Doxology and greetings

Now unto God – From thanking of the Philippians, the holy Man passeth to a giving of thanks unto God the first cause, that they might not be elated. and our Father – He had My God, now Our Father, not only adoring him as Maker of all, but as Father of all the faithful well of Paul, being born of him in Christ, John 1:12–⁠13, through whom he takes a Fatherly care of them. Matt 6:32; John 20:17. Christ saith, My Father, as being his only Son by eternal Generation; and he allows Believers to say Our Father, as being his Children by Adoption.

Now unto God and our Father – To God, who is our Father in Christ, [be] glory for ever and ever, Amen; for all the grace he gives now, and for all the glory and happiness expected hereafter; for the supply of every want both temporal and spiritual; seeing every good gift comes from him, and is to be ascribed to his free grace and favour, and not to any deserts of men: and particularly he may mean for what they had sent him, and he had received from them.

Salute every saint in Christ Jesus – He doth friendly embrace, and wish happiness to all and every sanctified one who is a Member of Christ, hath entirely resigned up to him, and doth abide in him. The Brethren which are with me greet you – Then shows, that most probably his Colleagues and Fellow Labourers in the Christian Church at Rome (calling such elsewhere Brethren, 1 Cor 1:1; Col 1:1; 4:7; Phlm 7, 20) Phil 1:14; 2:25; 1 Cor 16:20, do so likewise.

of Caesar’s household – This Caesar was Nero, in whose palace Saint Paul bonds were made manifest, Phil 1:13, and God gave such a blessing to his preaching and sufferings that he made some converts there, who afterwards proved martyrs; namely, Evellius and Torpetes, if at least we may believe the Romane Martyrology.¹

All the saints salute you – The rest of the Christians at Rome do the same. chiefly they that are of Caesars household – More especially they of Nero the Emperors own Family and court, his Domestics, 1:13. It seems there were some there truly pious and Christian: but however some conceit, there is no real evidence, that Seneca² was of that number.

grace of our Lord Jesus Christ – He concludes this (like his other Epistles) much as he began, see on 1:2. be with you all – Praying the same grace of the Lord might abide with them, which he had prayed to them all, 1:1.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all – This is the apostle’s token in all his epistles of the genuineness of them, and which he wrote with his own hand, 2 Thess 3:17.