King James Bible
"To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Paul addresses the Colossian believers with dual designations—'saints' (holy ones set apart for God) and 'faithful brethren' (trustworthy family members united in Christ). Colosse was a small city in Asia Minor where Paul had not personally visited, making this letter's warm familial language particularly significant for establishing apostolic connection. This standard Pauline greeting combines the Greek salutation 'grace' (charis) with the Hebrew 'peace' (shalom), creating a distinctly Christian blessing. Grace represents God's unmerited favor that initiates salvation, while peace encompasses the resulting wholeness and reconciliation with God. The source of these blessings is explicitly divine, linking God the Father and Jesus Christ as co-equal givers. This pairing affirms Christ's deity and establishes the letter's high Christology, which becomes central to Paul's argument against the Colossian heresy that diminished Christ's supremacy.