effort) change how you pursue them?
- 4.What would change if you received Paul's benediction as a prayer spoken directly over your life today?
Devotional
Peace. Love with faith. From God the Father and Jesus Christ. Paul's final words to the Ephesians are a wish for everything they need — bundled into three gifts from two sources.
Peace be to the brethren. Eirēnē — the comprehensive well-being that the Hebrew shalom carries. Not just the absence of conflict. The presence of wholeness. Peace with God (the vertical reconciliation Ephesians 2:14-18 describes). Peace with each other (the horizontal unity Ephesians 4:1-6 describes). Peace within (the settled soul that comes from knowing who you are in Christ). Paul wishes all of it.
Love with faith. The pairing is deliberate: love doesn't operate without faith. Faith doesn't express itself without love. The two are a team — the love that trusts and the trust that loves. Galatians 5:6: faith working through love. Ephesians 6:23: love with faith. The two travel together because neither functions alone. Love without faith is sentimentality. Faith without love is doctrine.
From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The gifts don't originate with you. They come from the Father and the Son. The peace isn't manufactured by better conflict resolution. The love isn't generated by more effort. The faith isn't produced by trying harder to believe. All three flow from the Father through the Son into the believers. The source is divine. The channel is Christ. The reception is you.
The benediction covers everything: peace for your condition (settled, whole, reconciled). Love for your relationships (active, outward, generous). Faith for your journey (trusting, enduring, persevering). And all of it from the same two-person source: God and Christ. Not from your reserves. From theirs.
Paul closes the deepest theological letter in the New Testament with the simplest possible wish: may you have peace, love, and faith. From the Father and the Son. That's everything. There's nothing else you need.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Peace be to the brethren,.... The members of the church at Ephesus, who stood in a spiritual relation to each other;…
Peace be to the brethren - The Epistle is closed with the usual salutations. The expression “peace to you,” was the…
Peace be to the brethren - If the epistle were really sent to the Ephesians, a people with whom the apostle was so…
Here, I. He desires their prayers for him, Eph 6:19. Having mentioned supplication for all saints, he puts himself into…
Benediction
23. Peace The Apostle returns to his opening benedictory prayer. See on Eph 1:2 and note. We may remark here…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture