--- title: Paul's Greeting Puts Jesus Beside the Father url: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/pauline-greeting-formula/ markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/pauline-greeting-formula.md type: argument perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching topics: [Deity of Christ] challenges: [Jesus Is a Created Being, The Trinity Is a False Pagan Doctrine] verses: [Galatians 1:1, Galatians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Romans 1:7, Philippians 1:2, Ephesians 1:2, Numbers 6:24, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 1 Corinthians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Peter 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Romans 4:8, Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13] strength: Strong tone: Excellent attribution: Richard Bauckham / N.T. Wright / Larry Hurtado / Mike Winger added: '2026-05-24' last_reviewed: '2026-05-24' index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt --- # Paul's Greeting Puts Jesus Beside the Father *Galatians 1:1-3 — Co-Source of Grace and Peace* ## Doorstep Question > "Could we look at how Paul opens his letters together? Open your NWT to Galatians 1:3 — 'May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.' Notice the one word 'from' is doing double duty — undeserved kindness flows from God the Father AND from the Lord Jesus Christ as one source. If Jesus is just a created being like Michael, why is Paul putting him on the giving side of grace, beside the Father, in every letter he wrote?" ## JW Claim Jesus is mentioned alongside the Father in epistolary greetings because Jesus is the agent or mediator through whom Jehovah communicates — not because Jesus is God. The pairing reflects Christ's exalted but created role as Jehovah's chief representative. The fact that Paul distinguishes 'God our Father' from 'the Lord Jesus Christ' actually proves they are two distinct beings of different rank — 1 Corinthians 8:6 makes the distinction explicit: 'one God the Father' versus 'one Lord Jesus Christ.' ## Strategy This is a pickaxe argument — work one focused observation, then let the pattern do the persuading. Step one: open the JW's NWT to Galatians 1:3 and read it aloud. 'May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.' Ask them which preposition governs both 'God our Father' and 'the Lord Jesus Christ.' It is one 'from' — one Greek 'apo' — covering both names as the joint source. In the Old Testament, grace and peace flow from Jehovah alone (Numbers 6:24-26 — 'The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace'). Paul is consciously echoing that priestly blessing — but with Jesus added as co-source. Step two: don't claim this as a one-verse knockdown. Ask them to open to 1 Corinthians 1:3, then 2 Corinthians 1:2, then Ephesians 1:2, then Philippians 1:2. The pattern is in 13 of 13 Pauline letters, without exception. Step three: address the obvious JW objection before they raise it. 1 Corinthians 8:6 'one God the Father, one Lord Jesus Christ' — that's not subordinationism, that's Paul splitting the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4. In the Greek Old Testament Israel said 'Lord [Kyrios] our God [Theos], Lord [Kyrios] is one' — and Paul is taking those two divine titles and placing 'God' with the Father and 'Lord' (the Greek translation of Yahweh) with Jesus. Paul didn't downgrade Jesus in 1 Cor 8:6 — he inserted Jesus into the Jewish Shema. Step four: close with 1 Thessalonians 3:11 — 'Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.' Two subjects, one singular verb. Paul prays to the Father and the Son together as a unified addressee. A creature cannot receive joint prayer with the Creator. ## Key Insight Paul never opens a letter 'grace and peace from God our Father and the angel Gabriel,' or 'from God our Father and Michael the archangel.' He could have, if Jesus were a created being. He didn't, in 13 of 13 letters. The slot Jesus fills in every Pauline greeting is the slot reserved for deity — the joint source of divine grace and divine peace. ## JW Responses & Counters ### Response 1 **JW says:** "Paul also greets 'all the saints' alongside the Father — that doesn't make saints divine." **Counter:** Look at the grammar more carefully. The saints are recipients of grace and peace ('to the church... grace and peace TO YOU'). They stand on the receiving side. Jesus stands on the giving side ('grace and peace FROM God our Father AND the Lord Jesus Christ'). Paul