The apostle Paul used the phrase “grace to you and peace” to address the saints in all his letters to the churches scattered throughout the known world of his day. The word "saints" refers to all Christians. If you are a Christian, then you are a saint. So in a way, he was also addressing you today.
So exactly what is this grace and peace? Because of your positional standing with God as a saint you have God’s grace and peace available to you. Grace means God’s unmerited favor. After salvation, grace is the ability provided by God through the power of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life. Peace is not just the absence of inner conflict, but echoes the Old Testament concept of shalom, where a person’s life with God and with everything else is in ordered harmony, both physically and spiritually, and “all is well.”
As wonderful as it is to have grace and peace available to us in any measure, 2 Peter 1:2 states, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” In other words, grace and peace are not rationed out to the believer in limited amounts.
Then how do we experience an increase of these two things God wants us to experience? The scripture explains that as we grow in our knowledge of God through the study of His word, God uses it to produce in us a greater measure of both. I don’t know of any greater encouragement today to spend time in Bible study than multiplied grace and peace! Do you?
Father, thank you for abundantly providing your children with grace and peace as we grow in our knowledge of You. Amen
Go Deeper — God has graciously provided a means by which we can experience greater grace and greater peace. Let’s be wise enough to do our part and spend time in His word today.