Grace and Peace
“Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1.2
The greeting Paul uses is somewhat of a generic salutation which would be understood and accepted by both Jew and Gentile believer. “The very form of this salutation implies the union of Jew, Greek, and Roman. The Greek salutation was “joy” (chairein), akin to the Greek for “grace” (charis). The Roman was “health,” the intermediate term between grace and peace. The Hebrew was “peace,” including both temporal and spiritual prosperity. Grace must come first if we are to have true peace.” (JFB)
Of course we often use the term “grace” (charis) alongside of a related term “mercy” (eleos): grace indicating good things God offers to us that we do not deserve and withholding negative things from us that we do deserve. By using the term “grace” without “mercy” Paul suggests that the believers were not experiencing some of the same trials and tribulations which some of the other were possibly suffering. God had protected this church from being overcome with evil from without.
When there are no open battles against the forces of evil, the believer often settles into a sedentary life of spiritual ease. He tends to forget all of God’s benefits and begins to chafe at his own idleness.
The Philippians had been given the privilege of being a portal through which the Gospel entered the western world. The members were some who had first experienced saving faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. They were in danger of allowing their peaceful existence to become less than gracious. Paul’s exhortation to them was to keep the faith while living a life of peace which was energized by the grace of God.
When a believer loses his awe of the Grace of God, he often resorts to attitudes indicative of the earth rather than of heaven. Here are some tests you can run in your own life to determine if you are living according to the grace God has given and experiencing the peace which results from that living.
Do you speak to complete strangers with more kindness than you do to a fellow church member?
When you first greet a loved one, are the first words out of your mouth filled with grace? When someone is late to a date, do you chastise him for his tardiness or do you express your pleasure in the fact that they took time to be with you? When you come home from work, do you recognize your loved ones as some you have been thinking about all day or do you chastise them for living in a pig sty? Have you ever addressed brothers or sisters in Christ only to regret what you have said later on?
I’m sure that as a believer, each of us would want our words to be pleasing in the sight of our Savior; so, we speak words that we would use if we were standing in His presence. After all, we are always in His presence. As we realize the grace God has bestowed upon us, we live in peace with ourselves and with other believers because we have applied the psalmist’s admonition to: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19.14)
A good rule of thumb for communicating with those we love is: “Speak to them in a way that if they died the next day, you’d be satisfied with what you said to them and how you said it.”
Of course we often use the term “grace” (charis) alongside of a related term “mercy” (eleos): grace indicating good things God offers to us that we do not deserve and withholding negative things from us that we do deserve. By using the term “grace” without “mercy” Paul suggests that the believers were not experiencing some of the same trials and tribulations which some of the other were possibly suffering. God had protected this church from being overcome with evil from without.
When there are no open battles against the forces of evil, the believer often settles into a sedentary life of spiritual ease. He tends to forget all of God’s benefits and begins to chafe at his own idleness.
The Philippians had been given the privilege of being a portal through which the Gospel entered the western world. The members were some who had first experienced saving faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. They were in danger of allowing their peaceful existence to become less than gracious. Paul’s exhortation to them was to keep the faith while living a life of peace which was energized by the grace of God.
When a believer loses his awe of the Grace of God, he often resorts to attitudes indicative of the earth rather than of heaven. Here are some tests you can run in your own life to determine if you are living according to the grace God has given and experiencing the peace which results from that living.
Do you speak to complete strangers with more kindness than you do to a fellow church member?
When you first greet a loved one, are the first words out of your mouth filled with grace? When someone is late to a date, do you chastise him for his tardiness or do you express your pleasure in the fact that they took time to be with you? When you come home from work, do you recognize your loved ones as some you have been thinking about all day or do you chastise them for living in a pig sty? Have you ever addressed brothers or sisters in Christ only to regret what you have said later on?
I’m sure that as a believer, each of us would want our words to be pleasing in the sight of our Savior; so, we speak words that we would use if we were standing in His presence. After all, we are always in His presence. As we realize the grace God has bestowed upon us, we live in peace with ourselves and with other believers because we have applied the psalmist’s admonition to: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19.14)
A good rule of thumb for communicating with those we love is: “Speak to them in a way that if they died the next day, you’d be satisfied with what you said to them and how you said it.”
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