Grow in Grace and Truth

2 Pet 3:18 English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

18 But 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.

First we know God wants us to continue in Grace.

As we discussed last week continuing in grace deals with our journey and our walk with Christ.

This journey is connected to growth.

Grace is the person of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures remind us that Grace was revealed for the salvation of all men.

God invested through the person of Jesus Christ in the growth of His church through His word and messengers.

Grace has to do with your daily operation through your relationship with God.

Those who grow in grace knows how to access grace

Those who grow in Grace knows how to be a recipient fo grace for growing.

He wants us to grow in grace so that we can live out fully the purpose for which he has created us in Christ Jesus.

He desires us to grow in grace so that we live in the environment of Grace daily that empowers us for life. We can be carriers of grace into the marketplace,our families,relationships,raising our children.

If we remain in a infant position we will be living in strife,fear and ruled by the law of sin and death. Our weaknesses wont have a basis for the strength of God.

If we dont grow we let the grace of God be in vain.

Titus 2:11–12 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,” “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,”

Growing in Grace what does it mean?

The word Growing in the Greek means to become fruitful and to make fruitful.

So when God speaks of growth he speaks of you and I becoming fruitful and He making us fruitful.

Now how does fruitfulness look according to God’s view?

1.The first part of growing in Grace starts with how hungry and thristy you are?

2. It determines what you eat?

We see grace and knowledge function together. In John 1:16–19 “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus is full of grace and truth.

There is a partnership that grace walk with truth that enables and empowers us to grow.

We know growth takes time and it comes with change. As we are in church its not easy for us to change if the spirit of God by His grace doesnt help us to grow.

Paul writes to the Colossions and tell them what brings fruitfulness and increase. The word increase is the same word that comes across in 2 Pet 3:18

2 Peter 3:18 ESV

But 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.

Grace and Knowledge function together as a masterpiece to bring us to live under His Lordship. This means submission becomes easy and obedience flows out of our being.

Lordship and Savior is two different terms. It means you will grow in the knowledge of God’s dominion in your life. And this rulership of God in your life will outgrow the rulership the law of sin and death has over your life.

It means you love that God rules your life and you dont argue with it anymore. This has become your love language that you want to partner with God as a partaker of Grace.

It will also increase your understanding of how God’s saving work has enable you to be a child of God and how has reserved rights in the Kingdom of God and inheritance for you.

Growing in grace cannot function effectively in the recipient if they do not love the knowledge of God.

If there is no increase of knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ. There is no empowerment of the grace of God to become more like Christ.

Grace function in alignment with Hearing and Understanding.

English Standard Version (Chapter 1)

Col1:5-6 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth

Paul connects the bearing of fruit and increase with hearing and understanding the grace of God.

So we identify grace and truth deals with a fundemental element that we also find in faith is hearing and understanding.

Faith and Grace is both takes center stage in Christians life.

Your growth and increase in God is connected to what you hear? If you are a person that loves and wants the truth of God to be fully formed in your life. This happens by making you available to sit under the hearing of the Gospel.

The word hear in the Greak has to do with paying attention. How do you pay attention or Focus through the sermon. How focused are you when you pray or study the word. How hungry are you to be at the Bible Study at the small groups. How hungry are you sit individually with your own bible.

How are you making yourself available to places of grace and to be a recipient of grace that can become a giver

The cultivation of paying attention is what we need to grow in because it forms part of developing our spiritual ear. Many people take paying attention in church in their personal relationship with God as cheap.

This is why its hard for you to connect spiritually with God. Because paying attention has to do with the giving of your full attention and not let anything else be able to sway you.

Growing in Grace actually takes devotion.

Hearing is connected to Growing in Grace

The first thing that the enemy attacks in our lives is to sow seeds of doubt in our minds and in our conscience through speaking lies. This is what he did in the garden pollute their hearing.

Because hearing is connected to growth. Your mother shouts instructions to you. These instructions has to do with growth and discipleship/discipline.

This is where you grow in divine revelation.

Your hearing opens you up to growing in knowledge and insight.

Hebrews 5:11 “About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”

Grace empowered us to believe so it empowered us to hear. Because the journey of of contuing in grace is empowred by what you hear and how you respond to it.

This means because you have access to the throne of Grace. This shows you have connection and relationship that enable you to walk it out.

Dullness is a reflection that we abandon the growth stages of grace and want to remain under condemnation ,shame and sin.

Dulness shows us we are choosing death over life

Life is connected to hearing and understanding

Death is connected to sin and law that rules your life.

Dulness is where you say you will earn God’s favour by what you do and by how you are perfect without allowing Him to make you perfect.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (νωθρός)

The word nōthrós, meaning “sluggish,

The word dull of hearing deals with sluggish behavior that we have towards our journey of Grace to grow and develop in the person of Christ.

Sluggish means you not fully devoted to the growing process and training under grace that is involved.

Dulness is a condition that Jesus dealt with and is a problem in the church of Jesus Christ.

Dulness is a condition of the heart that resist the grace of God to work and function fully.

Its a heart that resist knowledge

Matthew 13:15 “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’”

Now we have stages of development and Peter discuss the first stage of development.

1 Pet 2:2 English Standard Version (Chapter 2)

2 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The New King James Version Chapter 2

2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious

The whole bible is very interested in your growth and not in your staying comfortable and the same.

