GROWING IN GOD'S GRACE 2 PETER 3:17-18

Introduction

John Newton wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace.” As he thought upon the words: “By the grace of God I am what I am,” he said, “I am not what I ought to be. How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be. Though I am not what I ought to be, I can truly say that I am not what I once was—a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily say with Paul: “By the grace of God I am what I am”!”

It is only by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that I am what I am. It is only by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that you are what you are. That is what Peter, by way of this last message from this series, is going to communicate to us. He is going to warn us and encourage us concerning grace. He is going to tell us to grow up in grace. There are only two points to the message this morning. In these points we will observe two commands from the Lord Jesus Christ as we are directed to growing up in God’s grace.

Command #1: Look Out (3:17).

This verse is a summary statement of everything that Peter has already warned us about in chapter two and chapter three. Peter is concerned about the very real possibility of believers becoming discouraged by their present circumstances to the point that they were contemplating believing the lies of the false teachers and turning their back on the faith:

He warned the believers about those who were guilty of denying the Savior who bought their salvation (2:1).

He warned the believers about those who were guilty of forsaking the narrow way of the right in favor of the broad way of the wrong (2:15).

He warned the believers about those who have once again become entangled and bound up in the affairs and lifestyle of the world (2:20).

He warned the believers about those who who are spiritually unstable and twist the Scripture to suit their own agenda (3:16).

Because of these things, Peter says, “You therefore.” Because of these who are guilty of denying the truth of Christ’s return, as well as other principles contained in the Word of God, “Look out!

He goes on, “knowing this beforehand.” This is the Greek word “proginosko.” Literally it means, “to know before.” It is referring to everything Peter has been saying about the return of Christ. Because of the knowledge of what is to come, we are warned, “to take care.” It is the Greek word “phulosso” and it means “to guard or to watch.” We are to beware, to be on the alert, and to be on the lookout. Since God has already given us a bird’s eye view of what is going to happen and because of that we know that it is going to get bad before it gets better, be on the alert! Why? We are now given the reason. The reason we are to look out is for the reason “that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.”

The “Home Alone” movies will be coming back on in just a few weeks. I does not seem possible. In the second “Home Alone” movie Kevin gets lost again. Well, it would not be much of a move if he didn’t. This time he gets lost in New York. Keven and his dad are trying to catch up with the family and board the plane before it leaves for Florida. Keven gets separated from his dad and is following who he thinks his father is because of the color and style of a trenchcoat. Unfortunately, the guy Kevin thinks is his father is not his father. He is a stranger that resembles his father. Kevin gets on the wrong plane because of an assumption made as to the true identity of the one he was following.

Peter says, “Make sure you are following your Father. Watch out that you are not fooled by those who say they have a special knowledge and experience who attempt to lead you away from the Father. Do not become led astray and deceived with the error of such people. They are lawless (against the Law of God) and you run the risk of losing your own stability.

The word stability means “steadfastness (starigmos).” George Washington was the very epitome of this term. The year was 1755 and George Washington was fighting with General Braddock in Pennsylvania. They were fighting the French and the Indians. Braddock and Washington lost 713 men in battle while the French and Indians lost twenty men. Miraculously, George Washington survives the battle. He wrote a letter to his mother and his brother relaying the fact how he should not have survived. He received four bullet holes in his vest, but his skin was untouched. He said, “I had many horses shot out from under me and yet I am still alive to this day because Almighty God protected me and preserved me.” That was 1755.

In 1770 George Washington, fifteen years after the battle with the French and Indians, goes back to the old Indian chief and speaks with him. The Indian chief says, “I was a young warrior then and it was my responsibility to shoot you off your horse. Yet for some reason, even though I am a pretty good shot, kept shooting your horse, seventeen times I shot at you but I could never kill you. I wanted to meet the man that God would not let die.”

That was the type of man George Washington was. He was a stable men. Peter is warning God’s people to beware unstable people who will try and steal your stability.

Biblical Principle

Never allow the evil influences of others to hinder you from faithful service to Christ. Be very careful who you allow to influence you. The people you hang with will either make you or they will hang you.

The first command is a word of warning. Look out!

