what we always have

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

2 John 3

There is a lot of powerful comfort and life-changing perspective packed into this greeting from the apostle John. The little book of 2 John may be just a tiny postcard of an epistle, but we should still take the time to unpack its message. In the case of this greeting, there are five unique distinctives of the Christian life that are truly a lifetime’s worth of exploration in their depth. All of them are gifts from God and are also the character of God displayed to us.

We begin with GRACE. Grace is God’s good favor displayed to us in countless ways. It is favor we did not earn or deserve. God gives it each day with the new sunrise. It is as common as our home, our health, and our regular happiness. It is as spectacular as the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus so that we could be made holy and right with God again. Grace runs the entire gamut of God’s goodness and defines our life in Him.

MERCY is related to grace, but emphasizes even more our inability to please God on our own. He did everything to change that. And like grace, His mercies are faithfully new every morning, treating us not as our sins deserve, but loving us in His Son as we have believed and trusted Jesus.

And because of grace and mercy we know PEACE. This peace abides in us. It brings hope. Peace gives us perspective. It is eternal and extends beyond our temporary, earthbound circumstances. It is above and beyond this world. Peace too is a gift of God in Jesus Who is our peace.

God has given us TRUTH in His Word and in the Living Word, Jesus Christ. I never need to question the reality of truth found in the entirety of scripture for God has spoken! I can know this truth, and the truth sets me free!

And God has spoken in LOVE, forever displayed in the cross of Christ. How could I doubt the love of a God Who did not spare His own Son, but willing gave Him up for us all?