GRACE: charis:

Spurgeon well says that...

Blessed men scatter blessings. When the benediction of God rests upon us, we pour out benedictions upon others. (The Second Coming)

Grace (5485) (charis) (Click word study of charis) is God’s free and unmerited favor bestowed on guilty man in and through Jesus Christ. God in His mercy does not give us what we do deserve but God in His grace does give us what we don’t deserve and could never otherwise obtain. Our God is “the God of all grace” (see note 1 Peter 5:10), and He channels that grace to us through Jesus Christ (Jn 1:16-17).

Wuest refers to the grace in this context as

sanctifying grace, the work of the Holy Spirit producing in the yielded believer His own fruit. This peace is sanctifying peace, the tranquility of heart that is the result of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the believer." (click discussion)

Grace in our lives provides the bedrock for our peace, first peace with God (the result of our being justified or declared righteous by faith in Christ's righteous sacrifice - see note Ro 5:1) and the peace of God (which depends on a clear conscience, ready confession of sins and repenting from those sins - see notes Philippians 4:6; 4:7). God’s grace and peace are multiplied toward us in true knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. It follows as we grow in our knowledge of God and Jesus, as we are taught by His Spirit when we read His Word, and then as we obey His Word (enabled by His grace and Spirit), we will have grace and peace multiplied in our lives.

Marvelous is the implication of infinite grace (2Cor 8:9) multiplied by infinite peace (Philippians 4:6; 4:7). The product can only be eternal fulness of joy (Jn 15:11). This grace is multiplied in the experiential knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (Who is "full of grace and truth" Jn 1:16-17). What should be our condition to "maximize" our receipt of His amazing grace? Remember the maxim that God is opposed to proud but gives grace to humble ( 2Cor 12:9-10, Ja 4:6-8) Take in the Word, submit to the Word, obey the Word, and head knowledge begins to become heart knowledge by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

AND PEACE: kai eirene:

Peace (Eirene from eiro = to join together) in its literal meaning is the binding or joining together what is broken or divided thus setting the divided parts at one again. In other words, to "make peace" is to join together that which is separated. (For an excellent illustration of this truth see One Heart). This meaning is conveyed somewhat by our modern expression of "having it all together".

Click the following links more discussion on eirene (including discussion of the distinction between "peace with God" and the "peace of God" )

Most detailed discussion, eirene #2, eirene #3; see notes on Jehovah Shalom,  Jehovah our Peace

To reiterate, the effect of receiving God's grace is a state of peace. And so we see that the Biblical order is always grace and then peace. Dear reader have you received His grace by placing your faith in Christ Jesus? Do you lack inner peace that all is well between you and the Almighty? If you are still at war with God, then the Spirit is calling you to understand that you are dead in your trespasses and sins (and at war with God), but that you can be made alive in Christ by repentance and belief in Christ's sacrifice on the Cross for all of your personal sins, past, present and future. Believe and you shall be saved...and forever at peace with God in Christ Jesus the Lord, Who is the believer's Peace now and forever! Glory to God!

The wonderful truth of salvation is that we can once again be at peace with our Creator for as Isaiah proclaims to Israel (specifically to the faithful remnant in Israel in the coming Messianic Age, the Millennium, [read the context - and note the time phrase "in that day"] but the principle is applicable to all believers)...

The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace (literally "Shalom, Shalom" - the idea of being possessing full, genuine, well-being), Because he trusts in Thee. (Isaiah 26:3). (NLT paraphrases it "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, whose thoughts are fixed on You!")

Remember that peace is a state of being as well as an attitude, denoting the well being that flows from having experienced reconciliation and forgiveness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The believer's "peace" in one sense is independent of our circumstances (Jn 14:27;Philippians 4:6; 4:7) because it is a divine "fruit" brought forth in a life yielded to the control of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22)

Peter now goes on to explain that grace and peace in a believer’s life are inseparably linked to our knowledge of God and His Son Jesus our Lord.

MacDonald explains this relationship between grace and peace and knowledge noting that

The better we know God, the more we experience grace and peace. We do better by dwelling in the secret place of the Most High than by making occasional visits there (See Quiet Time - 7 Minutes With God). Those who live in the sanctuary rather than in the suburbs find the secret of God’s grace and peace. (Amen!) (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)

BE MULTIPLIED TO YOU: humin...plethuntheie (3SAPO): 

Spurgeon writes...

