“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2Pe. 1:2 NAS)
I like to give special attention to the blessings we find in scripture. In both of his epistles, the Apostle Peter prays for grace and peace to be multiplied to believers. The modern-day church has been so strongly entangled with the spirit of religion that it is understandable why believers give ear to the teachings of the hyper-grace movement. The message of grace is too important for us to ignore, but as we do so, we must be careful to avoid the errors of that doctrine.
Truth in Scripture is like a finely woven fabric. Every principle is interwoven with other principles, making up the entire body of truth that we find in Christ. When we take one of these principles outside of the fabric that God has woven, we risk placing it into another fabric which opposes God’s truth.
The verse above tells us that grace comes “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”. To know God is more than knowing facts about Him; it is knowledge at a personal level. It comes from having walked with Him; having experienced His love in difficult circumstances. Grace is multiplied to us when we receive God’s help in our time of need (Heb. 4:16). When we face difficulties, we call upon God, and if we do that in faith, we see His grace manifested because grace is obtained through faith (Rom. 5:2).
Paul describes God as “the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort” (2Cor. 1:3). This is the same comfort that Peter talked about when he said, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” (1Pe. 4:14). When we cry out to God in a time of trial, He may not answer with immediate deliverance, but He will certainly strengthen us to endure the trial (Jas. 1:3,4). As the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2Cor. 12:9).
We know also that grace is multiplied to us through the knowledge of God because it is found “in” Christ (2Tim. 2:1). Jesus is “full of grace and truth”, and “of His fullness, we have all received grace upon grace”. (Jn. 1:14,16). His life in us enables us to obey God. “For it is God who is at work in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13). Although we are saved from the wrath of God through His mercy, we continue in that relationship through grace. The mercy of God is very important, but it is only one aspect of His grace (Heb. 4:16). Grace contains the ability to obey because it is an expression of the life of Christ in us.
If all we did was rely on God’s mercy, we would live this life without bearing fruit. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we will receive a reward for the works that survive the testing of fire (1Cor. 2:10-15). Fruit that endures is the fruit we bear as we abide in Christ. A simple way to understand abiding in Christ is through Paul’s words to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal. 2:20 NAS). I like the way this translation says that I live by faith “in” the Son of God. Some translations say that I live by “the” faith of the Son of God. It is true that we live by the faith God gives us, but we also need to know that we live by faith “in” Christ, crucified to this world.
The Kingdom we have access to is one of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29). If we walk by faith “in the Spirit”, we walk in grace. To manifest the Kingdom in our lives, we must release it. We can experience the grace to walk righteously in the same way that we can experience peace and joy. We are instructed to “let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts” (Col. 3:15), and to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4). This requires a response from us. If we choose to release peace and joy, we will experience them. Righteousness is manifested the same way; we must choose to let Christ live through us.
The life of Christ in us also provides grace to overcome sinful patterns. “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jn. 8:36). Sin is a problem to man whether he is religious or not. Religion is man’s effort to deal with sin, but God’s solution is grace. We do not overcome sin by ignoring it. We overcome through repentance and faith. If sinful patterns are ignored, they will hurt others in our lives and will eventually result in judgment. We cannot think too lightly of God patience and kindness because it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom. 5:4). When Jesus began to preach His message of grace, he said: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk. 1:15). If Christians presume to be in God’s favor while ignoring sin, they are like the Israelites who failed to enter the promised land because they refused to believe God. Even after their disobedience, they decided to attack the Amalekites and Canaanites, presuming that God would help them, but they were severely defeated. Presumption does not release God’s grace in our circumstances, it releases death.
The grace of God comes in many forms (1Pe. 4:10). Function (or motivational) gifts are gifts of grace. “And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly.” (Rom. 12:6). Ministry gifts are also gifts of grace (see Eph. 4:7, 11). Even the gifts of the Holy Spirit are gifts of grace, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” (1Cor. 12:11). They are all expressions of the life of Christ through us. Our responsibility is to be a good steward of the grace of God (1Pe. 4:10,11). We do that by being clean and yielded vessels (2Tim. 2:20,21), walking in love through faith. Let love be our goal, as we lift the sails of faith to the Spirit of grace and navigate the sea of life with a pure heart and a good conscience (1Tim. 1:5).
Highway in the Wilderness 