Grace and peace are a greeting and a blessing found in the opening sentences of seventeen of the twenty-two epistles in the New Testament. The most common opening is, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” In our world, I believe the depth of the meaning of these words is lost or diluted. I believe peace, or shalom, comes in large part from a deep grasp of the grace of God.
The foundational meaning of grace is unmerited favor. The opposite of grace could be defined as favor earned through works. God freely gives us better than we can earn, or ever deserve. I know grace is a much weightier word than I could easily articulate, so I looked deeper.
In the New Testament, grace includes the dimension of God’s power with His unearned favor. This additional element of grace is the means of eternal life. “We are saved by grace through faith.” Plus, grace produces the necessary endurance to complete our marathon called Life. The power of the Holy Spirit also brings glory to our Creator as we exercise our gifts from Him. This power is displayed through us in several more ways as well.
The Greek root for grace is charis. This word is associated with joy, pleasure, merciful kindness, loveliness, affection, bounty and all of the Christian virtues, just to start. When we begin to understand the depth and the power of God’s grace, and start living into it, peace begins to flow into and through us.
This peace is not just the common English meaning, absence of conflict, but the Hebrew word shalom. Nothing broken, nothing missing. Wholeness. Paul famously said this kind of peace is “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” He continued by pointing out another of its benefits saying it “will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7.) After all, Christ is the true source of grace and peace.
Are you in need of grace and peace? Life circumstances have tried to convince me I am not good enough and that wholeness is elusive, that is not from God. I am on a journey to grow in the grace of God and the resulting peace that passes all understanding. Paul and the disciples of Jesus learned to live into the truths of grace and peace. So, they made it a habit to bless others with them.
Would you like to join this journey? Abba, show us how we can continually go deeper into these foundational truths.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
