Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Greeting that appears in the 13 letters that the apostle Paul wrote.
To understand these words, we have to first understand what Paul and the other authors think about these realities: Grace and peace. In other words, to better understand what Paul means by this form of greeting, let’s take a bird’s eye view of what these words mean and then see how they fit into this greeting. We will first evaluate the notions of “grace and peace” in a general way and then in a particular way.
What are grace and peace?
GRACE
As a preview, I must say that grace is such a glorious reality in Paul, in the Bible, in history, in the world, and in life, that it would be very presumptuous to think that we can fully define it. Saying that we are going to do justice to this reality with a single article, or trying to explain it exhaustively, is like thinking that we can contain the entire ocean in a cup of coffee.
After all the sermons we preach, after all the books (and articles) we write, and after all the songs we sing, we haven’t even scratched the surface of what grace is. Grace is a reality that is so embedded in Paul that he becomes apparent in his arguments, in his thinking, and in his language, that he uses the word “grace” more than 90 times in his letters. of the.
The experience of grace encompasses life in such a way that, according to Paul, every believer must speak with grace, sing with grace, what we are is by grace, and even service to God is also a grace (Colossians 4:6 ; 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15;10; Ephesians 3:8).
The reality of grace is so overwhelming in the apostle that he not only begins his letters with the idea of grace, but also ends all of them like this: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. For the apostle, grace was like his frame of reference. It was what gave meaning, structure, and context to his life. He could not conceive of his Christian experience outside the bounds of grace.
These texts give us a guideline:
- Ephesians 2:8: By by Grace you are saved;
- Romans 3:24: Being justified freely by his Grace;
- Romans 5:2: by whom also we have access by faith into this Grace in which we are firm;
- Titus 2:11: Because the Grace of God has manifested himself for salvation to all men,
Taking these passages as a reference, we conclude that the word grace for the apostle Paul describes the salvation we have in Christ. That is, the word grace refers to redemption. Grace is what God has done in Christ. Grace It is a word that summarizes all the salvation that we believers have.
Now, the question that arises is: in what sense is grace a reference to salvation? To which we can respond, that grace is the reality that describes salvation in at least three aspects:
- Describe the approach of God in salvation
- Describes the Benefits of salvation and
- Describe the character free of salvation
Grace describes an approach. It is the action or movement of God towards man to save him. It is a reference to an approach to treat the sinner with compassion and mercy. This has been the modus operandi of God. She reached out to Adam when he sinned to cover him up; he reached out to his people to redeem them from slavery, and finally came to us in the person of Christ.
Notice how we sinners are and what corresponds to us: spiritually dead, condemned for our sins, enmity with God, enslaved to sin, and separated from the Creator (Eph. 2). But God drew near to us in Christ. God became flesh. God took the initiative. He comes and crosses the great distance between himself and sinners. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). In Ephesians 2: 12-13, Paul says that we Gentiles were far from Christ and from God, far from all the good that comes from Him, and now Christ brought us closer to God (to fellowship with Him and His promises).
Grace is the provision of God to approach and treat his enemies with compassion and give them benefits that they cannot obtain and that they do not deserve either. Grace is the movement compassionate and patient of a merciful God towards people who despise and offend him, who are in a state of misery and disgrace, a movement that seeks to restore them to his favor. Grace is the action of a God who approaches despicable, guilty, and enemy sinners so as not to treat them as they deserve and instead give them forgiveness, new life, adopt them as children, and give them hope. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it to the full” (John 10:10). The apostle John said: “the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding to know him who is true” (1 John 5:20).
Therefore, grace describes the drawing near of God in Christ to save us.
Grace describes the benefits of salvation. We had said that the grace of God finds us in a deplorable state. We were spiritually dead; condemned for our sins (we are guilty before God), at enmity with God (there is war and hostility). Furthermore, we are enslaved to sin (ie, we are not free) and separated from God (we are aliens and aliens).
Therefore, to restore our condition of spiritual death, God gives us life. To solve the problem of condemnation for our sins, God justifies us (that is, he forgives us and gives us the righteousness of Christ). To repair our enmity with God, Christ does not reconcile with the Father (peace with him). For the problem of our slavery to sin, God redeems us and gives us his Spirit. And for our alienation and separation with the Creator, God himself adopts us as his children. Then, so that our lives may be for his glory, he gives us promises to encourage us to obedience, and he gives us his Spirit to enable us to obey.
