“Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love”. 2 John 1:3
Nothing gets baseball fans on their feet faster than a triple play. That is, of course, if it’s the opposing team doing the fancy teamwork. Triple plays are rare in baseball because certain conditions have to be met, like no outs and at least two runners on base. Since the inception of Major League Baseball in 1876, there have only been 721 triple plays at only five per season on average.
The Apostle John begins his letter to one of the churches with a triple play right from the start, and it’s something extremely rare. This triple play, however, doesn’t get anyone out, but rather brings us huge blessings. In 2 John verse three, John writes, “Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us.”
Now it’s very common, in the letters to the churches written by Paul, Peter or any one of the New Testament writers, to see the words, “Grace and peace be with you.” But rarely, if ever, do we see the word mercy added to that duet to make a trio. So, what’s so special about the triple play blessing?
Let’s take a quick look at these three words. First, the word grace is the Greek word “charis” and means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, good-will, loving kindness and favor.” Grace is completely unearned and undeserved. Wow! John could have just stopped with the word grace, right?
But no, John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, goes on to give us mercy which is from the Greek word “eleos” and means kindness and good will toward the miserable and afflicted. As it relates to us as believers, mercy is defined as clemency of God in providing and offering to men salvation by Christ. When you look at the word clemency, this basically means that, because of Christ, we don’t get from God what we deserve.
Lastly, we see the word peace which, in the Greek, is the word “eirene” and means rest, safety, security, and harmony between two parties. Specifically, for the believer, peace. is defined as the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God.
Today, stand in awe and enjoy the triple play of blessing God has provided for us through Jesus Christ.