… ¹⁸but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

If growing in grace is not a platitudinal salutation, a call to be more sociable, or a command to become more and more gracious toward others, then what is it? The connection with the rest of the verse, to grow in the “knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” is our clue or maybe even a flashing neon sign. We are to grow in both grace and knowledge—and the object of both is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we gain more insight into Him, what He was like, and what He taught, we gain insight into knowing God! We are not talking about academic, cognitive learning, but a relationship of “knowing” Him.

By way of illustration, other people may know about me, my characteristics and my idiosyncrasies, but my wife knows me intimately. She knows my fears and insecurities, as well as my passions and proclivities. Others know about me, but she knows me, and the longer we are married, the more she grows in knowing me. Similarly, growing in our knowledge of Christ is a relationship knowledge that grows as we walk with Him through life. In particular, the specific focus to which Peter calls us is growing in His grace. But we need to go to a deeper level.

In the honesty of our souls, the Holy Spirit’s convicting work in us increases our awareness that our sinful nature continues raising its unattractive head. Things we once ignored now become ugly; some things we never considered sinful now bring us a sense of moral failure. I am not talking about an unhealthy obsession over minutiae, but a recognition and sensitivity to the reality of things we once justified that we now see for what they are—sin.

The unhealthy response would be wallowing in self-flagellation, which leads to emotional and spiritual depression. That is not where the Holy Spirit goes with us when He convicts us. We need to grow in our understanding that God’s grace covers even those things we are discovering about ourselves as we live out our Christian lives. The psalmist David wrote,

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. (Ps 139:23–24)

David knew the overwhelming joy of the full forgiveness that comes after being wholly exposed before God, spiritual warts and all (that is, sin). He wanted to find all the lurking sins in his life to bring them out and expose them. He knew the propensity of his heart to hide sin, so he needed God’s help to do this kind of deep, spiritual investigation. He knew the key to understanding and growing in His relation to God and experiencing His loving-kindness and grace was increasing his transparency before Him.

So, yes, Peter is connecting us to the importance of growing in our appreciation of how much God has been and continues to be gracious toward us. Our growth may produce spiritual “aha” moments that bring a sense of failure and remorse at the conviction of the Spirit, but we discover afresh what God has already done on the cross, forgiving us for ALL our sins. And we keep finding that truth increasingly as we grow in knowing Him. In this sense, we grow in grace; that is, we grow in our knowledge and appreciation of our Lord and Savior’s grace toward us! 

However, there is more to this short instruction to grow in grace. (To be continued …)

Lord, show me the hidden things of my heart, bring them to light—I don’t want to short-circuit learning even more how great Your grace is toward me.