Paul calls all these benefits of salvation “riches of His grace”. In particular, in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul describes and celebrates God’s grace in salvation. The forgiveness of sins, hope, adoption as sons, the power of his Spirit, and new life, Paul calls the abundant and unsearchable “riches of His grace” (Ephesians 2:7; 3:8).
For Paul, the word Grace describes these and many other benefits. The power that comes by his Spirit, the understanding, the faith with which we believe, repentance, and the fruits of the Spirit are all gifts of grace from him. Belonging to His church, fellowship with His church, serving His church, the talents we have, growing in the character of Christ, and persevering in Him are also gifts of God’s grace (1 Corinthians 15:10; Romans 12: 3, 6). In addition, we receive earthly benefits by grace: natural abilities for work, work itself, success in business, health, family, marriage, children, friends, rest, entertainment, and Answered prayers, all these things come from the grace of God.
Therefore, grace describes all the benefits of salvation in Christ.
Grace describes the free nature of salvation. Paul said in Romans 3:24: “Being justified freely by his grace.”. That is, the Grace It implies that God gives us salvation freely. It’s funny because it’s free. He freely gives us salvation and all the benefits of it. That is why we also talk about the gift or gift of God. This implies that we do not deserve or earn this.
It is grace because God gives it freely and gratuitously without taking into account our merits. Nothing forces God (because he does and gives it freely) and we don’t have to pay for it (because it’s a gift). It is by grace because we do not have how to pay him. It is by grace because no one can charge God or accuse him as a debtor. God is not a moron. It is important to understand that grace refers to the free action of God and the free nature of salvation and its benefits. Christ with his death bought, paid, and eternally ensured our salvation and all benefits. This was Paul’s emphasis in Romans 5:15-17.
Therefore, grace describes the free nature of the things he gives us.
To summarize, grace is the reality that describes salvation, in these three aspects: It describes God’s approach in salvation through Christ, it describes the benefits we receive, and it describes the free nature of salvation.
PEACE
For Paul, peace is the effect of grace. Peace is the result of Christ’s work on the cross. Let us remember that there was not only separation from God. There was also enmity against God. Hostility and lawsuit between God and us. God was angry with us. Our sins have not only separated God from us, but have also provoked his righteous wrath against us.
Through his death, Christ took away that wrath and has reconciled us to the Father. That is what Paul called propitiation. That is, a sacrifice that removes anger. Christ was the propitiation for our sins, Paul said in Romans 3:25, meaning that Christ was the sacrifice that removed God’s wrath from us. Because of that, God is no longer against us but now he is for us. Conflict has been exchanged for reconciliation. The war for peace. Enmity for friendship. Jesus is our peace.
Therefore, in Paul’s thought, the word peace has to do first and foremost with the peace that has been achieved on the cross. There is no war anymore, now we have peace with God. That is why in the Old Testament, the Messiah was also described as the “prince of peace” (Isaiah 7). Even on the night when Jesus was born, the angels began to sing: “Glory to God in the highest…..And on earth peace, good will toward men!” (Luke 2:14). This is the reality of all Christians: We have been reconciled to God. We are at peace with our Creator. Christ reconciles us with the Father, through his sacrifice on Calvary. Today we can confidently approach God, adore him, have fellowship with him, and receive his benefits.
In short, we can say that grace is a reference to the source of our redemption and peace is the result of that grace. All of us who are in Christ have received that grace and now we have peace with God. Grace is the foundation of salvation and peace is the effect of salvation. The grace of God has granted us peace with God.
What does “grace and peace to you” mean?
Now then, if all Christians have received the grace of God, if God has treated us with grace, we have been saved by grace, if God has given us the benefits of his grace, and if we now have peace with God, if we are reconciled to God, why does Paul say “grace and peace to you”? If being a Christian means having been saved by grace and having peace with God, why does Paul write “grace and peace to you”?
Because he wants grace and peace to be the realities that are not only present in his…