Ephesians 1:2
2 Grace [charis] be to you, [humin] and [kai] peace, [eirene] from [apo] God [theos] our [hemon] Father, [pater] and [kai] from the Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ. [Christos]KJV-Interlinear
2 Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. NASB
Grace and peace are the
typical greetings from Paul. This phrase though common in the New Testament is
comparable to the greeting that God commanded in the Old Testament.
23 'Thus you shall bless
the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you;
25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD
lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.'
Paul wishes good and
blessing on all believers. Good and blessing which originated from God the
Father, who is the ultimate authority in existence. However, none of us has
direct contact with the Father except through Jesus Christ, who is God the Son.
Both members of the Godhead are co-equal and co-eternal. Neither is better nor
lesser than the other, but designate themselves in a fashion so that we might
have some frame of reference to God and His purpose. They are indeed distinct
entities, separate and apart from each other as is the third member of the
Godhead, the Holy Spirit. Thus there are three members of the Godhead, but one
and the same in their essence, thus one God.
Peace does not come without
grace. Grace first for that is Gods policy toward mankind. Despite man's
predicament on this planet and in history, and though man did not have any say
in his circumstances in creation or makeup, mankind has always had the ability
to make a choice. God provided that choice in order first to settle an even
larger problem, the angelic conflict and Satan's contesting of the judgment
against him, but also to demonstrate to all of creation that God knows best and
does only what is best for creation on the whole and each of us specifically.
Therefore, God gives us
grace and in so doing, gives us opportunity to advance from our lower form of
humanity to a higher form of union with Christ, which, by the way, is in a
position higher than angels. See the list of references of Bible blessings on
the web site.
Grace and peace comes
from God alone. Grace comes from God freely, and the source of peace, Bible
doctrine is available free to us as well. But that peace is a potential. Grace
is free and given regardless of our decisions in life. Peace on the other hand
is a potential and dependent on our daily decision to study Bible doctrine. But
also note, that we are due no credit for our study habits, be they good or bad.
Peace comes from Bible
doctrine, which in turn comes from God. So the sequence is God, doctrine, human
spirit, human soul. Doctrine is the building block or foundation for your
spiritual life. Your application of doctrine to your life provides your
development or muscle in your soul. Thus peace and inner happiness grows out of
doctrine and its application in your life. From that come blessings or divine
favor from God. People are always seeking to get into the good graces of
someone in a position to help them along in life. Someone to give them a connection
and an edge ahead of everyone else. God is the ultimate connection that one can
have.
Grace and peace come only
from God the Father, the fountain and origin of all blessings, the Father of
lights, from whom comes down every good and perfect gift, James
1:17. God the Father is the origin and ultimate authority and source
of all things. But again He is not our point of contact to deity.
Grace and peace come to
us in and through Jesus Christ. Christ, as our mediator, is the channel of
conveyance of all spiritual blessings to believers, and Christ directs the
disbursement of them to those that belong to Him. Only believers can
potentially receive peace.
Unbelievers have access
to grace in that they have a life given them at the point of their physical
birth. They have an opportunity to gain a better life through the simple
thought process of believing in Christ.
They have a planet
capable of sustaining life for them. They had Christ take their sins to himself
on the Cross, thus canceling sin in their life and giving them an opportunity
for eternal life with God.
Note that Christ did not
go to the Cross for believers only, but for all of humanity. And Sin is not the
basis for condemnation of unbelievers. It is their good works which they prefer
to that of Christ's work, which is the basis of their condemnation.
Unbelievers do not have
access to Gods peace and never will. That is reserved for believers only and
remember that it is only a potential dependent on your daily attitude toward
Bible study.
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