GROWING IN GRACE

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen”
2 Peter 3:18

The most usual definition of “grace” in the Bible is “The unmerited favor of God”. Grace is that, but it is more. Grace has been defined also as “God’s riches at Christ’s expense”. That is also true. But grace is more than that. To better understand what grace is, it is helpful to know what it is not. Often, stating a negative sheds light on a positive. For example, to understand peace more completely you could say peace is the opposite, or absence of, turmoil, fighting, conflict, confusion, fear, anger, bitterness, etc.

In much the same way we can say that grace, in the context of the Bible, is the opposite of, or not depending on, self righteousness, good works, deserving God’s favor, having a right to eternal life, and so on. “The unmerited favor of God” is very simplistic, and at the same time, very profound. It is difficult to improve on that definition. There are several words translated from Hebrew ,Greek, and Aramaic, to the English word grace in the Bible. For the purpose of this study I will concentrate on the broadest definition of grace in relation to the salvation of sinners by “grace”.

In the churches today there is what I call a “theological schizophrenia”. A clinical definition of schizophrenia is the condition of a person who has two or more distinct personalities. This condition was clearly illustrated by the movie “Sybil”. The leading character in the movie was a nice, sweet young lady one day and the next was in a fetal position under a table chanting some unintelligible rant. This classic “Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde” behavior is demonstrated by preachers and Bible teachers when it comes to the subject of the grace of God toward sinners.

On one occasion you will hear a man say “ Once you are saved God looks at you as if you had never sinned. Because you have trusted Christ, all of your sins, past, present, and future, have been forgiven and you now have the righteousness of Christ credited to your account”. (Truer words can not be spoken) This same good man will on another occasion say, “If you turn your back on God you will loose your soul and go to hell”. Which statement is true? Or, are they both true? I contend you can’t have it both ways. Paul makes this clear in Romans 11:6 “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work”.

Grace and works do not mix. Grace diluted by the tiniest human effort is not any longer grace. Paul asked of the believers in his letter to the Galatians in chapter 3:2,3 “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” To put in in layman's terms, “Did you get saved by what you did or by believing what you heard?”. “Can you now be more safe and secure by what you do?” The obvious answers are, “I was saved by believing what I heard and, no, I can’t be more safe or secure by what I do.” Salvation must be all of grace or not of grace at all.

Grace by definition excludes human effort. If this statement is true, and it is, then you must logically conclude that believers are also kept by the grace of God.
I have had many people say to me “I believe after you are saved you have to live it or you will not go to heaven”. What is meant or implied by “live it”? I’ll tell you what it means. Many people wrongly believe that once you are saved you then have to live good enough to be approved by God to stay in His family. If that is not the answer what does “live it” mean? “It” must refer to righteousness. The difficulty with this line of thinking is that God will not accept any righteousness except the righteousness of Christ. Only perfect righteousness meets his holy standards. Don’t ever forget that as long as you live in flesh you will never live a perfect life. The propensity to sin is ever present from the womb to the grave and it cannot be escaped
Peter said in 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
He says in verse 2 we are elected and set apart. In verse 3 he says we have a lively hope. In verse 4 he says we have an inheritance reserved in heaven. And in verse 5 he says we are kept by the power of God. Now I ask you what happened between verse 2 and the end of verse 5 that required any human effort, or would be null and void by the lack of it? Elected by God the Father, set apart by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was obedient to the shedding of His blood, begotten according to God’s mercy, Christ was resurrected from the dead to make all this possible, and now you are kept by the power of God. Now exactly what was your contribution to being saved and staying saved?

Paul said in Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Notice carefully that “have obtained”, “being predestinated”, “trusted”, “believed”, and “were sealed”, are all in the PAST tense. In the mind of God, our salvation is already a done deal. I invite you to take the time to study the tenses of the original language here and you will find the Greek to be even more definitive. Your journey from the moment of becoming a Christian to the day you get to your final reward does not depend one bit on you. It is completely God’s initiative and completely by His grace.

At this point you may say “Do you believe you can sin all you want to and still be saved?”. And my answer is found in Romans 6:1”What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid.......” The context of Romans 5 and 6 shows clearly that once saved the believing sinner is no longer controlled or under the “dominion” (Romans 6:4) of sin. We can still sin but are not any longer slaves to a sinful lifestyle. Thus we are to consciously “reckon” ourselves dead to sin. It is a matter of our identification with Christ’s death and resurrection demonstrated by baptism. In Romans 6:11 Paul says “reckon” or count yourself dead to sin but alive to God. In 6:12 he says “let not” sin reign in you body that you should obey it. In verse 13 he says “neither yield” yourself to unrighteousness, “but yield” yourself to righteousness. Reckon, Let not, Neither yield, But yield, you see, we choose how we will live. We can let sin reign. We can yield ourselves to unrighteousness. We can act as though we are still in sins grasp. But, we don’t have to. Residing in every believer is the Holy Spirit who is there to be involved in every conversation, to approve every thought or intention, to love our enemies, and to make Christ known in word and deed. Without Him we are powerless to live “It”, the Christian life. As we cooperate with Him we are able to live abundant, fruitful, holy, worry free lives.

How then do we “Grow in grace”? I believe we grow in grace in some distinct ways.
First we must become intimate with the one who is “full of grace and truth”, the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 1:14) “Full of grace..” what a mouth full! Grace displayed by One who not only taught that one should love and pray for his enemies, but gave Himself to death on a cross to make the forgiveness of their sins possible. “Full of grace” so that He could ask the Father to forgive those who participated in his crucifixion. When Peter had cursed and denied that he even knew Jesus before He went to the cross, Jesus in grace said after He had arisen, “Go tell Peter”. He then chose Peter to be the keynote speaker at Pentecost and to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter of all people certainly did not deserve that treatment but Christ is “full of Grace”. The more we know experientially this One who is “full of grace” the more we will grow in grace.
It is only then that we can “rest” from our labor. (Matthew 11:29, Hebrews 4:10)We must not only know Him, but rest in Him. When we learn about our position in Christ, the security of belonging to Him, the certainty of our inheritance with the saints, and the constant presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we can “grow in grace”. Having peace with God and the peace of God by faith in Christ gives us the potential to live holy lives not motivated by fear but by love.

But not only should we know Him and rest in Him but we are to show grace to others. Grace is love fleshed out. Forgiving others who have wronged us grows us in grace. Forgetting past wrongs grows us in grace. In short, allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to dictate how we treat those around us causes us to grow in grace. The more we love others the more we will be loved by others and the cycle grows and widens.

The grace of God is expressed by love. When we love our spiritual brothers and sisters and everyone else, then we put on display the grace of God. When our love becomes the love defined in 1 Cor 13, then we are able to forgive and forget old wrongs. It is by practicing forgiveness and forbearance that we grow in grace. Simply stated, when we allow Christ to love others through us we show the grace of God to the world about us. Love and forgiveness are not emotions, they are acts. For the believer, they are not options, they are commands. The way to love someone unlovable is to act toward them in a loving way. The way to forgive someone you would rather not, is to treat them as if you have forgiven them. And, the Holy Spirit will enable us to do just that, and God will receive glory because of it.

It is the “grace of God” that brings salvation to a lost and dying people. (Titus 1:11) There is no more powerful testimony for God on this earth than a child of God who loves not only the folks at church, but sinners. God knows our hearts but a watching world is waiting to see our love demonstrated.

Let us purpose to “grow in grace” and make known the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming love to everyone around us.

Royce Ogle