“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Despite how he sounds, Paul was not a nice dude.

While he opened his letters with this signature greeting, he’s best known for the harsh rebukes that followed.

Grace is unmerited favor, something bestowed upon us that we cannot and did not earn apart from our salvation and life in Christ.

Peace is both a feeling and a condition. The feeling of confident assurance while under the condition of our absolute redemption, having made peace with God.

Paul’s greeting IS the gospel in its simplest and most elegant form.

Together, these two are pronouncements from Paul to believers, not wishes for something that might still come to pass. It’s his affirmation of identity of those in earshot of his letters.

Grace and peace are what the world needed most both then and now.

Before you launch into what might be an uncomfortable discussion, it behooves you to first acknowledge the grace and peace we share as brothers and sisters.

Your greeting might be their only takeaway.