“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ“
Now we come to Paul’s standard “Hello” in his epistles: “grace and peace.
”Grace to you
Grace is God’s provision for the believer without any strings attached. God’s provision comes from two persons of the Trinity, the Father, and Son.
and peace
Peace also comes from those same two persons of the Trinity. A person with peace is a person with a settled soul. This settled soul comes from God’s grace. Grace always precedes peace.
from
The word “from” indicates the source of “grace” and “peace.”
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Paul repeats the words “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This says something about our strength as believers; grace and peace come from a co-fountain. We have a dynamic duo as a supernatural resource for strength.
Note the emphasis on the lordship of Christ in His role as the source for our strength.
Principle:
God sustains believers with no strings attached.
Application:
Although we may feel that we do not deserve God’s sustaining grace, God gives it anyway. Although we do not feel deserving of peace, God gives it to us because of His grace, that is, His provision for those He loves. We cannot pay for our sins as believers because Christ did all the suffering that was necessary for those sins. We rest on His grace. God does not need our help.
A believer cannot function efficiently without God’s grace and peace. Many of us operate on personal drive, not on grace. That is a good way to head into a spiritual shipwreck. We cannot operate without God’s grace any more than a plane can fly without fuel. God’s grace is our spiritual fuel for flying in the Christian life.
A Christian who rests on God’s grace has a settled soul and can sit down on the inside. He knows that God provides for any situation. He has a clear mind in any problem. Is something consuming you? If you keep your mind on the Lord, He will give you composure in the middle of your commotion.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).
