The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
&c.] Meaning either the love of Christ; see ( 2
Corinthians 8:9 ) which is the same with that of his
Father's, is as early, and of the same nature, being a love of
complacency and delight; and which, as it is without beginning,
will be without end. This is the ground and foundation of all he
has done and underwent for his people; of his becoming their
surety; of his incarnation, obedience, sufferings, and death in
their room and stead; an interest in which, though they always
have, yet they have not always an abiding sense of it with them,
which is what the apostle here prays for: or else by the grace of
Christ is meant the fulness of grace that is in him as Mediator;
which is desired to be with the saints as the object of their
trust and dependence; to be strong in, draw living water with joy
out of, receive and derive daily from; not forsake it, and hew
out broken cisterns, but continually apply to, and make use of
it, as the fountain of gardens, the well of living waters, and
streams from Lebanon; to be with them as a supply to their wants,
to furnish them with every thing they stand in need of, and to
enable them to do his will and work: or else the redeeming grace
of Christ is particularly designed, and the intent of the
petition is, that they might see their interest in it, and in all
the branches of it; as that they were redeemed by his blood from
sin, law, and wrath, had all their sins expiated and forgiven
through his sacrifice, and were justified from all things by his
righteousness.
And the love of God;
the Father, as the Arabic version adds very justly, as to the
sense, though it is not in the text; meaning the love of God to
his people, which is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting,
free and undeserved, special and peculiar, is dispensed in a
sovereign way, is unchangeable, abides for ever, is the source
and spring of all the blessings both of grace and glory. Now when
this is entreated to be with all the saints, it does not suppose
that it is ever from them, or that it can be taken away from
them, but whereas they may be without a comfortable sense of it,
and a view of interest in it, the apostle prays, that in this
respect it might be with them; that they might be directed into
it, have it shed abroad in their hearts, and they be rooted and
grounded in it, and comprehend for themselves the height, and
depth, and length, and breadth of it.
And the communion of the Holy Ghost;
either a larger communication of the gifts and graces of the
Spirit of God, called "the supply of the Spirit", ( Philippians
1:19 ) necessary to carry on the good work of grace, and
perform it to the end; or else that communion and fellowship
which the Spirit of God leads the saints into with the Father, by
shedding abroad his love in their hearts, and with the Son, by
taking of the things of Christ, and showing them to them; and
also that nearness which the spirits of believers have with the
Spirit of God, when he witnesses to their spirits that they are
the children of God, becomes the earnest of the inheritance in
their hearts, and seals them up unto the day of redemption: all
which is requested by the apostle, to
be,
says he,
with you all;
or "with your company", or "congregations", as the Arabic version
reads it, with all the saints; for their interest in the love of
the Father, in the grace of the Son, and in the favour of the
Spirit, is the same, whatever different sense and apprehensions
they may have thereof. This passage contains no inconsiderable
proof of a trinity of persons in the Godhead, to whom distinct
things are here ascribed, and of them asked, equal objects of
prayer and worship. "Amen" is by way of assent and confirmation,
and as expressive of faith in the petitions, and of earnest
desire to have them fulfilled. According to the subscription at
the end of this epistle, it was written by the apostle when he
was at Philippi, a city of Macedonia, and transcribed by Titus
and Lucas, and by them sent or carried to the Corinthians; which
seems to be agreeable to what is suggested in the epistle itself,
though these subscriptions are not to he depended upon. The
Syriac version only mentions Luke; and some copies read, by
Titus, Barnabas, and Luke.