Command #2: Grow Up (3:18).

This verse is a summary statement of the main points of chapter one.

He encourages the people to remember the blessings that come as a result of the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (1:1-4).

He encourages the people to remember the blessings of how one grows in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (1:5-11).

He encourages the people to remember the blessings of heeding the Old Testament prophets and the apostolic witness (1:12:21).

Therefore, this verse is the solution to potential apostasy:grow. The Greek term is “auxano” and is also a command. With this command and the doxology that follows, we have the very last words of Peter.

Peter says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Peter does not say to grow in grace or knowledge. He does not say to grow in grace today and in knowledge tomorrow. Peter says that we are to grow in grace and in knowledge. God is not impressed by spiritual ignorance. He is also not impressed by spiritual arrogance. The Bible says that we are to grow in both grace and knowledge. The key is to live in the grace of God. That is to be motivator of knowing more of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That, in turn, will humble us and drive us out there to tell others about our precious Lord.

We are to grow in grace in knowledge. How do you grow in knowledge. That is easy. You grow in knowledge by reading and studying the Bible. You grow in knowledge by attending a church that without apology teaches that the Bible is the Word of God and exalts Jesus Christ. Now for the harder question to answer. How do you grow in grace? You grow in grace by remembering how gracious God has been to you. To grow in grace means to remember the pit from which Christ reached down and retrieved us from. This will humble us and cause us to be grateful. If we constantly remember from where Christ has brought us from and the grace He has given to us, we can take that moment and live in the grace of Christ and grow in that grace (read John 1:14]

Biblical Principle

Spiritual growth is a biblical command and a daily choice. It is one thing to understand the need to grow. It is quite another to understand how we are to grow. How will I be different tomorrow because I am fulfilling the command to grow. Here are six HOW TO GROW applications:

Be humble. Remember that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves.

Be prayerful. Pray without ceasing. Here is the connection between humility and prayer. If we are not humble, we will not pray. Arrogant people will not humble themselves to speak to and hear from a holy God. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray.

Be focused. It is so easy to become distracted. Some of you have an eye problem. You have an I-Phone and you can’t keep your eyes off of it. Keep your eyes focused. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Be bound by the Word. Get into the Word of God. The Bible is not a butter knife. It is a two-edged sword, it cuts coming and going. Too many people are too concerned about defending the Word when they do not even use the Word. If you are not in the Word of God, do not proclaim you are a growing believer, because you are not. You cannot grow up in Christ apart from the Word of God.

Stand up. The church in this country has been backed into the silence of political correctness. Stop behaving like jellyfish Christians. Get your back straight and stand up in boldness.

Keep your hands busy. It is past time for some of us to roll up our sleeves, get our hands to the plow and work. There is nothing spiritual about sitting, soaking, and souring. We are to be laborers in his field of souls. To grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ means putting to use in your hands what has been placed in your heart and hands.

Peter closes out this chapter and this second epistle with a doxology of praise to Christ. [read last part of verse 18]

Here is the problem of too many people. Too many people sit around waiting for God to do something later and are missing everything that God is going right now in this very moment. To many people are in the way of God having His way in their lives because they stay away from where God is working. God deserves the glory for what He is doing in your life right now, not waiting until eternity.

Do you remember the account of Jesus and the woman who was brought to him? She had been caught in the act of adultery. The legalistic Judaizers had their stones already in hand to kill her in the name of religion. Jesus says, “Hold the phone!” That would have been a miracle since there no was nothing close a phone back in the day. Jesus says, “Wait just a minute! Are you telling Me that you are free from sin? I hope not since I know that is not the case. If you are without sin, by all means, go ahead and rock.” One by one every one of them dropped their stones with heads downcast while their fist were still clinched. Jesus turns to the woman and says to her, “I am not going to throw a stone at you even though I am without sin. Rather, here is what you need to do. God and sin no more.”

Did you see what happened there? Grace and truth living together. Jesus gives us to commands to obey from the text. First, watch out. Watch out for those who seek to lead you astray from Christ and what is right. Second, Grow up. Grow up each and every day in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. By doing so you will glorify Him now in preparation for doing so in eternity.