freedom from bondage. Believers are no longer slaves; they are free—not through their own merit but through God’s redeeming grace. Rhonda H. Kelley 1:3 Paul’s introductory greeting is a prayer for “grace” (Gk. charis), meaning “unmerited favor,” and “peace” (Gk. eirene), a sense of well-being resulting from a personal relationship with God unaffected by the circumstances of life. Paul wanted his fellow believers in Galatia to experience God’s presence in their daily lives.