“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Loved! Called! Holy people! Grace and peace! How different from the letters of today! 

The messages people send, be they on social media or by personal e-mails, usually dive into the subject without a thought given to the recipient. Whether they be friend or foe, we simply tell it like it is. 

Paul’s letters followed the protocol of letter writing, albeit infused with the flavour and aroma of the gospel. First the credentials of the writer, then the address of the recipient…then a greeting. Our letters, by contrast, simply begin with “Dear so-and-so…” even if our communication might be hostile. The reader must sift through the contents before he/she can identify the author. We sometimes wrote the return address on the envelope…to identify the writer. 

Paul’s greeting set the tone for his readers. They were beloved and called people…not just beginners in the faith but firmly-entrenched sons and daughters of God. Imagine what that might have sounded like as they listened to the reading of the letter. They were beloved, called, and holy. They, these ex-pagan Romans! In God’s eyes, they were all of the above and much more.  

They were already the recipients of God’s grace and peace. He had drawn them into the circle of His forever family.  Now, Paul confers on them more of the grace and peace that they had already received. 

What is this grace and peace?

Grace and peace are like the two bookends that hold a row of books together. 

Grace…the first “bookend”… that is that part of God’s character and attributes that is the motive behind all that He does for us regardless of who we are or what we have done. Grace is like a conduit through which God’s attributes flows…His love, mercy, compassion, kindness, and goodness….all of which are included in the Hebrew word “chesed”, translated “covenant love”. 

“The story of Hannah shows that hen, the Hebrew word for grace, is not only mercy and favour, but it also brings healing, vindication, and strength. While mercy is the removal of punishment or suffering, grace goes beyond. It is a gift that we neither deserve nor can earn. It is something that only God can provide us with since He is the source from which it flows.”

(Source: firmisrael.org. )

If God’s covenant love…His “chesed”, His lovingkindness, His covenant faithfulness…is what He does, grace,  “hen”…is why He does what He does. He provides help, strength, support etc., because of His grace.  Yet, grace not only provides what we need in our troubles…it lifts us up higher than before our trouble. 

So, Paul prays for ongoing grace for his readers…that the grace that has already saved them will flow freely towards them always, which is, of course, the very nature of God. God anyways moves towards the sinner to forgive and raise up the broken, to heal an restore fellowship because of Jesus. 

Peace…the other “bookend”…is the outcome of grace. 

Again, Google AI helps us understand biblical peace. 

“In the Bible, peace is much more than just the absence of conflict. It is a comprehensive state of wholeness, harmony, and well-being. Rooted in the Hebrew concept of shalom and the Greek word eirene, biblical peace involves restored relationships: with God, with others, and within yourself.”

I love this definition of peace…from Pinterest. 

“Peace is the furious serenity that refuses to submit to chaos.”

God’s grace, because of which He has forever dealt with and removed sin and reconciled us to Himself, results in peace, the inward serenity that is anchored to our standing with Him. Our peace is the reassurance from God that we are in right  relationship with Him and that there is nothing that separates us from fellowship with Him. We now have access to all that salvation through Jesus provides for us. 

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Grace and peace…what more can Paul’s readers need or desire in this new life they have received? God comes through grace…reconciles and restores to Himself…and fills and keeps in peace all who call on His name for His mercy. 

To be continued