If you turn to the first epistle
of Peter, chapter five, and I'd like to draw your attention to
verses 10 to 12, where we read, but the God of all grace, who
have called us under his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. By Silvanus, a faithful
brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting
and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye
stand. I have written briefly, exhorting
and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye
stand. Well is this where you stand?
Where do you stand this day? Many speak of grace. Many would
say they stand in grace. Is that where you stand? In grace? In the true grace of God? For
here Peter speaks of the true grace of God. The true grace
of God. Therefore we must conclude that
there is also grace which is not true. Grace which in reality
is not grace. That which men call grace but
which falls short of the description of grace which Peter provides
us with in this epistle. That grace wherein his hearers
to whom he writes stand. There is a grace which people
speak of which is not grace at all. There is grace, you see,
so called, and there is the true grace of God. Well, in which
do you stand? You may speak of grace, but do
you truly stand in this that Peter calls the true grace of
God? Well let us first ask briefly
just what is grace then? What is the grace of God? Grace is the unmerited mercy,
the unmerited favour, love of God to those that deserve it
not. This is the favour he freely
shows to guilty, undeserving sinners. It's that love he sets
upon those that deserve it not, those rebels. sinners, the wicked,
the wayward, the base, the vile, the selfish, the self-seeking,
the self-serving, rebels. It is the favor he shows unto
such by which he delivers them from all their iniquity, from
all their sins, and from all the condemnation which is due
unto them. Grace is free. Grace is a gift. Grace is abundant. Grace is not
earned, it's not deserved, it's not claimed, it's not merited. Grace is not of man, nor by the
works of man, nor the will of man. Grace is of God. It is all of God, it is entirely
of God. from start to finish. It is unmerited, it is free. It is what God freely gives unto
an undeserving people to deliver them from sin. to deliver them
from condemnation and to bring them into eternal life through
His precious Son and through the death of His only begotten
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because of that blood shed on the tree
for sinners. Yes, grace is free. Seven aspects
of grace we read of briefly in the Scriptures. Firstly, we read
that grace is that which saves. As Ephesians 2 verses 8 to 9
tells us plainly, For by grace are ye saved through faith, And
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, Not of works,
lest any man should boast. Thus it is the grace of God which
brings salvation, As Titus 2.11 tells us. Nothing else does. Nothing else can. Salvation comes
solely, exclusively and entirely by the grace of God. Yes, it
is the grace of God which brings salvation. Grace is that, secondly,
grace is that upon which the gospel is based. A gospel without
grace is no gospel. As Acts 20, 24 tells us, None
of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which
I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the
grace of God. The gospel of the grace of God. Grace defines the gospel, the
gospel is the gospel of the grace of God. Without grace, there
is no gospel. Likewise, as such, grace is conveyed
by the truth, the truth of the gospel. There is no gospel without
grace and there is no grace without the gospel and the truth of the
gospel. Grace is conveyed by the preaching
of the truth and none other way. As Colossians 1, 6 makes clear,
which is common to you as it is in all the world, and bring
it forth fruit as it doth also in you, since the day he heard
of it and knew the grace of God in truth. Yes, the Colossians
knew the grace of God In truth, it was conveyed by the truth.
They knew the grace of God in truth, they knew the true grace
of God, and they knew the true grace of God through the preaching
of the gospel, through preaching of the truth. Thirdly, grace
is that by which righteousness is bestowed. Righteousness. Without righteousness there is
no salvation. By nature we are guilty, wicked
sinners, unrighteous, deserving of condemnation, debtors to the
law, lawbreakers, those who have turned from God, those who have
turned unto our own ways. And salvation can only be made
known through righteousness. We can only be saved if we are
righteous, if we are washed from our sins, if we are cleansed,
if we are guiltless. And grace is that by which righteousness
in the gospel is bestowed to those who are unrighteous, those
who are unable to produce righteousness, to sinners, to the weak, to the
poor, to those without strength, to the unrighteous. As Galatians
2.21 tells us, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
comes by the law, if righteousness comes by works, by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain. No, righteousness comes by the
grace of God. It is that by which we are justified,
being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, Romans 3, 24. Or as we read elsewhere,
we are justified not by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ. It's Christ's death upon the
cross, that wondrous work, that wondrous act of faith by which
he laid down his life in the place of his people. in which
he swallowed up the wrath of God due to their sins, that they
might be spared the wrath, that they might be spared condemnation.
