Grace and Peace

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS

GRACE AND PEACE

Col 1:1-2

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.  

NIV

There is only one smaller bit of truth within this introduction which we should briefly remember. Grace and peace to you from God our Father. Because Paul is writing to believers, this grace is not the unmerited favor type grace which is bestowed on the sinner when they come to Christ, the forgiveness of all their sin. This is that grace, the Charis grace which is defined as the divine influence upon our heart and how that is reflected in our lives, or how another lexicon puts it, the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace. Peace is also more than on the surface as the Greek word carries the meaning the tranquil state a soul assured of its salvation and thus fearing nothing from God, and content with its lot in life of whatsoever lot that is. Maybe that is not such a smaller bit of truth after all. How far better a life we have living under the divine influence of God rather than under our own influence or worse yet, under the influence of the enemy of our souls. We also have to admit our life is so much better being assured of our salvation and not fearing anything from God and being content. The opposite of that would be a horrible way to live, never knowing if we did enough or was good enough to get to heaven. To always be afraid of God, shivering in our boots, so to speak, that he was going to do something to punish us for every mistake we make, that something bad was going to happen. In addition, we would not know contentment, but only discontentment which would breed within our heart envy and jealousy, bitterness, and lust and we would harbor ill feelings toward anyone who had more or was honored more than us. How great it is to have the grace and peace of God our Father in our lives. Life just could not get any better. However, it could get a lot worse if we were to try to take over control. So let us enjoy this life to the fullest as his divine influence directs us and his perfect peace rests upon us.