The stage of infancy needs pure spirit milk. When Peter said pure it means the milk has not been mixed and uses the word unadulterated or undefiled.

The type of food God prepares for you to grow is the best filet mignon. Its the best milk that originates from heaven. God is so invested in your growth that he gives prepares the food for you that takes you from your infant stage into your Parental stage.

He wants you to grow up in salvation - Salvation do not only deal with your saving from sin. It deals with the wholeness and your complete delverance from all the enemies of your soul that operate through fear instead of love.

Hebrews 6:5 “and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,”

Your growth deals with your tastebuds as we call it your senses. You have spiritual senses that is awakened in your life.

If you look at a baby it first taste before it eats. To see if they like it or they spit it out. But in this case when this spiritual milk of the word hit your tatse buds you get hooked on it.

The word of God then heightens your taste buds for more of God and less of what your flesh wants.

The word taste means to enjoy and experience. This means you begin to enjoy the spirit of God and His word. This leads you into experiences with God of growing in grace and truth.

The word goodness is the word kalos that means beautiful, good, desirable. So you are attracted more to what is desirable,good and beautiful.

So your growth is dependent on how your taste buds develop for the word and the things of the spirit.

The more you grow you will develop a longing or craving. This is the spirit of grace initiating it inside of you to move you to obedience and away from the law of sin and death.

The grace of God moves you to obedience of faith transforms your thinking.

If you have these questions you are infant that are uninformed struggling to grow up in the grace and truth of God’s word.

I need to go to church regularly? I’ve never heard that before. •  I need to pray regularly and read the Bible regularly? I’ve never heard that be- fore. How would I do that? •  I didn’t know the Bible said that. •  Do I need to give ten percent of my money and be so generous to church? Crazyy What’s that? •  I’ve always connected with God through nature. Being outdoors or at home is my church. •  I don’t need anyone else- I

I can buy myself flowers Write my name in the sand Talk to myself for hours Say things you don't understand I can take myself dancing And I can hold my own hand Yeah, I can love me better than you can

Can love me better I can love me better, baby Can love me better I can love me better, baby. It’s just me and Jesus. •  I need someone to regularly care for me.

•  I know Jesus is God, but isn’t karma real too? •This things of the spirit is looney and speaking in other tongues through prayer No! Trinity? Huh? Now you’ve got me confused.

•  My wife and I just got baptized, and on the way home from church we got into a big fight. I been struggling so much after I received Jesus.What’s up with all that? I thought Jesus was supposed to take care of all our problems.

1 Cor 1:3 English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

3 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

The pastor in your congregation and the leaders that surrounds you know what you are ready for.

Your leaders that oversee your spiritual life which is the highest form of life. Your spiritual life speaks to the other two areas of your life soul and body.

So jealousy and strife is two ingredients that silence the empowering work of grace to love and walk in unity. This is the result of the immature or the infant that last its appetite for continuing in the grace of God. and stopped growing to a place of solid food. If people are in one church jealous and striving with one another incapable of loving one another you are immature and infant in that area of your life.

This means you never allow grace to mould and shape you for the inheritance that is given to as a son of God.

We know a child starts to eat solid food at a different age.

English Standard Version (Chapter 5)

Hebrews 5:11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

If we are unskilled then there are others who are skilled.

Unskilled meaning ἄπειρος (from πεῖρα), inexperienced (in), without experience (of), unacquainted (with).

Alexander Souter, A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1917), 29.

This relates to our understanding havent been formed in the Knowledge and truth of God’s word

We haven’t become skilled in walking with God through trials and tests.

Our will has not been worked with to a point that our will belong to God.

The word child is the word Nepios. Its simply a child that doesnt grow up remain at this stage that Hebrews is talking about.

Lexham Theological Wordbook νήπιος

νήπιος (nēpios). n. masc. baby, infant, child. Can refer to a nursing baby or to an older child, as well as metaphorically to an immature person.

God wants us skilled for life and mature. the word for mature is τέλειος (teleios). adj. perfect, mature, complete, initiated, fully developed. Describes something complete, mature believers, and the perfection of God.

Adriani Milli Rodrigues, “Perfection,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

Skill has alot to do in Hebrew with Wisdom.

The immature is unskilled

developing the Hearing in God

Its power of discernment

Still being developed and trained in constant practice on how to judge between good and evil.

The three characterics of the mature that Hebrews highlight.

Skilled in Hearing and following God’s Holy Spirit leadership and Voice

The mature is skilled in righteousness

Has the power for discernment

Training by constant practice judge between good and evil

Take Aways

Growing in grace teaches you how to live continiously under the super abounding grace that empower you everyday.

Growing in Grace teaches you about the power that is available to help you to represent Christ in your environment.

Growing in Grace teaches you the vistorious lif that is available and not subjecting yourself to the Law.

Growing in Grace takes you into a deeper more meaningful relationship with the person of Jesus and His truth.

Growing in Grace allow you to grow deeper in divine revelation of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son is.

Growing in Grace develop your character and thought life. It takes it away from sin consciousness and bring you to fruitful living.

Grace moves you towards God in prayer,community and family,the word of God.

Your life begin to produce abundant fruit of love,patience,kindness,tolerance,joy,victory.