1 Peter 5:12 “Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!” As we read in Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” So, grace is the power to overcome sin and in Ephesians 2:8 we read “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” and so we know that grace is the unmerited favour of God to us.
The true grace of God will help us to walk firm in Christ, that is, in his will. As we look through the entire chapters of 1 Peter to know what Peter has written about God’s grace, we read in 1 Peter 1:2 “May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.” So, God can give us grace and peace in the fullest measure and not just in part. We also read in 1 Peter 1:13 “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” So, grace is brought to us at the revelation of Jesus in our life. The main purpose of grace is to make us holy. If we are faithful in the revelation that we receive, he will give us more grace .We can fix our eyes on Jesus who gives us true grace .True grace helps us overcome sin and temptations and that is the clear indication whether we are walking in the true grace of God.
As we read further in 1 Peter 2, another test to know if we are in true grace is to see whether we have the hunger and thirst for the pure milk of God’s word. God’s grace will help us to be in the will of God to obey the authority. In chapter 5:4 we read “for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We read that the real way for grace to flow is to humble ourselves and to stay away from pride and not to be in false grace. When trials come, grace will be multiplied. Grace also brings obedience of faith. We read that in Rom 1:5 “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith”. As grace multiplies, faith also multiplies. True grace also removes all condemnation in our life, removes all low thoughts leading to self-condemnation and high thoughts like pride.
Therefore, the only way to receive the true grace of God is to remain humble. If you have received the grace of God already, you have to keep a check always whether you have pride within yourselves. If pride is present in the slightest, God will make an about turn and become an enemy in your life whereas if you remain humble and stand firm on the grace that has already been given to you, he will continue to give grace in abundance.
As we read through the Sermon on the Mount in Mathew 5, 6 and 7, we see that true grace brings transformation by helping us to be salt and light of the earth and also helps us to further see our own sins and thereby lead to repentance. As we read in 1 Peter 5:10, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” We are not perfect but God wants to perfect us which is possible only by remaining under the true grace of God. We are not to be God’s enemy, opposing him but humble ourselves daily to be in his true grace always.
May God bless us all.
