GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE

“To Timothy, my beloved son: GRACE, MERCY, and PEACE from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” – 2 Timothy 1:2

GRACE, MERCY, and PEACE – What a threefold cord! Three sisters of salvation! Three Companions in Redemption! They encapsulate the Gospel and sum up our Redemption in Christ. Paul, began all of his epistles by greeting his readers with “grace” and “peace” (Rom.1:7; 1 Cor.1:3; 2Cor. 1:2; Gal.1:3; Eph.1:2; Phi.1:2; Col.1:2; 1The.1:1; 2The.1:2; and Phm.1:3). Being an apostle to the Gentiles or the Greek-speaking world, it was necessary for him to greet his foremost readers in a customary Greek manner. Like the modern day “Hello, how are you doing” the salutation of ‘Grace’ was the customary greeting exchanged between Greeks.

The word “grace” – charis in Greek – also carries the idea of favor. So, the greeting of Grace was like: “I greet you with grace and favor.” But Paul wasn’t only addressing the Greek world. As a Jew himself, he also wanted to greet Jewish readers of his letters. The Jews customary way of greeting one another even today, is to say, “Shalom!” The Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom is ‘eirene’, meaning – Peace. By using both of these greetings to begin his epistles, Paul brilliantly embraced both the Greek and the Jewish world, and the doors were thrown open for the whole world to read his letters.

In First and Second Timothy, and Titus, Paul inserted the word “mercy” between “grace” and “peace.”  Here, he was not writing to an entire congregation; rather, these were private letters directed to Timothy and Titus. Why the insertion of “Mercy”? In all three letters, Paul was writing to someone in the ministry who felt swamped by the affairs of life. For instance, it seemed like Timothy was feeling overwhelmed by the phenomenal growth in the church under his care, relative to his youthfulness. He was feeling so challenged that he apparently wrote a letter to Paul, seeking his counsel on how to choose leaders for his fast-growing congregation. As the young minister faced this daunting task, he needed to be reminded that there was special “Mercy” available to help him in his time of need.

Several years after, the political environment in the Roman Empire radically changed and persecution arose against believers. The Church began to quickly diminish as believers were captured, imprisoned, enslaved, and killed. Many believers defected from the Christian faith and went back to paganism in order to avoid death. Timothy’s heart must have been broken to see the size of his prized congregation decline before his eyes, and watch leaders defect and backslide. This was the stage set for the Second epistle! If you’ve ever felt like problems were mounting all around you and you didn’t have enough strength to take another step, Timothy did! And God always extends a unique measure of Mercy to people who feel like they are being swamped by the affairs of life.

Now let’s integrate the three virtues: Grace is the ground for our redemption, Mercy is the manifestation, and Peace is the perfection. Mercy is not receiving what we do deserve. Grace is receiving what we do not deserve. We deserve to go to hell, but by His Mercy we shall never go there. We do not deserve to go to heaven, but by His Grace we’ll spend eternity there.

Mercy pardons, and Grace justifies, so that Peace can reign. Mercy saves us from hell. Grace admits us to heaven. The death of Christ was sufficient to pardon us in mercy, but it took the resurrection to accomplish our justification by grace (Rom.4:25). And now, by faith, we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom.5:1).

The Mercy of God will keep you from what you couldn’t shield yourself from. His Grace will do for you what you cannot possibly do for yourself. On the platforms of Mercy and Grace, you’ll be kept in Peace. You cannot manufacture or sustain your own peace. You cannot make and keep yourself in peace: not peace with God, not peace with self, not peace with others or even peace of mind. Grace purchased peace. Mercy releases peace. By Faith you obtain peace!