It is through that death that such a guilty people are justified,
are declared just and righteous before God. for one has stood
in their place and taken away their sins and taken away their
sin and taken away their condemnation and washed them clean in his
blood that they might be just that they might be righteous
in the presence of a holy god as grace is that by which righteousness
is bestowed fourthly grace is discriminating it separates it
distinguishes It sets apart those who are given grace from those
who are not. Those who are saved from those
who perish. Those who believe in God from
those who despise God. Those who have faith from those
who have no faith. The sheep from the goats. Grace is discriminating. It is
given by God to those whom He wills. give it, not to those
who men will to have it. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, we read in Genesis 6-8. And as a consequence, Noah
and his household, and none other, were delivered through the outpouring
of wrath in the flood which God sent upon this world, when he
looked upon the wicked, and injustice destroyed the wicked, but delivered
their remnant, delivered eight people, delivered a few, and
to whom he, in sovereignty, showed grace. Likewise in Romans 11,
5 we read, even so then at this present time also there is a
remnant according to the election of grace, a remnant. God has
elected, has chosen to show grace unto a people whom he calls a
remnant. Yes, grace separates. It separates
believers from unbelievers and it separates believers from the
world and separates them unto God. Fifthly, grace is not of
works. It is not a reward, not a debt. It is not given to those that
merit it, those that earn it. those who have worked, those
who have lived right, those who have done good. Grace is a gift. Indeed it is given to a people
who have not lived right, who have not deserved it, who do
not deserve the reward. It is not a debt, it is a gift. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt, we read in Romans
4. But grace is given to those who
don't work, who can't work, those who are without strength, those
who have nothing to pay. Grace is a gift. Hence it is
not given in response to either the works or the will of man. If it was, it would be a reward. Man's works or man's decision
has claimed a right on it. As if grace were offered to all
men, but only claimed by some. If that were the case, it would
simply be a reward. Reward for works or reward for
a good decision. But man has no rights, no claim,
no right to grace. No, God gives grace to those
who are utterly undeserving of grace. Those who have no claim,
no right, no deserts. Grace is not of works, but is
a gift. Secondly, grace is that gift
by which God's people are kept and preserved. Grace keeps God's
people. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians
15, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace,
which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. but I labored more
abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which
was with me. By the grace of God I am what
I am. Grace chose Paul, grace took
Paul, that rebellious man, that one who lived in self-righteousness,
a Jew, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and yet in what he thought was
enlightened religion, He persecuted the church, he persecuted the
followers of Christ for his religion blinded him to the truth. And
yet in grace, God took him and opened his eyes and delivered
him from sin, delivered him from his blindness, delivered him
from his rebellion, and revealed the truth to him, revealed Christ
to him as his savior by grace. And not only did grace deliver
him, but grace preserved him and kept him. By grace, I am
what I am. Likewise as 1 Peter 1 says in
verse 5, we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Those that were shown grace,
God's people, are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation. Grace keeps a people. It not
only saves, it keeps them to the end. And seventhly and finally
in a description of grace, We know that grace is that through
which God gave his son as a gift, as an offering, as a sacrifice,
as an offering for the sins of his people. As we read in Hebrews
2, 9. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every man. By the grace of God he tasted
death for every man, all those, all those men, all those from
all the four corners of the earth that the Father chose and gave
to Christ as his people, all those for whom he should die.
He tasted death by the grace of God. It's the grace of God
that gave the Son as an offering For sins, was he given as an
offering for your sins? Was he given for you? Do you
know that you are a sinner in need of salvation, a sinner in
need of righteousness, a sinner in need of mercy, a sinner in
need of grace, a sinner in need of an offering for your sins? Yes, grace gave the Son of God
as an offering for the sins of his people. Grace! Grace! Is this the grace in which
you stand? What do you know of this grace?
Has it been made known unto you? Has it been revealed to you?
Has God set his love upon you? Has he plucked you out of a rebellious
world? out of the depths of your sin,
out of your rebellion. Has he taken you out from that
way in which you once walked, far off from him? Has he taken
you and led you to himself? Has he brought you to an end
of yourself, brought you to the end of your own strength? Has
he shown you your weakness, your poverty? Has he shown you his
grace and his love and his mercy? Is this the grace wherein you
stand? For every blood-bought child of God loves grace. They rejoice in grace. It's the
song of their heart. Why? Because they know by bitter
experience just how helpless they were in their sin. How unwilling
they were. How careless they were. They
just didn't want to know. They didn't want God, they didn't
care for God, they didn't care for his ways, they didn't care
for his salvation, they didn't care for his gospel, they didn't
care for his son. And if they were ever made to
seek God, at one point, if they were ever shown their sin and
their need of salvation, they couldn't get to God. they were
warned of the wrath to come, if some fear was struck in their
heart, if the alarm was sounded, they tried to turn but they find
they couldn't get to him, they couldn't please him, they couldn't
walk as they should, they couldn't turn from their sins. When they
tried to do good, the good that they would they could not do,
and the evil that they would not that they did. And they found
themselves to be helpless, to be ruined, to be weak, Is that
you? Yes, they were unwilling and
unable. But grace takes such as these. It takes the unwilling, it takes
the weak, it takes the we would, it takes the sinner. Yes, it
takes the unwilling and it makes them willing. it makes them willing,
it makes them cry out for mercy, it makes them cry out to God,
it makes them call unto God, Lord have mercy upon me, a sinner,
Lord help, Lord save. His grace takes such as these,
and it hears the cries of such as these, and it casts off none
that cry in such a state out for salvation. It casts none
off, but it is given to all who call upon the name of the Lord.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Have you called? Have you known
His grace? of wondrous grace, wondrous grace
that's shown to those so undeserving, so lost, so uncaring, so unwilling,
so helpless, wondrous grace, grace. Well that's grace, that's
the true grace of God. But what then is grace which
is not true? Grace which is not true, grace
which is perhaps in word only. What does Peter mean when he
speaks of the true grace of God? Surely then there is grace which
is not true. What is grace which is not true? How do we know that the grace
wherein we stand is the true grace of God? Many speak of grace. Most who profess Christ speak
of grace. But many who speak of grace have
a grace which is not the true grace of God. So what then is
not grace? What is false grace? What is
grace in but name only? Well firstly there is works. Firstly there is that seeking
to be saved. By the works, the effort, the
strength of man, there is works. Grace is not of the law. Grace is diametrically opposed
to the law. You will either be justified
by the works of the law or you will be justified by grace. It's one or the other. You will
either be justified by works where you will be justified solely,
entirely by grace. You may say, well, isn't it obvious
that works is not grace? Perhaps. This is clearly not
grace. Yet there are many who call it
grace. Yes, there are many who call
salvation by works. They use the term grace. They know that grace is spoken
of in the scriptures and they're not so foolish to just blatantly
describe their religion as their salvation by works. They will
color it and describe it by grace. The Roman Catholics call their
system of salvation grace. They speak much of grace. But
their meaning of grace is that God gives men grace the ability
to do the works that are required of them in order to be saved. They have a cooperation between
God and man. God will help you if you put
in the effort. If you strive to live right,
if you strive to turn from these sins, if you strive to attend
the mass, to attend church, to pray, to live in this manner
if you do this God will help you and by such a cooperative
effort by such grace in cooperation with your works in the end you
will be saved they say but this is wrong this is fundamentally
wrong grace is grace only if it is entirely of grace by which
we are saved. If you mix works in any measure
with grace, it is no more grace. Salvation by works, whether you
call it grace or not, it still works. Yes, God gives grace to
believers to walk in the Spirit, But that is not to save them,
that's to cause them to walk and to live before him as those
who have already been saved, already justified by Christ. Grace saves by works, no man
is justified. Like the Catholics, the Seventh-day
Adventists likewise have much to say about the law of God.
