Galatians 1:3

Paul prayed for kindness and *peace at the start of every letter that he wrote. Here he used Jesus’ full title. ‘*Lord’ means that Jesus has complete authority. He is head over everything. ‘Jesus’ is his human name. The name Jesus means ‘It is God who saves’. Jesus saves people from their *sins (Matthew 1:21). ‘Christ’ is a *Greek word. It means the same as the *Hebrew word Messiah. This means ‘the person whom God has anointed’. To ‘anoint’ means to mark a person in a special way. They often marked the person with oil. It is a sign. It shows that God has chosen that person for some special service. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). In the *Old Testament, God promised to send the Messiah to save his people, the *Jews. However, most *Jews did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

‘Kindness’ is the word ‘grace’. It is a gift that God gives. We do not deserve it and we cannot earn it. ‘Grace’ means that God the Father is kind and generous to his children. God helps and protects people. God’s grace (kindness) comes to people by means of Jesus. God gives his people everything that they need for their Christian life.

‘Peace’. In the *Hebrew language this word is ‘shalom’. It is a traditional greeting in the *Old Testament (Numbers 6:24-26) and among *Jewish people today. ‘Peace’ is not just the opposite of war or noise. Peace means that God gives a person a calm spirit. This affects every part of a person’s life and relationships. Nobody can have God’s *peace without his grace (kindness).