Grace and Peace Multiplied
- Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, (2Peter 1:2)
This is the refreshing promise to Peter’s words. Those carrying guilt, remorse and godly sorrow for their sins often cannot find the sense of favor and the comfort the gospel was designed to create within. Since the inspired word of God reveals that the more we come to know the character of God and of Jesus our Lord, the more grace and peace will be multiplied within our hearts.
To live in the presence of God with feelings of serenity, peace, without conflict and with a sense of belonging as a sinner is a difficult thing to do. Sin creates conflict and turmoil. It creates guilt, shame, remorse and the knowledge that we no longer belong or have the right to be in His presence. We know sin separates us from God and brings wrath on the sons of disobedience. Even with the passing of time and receding emotions, another sin always arises to reinforce our feeling of unworthiness. Add to this “blessed are the poor in spirit,” and “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart These, O God, You will not despise. (Ps. 51:17). What could we possibly learn about God’s character that would limit this?
Quickly bringing guilt and remorse to an end is the foundation we must lay. Since our sins disappoint and hurt God and put our eternal soul at risk, guilt and remorse should always follow sin. God expects that after each sin there should be godly sorry, repentance and confession. But what about after we have done these thing? Knowing God’s character allows us to feel forgiven. God doesn’t expect or want us to continue in sorrow and guilt. Just as the eunuch “went on his way rejoicing” after he was baptized in obedience to the gospel, so should every disciple after repentance and confession of sin. God’s just and righteous character permits us to feel the same grace and peace after repentance and confession as we did when we first obeyed the gospel. The promise is the same: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn. 1:9). When we understand how God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us, grace and peace will indeed be multiplied.
Consider how God views sin. As with Adam and Eve, the day one sins he will die because “the wages of sin is death.” “The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression;” “because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.” God has always been clear about this. But there is another equally important side to God. There is no doubt that each sin can bring the loss of our soul. Yet, after a turn from that sin, life is restored. “As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness;” “None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live. (Ezek 33:12-20).
God considers our turn from sin in repentance and confession to do “lawful and right.” Once done, none of those sins are remembered by God. God promised He will forgive and cleanse us after confession. Thus it is a lack of faith and trust in His ability to forgive that makes us continue to feel guilty. When we learn this and see things differently, grace and peace will multiply. We must guard ourselves from taking our own human thoughts and attitudes and thinking God thinks the same way. God has mercy (tender compassion and sympathy with a strong desire to help) and will always pardon.
- Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:7-9)
When Moses asked God to show him His ways, God revealed this again. “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty.” Later, the Holy Spirit added, “Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” The extent of His mercy to those who fear Him is higher than “the heavens above the earth.” As we consider that comparison, it is not a limited mercy but limitless. “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. This is another way to express a great distance. Our sins have been so far removed that it too is immeasurable. They have been removed and forgotten. (Ex. 33:13, Ex. 34:6-7; Ps. 103:8-13; Heb. 10:17). Truly God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. They too are higher than the heavens above our own. While we can’t relate to it being so wonderful, we must simply accept it is true.
As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.” The Lord pities those who fear Him with the same pity a father feels toward children. There is no devoted and loving parent who doesn’t understand how they feel about their children no matter what they have done. God revealed that these feelings are part of being created in His image and likeness. God loves His children like we love our own and forgives us as we forgive our children.
Jesus captured this in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). This foolish son came to his father in youthful lust and pride, demanding his inheritance. His father had every reason to reject him after such behavior. Yet, after the son had wasted all his father’s goods with harlots and in sinful pursuits, this now wretched son, still believed his father would pity him when no one else had. He knew he could return to his father, confess his sins and receive a favorable reception. When the father saw him that is exactly what happened! The father ran to him, hugged and even kissed him. He was so pleased his son had learned his lesson, that forgiveness and acceptance were complete. He put the best robe on him, gave him a ring and killed the fatted calf, and said “let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
Jesus had already made His application in an earlier parable: “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Lk. 15). Jesus wanted us to see God as that loving father who forgave and restored his repentant son with joy. That is His character and outlook toward sinners. Once again, the more we understand this the more grace and peace will multiply.
The reality is far greater than the parable. God demonstrated His love as a Father by giving up His only begotten son for us. Jesus was perfect - all that God had hoped Adam and Eve would have been. Jesus lived his entire life in submission to God’s law. He had proven that God’s law was fair, just and could be kept. Yet, instead of returning to glory, God saw Him as the perfect sacrifice to save us. Jesus revealed the difficulty of what God asked Him to do by “being in agony” and with His “vehement cries and tears” God heard but did not act. God loved us so much He willingly endured watching His son die.
- For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. (Rom 5:6-9)
Since God did this for us when we were at our very worst, how much more will He do it as we are growing and drawing nearer to Him. After Jesus’ death, God can forgive completely and eternally. Though we were sinners and enemies, now we are justified and reconciled. God will not turn away from us any more than the father of the prodigal son (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:1-10; Heb. 5:7; Lk. 22:43).
Conclusion: For godly and devout Christians, this is a very difficult thing to learn. Our tender conscience leaves us filled with guilt and remorse. God understands and wants this response. But after that response, He wants us to forget it as He forgets it and remove it as He removed it. As we learn that as the heavens are high above the earth so God’s ways are not our ways and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, our feelings of grace and peace truly will multiply.