freely. Very seldom has the N.T. basis for such action been considered. Far too often the

bad and narrow spirit of Luke 9: 49, 54 has been manifest and many of God's children

cast out of fellowship because `they followed not with us' and did not toe the line to

every vagary of doctrine. Much heartbreak and sorrow could have been avoided if

II Thess. 3: 15 and Gal. 6: 1 had been acted upon. The church of Rome has not been

the only Christian group to exhibit this harshness. Professing Christians at the other

extreme have been equally guilty and this is still going on in our own day with dire

results to Christian witness.

The Apostle now draws to a conclusion with a prayer for their blessing:

In the first epistle he desired the God of peace to sanctify them wholly (5: 23). Now

he requests that the same God, the Lord of peace, should give them peace `at all times in

all ways' (R.V.). This is comprehensive indeed, and the precious gift of peace is more

and more needed today with its pressure, rush and bustle and distraction. The Saviour

promised it to His followers (John 14: 27; 16: 33) and it comes when everything has

been committed to Him (Phil. 4: 6, 7), so enabling the believer to remain unruffled and

confident whatever turmoil surrounds Him.

The Apostle closes with a greeting in his own handwriting. We have noted that the

enemy of truth had seen to it that spurious letters were circulating among the churches

purporting to come from Paul. He now gives them a guarantee whereby they can know

for certain the epistle was his. Having dictated it so far, he now takes the pen, and in his

own handwriting, which they knew, he gives the benediction connected with the grace of

the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a fact that every one of Paul's letters concludes with a reference to the grace of

Christ and this is not the characteristic of the other epistles written by Peter, James, John

an Jude. If any one draws attention to the Book of Revelation, then it must be pointed out

that this is not an epistle, and if the late date generally assigned to it is true, it was written

after Paul's day. It is noteworthy that the Epistle to the Hebrews also concludes with a

similar benediction `Grace be with you all', which must be given due weight when the

controversial subject of the authorship of this letter is discussed.

It seems to be obvious that the Holy Spirit who inspired the N.T. writers, kept this

particular conclusion to the Apostle Paul, and this was for the protection of the early

groups of believers from Satanic deception. It would have been nullified had others used

it, and while it may seem a trivial matter to us today, it was of vital import to believers at

the beginning when the evil one was doing his best to counteract the truth and the

outworking of God's purposes of grace.

The Apostle therefore concludes, in his own handwriting with his usual benediction: