Grace and peace are a part of the formal introduction in all of Paul's letters. Grace or "charis" is the Gentile (non-Jewish) form of greeting, and "peace" or "shalom" is the Jewish form of greeting. Paul linked these two together and he always put them in the same order. I think he did so because he knew man would never experience peace unless he understood grace first.
If we try to be holy or more deserving of God's blessing our Christian lives will lack peace. But if we understand "grace" -- that God blesses us unconditionally -- then we'll stop trying to earn His blessing and we will have "peace".
If you don't have peace in your life, then perhaps you should take a good look at your thoughts and beliefs about grace. Do you feel guilty? Are you deserving of punishment? Are you unworthy? None of us deserves anything except the most severe punishment for our sins. All of us are guilty, all deserve punishment, none are worthy. What makes your sin any worse than the rest of ours? We all need God's grace and we don't need to earn it -- the only thing we need to do is accept it. I am living under grace, are you? Does your life express it?
Comments