The work of God to redeem the sins of believers (what we call indwelling sin) — in the lives of people like Peter and his sinful denial of Christ — is a mark of great grace.
And it is a reminder that God is not dependent on us; we are dependent on Him. He is not looking to us to complete His work, but He is looking to work His grace in and through us a s we are progressively transformed into His likeness. As John Piper has well-noted, “Patients do not serve their physicians. They trust them for good prescriptions. So it is with us in our relationship with God.
One implication of this truth that God works in us to progressively sanctify and redeem us from our sin means that He is everything and we are nothing. And that’s good news, as Chuck Swindoll wrote years ago in Grace Awakening:
Grace means God uses nobodies. Grace also means He makes nobodies into somebodies.…He does great things through nobodies. He does some of His best work through those who think they are finished and, humanly speaking, should be.
This was the experience of Peter and the great news of the angel’s words reminder of Peter’s inclusion among the 12 even after His denial. Peter was not merely restored to fellowship with God (a magnanimous and wondrous gift in itself!), but He was also transformed and made useful through this glorious grace of God.
That was the good news of Easter for Peter and it is the good news of Easter for us.
Words of Grace 