Grace and Peace to You
30 Days in Philippians - day 1
Today we begin a 30-day journey through Epistle to the Philippians...a letter written from a prison cell, yet filled with joy.
That alone should get our attention.
Paul the Apostle writes to the church in Philippi while imprisoned, and it’s worth remembering...Philippi is not just any city in his story. This is the very place where he once sat behind the stone and steel of another prison cell, singing and praying in the night.
And somewhere in that city was a man who would have remembered that night clearly.
The Philippian jailer.
He had heard those prayers. He had seen the doors fly open. He had come face to face with the power of God and the grace of God. Only hours before, he was ready to take his own life. By the end of the night, he and his whole household were rejoicing in salvation.
That man understood grace.
He understood peace.
So when Paul begins this letter, saying, “Grace to you and peace…,” these are not empty words.
They are not mere greetings.
They are not wishful thinking.
They are a confident declaration of what God gives to His people.
We often think of grace and peace as the doorway into the Christian life and they are. You needed grace to be saved. You needed peace with God.
But they were never meant to stop there.
Grace is not a one-time gift.
Peace is not a one-time experience.
They are the ongoing supply of the Christian life.
Paul does not point the church to himself, or to its leaders, as the source of these things. The bishops and deacons are mentioned, but they stand in need of grace and peace just like everyone else.
Instead, he points them where we must go:
To God our Father.
And to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the source.
And here is the truth we often forget...you still need what you first received.
You need grace today.
You will need grace tomorrow.
And God is not reluctant to give it.
So don’t treat grace and peace like something behind you.
Go to God, through the Lord Jesus Christ and receive them again.
