“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3–5, ESV)
John Newton described himself as a wretch. When he was 11 years of age, he left school and became a seaman. In time he joined in the practice of transporting captured slaves from Africa to be sold around the world. He was a slave trader. Yet something miraculous happened to John Newton. God worked on his heart and he trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of his sin and the promise of eternity. He became a new creature in Christ. He experienced genuine conversion and his whole life turned around.
He then looked at his former life with distain and studied for the ministry. He was ordained to the gospel ministry at the age of 39 and preached the gospel as one who truly understood God’s amazing grace. Newton included Hymns with his services and with a friend, William Cowper, began writing them. In 1779, he published one of the most beloved and sung hymns of all time titled “Amazing Grace.” The hymn is one that speaks directly of Newton’s own conversion story. The first stanza goes like this, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”
Paul wrote to the Galatians because they needed to reinforce the truth and sweetness of God’s grace to the soul.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3–5, ESV)
In Paul’s address to the churches, he emphasized a connection between grace and peace. The two things are necessarily joined. Peace cannot come to a soul that is devoid of grace. The Galatians were being bombarded with a teaching devoid of true grace. Any promise of salvation based upon works is not of grace and it will lack peace. Since a legalistic works-based way to salvation requires human effort, it yields uncertainty, unceasing labor, and unrest. It is hardly peaceful. It is like the person who labors to paint a bridge, but as soon as he gets to one end he must start again at the other. The job is never done.
God’s amazing grace, brings true rest to the soul and this means total peace. Only true believers will experience this type of peace. As we go through this letter to the Galatians, it behooves us to ask ourselves a question. Are we experiencing this awesome peace of God? It is available to us. However, it requires trusting in the work of Christ on the cross alone. He died on the cross to pay the complete penalty of sin for us so that we could be saved. It requires only one thing by us. We must transfer our trust from what we have been trusting for our salvation to Jesus Christ alone and His finished work on the cross for our salvation. Paul wrote it like this.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV)
Renewing the Heart 