You have some measure of these choice blessings; may you have a great many times as much! When we go to the multiplication table, we not only multiply by two and by three, but we can multiply by a hundred, we can multiply by ten thousand. Oh, that God would thus multiply to us the grace and the peace that He has already given to us!

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you”-

The more we know of God, the more grounds and reasons shall we have for enjoying grace and peace, and the more we know of God and of Jesus our Lord, the more will our enjoyment of grace and peace be multiplied.

Be multiplied (4129) (plethuno from plethos = fullness from pletho = to fill) means to be made full, grow, increase or be multiplied. In the active sense it means to cause to increase, to cause to become greater in number, to multiply (increase in number especially greatly).

Plethuno is used 12 times in 11 verses in the NT (1x Mt; 5x Acts; 1x 2Cor; 1x Heb; 1x 1Pe; 1x 2 Pe; 1x Jude) but some 153 times in the Septuagint (LXX)! (Gen. 1:22, 28; 3:16; 6:5; 7:17f; 8:17; 9:1, 7; 16:10; 17:2, 20; 18:20; 22:17; 26:4, 24; 28:3; 34:12; 35:11; 38:12; 47:27; 48:4, 16; Exod. 1:7, 10, 20; 7:3; 11:9; Lev. 25:16; 26:9; Num. 33:54; Deut. 1:10; 6:3; 7:13, 22; 8:13; 13:17; 17:16f; 28:11, 63; Jos. 24:3; Jdg. 9:29; 16:24; 1 Sam. 1:12; 7:2; 14:19; 25:10; 2 Sam. 14:11; 22:36; 1 Ki. 2:35; 3:14; 4:30; 2 Ki. 21:6; 1 Chr. 4:10, 38; 7:4; 8:40; 23:11; 27:23; 2 Chr. 33:6, 23; 36:14; Ezr. 4:22; 9:6; 10:13; Neh. 9:23; Job 39:4; Ps. 3:1; 4:7; 16:4; 18:14; 25:19; 36:7; 38:19; 40:5, 12; 49:16; 65:9f, 13; 69:4; 78:38; 92:12, 14; 106:29; 107:38; 119:69; 139:18; 144:13; Prov. 4:10; 13:11; 28:8, 28; Eccl. 5:11; 6:11; 10:14; Isa. 1:15; 6:12; 14:2; 51:2; 57:9; Jer. 2:22; 3:16; 5:6; 15:8; 23:3; 29:6; 30:14, 16; 46:11, 23; Lam. 1:1; 2:5, 22; Ezek. 11:6; 16:7, 25, 29, 51; 19:2; 21:15; 22:25; 23:19; 24:10; 27:15; 28:5; 36:10f, 29f, 37; Dan. 4:1; 6:25; 11:39; 12:4; Hos. 2:8; 8:11, 14; 9:7; 10:1; 12:1, 10; Joel 3:13; Amos 4:4, 9; Nah. 3:16; Hab. 2:6; Zech. 10:8)

Genesis 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you."

Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on (Lxx = were multiplied) the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Multiplied here in Peter's use is in the optative mood (optative of wish) which expresses a wish and in the NT almost always indicates a prayer ("may it be multiplied, conferred abundantly"). The passive voice indicates that the multiplication of the grace and peace comes from an outside source, clearly from God's throne of grace.

GRACE X PEACE

Stop for a moment and ponder the glorious implication of infinite grace (2Cor 8:9) multiplied by infinite peace (Php 4:7). The product surely includes eternal fulness of joy (Jn 15:11), abundant life (Jn 10:10) and an ever flowing river of "living water" (Jn 7:38).

J Vernon McGee adds that Peter

is a New Testament writer who uses arithmetic. He says, “Grace and peace be multiplied”—he is talking about multiplication. Paul didn’t go into mathematics. He said that God is rich in grace and that the peace of God passes all understanding, but Simon Peter gets down to where the rubber meets the road. He takes out the multiplication table and says, “I hope grace and peace will be multiplied unto you.” How wonderful this is." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Thomas Nelson) (Mp3)

Plethuno is also used twice in  greetings both as prayers for "spiritual prosperity"

(1) Peter writing in his first epistle

"May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure." (see note 1Peter 1:2)

(2) Jude prayed

"May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you." (Jude 2)

It is interesting to note that plethuno is used in the Septuagint (LXX) (Greek of Hebrew OT) in Nebuchadnezzar's benediction, Daniel recording that

Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: "May your peace abound (Greek reads "peace be multiplied [plethuno] to you!)" (Da 4:1)

Peter used plethuno b in his introduction of his first epistle writing to those who were...

