Grace and Peace

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:1-2, ESV

Grace and peace. I have become enamored with these words and how Paul delivers them so often. He starts all 13 of the letters that he authored in the New Testament with them. It shows that Paul was a man of habit, much like myself. However, repetition can have a negative effect on the perception of others. Like an axe blade that gets dull from use, losing effectiveness at the one job that it has. I see this a lot in the church. We've heard John 3:16 and Psalm 23 a thousand times. These are universe and heart changing passages! We've seen words like grace, peace, and mercy thrown around a lot. These words remind us of so much in this life. This is when slowing ourselves down and really dwelling on the Word of God is beneficial. If Paul said, "grace and peace" so much, it must be very important.

What is grace? Webster's defines it as, "unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification." That's the way I've heard it the most, or shorter still, "unmerited favor." What a thing to be reminded of! The love and patience of the Creator of the universe is consistently directed toward you, believer, for nothing that you have done! It wasn't a one shot deal, either. Peter starts his epistles by going one step further, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you…" The grace that we receive by the blood of Christ has on-going, lasting effects that are multiplied as we grow nearer to Jesus.

As we exist naturally, we don't stand a chance in the presence of God. His holiness, His righteousness, and His perfection would destroy us. We are born into sin, our natural desires are of the flesh and are apart from God. We tend to worship the creation and not the Creator. This is due to the fact that the world, created for His glory, is fallen and we are in need of a Savior. A perfect atoning sacrifice is necessary to cover the iniquity of man in order for the wrath of a holy, righteous, and perfect God to pass over us. The Greek word for Gospel is euaggelion, it means "good news." The sacrifice of God's perfect Son covers us with His perfect blood allowing us into the presence of a holy God. That's the good news!

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:17-18, ESV

Why is the unbeliever "condemned already?" Paul elaborates on this in Romans 5. The Apostle contrasts the original sin of the man, Adam, with the redeeming grace of God through the man, Jesus Christ.
 

"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." Romans 5:15-18, ESV

Whoa. What in the world is "justification?" This word is translated from the Greek word dikaióma. Which is defined as, "a thing pronounced (by God) to be righteous; or the restoration of a criminal, a fresh chance given him; a righteous deed, an instance of perfect righteousness." Instead of "justification" used in the ESV translation of Romans 5:16, the New Living Translation makes things a little simpler and translates dikaióma as "our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins." Brothers and sisters: That's grace. Paul elaborates further in the second chapter of Ephesians:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV

Paul reminds the recipients of his letters that they receive this grace and whom they receive it from. What of peace? What's that? Is "the opposite of war" an appropriate definition? That is the definition at its most simple, and probably the first thing you think of.  The Greek word here is eiréné. Defined as, "peace, peace of mind; wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together." This Greek word is the word most often used for peace in the New Testament (92 times, 84% of the time a word is translated as "peace"). The Hebrew philosophy of shalom influenced the New Testament writers in their use of eiréné. Shalom is not just a greeting, it doesn't mean "hello" in Hebrew. It's a hope that signifies a "right relationship or harmony between two parties or people, often established by a covenant." True peace is only obtainable by the grace of God. There are no exceptions.

The events that unfold in our lives are a physical manifestation of our search of this true peace. This search for peace is a war. For both the believer and the unbeliever our lives are a constant struggle for the peace that only Christ can award. We attempt to satisfy that craving with desires of the flesh. Alcohol, drugs, lust, materialism, laziness; there is always something that we think will satisfy- but it never does. We are born into this state of yearning for the peace of Christ and it's only by grace that it's given. This state of  yearning is due to a separation between the unrighteous man and the perfectly righteous God. Through Christ, that yearning is satisfied.  Through Christ, that wall of hostility is destroyed. He is the only mediator between man and God.

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility." Ephesians 2:13-16, ESV

Praise be to God. Paul, by greeting the recipients of his letters with "grace and peace," was reminding them in two words of the Good News! Two words, when unpacked, remind the reader of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'll be working through Ephesians and attempting to make sense of it to the best of my ability. This post is way longer then I hope the others will be, and it took me way longer than I anticipated. I did not anticipate that I would be defining the entire redeeming work of God through Christ by discussing two words!! Keep on the lookout for two primary themes throughout the rest of the book: 1) Christ has reconciled all creation to Himself and to the Father. 2) Christ has united people from all nations to Himself and to one another in His church.  Read, comment, let me know your thoughts on these matters. Grace and peace!