Philippians 4:23
KJV:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Comments:
be with you all: Although it does not change anything significantly, there is a difference of Greek texts about whether this verse says “be with your spirit” instead of this phrase in the KJV.
Grace…be with you: How this phrase is taken is very important. Sacerdotalists see this verse as confirmation that the apostles actually granted grace to their followers—in other words, that Paul is actually dispensing grace in this statement as a priest would dispense sanctification with a censer or forgiveness with a hand gesture or a touch. Clearly, however, Paul is actually simply doing in verse 23 what he said everyone else was or ought to be doing in verses 21-22. He is greeting (saying his farewells to) the church with the typical Christian greeting of the day: charis (grace), the perfect word to identify what it means to be in Christ.
Expanded Paraphrase:
Because you know Jesus Christ along with me, He is Lord to all of us. And because you know Him, we share His grace. And I pray that grace will grow in you. His grace has always been true, and it always will be.
