The Importance of the Familiar
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:3)
When I was a child, I ripped into every colored envelope, bypassing every jot and tittle to search for the money inside. As I grew older, I would glance through the body of the card before dashing off with my reward. Now that I’m older, I pause and reflect through every word. My Bible reading has developed along a similar trajectory. This simple introduction by Paul opens most epistles, yet they are the blueprint upon which we build our faith.
Grace is that firm foundation upon which we stand. What exactly is “grace”? We often hear grace referred to as “unmerited favor,” but that is a half-truth. It would be more accurate to say that grace is “demerited favor.” Our standing with God is not one where God does not owe us anything, where we have not earned his favor nor anything else. We have merited something from the very moment of conception – wrath. David writes: “In sin my mother conceived me.” (Ps. 51:5) From the very moment of conception, from the second of which another son of Adam is born, so another bears the sins of their father Adam (Rom. 5:12ff). Unbelieving, the wrath of God remains upon us – our merited judgment (John 3:36). But God – says Paul – but God, being rich in mercy, out of the great love in which he loved us, saved us by grace. He did not save us as those who stood indifferent. No, He saved us as those who stood condemned, taking the wrath we merited and placing it on His Son that we may have the righteousness He merited for us (2 Cor. 5:21). Grace is demerited favor – free to us, costly to Christ.
From this, we find peace. Horatius Bonar states: “This peace must be rooted in grace; it must be the consequence of our having ascertained, upon sure evidence, the forgiving love of God.” When we have received grace in place of wrath, righteousness in place of sin, favor in place of enmity, what can shake our peace? If God is for us, who can be against us? When we have a blood-bought peace with the God of heaven and earth, what can disrupt it? If faced with affliction, we have peace. If faced with loss, we have peace. If faced with setback and disappointment, we have peace. These passing clouds cannot hide the sunshine of His face. The mountains can be thrown into the heart of the sea and the stock market fall off into oblivion; we will still have peace because God has restored us by grace. From His demerited favor, we receive an unshakable peace.
What are we doing with this peace? Peace with God does not allow for peace with sin. Grace from God does not allow place for sin. From this grace and peace, let us pursue holiness and fight against the sworn enemies of sin and Satan. Grace provides us with the provision for overcoming, peace assures us of the promise thereof. Let us live out of this grace and peace with God.
