“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen”

but grow

This verse begins with a contrast to verse seventeen. We need to “beware” (v.17), but we also need to “grow” (v.l8). Some Christians never grow. They do not advance much beyond the point of their salvation.

The word “grow” means to increase, to augment. Growth is not an event; it is a process. Salvation is an event, but growth is a process. The word “grow” is a command. It is not an option. The grammar also indicates that we are to keep on growing.

Principle:

Growth is a process of becoming more like the Lord Jesus.

Application:

After we become Christians, we tend to pick up spiritual childhood diseases. We may even acquire some permanent spiritual scars from those diseases. Some people develop so many scars that they are afraid to make further spiritual advance. Others advance through the troubled teen period spiritually. That is spiritual adolescence. They are half teen, half adult. Finally, a few reach spiritual maturity. This is the point when we become spiritual adults.

The Christian life is like a bicycle; unless we keep moving, we fall off. None of us ever arrives at a state of spiritual perfection, but we should grow to be more like Christ every day. This is a lifelong process. The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and makes the child of God like the Son of God (Romans 8:29). This is progressive sanctification.

Some Christians develop much faster than others do. Their rate of growth is rapid and exponential. These people usually have a great desire to change their lives. They hold the Word of God in high regard (1 Peter 2:2). They believe God can change their life. They appropriate truth to their experience daily. They cannot help but change into the same image of Christ from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Do you have a case of arrested spiritual development? Is your spiritual growth stunted? Are you developing your spiritual muscles? Do you work out physically but rarely work out spiritually? If we are going to grow, it must be our passion. It cannot be something that we give heed to once a week. We need to work at becoming more spiritually mature. It is not something that comes naturally. God supernaturally must change us through His Word.

We never fully arrive at perfection in the Christian life, but if we continue to grow, we will never be static either.