(Chosen or elected) (on what basis were they chosen?) according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, (how was the "election" made a reality?) by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, (how do the elect now conduct themselves, which as an aside ensures them that they are indeed of the elect?) that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: (And so Peter prays...) May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure (plethuno). (1 Peter 1:2 note)

Jude opens his epistle with a prayer virtually identical to Peter's...

Jude 1:2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied (plethuno also in the optative mood, passive voice) to you.

Jesus uses plethuno to describe that the effect of the multiplication of evil would have on love in the end times explaining that

because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. (Mt 24:12)

Luke uses plethuno describing that

the disciples were increasing in number" in the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:1)

In a similar use Luke summarizes the progress of the church explaining that

the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. (Acts 9:31)

Luke explained that

the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7) 

In spite of opposition and persecution the Lord sovereignly prospered the work of His church Luke explaining that

the word of the Lord (synonymous with the gospel) continued to grow and to be multiplied (Acts 12:24).

In recounting God's faithfulness to fulfill His promise to Abraham to judge the nation that enslaved His people and to bring His people out of bondage, Stephen explained that

as the time of the promise (cf Ge 15:14) was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt (Acts 7:17).

Similarly the writer of Hebrews reiterates God's promise to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant in which He says (quoting from the KJV which more literal demonstrates the two uses of plethuno in this passage)...

Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. (see note Hebrews 6:14)

Paul uses plethuno to describe the "divine mathematics" of giving back to the Lord, writing that God

Who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. (2Cor  9:10)

Peter's prayer for bountiful blessings of grace and peace parallels many of Paul's similar prayers for the saints such as in his opening greeting

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (2Thes 1:2), later in the body of the same letter "Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!" (2Thes 3:16) and finally at the end of the letter praying "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." (2Thes 3:18)

We need His provision from beginning to end and then throughout eternity!

John Piper emphasizes the critical importance of epignosis in reminding us that

knowing God is the means by which his grace and peace become large and powerful in our lives. If you want to enjoy God's peace and be the aroma of his grace in the world, your knowledge of him has to grow. Grace is not a mere deposit. It is a power that leads to godliness and eternal life. And where knowledge of the glory and excellence of God languishes, grace does not flow. The channel from God's infinite reservoir of grace into and through our lives is knowledge of God. We do not study the Scripture for its own sake, but because through it comes the knowledge of God and through that, grace and peace are multiplied in your heart in the church and in the world. In the next two verses of our text Peter builds on this connection now between knowledge of God and the power of grace. (read or listen to Dr Piper's full message entitled Liberating Promises)

How are grace and peace multiplied? As discussed above, Peter goes on to say that this "spiritual math" only takes place in the sphere of and by means of true, deep, full, rich, genuine knowledge. Wuest's paraphrase conveys the idea

Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied in the sphere of and by the full knowledge of our God, even Jesus, the Lord.

IN THE KNOWLEDGE: en epignosei:

In the knowledge - In the sphere or "atmosphere" of genuine, experiential knowledge which is based on the Word of truth, which is submitted to and obeyed.

Knowledge (1922) (epignosis from verb epiginosko from epí = upon + ginosko = to know) is a strengthened or intensified form of "gnosis" and conveys the thought of a more full, larger and thorough knowledge. It also conveys the idea of an intimate and personal relationship than the simple term. Vine says the verb form epiginosko  suggests generally a directive, a more special, recognition of the object known than ginosko. 

Epignosis is a full, more exact and thorough knowledge and is clearly a key word in this epistle (Click for all 4 uses 1:2, 1:3, 1:8, 2:20).

In fairness it should be stated that there are a few resources that suggest there is very little difference between gnósis and epignosis. This discussion holds the opinion that epignosis does have subtle but real differences. 

Epígnosis refers to exact, complete, thorough, accurate, experiential knowledge, not just abstract, intellectual, head knowledge of God or even facts about Him. Epígnosis always describes moral and religious knowledge in the NT and especially refers to full and comprehensive knowledge of God’s will that rests on the knowledge of God and of Christ found today in His Word.

