Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary: Paul’s introduction affirms that God’s grace extends to all who believe. In the same sentence, he describes the result of God’s grace; God’s peace.
When Paul offers us “grace and peace” from God, it helps if we understand how he is using those words. The grace and peace he is talking about are not just pleasantries. They are real things.
Let’s begin with “grace.”
Perhaps you have heard the expression, “Love is blind.” What it means is that romantic love blinds us to the faults of the person we love.
Why do married couples sometimes struggle? Why do people get a divorce? Presumably, they were in love when they got married. What changes?
Part of the answer is that people naturally tend to put their best foot forward when they want to impress someone. Eventually, we feel like we can “be ourselves,” and the other foot comes forward. Of course, most of us realize that the “other foot” was there the whole time. We just chose to be “blind” to it.
When romantic love is replaced by the demands of daily life, it can be hard to close our eyes to the things that irritate us. This is where grace comes in.
God sees everything (Hebrews 4:13), and we do a lot that irritates him (Romans 3:23). The things we do that irritate God deserve punishment, which in biblical terms means we deserve death (James 1:15).
Instead of wiping us off the face of the earth like we deserve, God gives us this thing called “grace.” For example, Jesus points out that God sends the sun and the rain to both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). For those who believe in Jesus, there is a special kind of grace.
Believers receive many gifts from God, but the two most important are the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26) and the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). The Holy Spirit teaches us about God and is our assurance of God’s promise of eternal life with him (Ephesians 1:13-14).
This brings us to the second thing Paul mentioned, “peace.”
Peace also is a “real thing.” When we have assurance of eternal life, the fear of death evaporates. It no longer exists for us. As the Bible says, Jesus has broken the power of death (Hebrews 2:14).
Grace and peace …
The first is the willingness of God to overlook our shortcomings and offer us hope in Jesus Christ. The second is the undeniable peace that comes from knowing Jesus personally and receiving his gift of eternal life.
Application: To experience God’s peace, we have to receive his Grace.
Food for Thought: What does God’s grace mean to you?
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