Unlimited: Grace And Peace | Good News Unlimited

Unlimited: Grace and Peace

Mar 29, 2022 1154

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:7b)

Notice what the apostle Paul says: “Grace and peace to you.” Twenty times these two ideas are joined in Scripture, and never in the reverse order.

Many people want peace but no grace. They want happiness but not holiness. But this is the only order for true peace. It must be preceded by grace. Grace is God’s undeserved active love to the unlovely, God’s infinite mercy to the merciless, God’s outpouring of goodness to those who could never deserve it. So grace always precedes peace.

And we are lost until grace finds us. We are naked until grace clothes us. We are undone until grace saves us. We are miserable until grace comforts us.

Grace and peace are always in that order.

Before conversion we long for grace but we can’t think it would bring us peace, maybe forgiveness, but not peace. But grace always brings peace.

If God has taken away our guilt, if God can forgive us, we must learn to forgive ourselves. Some of us are so self-righteous that we find that a difficult task but if God can forgive our sins we must forgive ourselves. Grace gives us peace with God, peace with our own hearts and peace with other people.

When God gives us grace, he also gives us peace, but always in that order.

Spiritual Application

Set apart an extended period of time in the next few days. Prioritise it above everything else. Go somewhere special where you can be alone, and ask God to give you his gift of peace. As you pray, spend the time focusing on the grace that Christ has shown toward you. Receive the gift.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

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