No Grace...No Peace, Know Grace...Know Peace

My buddy and I have started teaching through a new book on Saturday mornings. We work with the homeless and the folks who live in local shelters. We gather Saturday mornings at 7:00 am in a vacant parking lot for coffee and donuts and around 7:15 we have a 15 minute Bible study. We have anywhere from 15 to 30 people show up. I almost consider it my church. Back to my point. We decided that we would teach through the book of Ephesians. We just finished James and now we are getting into one of Paul's letters. As I was prepping for the introduction I discovered something interesting. You may have known this for some time but I just discovered it last week. Paul starts every one of his letters the same way. Take a look at what I mean:

Romans 1: 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 1: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 1: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Ephesians 1: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1: 2 To the saints and faithful brothers[a] in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

I Thessalonians 1: 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.

II Thessalonians 1: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I Timothy 1: 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

II Timothy 1: 2 To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Titus 1: 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Philemon 1: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you see a pattern here? Do you think Paul is trying to get something across to us? I picked up on a couple of things when I studied these verses. First, Paul always say Grace first and Peace second. Every one of these verses has Grace before Peace. As the world looks for peace, tries to politicize peace, tries to fight for peace there is only one way to truly obtain peace and that is to first understand Grace. If you are looking for true Peace you have to discover Grace first. Notice where Paul says Grace and Peace come from...God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord, God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior, God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and Peace do not come from politicians, they do not come from a good economy, they do not come from having a fat bank account.

The Bible sums up God's Grace through Christ for us in a couple of places.

Romans 5: 7-10 - 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Ephesians 2: 4-9 - 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We did not contribute anything when it comes to salvation. We were dead and dead men and women cannot do anything. This is why the Gospel of God's Grace is so powerful, it brought the dead to life!

If you are searching for true Peace start with the Gospel. Paul stated this over and over and over and over for a reason, it is true.