In Ephesians Paul uses the word "Grace" 12 times and the word "Peace" 7 times.
We'll delve into the theological meanings of these two words as we work our way through the letter.
For now, just the simple thought that Paul starts the letter with this wish: that his readers would experience grace and peace.
Paul is in prison!
Yet he can wish grace and peace to his readers.
It seems that having grace and peace is not dependent on circumstances, but it is something that transcends our circumstances. Grace and peace do not require the absence of trouble and hardship, but rather they can be our experience in spite of adversity.
But Paul goes further - grace and peace come from a _relationship_ with God. There is part of me that wishes that he had used a Trinitarian formula here: "from God our father, the Lord Jesus Christ AND the Holy Spirit." But Paul takes the work and presence of the Spirit as a given - he understands that we only experience the Father and the Son through the mediation of the Spirit. The nature of our relationship with God is that we have a relationship _with_ the Father and Son _through_ the Spirit.
So here's the basic definition:
Grace: I have received unmerited favour through God's goodness.
Peace: My soul is at rest because I depend on God and not myself.
At the very outset Paul wishes this for his readers and this is the one of the most powerful features of Christianity: Christians experience and manifest grace and peace - and if we don't, there is something wrong with our relationship to God.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
