² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace comes from “Jesus Christ and God the Father.” These commodities do not come from men but from God.

“Father” is a term of relationship. “God the Father” is a unique expression in the New Testament (1 Pe 1:2; 2 Pe 1:17; Jude 1). We never read “God the Son” in the New Testament. The New Testament does use the term “Son” for the deity of Jesus Christ (Mt 28:19,20).

The church’s relationship to the Father is one of grace. We were exponents of legalism before we came to Christ.

“For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Co 15:9-10).

Both grace and peace have their source in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul joined the Father and Son as one source for grace and peace. We do not strive for peace with God, because God settled the sin issue by the death of Christ. We do not need to seek God’s approval, because we have it.

We cannot say of Moses that he gives us grace and peace. Neither can we say it of the apostles Paul, Peter, or John. That would be heresy. We can say it of Jesus Christ because He is God Himself.

PRINCIPLE:

Grace always precedes peace.

APPLICATION:

Grace is God’s provision for the Christian life. Peace is the enjoyment of God’s provisions.

Christians find that the peace of God disappears quite often. It leaks out somewhere. Peace goes when we lose our temper and speak harshly to our family. We wound those closest to us. The peace of God enables us to live with a tranquil spirit. In the midst of turbulence with people, no one ruffles us. When everyone else is upset, we are calm. We can sit down in the inside. Not many of us have that kind of serenity.

It is easy to have peace when everything is going our way. That is not the test of spirituality. The test is when we face trouble. God’s peace is dynamic in the middle of trouble.

Peace is orientation to the grace of God. A person experiencing peace is in the process of experiencing God’s grace. Why do you not have peace in your life? Is it because you are not experiencing God’s grace?

We do not get God’s peace by our own efforts. It comes exclusively from God. We never get God’s peace without first receiving God’s grace. We obtain a full measure of peace with a full understanding and appropriation of God’s grace. We cannot manufacture this peace, because it comes solely from God. He dispenses it freely from His character. If we try to operate without God’s grace, life will grate on our souls.