¹⁷You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 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.

Final instructions, including warning and encouragement, bring Peter’s second letter to a close. His affection for his readers comes through clearly, calling them once again “beloved.” One of the most common themes through the NT letters is the warning against false teachings. What we believe affects how we behave. Just as Paul did with the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:28), Peter also warns not just the elders but all of his readers, “[B]e on your guard.” The Christian life requires living by principle, not a list of rules. We must be steadfast, continuing in the things we believe and the behaviors we have established. False teaching threatens both.

What are the principles in which we must remain steadfast? Grace and knowledge as they relate to Jesus Christ. First, we must grow in the understanding that we need to gain more grace from God. But we need no more grace from God than we already have. Paul taught that where sin abounds grace abounds even more (Rom. 5:20), but it makes no sense to try and sin more so that we gain more grace (Rom. 5:20–6:2). Paul says, “May it never be.” Grace is undeserved, and we cannot intentionally make ourselves more undeserving. We are already there!

Another way to look at it is that we need to grow in our appreciation of grace. As we continue our walk of faith, we gain greater understanding of the grace we already have from God. As greatly as we rejoiced at the time of our salvation, we were only scratching the surface of God’s grace toward us. As God reveals to us more of our sinfulness and unworthiness, we come to new levels of understanding and appreciation of His forgiveness and mercy in our lives. We grow in our amazement of God, who has known our unworthiness in a much greater and more infinite way, and yet He yet still desires us and wants us to join Him in glorifying His Son. This is genuine Christian growth!

With our growing knowledge and appreciation of God’s grace, we grow in our ability to extend grace to others. The more we hang out with other Christians, the more we become aware of their faults, shortcomings, sins, and offenses against us. Growing in grace means we increasingly forgive, love, and sacrifice for others, being steadfast in our growing awareness of the depth of God’s grace toward us.

Lord, I am excited to be the conduit of Your grace toward others.