Anchor My Faith

Title: Grace and Peace

^1:1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— ² and all the brothers who are with me. To the churches of Galatia: ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:1 – 5 ESV)

In the previous lesson the letter from Paul to the Galatians was introduced. In this lesson we will cover the remainder of Paul’s greeting to the Galatians.

Paul also mentions in the greeting all the brothers who were with him, and they together agree with the gospel Paul proclaims. We will soon realize the Galatians were in the process of accepting a false gospel that required a form of work on the part of those believing to obtain salvation.

The letter is to the churches of Galatia, implying the possibility that the need of circumcision for salvation had infected all the churches there. To those churches, Paul extends grace and peace to the believers from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a common practice of Paul to wish grace and peace to those he writes to. Grace refers to God’s unmerited favor. The word “peace” used in the Bible conveys more than peace from conflict and turmoil, but includes the notion of a positive blessing, especially in terms of a right relationship with God. This is seen in Numbers 6:24 – 26 ESV: ²⁴ “The Lord bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

The gospel has its source in Jesus Christ, who came to be our Passover Lamb and take our sin upon him as he hung nailed to a cross, and then dying in our place he purchased our salvation and delivered us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13), from bondage to sin (Romans 6:14), and from the present evil age. ²³ “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:23 – 26 ESV).

This evil age is the state of the world apart from Jesus Christ until he returns. As the evil of spiritual darkness grows around us, we may suffer but ³ “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:3 – 6 ESV). Those of the world do not have this living hope, nor do they have the benefits of spiritual life. In the end they will go to eternal destruction, but we to eternal life to be with God. This deliverance is according to the will of our God and Father, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).

God created humans after his image (Genesis 1:27) and put before them a test of obedience, which they failed. Now dead in their sin, God made provision for their salvation and chose Israel and the church to make him and the way of salvation known. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God redeemed his people by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8 – 9) for his praise and glory. He then calls believers to declare his majesty in the world (Matthew 28:19 – 20).