Alford quotes Delitzsch as saying:

 “When epignosis is used, there is the assumption of an actual direction of the spirit to a definite object and of a real grasping of the same: so that we may speak of a false gnósis, but not of a false epignosis. And the Writer (of Hebrews - referring to Heb 10:26)

"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge (epignosis) of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins"), by the use of this word, gives us to understand that he means by it not only a shallow historical notion about the Truth, but a living believing knowledge of it, which has laid hold of a man and fused him into union with itself.” Thus it is clear that the Jew who committed this sin, was fully informed by the Holy Spirit of the issues involved between the First Testament and the New Testament, and also of the meaning and the implications of the New Testament, (see note Hebrews 6:4, “who were once enlightened”) and therefore, he sinned with his eyes wide open." (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament)

Wuest commenting on 2 Peter 1:2 writes that 

Knowledge” or epignosis is full, perfect, precise knowledge as opposed to gnósis, imperfect, partial knowledge. Strachan says: “epígnōsis, ‘involving the complete appropriation of all truth and the unreserved acquiescence in God’s will, is the goal and crown of the believer’s course’ (Lightfoot) … epignosis implies a more intimate and personal relationship than gnósis. It would be a useful word, seeing that gnósis had become associated with Gnosticism, then incipient in the Church.… Grace and peace are multiplied in and through this more intimate heart knowledge of Jesus Christ, in contrast to a mere barren gnósis. ” “Knowledge” is locative of sphere and instrumental of means. This grace and peace are in the sphere of this knowledge and are produced by it. The particular word for “knowledge” here, epignosis, speaks of experiential knowledge, that is, knowledge gained by experience. This knowledge of the Lord Jesus possessed by the believer therefore, is not a mere intellectual knowledge of the facts concerning Him acquired by a study of the Gospels, for instance, but a heart experience of what and who He is gained by such a study plus a personal association with Him by means of the Word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is a person with Person knowledge through intimate fellowship."

It is interesting to note that 8/21 uses of epignosis occur in Colossians (where Paul counters persuasive arguments) and in Second Peter (where Peter counters false teachers). Some of these uses are noted in the following discussion.

Another interesting use of epignosis by Paul is as integral component of four prayers for the saints, all four epistles written in his captivity!

1) For example in Philemon we read

"I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge (epignosis) of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake." (Phile 6).

John MacArthur has an excellent summary on the significance of epignosis in Paul's prayer for Philemon writing that epignosis

refers to deep, rich, full, experiential knowledge. It is the knowledge that comes through personal acquaintance with the truth. Philemon could read of forgiveness, or hear a sermon about it. But until he forgave, he could have no experiential knowledge of it. By forgiving Onesimus, Philemon would experience that good thing in him known as forgiveness. By walking in obedience to God’s will, believers experience the good things God has placed within them. There is a vast difference between reading a book on skiing and actually skiing. There is a certain flat, one-dimensional knowledge to be gained from a book, but it cannot compare to experiencing the exhilaration of a downhill run. The same thing is true in the spiritual realm. It is thrilling to grasp a truth from Scripture intellectually. But it is far more exciting to live that truth out in practice. Practicing the truths of Scripture leads to the epignosis that brings spiritual maturity (see note Ephesians 4:12; 4:13). It is wonderful to understand what it means to trust God, but more wonderful to experience His power in the times when we trusted Him with no strength of our own." (MacArthur, J. Philemon. p210. Chicago: Moody Press)

2) Writing to the saints at Philippi Paul said

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge (epignosis) and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ" (see note Philippians 1:9; 1:10)

3) Paul prayed for the saints at Ephesus

"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge (epignosis) of Him" (see note Ephesians 1:17)

4) And finally as he recalled the Colossian saint's love in the Spirit, he wrote

"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge (epignosis) of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge (epignosis) of God." (see notes Colossians 1:9; 1:10)

Trench notes that

Of epignosis, as compared with gnosis, it will be sufficient to say that epí must be regarded as intensive, giving to the compound word a greater strength than the simple possessed." He goes on to explain that "Paul, it will be remembered, exchanges the ginosko, which expresses his present and fragmentary knowledge, for epignosomai when he would express his future intuitive and perfect knowledge (1 Cor 13:12 "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know (ginosko) in p