God’s Word for You

Galatians 1:3 Grace and peace

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, May 20, 2024

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

Grace, quite simply, is God’s love, the love that man does not deserve. But grace comes anyway because God loves; not because man is worthy of love. Grace is a gift, as the Scripture constantly says (2 Corinthians 6:1; Ephesians 4:7; 2 Timothy 1:9). Grace comes bringing forgiveness and righteousness on account of Jesus.

Peace is the lack of conflict and lack of disharmony; in a Christian letter, it is especially a reference to the lack of conflict between the Christian and God. Paul might have grave concerns about the faith of his dear friends in Galatia on account of the infiltrating, gospel-twisting Judaizers, but he greets the Galatians with God’s blessings and shows his loving concern for them. Peace is the result of receiving God’s grace; it is the end of the tormented, tortured conscience. For the conscience of the believer groans when he sees his sin: “I am a worthless worm, a wretched man who deserves no good thing, but only punishment and torment!” The words of the prophet come surging up in the sinner’s heart: “Save me and I will be saved” (Jeremiah 17:14). And the Word of God comes to us, gently handing down eternal life for Jesus’ sake. But as Paul will show, we need to be reminded (stubborn sinners as we are) that God forgives us our sins without any merit of our own, and he even promises the resurrection and many rooms in his heavenly mansions out of his goodness. But it is therefore impossible that our faith in all of God’s grace and goodness should tolerate anything else; any trust in works of our own. It is impossible for anyone to add to the work of Christ, or to try and somehow multiply the work of Christ by means of our own human worthiness, which is truly worthless and nothing but dust, muck, and filth. It is like multiplying any number by zero. The result will be nothing at all, when the result could have been life in Christ—could have been, should have been, but was brought down to nothing because of the lies of the devil who wants us to trust in anything but Christ. “Consequently,” Luther writes, “there is no repentance, no satisfaction for sins, no grace, no eternal life, except by faith alone in Christ, faith that he has given full satisfaction for our sins, won grace for us, and saved us. Only then can we do good works freely and gratuitously, to his honor and for the good of our neighbor, not in order to become just and receive eternal life and rid ourselves of sin. That must remain Christ’s prerogative and be preserved intact by faith alone.”

These words, “grace and peace,” are presented as a blessing, which is required by the epistle or letter-writing formula in Paul’s time. These blessings are nothing less than treasures. It is the very essence of Christianity that salvation, grace, peace, and forgiveness are gifts from God, who is the Giver of all good things: “Your Father in heaven gives good things” (Matthew 7:11).

Paul holds up Jesus on an equal footing with the Father. Calling him “Lord,” he stresses the divinity of Jesus. His words are a key support passage for the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and this is a good place to review what the Bible says. Since the Bible is the only source we accept for this and any other doctrine, we will confine ourselves to what the Scripture says.

There are many New Testament proof passages about the Triune nature of God. Some of these show the distinction of the three persons of the Trinity, that (for example) the Father and the Son are distinct from each other (Galatians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2). Other verses fully display that there are three persons in the Godhead, such as Matthew 28:19 (“Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), 1 John 5:7, and others.

Next, the deity of God the Father is of course attested to everywhere in the Old Testament (Genesis 1:1) and the New (Matthew 5:16). The Holy Spirit is also shown to be God in Genesis 1:2 (“hovering over the surface of the deep); Numbers 24:2, and so on. For the divinity of the Son, there are verses like Daniel 7:13, where “one like a son of man approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.” But in the New Testament this is even more clearly shown, as when the name of God is applied directly to the Son (John 1:1; Romans 9:5).

Besides these things, many passages ascribe divine attributes to the Son, Jesus Christ, showing that he is also truly and fully God. He is eternal (Colossians 1:17); omnipresent (Matthew 28:20); omnipotent (John 10:28; Matthew 28:18); and omniscient (John 2:4, 21:7).

Then there are many divine works, things only God himself can do, which Jesus is shown to do. He took part in the creation of the world (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:10). He preserves and rules all things (John 5:17). He raises the dead (Job 19:25; John 6:39-40; John 11:25).

Finally, the object of worship must be God alone, but worship is given and commanded to be given to the Son, Jesus Christ. “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:23). “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:10). “When they saw Jesus, they worshiped him” (Matthew 28:17).

Truly and most obviously, the deity of Jesus Christ shown here by Paul’s words: Jesus, along with the Father, is the giver of grace and peace. This would be impossible for anyone else. Paul could not in a million years dare to say, “May grace and peace be yours from God and from me,” or “from God and from the virgin Mary.” It would be either a lie or a terrible mistake, but false in either case. No one grants divine peace unless he himself has it in his own hands to give. Since Christ Jesus grants this peace and grace to us, then we know from a technical point of view that they are his to give. But from a worshiping, believing point of view, we are overwhelmed by his goodness, for he gives these things to us—to me!—even though I do not deserve them. This is the love of Christ in my life. For the law convicts me, and my sin condemns me, but Jesus alone saves.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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