Colossians 4:18 – Grace Be with You

18 The salutation is by my hand – Paul’s. Remember my bonds! Grace be with you! Amen!

Paul usually dictated his letters, but he wrote the closing greeting with his own hand. Thus he writes elsewhere: “The salutation is by my hand – Paul’s – which is a sign in every epistle: thus am I writing” (2 Thess. 3:17). His own handwriting was therefore his personal identifying mark. So this letter to the Colossians also ends with a few words actually put on paper by Paul himself.

And what does that chained hand write? “Remember my bonds!” This is no lament or plea for pity. Paul briefly and pointedly reminds them of his imprisonment. Earlier, Paul wrote that he was bound because of “the secret of Christ” (4:3). His bonds underscore the seriousness and character of the message for which he stood.

But Paul’s very last words are not about his bonds. He ends: “Grace be with you!” And so the circle is complete. The letter began with: “Grace to you” (1:2) and ends with that same grace. Grace (Gr. charis) is everything given freely and therefore cause for rejoicing. And that is what this entire letter testified to: the riches and fullness found in Christ. Grace was the starting point of this letter—and grace has the last word.

Share: