"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." (2 Peter 1:2).
God provides every Christian with the two essential ingredients of peace and grace for character development through their active fellowship with Him. Without these two necessary ingredients Christians inevitably fall from God to ungodly fleshy lifestyles.
Peter provides a practical formula for us to multiply grace and peace.
Grace is God's undeserved favor, which was extended to us at the time of salvation. Grace is God's willingness to use His resources to assist us in our new lifestyle of godliness. God has several means by which He dispenses grace. Prayer, praise, and thanksgiving (worship), fasting, listening to a message, studying and meditating on God's Word, and fellowship are all means of receiving grace.
Spiritual Disciplines: A Means to Grace
Listening to God's Word provides us with spiritual food; the study and medication of God's Word refreshes us. Prayer restores us; praise and worship strengthens us; fasting provides spiritual focus. Yet one of the greatest methods God uses to build us up is the discipline of the Holy Spirit, guiding us in the precepts and disciplines of the Word of God.
"God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us." (Richard J. Foster: Celebration of Discipline)
"But he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:8)
The Disciplines are God's way of getting us into the ground; they put us where He can work within us and transform us. By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to a place where something can be done. They are God's means of grace. The inner righteousness we seek is not something that is poured on our heads. God has ordained the Disciplines of the spiritual life as the means by which we place ourselves where He can bless us.
Peace is the tranquil condition of the mind resulting from your relationship with Christ. You can be at ease or rest, mentally knowing that your life is in the right order with God. As is joy, peace is not dependent upon favorable circumstances. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and provides peace to all who accept Him as Lord through the Spirit.
Peace is a result of entering into a right relational standing with God, having been pardoned of your sins by faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus.
Peace is a product of continuing in your relationship with God by allowing your mind to be renewed through the Word as you increasingly yield yourself to the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Peace is a fruit of the Spirit provided to those who cooperate with the Spirit by following God's agenda for their lives through living in a godly lifestyle.
Peace is a result of learning to trust God and submitting all your cares to Him in prayer and by maintaining an attitude of thanksgiving rather than becoming anxious.
"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal" (Isaiah 26:3-4)
Both of these essentials are provided through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. This is a special knowledge gained in a relational learning process with the Holy Spirit and is the key to Peter's spiritual directives for maintaining a close relationship with God. Relational knowledge means a clear and exact knowledge through being actively involved in a relational learning process resulting in our growth and development.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3)