2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him beglory both now and for ever. Amen.”
Have you ever wondered what it means to grow in grace? It’s rather self-explanatory what it means to grow in knowledge, but growing in grace is a little more complex.
Peter thought this such an important charge to Christians that he ended his last epistle with the command to grow in grace. So let us examine two ways to do so.
The first is the grace WE show as disciples of Christ. Love covereth a multitude of sins, and some having compassion make a difference. Love is a form of grace that saints show to the lost. Turning the other cheek is a form of grace. Intercessory prayer, again, is a form of grace. Peter is employing Christians to grow our capacity issues showing grace to the world as our Father in Heaven has shown grace unto us. God’s grace permeates every breath each person takes, but how many will come to understand His graciousness unless they come to know Him in salvation through the grace of a believer?
The second way to grow in grace is harder to explain, and far more inexhaustible. We all were saved by grace through faith. There’s no other way to be born again. But the moment we were saved, all the grace we knew was saving grace. As we mature as Christians we discover and gain access to new veins of God’s grace. This grace was not kept from us, but we were not yet positioned to receive it. None of us will know what grace God gives to a dying saint until it is our appointed time to be called home.
Therefore, it must be concluded that God wishes to shower each saint with the same degree of grace; but not all saints are prepared to receive it. Jesus himself said you do not put new wine into old bottles because the bottles would burst. God will not recklessly waste His grace. But as I am conformed closer to the image of Christ, I am growing in my capacity to receive grace.
If we feel that we have a lack of grace in our life (which is an absolute absurdity to think in the first place) our first thought should be, “Have I grown to such an extent that God CAN show me grace?” I can not earn grace, that’s why it is called grace. But God, in His holiness, will not be gracious to those who cannot receive it and keep it.
Your fellowservant in Christ,
Bro. Jordan Foster
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