Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
—2 Peter 1:2
A greeting of “peace” appears near the beginning of all but four New Testament letters.
The God of peace gives gifts of peace. Here are four of them:
The peace of justification. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1).
The peace of reconciliation. “God was pleased . . . to reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood” (Col 1:19–20).
The peace of assurance. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).
The peace of hope. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him” (Rom 15:13).
Peace isn’t just the opposite of anxiety—
it is the absence of anxiety.