never once writes 'grace and peace from the Father and the saints.' The grammatical role matters — it places Jesus on the divine side of the divine-creature distinction. Which side of that line does your NWT put Jesus on in Galatians 1:3? ### Response 2 **JW says:** "Jesus is mentioned as the agent or mediator, not as the source." **Counter:** Paul knew the difference. When he wants to express agency he uses 'through' (Greek 'dia') — like 1 Corinthians 8:6 'one Lord Jesus Christ, THROUGH whom are all things.' But in Galatians 1:3 the Greek preposition is 'apo' — 'from.' It's the source preposition, not the instrumental one. And one 'apo' governs both 'God our Father' and 'the Lord Jesus Christ.' Paul chose source-language, not mediator- language. If Jesus were only a mediator, Paul would have used 'from God our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.' He didn't. ### Response 3 **JW says:** "1 Corinthians 8:6 distinguishes 'one God the Father' from 'one Lord Jesus Christ' — they are different beings of different rank." **Counter:** That verse is actually one of the strongest deity arguments in the New Testament, not against it. Paul is quoting and splitting the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. The Greek Old Testament reads 'Lord [Kyrios] our God [Theos], Lord [Kyrios] is one' — two divine titles for the one God of Israel. Paul takes 'God' and assigns it to the Father; he takes 'Lord' — the Greek translation of Yahweh — and assigns it to Jesus. He hasn't created two beings; he's expanded the Jewish confession to include Jesus inside the divine identity. Richard Bauckham, the Cambridge scholar, calls this 'Christological monotheism.' Paul couldn't have shocked a first-century Jew more profoundly if he tried. ### Response 4 **JW says:** "Different titles — 'God' for the Father versus 'Lord' for Jesus — prove they have different essences." **Counter:** The titles aren't rigidly segregated by Paul. He calls the Father 'Lord' when quoting Old Testament Psalms (Romans 4:8 quoting Psalm 32; 1 Corinthians 3:20 quoting Psalm 94). And he calls Jesus 'God' directly in Romans 9:5 ('Christ, who is God over all') and Titus 2:13 ('our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ'). In 1 Corinthians 8:6 he distributes the two titles stylistically because he's patterning on Deuteronomy 6:4's two divine names — not because he thinks the titles mark off two different essences. ### Response 5 **JW says:** "Greeting formulas were just stock convention — Paul reproduced a standard phrase without theological intent." **Counter:** That doesn't actually fit the evidence. The exact formula 'grace and peace from God X and Lord Y' is not attested in any pre-Pauline Jewish or Hellenistic letter. Paul invented this construction. He took the conventional Greek greeting 'chairein' and Christianised it into 'charis kai eirene apo theou patros... kai kyriou Iesou Christou.' This wasn't autopilot — it was a deliberate Christian innovation. And Paul committed to it in every letter for two decades. That's settled apostolic doctrine, not a verbal tic. ## What to Avoid Do not claim 'Granville Sharp's rule' applies to Galatians 1:3. Granville Sharp governs constructions where one article covers two nouns referring to one person — applicable to Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1, NOT to a Father-and-Son construction where two distinct persons are in view. JW apologists will exploit any Granville Sharp over-reach. Stick to the joint-preposition observation, the priestly-blessing echo, and the pattern across all 13 Pauline letters. Also avoid hopping to other Trinity topics mid-conversation — the JW is in their own Bible, watching Paul put Jesus beside the Father. Stay there. ## Homework Take a highlighter and open your NWT to the first chapter of each Pauline letter — Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon. Highlight the exact phrase 'from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ' (or its variant) in each one. Then ask yourself one question — why does this exact construction appear in 13 of 13 letters, and what does it mean that Paul never swapped Jesus for an angel? ## Next Moves - [The Incarnation Framework](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/philippians2.md) - [Call Upon the Name of the Lord Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/call-upon-name.md) - [Every Title For Yahweh Is Given To Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/yahweh-titles-applied-to-jesus.md)