Grace and Peace

Grace and Peace (Philippians 1:1-2)

charis not chairein. Grace to you not the typical greetings to you

Grace = Joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, acceptance. A favor done without expectation of return. Every kind of good to you. We have been given a gift with no expectation of return.

Grace and peace to you. We need it. We need people to speak it to us, we need to speak it to others.

Paul is intentional to take a standard greko-roman letter greeting and turn it into a peculiar spin of the Gospel. Gordon Fee said this, “Here is a marvelous example of Paul’s ‘turning into gospel’ everything he sets his hands to.” “Very likely there is significance to this order: the grace of God and Christ what is given to God’s people; peace is what results from such a gift. Hence, “grace to you--and peace.”

Ireighnae (Peace) = wholeness or well-being

When Grace and peace are present we live in the bounty of God’s love--in the Spirit.

Gal. 5 Fruit of the Spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. every use in scripture but one means peace to you TODAY. Only once is it used in the future tense.

What if we started every conversation with “Grace and Peace.” What if before all precepts and differences, we were in the mindset of “grace and peace.” What if we were so rooted in grace and peace that we could forgive people who have driven nails into our hands and feet? Grace and peace helps us ask, “Do I wish upon this person, or even myself, joy? Pleasure? Gratification? Favor? Acceptance?”

Can I speak grace and peace? Can expect it from you? What would it look like if a whole community of people practiced grace and peace -- All the hurt, all the shame, all the things we’ve done in the past that we are not proud of, all of our enemies, and all the people who get under our skin. What if before we slandered and gossiped, we lived grace and peace.