Tick, tock. I love old clocks. I love their delicate sound and rhythm. I still wear my family’s old wristwatches though they are now only a decade short of 100 years old. They are simple and soothing, tick, tock, tick, tock. They slow me down when I’m frazzled. They reconnect me to my family.
Years ago, I discovered that the Apostle Paul put a tick-tock (grace-peace) into each of his New Testament letters. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Did you hear it? Grace and peace. These two words settle me down when I’m frazzled, and they reconnect me to God.
Paul was reminding us that God is reaching out to us in grace and that when we receive his gift, we experience his peace.
In a world of unrelenting negativity, pessimism, criticism, and judgmentalism, healing words are powerful. We desperately need God’s grace and peace. As regularly as we breathe, we need the soothing rhythm of grace and peace that can restore our souls.
We need the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to heal our brokenness and cleanse us from our sins. We need His grace to break down our ugliness, our fear, our pride, our anger, our judgmentalism and our apathy toward others.
ADVERTISEMENT
The very essence of the gospel is God’s grace saving us and healing us. His forgiving grace is on display at the cross and brings to us peace with God.
Then, when God pours his grace on our wounded souls, He floods us with his peace. His salvation comes to us by grace (Ephesians 2:8), and then healed by his grace, we experience his peace (Ephesians 2:14).
God told Aaron, the first high priest of Israel, to regularly bless His people. God knows we need this; God knows we need him. “May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD look with favor on you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). Did you catch it? Grace and peace. God’s plan has always been grace and peace.
“Shalom” is the Hebrew word for peace. Shalom is a deep and multifaceted word that means to be whole, to be complete, to be well, to be happy, prosperous, healthy, complete, secure, and safe. All of us hunger for shalom.
The Apostle Paul appropriated the common Roman greeting, “grace” and gave it a theological context. This word is multifaceted as well. It combines the concepts of good-will and unmerited favor with gratitude and joy. Paul helps us understand grace as a gift from God received with joy and great thanksgiving.
In the 13 times the Apostle Paul writes “grace and peace,” he emphasizes not only the theological ideas behind these two words, but he also emphasizes the comprehensiveness of salvation for all people, Jews (shalom) and Gentiles (grace). People who are united in God’s grace experience peace. Grace and peace have the power to reconcile and unite people.
Learn to live in the light of these two great words. Breathe in God’s grace and breathe out the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It will change your life.
Grace and peace.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dr. Leo A. Endel is the executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention; the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Rochester; and teaches adjunct doctoral leadership classes for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City.
The Trust Project