They say the law was given, we cannot set it apart, it was there.
We must, as Christians so-called, we must keep the law. We're called
to keep the law and we will only be saved if we keep it. And whether
they speak of grace, the reality is they preach works. The Russellites
are Jehovah's Witnesses are much the same. Much stress is placed
upon how you live, upon your obedience. And unless you're
obedient, you'll never be saved. But Paul clearly teaches, you
who would seek to be justified by the law, do you not hear the
law? Do you not hear it? Those who
would seek to be justified by it, those who would put themselves
under the law, they are a debtor to keep the whole law. You break
it in but one point and you're guilty of all. And the reality
is we have all broken it not just in one point but in all
and we are guilty of all and our works will never save us
for our works are as filthy rags whether you wrap them up in grace
or not instill salvation by works as we read in Ephesians 2.8 for
by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves
it is the gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast. Works don't come into it at all. It is by grace and grace alone. As 1 Corinthians 1 tells us,
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, chosen the weak things to confound the things which
are mighty, the base things, the things which are despised
have God chosen Yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught
things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus
by grace, that according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. But you begin to bring one work
into your salvation, and you can claim grace all you like. You've begun to glory in your
works and yourself. As Romans 10 tells us, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness. He's the end of it, he brought
it to an end. He fulfilled it in his death.
He concluded all its demands upon his people. He's the end
of it. As Galatians 2 tells us, I through
the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. Romans
7 teaches us that we are delivered from the law. Salvation is not
by works and not by the law. Secondly, another form of grace,
so-called, begins to be a bit more subtle. This is not just
works, this is works and grace mixed. touched on this already
but in Romans 11 again we read that you add works to grace and
it is no more grace it's no more grace it's one or the other if
by grace and it is no more works otherwise grace is no more grace
but if it be of works and it is no more grace otherwise work
is no more work works and grace cannot be mixed in the slightest
but here comes a group of people who will agree and they will
say no we don't believe we are justified by works the scriptures
are clear we are not justified by works but by faith our works
won't justify us Christ died on the cross to save us but we
are justified by faith All we must do is believe in Christ. But they then go on to make their
belief in Christ a work. They don't make faith the gift
of God. They don't make faith something
which the grace of God bestows. But faith becomes something which
man can produce by his own efforts. They agree that we are not justified
by the works of man. but by faith in Christ. But they
teach that faith is something which man can produce through
his own response, his own free will. And in so doing, they make
it a work. And in so doing, they mix works
with grace. They preach a Christ who died
for all who will accept him, if they but will. but then they
add something in them, outside of Christ, to Christ's works,
to Christ's grace, and they make their response, their decision,
their will, that by which they are saved, that which divides
one from another. But free will, the decision of
man, is not grace. Grace is God's choosing, of those
to whom he will show mercy. It isn't claimed. We don't choose
it. He gives it, despite our unwillingness. It isn't by works in any measure,
or by the will of man. Thirdly, there is that which
introduces works for sanctification. There is a third group who recognize
that salvation is all of grace. that even faith is the gift of
God, that all is by grace to deliver us from our sins. But
this group are far more subtle. Works aren't introduced for salvation,
they say, for justification. No, they bring works in to the
walk, the pathway of the believer. Their teaching is that we're
not justified by the works of man. We're justified entirely
by grace, but when it comes to sanctification, when it comes
to our walk before the Lord, we must work with him. This they
say is cooperative, this is grace being granted, that we may in
response work, that we may walk in accordance to the law of God.
They say that the law must be our rule of life, that God, having
washed us in the blood of Christ, entirely by grace, now sends
us back to the law to teach us how to live. Yes, they say salvation
is by grace, not of works. Yes, faith is the gift of God. But now you must strive to live
by the law. Now you must strive to live right.
You can't just sit back and let God do all the work, you must
strive. You must turn to the law, it's
your rule of life. And by such a subtle twisting
of the scriptures, and by such a turning of the eye from the
clear statements of the New Testament that we have been delivered from
the law, that we are dead to the law, that Christ and his
gospel are our rule, that we walk in a new creature, that
it is grace from start to finish. By such a subtle deception, they
introduce works again, even though they call it grace. Well, this
is horrible. It's turning from your new husband,
as Paul refers to Christ in Romans 7, and returning to your former
husband. Paul teaches us in Romans 7,
know ye not, brethren, For I speak to them that know the law, How
let the law have dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For
the woman which have an husband is bound by the law to her husband
so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she
is loose from the law of her husband. So then if while her
husband liveth she be married to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is freed from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, so that ye
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when
we were in the flesh, The motions of sins which were by the law
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now
we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in
the oldness of the letter. Could words be any clearer? Could
they? Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, even to Christ, even to him who is raised
from the dead, in order that ye should bring forth fruit unto
God. Now we are delivered from the
law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
We were once married to the law, we were once in debt to our old
husbands, and we were condemned by the law for we didn't keep
the law but through his death Christ delivered us from the
law and as we in our flesh died in Christ who believe in him
as we died in Christ our old man is crucified is slain under
the condemnation of the law and that old man in Adam that old
man which was crucified with Christ at the cross is never
to rise again but we have risen in the new man, we have risen
in Christ, married to Christ, married to another, married to
a new husband that we should serve that new husband, not our
former, not the law, not our old husband, but that we should
serve our new husband and that in him we should bring forth
fruit unto God. So those who would return you,
brethren, to the law, and teach in any manner that the law is
a rule of life by which you will be sanctified are simply teaching
you to turn from your new husband Christ back to your old husband. And this is horrible, this is
turning from your husband to your old, to another. They send
us back from Christ to our former lover, our former husband Moses,
back to the law. And in so doing, they are causing
the child of God to commit spiritual adultery. There's no other word
for it. It's adultery. And in such a
teaching, they not only condemn those who are brought under their
teaching, but they teach them to commit adultery. They teach
them to break the very law that they propose to be faithful to. They say, keep the law, and they
teach you to break the law. but Christ has delivered us from
the law, he is the end of the law, God has delivered us from
the law, we are slain, our old man is slain, and we are risen
with Christ, married to another. And yet how easily beguiled many
are by the subtleties of such a teaching, which hides under
the word grace, but in reality is simply a bringing back to
work. They say we're not justified by works, we're justified by
grace and yet we're sanctified by works and grace, by the law.
But in reality, in so doing, the fact is that they are teaching
justification by works. You cannot separate the two.
You are either justified and sanctified by grace entirely
through and through. Or if you bring works into any
of it, You are justified by works, and you are condemned already.
Yes, those who speak most of the law destroy the law. They break it constantly, they
set it at nought. By their traditions they have
set it at nought. They teach the law, neither understanding
what they teach, neither whereof they affirm, as 1 Timothy 1 tells
us. Whatever they may say of grace,
Fourthly, the last aspect of grace, which is not grace, is
that which we can describe as license, that in which people
claim grace, that form of religion where they rejoice much in grace,
where they love to throw off the shackles of the law, where
they love to throw off the shackles of legal rule over them, where
they rejoice that all is a gift, all is the love of God, all is
the mercy of God, that we are free, that we are set at liberty,
they claim to love these things and yet they do a horrible thing
in thinking that as such they are free to live in whatever
manner they like, which in a sense is true for the child of God,
for the child of God loves to serve God and walk in righteousness. But where there isn't the love
of God, but simply the claim upon grace in the letter, what
comes is a freeness to continue to sin, a freeness to continue
to live in the ways in which we once lived, a freeness to
pick and choose those things we want to do and don't want
to do, Paul rails against this at the
beginning of chapter 6 of Romans. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead to the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life, where
grace is shown to a man. It doesn't leave him in sin,
it doesn't leave him feeling free to indulge in the lust in
which he formerly walked. He hates sin. He hates the ways
of unrighteousness. He hates the ways he walked previously. He loves righteousness. He loves
the ways of God. He loves the Gospel. He loves
Christ. He loves Christ's teaching. He
loves to be obedient unto the Lord. He loves to walk before
the Lord in faith, in love, in obedience. He flees from anything
of unrighteousness. any tainting of the sin, he flees
from the world. Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid! For brethren, ye
have been called unto liberty. Yes, you have, unto liberty. Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made you free. Be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage, Never think to put yourself back under
works or under the law. Stand in liberty. Yes, ye have
been called unto liberty. But only use not liberty for
an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. True
grace, like true faith, produces fruit. Just as James teaches
that faith without works is dead. It is a false faith, a mere professional
faith. It is no true faith. It produces
no fruit. So grace, which produces no fruit,
is not grace. It is not the true grace of God.
It is false. It is a pretension. The true
grace of God causes one to live. It brings to life. And life is
seen. Life walks. Life brings forth
fruit. You see, some will follow the
Lord. But they will only do what he
says when they decide to, when it seems right to them. They
want to figure it all out first. They want to know why. They ask
questions. They read the scriptures and
they say, well, that seems fair enough. I'll do that. I'm not
sure about that. I'm free. I'm at liberty. Obedience springs forth from
their decision to follow, from their will, not from God's. But true faith follows in a childlike
manner. We're to be as children. We come
before the Lord as children. We hear what he says and we follow. The Lord speaks and the child
hears and he follows. Like Abraham, when God called
Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees, he didn't know why and he didn't
know where he was going. He could have had a thousand
questions in his head. Is this right? Oh Lord, I don't
want to go this way. And yet in faith, and by grace,
he followed. That's what grace does. It makes
a child of God obedient. It makes him childlike. It bows
to God's will, his sovereignty, his rule. Like a child, it follows
the father. You see, grace reigns through
righteousness, not through unrighteousness. not through disobedience, not
through worldliness, not through the flesh, but it reigns through
righteousness. Yes, it is true, God shows grace
to the disobedient, to the unrighteous, to the sinner, but not to leave
them there, but to lead them out from sin into righteousness,
out of death into life. out of darkness into light, it
delivers them, it brings them to the light, it brings them
into a pathway of righteousness, in which grace reigns. Osam would
say, surely it's the heart that matters, surely God looks upon
my heart, as long as my heart, as long as my sentiments are
right, that's what matters, not what the outer conduct is. Yes,
I answer. But what comes out of the heart
surely reveals that which is within it. A new heart doesn't
bring forth the sins that the old heart once did. A new heart,
born again of the Spirit, a new heart brings forth fruit, it
brings forth righteousness, it walks before the Lord in faith,
love and righteousness. As I say, there are those who
may say much about grace and yet who continue to live in a
manner contrary to grace. They say, oh don't judge, we're
under grace, don't judge, we're at liberty. But I say, brethren,
these things ought not to be. Use not liberty for an occasion
to the flesh, but by love serve one another. No, grace is not
of works, neither does grace condone sin. Shall we sin that
grace may abound? God forbid! God forbid! So we've seen that there are
four claims at least of grace, four pretensions to grace which
are simply not grace. Many speak of grace, but all
who teach these things, all these pretenders, all who speak of
grace and yet practice such things their message is nothing like
the true grace of God of which Peter speaks well briefly very
briefly to close what is that true grace what does Peter declare
of it well we know what Paul says in Romans of the absolute
certainty of God's work in grace. In Romans 8 and 29 he says, Whom
God did foreknow in grace, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called. And whom he called, then he also
justified. And whom he justified, Then he
also glorifies. Grace is that which is from start
to finish. Salvation is all of grace. It has none of man in it. None
of man. Then these people to whom Peter
speaks, whom he says, he testifies that this is the true grace of
God wherein ye stand. What was their experience of
grace? What can we learn of them? Well
firstly we read in chapter 1 verse 1 he writes Peter an apostle
of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. First of all these
who have tasted of the grace of God to whom Peter writes are
described as strangers who are scattered. They're strangers. They're not like others. Grace
has set them apart. It's made them different. It's
set them apart. It's separated them. They're
no longer as they were. They were just as others. They
did go to the same excess of riot like others. They did sin
and indulge just as others. And they haven't set themselves
apart. Grace has. But the result of
it is that the world now looks upon them, and the world hates
them and despises them, and the world looks upon these people
that serve God as strangers. Secondly, they're scattered.
They're not in great numbers. They're few. There's a few here,
a few there, and a few there. They know what it is like to
be few, to be on their own, to be despised of the world, to
be lonely. to be cast upon the Lord alone
to lead them and guide them. They're rarely in great numbers. We look upon religion all around
and we see many large churches full of large quantities of people. And you can generally judge a
church based upon the numbers. It is rare to have God's people
gathered in great numbers. They are strangers and they are
scattered. Secondly, in verse two, they
are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Through sanctification
of the Spirit, the Spirit set them apart unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. They are elect, God chose
them. Thirdly, they are born again,
blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
is according to his abundant mercy have begotten us again
unto a lively hope. by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. They've been born again, born
again to an inheritance incorruptible, reserved in heaven for you. Also,
they are kept by the power of God. Grace keeps them through
faith unto salvation. It is grace that brings them
through temptations and trials. Peter speaks much of the trial
of your faith. Those who know the grace of God
don't have it easy. Grace brings trials. It makes
you a stranger in this world and the world hates you and despises
you. There is trial to be endured. Fiery trial, Peter says. But he encourages his hearers
by telling them that the end of their faith is the salvation
of their souls. Grace will keep them to the end
and that end is the salvation of their souls. Chapter 1 verse
14 tells us that grace calls them to obedience as obedient
children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust
in your ignorance. It calls them to obedience with
the judgment of God in view. the father who without respect
of persons judgeth according to every man's work. It brings
them to obedience. They are redeemed by the blood
of Christ by faith, by grace they believe in him, by grace
they obey the truth through the spirit as those born of God through
his word and his gospel. They don't like grass wither
away as others, but they are preserved to the end. Their state
by nature, like all men, is as grass. They are dead in trespasses
and sins, but grace has separated them, and grace has delivered
them, and grace through the gospel has saved them. They grow by
the word of God. They grow by grace. Christ is
made unto them precious, precious. Chapter 2, verse 9, they are
described as the chosen generation, a peculiar people. They were
once not a people, but now they are the people of God. They walk
before others in liberty, yes, but they use not their liberty
as a cloak of maliciousness. As chapter 2, 18 to 25 teaches
us, they must expect to suffer for righteousness sake. They
suffer not for evil, but for doing good. They are called out
of this world to walk modestly and uprightly before the Lord.
They are not worldly, they fashion themselves not after the fashions
of this world. They walk modestly, godly before
the Lord. They no longer live in the indulgent
sins that they once did. And as a result, they walk through
fiery trials. And in the end, they have this
wonderful promise that there is reserve for them. As chapter
5 and verse 4 tells us, that they shall receive a crown of
glory, a crown of glory that fadeth not away, that fadeth
not away. Yes, grace has this in store
for them. They will pass through trials,
yes. Their adversary the devil goes
about as a roaring lion seeking to devour them. but they cast
their cares upon him who cares for them. For there is one who
cares for them, by whom, by whom, that God of all grace, they have
been called unto eternal glory by Christ Jesus, who says that
after they have suffered a while, he will make them perfect, established,
strengthened, and settled. Yes, to him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. This is what grace does. Is this
your experience? Is this where you stand? Is your
grace the true grace of God? Could Peter say of you that he
has testified, that he has exalted, that this is the true grace of
God wherein ye stand? Oh man.