“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”
and peace be multiplied
Peace is always the result of grace. There are two kinds of peace:
1) peace with God (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14) and the
2) peace of God (Philippians 4:7; Isaiah 26:3,4).
Peace with God is our salvation. Peace of God is our personal peace with him day by day.
Peter intends all sorts of peace here: domestic, civil, ecclesiastical peace in the church, and personal, spiritual peace with God.
The Bible does not promise world peace for the present age. Jesus said that there will be wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6,7). There will, however, be peace in the future millennium (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). That is when the swords will be beaten into plowshares. The Bible says that there is no peace for the wicked (Isaiah 48:22).
Many carnal Christians out of fellowship know nothing about the peace of God. They are bitter, critical, and cynical. They will always be miserable when they are out of fellowship with the Lord.
“Multiplied” – not added, subtracted or divided. The word “multiplied” implies that the Asia Minor believers already had some measure of grace and peace. Peter wants these blessings to multiply in their lives.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians who experience the grace of God in their lives experience personal peace.
APPLICATION:
We cannot enjoy peace in our lives if we have not appropriated the grace of God.
The peace of God always follows the grace of God in introductions to Bible books. We will not know the peace of God until we experience the grace of God.
This is God’s personal peace filling the heart of the Christian. It is an internal tranquillity that keeps us from pushing the panic button when something goes wrong. Instead of heading for panic palace, we draw upon the grace of God. There is no reason why we should fret and stew. Why should we be disgruntled and dour about life? All the non-Christian can do is go out and get drunk. All he can do is escape and get away from his problems.
