Eph 1:2 Comments: Grace and peace; from God and the Lord Jesus Christ. The grace of God is best defined as the "unmerited favor of God." What an unimaginable gift. All the works of all the people who ever lived on earth combined can in no way merit such love from God, yet it is offered freely to every soul. Peace is made possible only through the shed blood of Jesus who by His death atoned for the sins of all mankind. Without His precious blood, there can be no peace. The wages of sin is death. The very first sin the accountable person commits in life dooms them to eternal separation from the presence of God and His glory. God's righteous nature demands punishment for sin. God manifested Himself in flesh, on earth, with man and suffered death for us, at the hands of His own creation. God's penalty of death for sin was paid by God's Son, thus offering peace between the creator and the created. That's the grace of our creator, the unmerited favor of God. Ps 8:3-9 Paul's letter to the Colossians spells out in detail the relationship between Christ's blood and peace. Col 1:20 Peace with God is offered freely and is available to every
soul, but it is not without condition. In Paul's very next sentence in
Col
1:23 he spells out one of these conditions; "If ye
continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;" The Christian must never lose sight of the incredible gift of God's grace.
"from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ" The unity of Deity is set forth by the apostle here. The peace and grace extended towards mankind is from both the Father and from Christ Jesus. Notice the order of the mentioned Godhead by the inspired apostle.
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