Grace, then Peace
Sep 14, 2015 1197
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:7).
Paul opens all of his letters with this blessing. We have peace with God because we have received his free grace. Grace is always before peace.
Sometime back I was talking to an elderly Christian man about the death of his brother who was a godly leader in the church. A man whose prayers were so moving and powerful I remember them long after I have forgotten great sermons; yet when he died he was terrified that he hadn’t done enough to be saved. He felt he hadn’t prayed enough, read his Bible enough, or lived righteously enough to get to get into God’s eternal kingdom. He died with no peace in his heart.
As long as we trust in what we have done to get us into heaven, we too will have no abiding peace.
Paul never says to the believers, “Peace and grace”, but “Grace and peace.” Peace always follows grace; it comes as the result of receiving God’s grace. If we believe that we are saved solely by Jesus’ death for us on the cross, and not by the good we have done or the evil we haven’t done, then we have peace with God that is beyond our comprehension and can face death fully at peace with the Lord.
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