is a grace that has made us mil lionaires spiritually in Jesus Christ. How happy we ought to be with the knowledge of this blessed truth! By grace man is made in God's image for every capacity of fellow ship with Him. By grace God chose Israel for a special purpose in hu man history. It was of grace that Jesus came into the world to live a life that revealed the Father and to die for human sin. Grace leads men to trust in the Saviour. Grace sent the Holy Spirit to be our Teach er and our Guide. Grace has pre served the Church down through the centuries. Grace will bring forth the final resurrection, sus taining us throughout eternity as we live in unbroken fellowship with Him. It is the knowledge of such grace that inspired the Apostle to pen, "Grace be unto you." Just as Paul had a deeper mean ing in the word "grace," so he also had a deeper meaning in mind for the word "peace." True peace can come only from God. It is the re sult of His grace and was obtained on the cross of Christ. The promise of peace to men occurs first of all at the birth of Christ (Luke 2:14). Jesus spoke of peace to the dis ciples just before His crucifixion (John 14:27). We also find that the word "peace" is the first greeting Jesus speaks to His followers after His resurrection (John 20:19). Naturally speaking, no man is at peace with God. All of us, because of sin, are at war with Him, either passively or actively. This is why we are also at war with one anoth er as well as with ourselves. No wonder we experience so many emotional, spiritual, physical and material problems. This is basically why there is so much misery and Page 49
GRACE AND PEACE In Paul's salutation to the church at Philippi he extends God's grace and peace. Few in our day know what these things really mean ex- perientially. In the Apostle's usage, these words refer to the deepest of all spiritual realities. While a pa gan emperor could send the word "grace" to his people, Paul was urging bestowal of God's grace which was an altogether different thing. In a similar way, peace can not be understood merely as a common salutation. It must always refer to the fruits of salvation which are the result of the reconciliation of the Christian to the Lord. Peace is not to be understood primarily in a technical sense as the first fruit of justification. In Paul's mind, the whole state of tranquility and general well-being is what is in view. Then, God's grace is His unmer ited favor toward humanity. For some reason man always erron eously imagines that God loves him for what he is. Romans 5:8 should give ample evidence of His grace, "God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Chrst died for us." The Saviour willingly gave His life for men who were hideous in His sight because of the tragedy of sin. If we are ever to understand the grace of God, we must begin with the knowledge that He has acted graciously toward us in Jesus Christ entirely apart from any human mer it whatsoever. Grace is also and always abounding (Romans 5:20). We deserve hell at the Almighty's hand. Anything He might do for us is grace, however insignificant. Yet His grace is not insignificant. It does not stop with a single act. It
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