Grace and Peace

Hi everyone-

Sorry it's been a bit longer than usual since my last post. I'm in mid-term purgatory (I can't call it "hell" since I go to a Christian school and all :). So, with that in mind, this, and perhaps some future posts, will be about "grace and peace," as I'm writing a 10 page research paper about the terms. What is more, I sign virtually every email and blog post with these words and try to live a life of grace and peace, but why and what do they mean?

So, so much ... Any questions? :) The Apostle Paul greets his audience in every single one of his letters in the Bible by wishing them grace and peace ... Every single one, so I'm guessing they were important to him. Back in his day (Wednesday?) the standard Greek greeting was chairein (or "greetings"), Paul doesn't use this term though, instead he writes charis (or "grace") which is derived from the same root as the first word. The Jewish word for "greetings, conversely, was shalom (or "peace, wholeness, fullness, every good thing" ... basically the way things God means them to be). Paul uses the Greek word for "peace", eirene. Thus, by wishing the readers grace and peace Paul is brilliantly doing several things.

He's subverting the Greco-Roman culture by exchanging the usual "greetings" for "grace" in a play on words. PLUS he's subverting Jewish culture, by combining their greeting ("peace") with a variation of the Greek greeting. Thus, with two words Paul combined the Greeks, Romans, and Jews. He's breaking down barriers and saying we are all children of the God.

Grace and peace is also in many ways a very short summation of the gospel according to Paul. We all were/are at war with God in that we sin and rebel against Him. But through the grace of the life and work of Jesus, an absolutely free and undeserved gift, peace between God and us is restored. Our joyful response to this grace is to pass it on to those around us. In other words, God's graceful gift of peace allows us to freely relate peacefully, wholly, and healthily with others.

I have 10 pages to write on this, so I have more to say ... Are you interested? Wait for it ... :) Grace and peace to you in the meantime.

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Grace and peace,
Lang