Grace and Peace

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

GRACE AND PEACE

2 Cor 1:1-7

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

NIV

Knowing that we are where we should be and doing that we should be done by the will of God, maybe we should review this general greeting that seems to be a part of many of these letters to the churches. Grace and peace to us from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As we have been made aware through our investigation of the Greek, this word translated as grace can be seen or used in several ways. The most direct use is, that which affords joy, pleasure delight, and can be used as charm as in being graceful in speech. We could say that God is graceful in speech toward us or that He affords us joy and pleasure. This word can also be used to mean good-will, loving-kindness, or even favor, as in when Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. But we wonder about this use of favor because some have used this to mean that grace means unmerited favor. Was the favor of God and men unmerited toward Jesus? We think not. But there is something which is due to grace, that is something within us that is in response to God. This is our spiritual condition as we are influenced or governed by God or could say that grace is the divine influence upon our heart and its reflection in our life, including gratitude. In other words, being a believer, our attitudes, and behaviors, including our speech, should be influenced by God, and not by our flesh. We could also say that grace would be how we reflect God and our Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. When we include that or add peace to all that we might get a better understanding. The Greek word translated as peace, and we have to remember this is the peace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and so we should not see peace as in world peace, the freedom of the rage and havoc of war. Of course, in some sense, we were once objects of wrath, as we were at war with God, but now we have come to terms or have a peace treaty with God through Jesus. This word peace can also be used to have peace between individuals, as to be in harmony with them. Again, that could mean we are in harmony with God, and He is in harmony with us. But according to a conceptional distinction peculiar to Christianity this word carries the meaning of the tranquil state of our soul assured of its salvation through Jesus, and so fearing nothing from God and content with our earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is. Therefore, grace and peace are all wrapped up together, and would be difficult to see them as separate entities. Because we are being influenced by God, we are content.