You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 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.
- 2 Peter 3:17-18
In 2 Peter, we find that Peter wrote a second letter to the elect exiles of the Dispersion (1 Peter 1:1, 2 Peter 3:1). And in this letter, his tone is much more urgent, most likely due to his upcoming death. Similar to his first letter, Peter emphasizes that holiness is essential to the Christian’s conduct. In the first letter, the backdrop was suffering and hardship, but in his second letter, the backdrop is heresy.
In much of 2 Peter, Peter calls out the character qualities and aims of false teachers and scoffers. In a nutshell, false teachers are marked by a desire to entice unsteady souls to follow and uphold things that are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus, false teachers were either adding to that gospel message or were downplaying the horrific effects of sin and sinful conduct. Similarly, scoffers share the same aim as false teachers but often, they downright mock God as creator, redeemer, and His law.
Peter wrapped up his second letter that he wrote to the beloved – those elect exiles of the Dispersion – admonishing them to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But just before that, he reminds them to recall or know the aim of the false teachers and scoffers. Peter wants their footing to be firmly grounded in the truth of God’s word, so that they won’t be an unsteady soul who is lead astray and go down a path that leads to error and destruction.
I think we would be remiss if we didn’t make the link from Peter’s day to our twenty-first century day. We Christians are surrounded by loud voices – from social media to mainstream media, to commercials, to influencers – that want us to believe in or affirm movements and lifestyles that are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. False teachers spread false gospels to lead others astray and scoffers can be heard mocking God and his good and wise commands.
Interestingly, Peter didn’t add detailed instructions for the beloved on how to grow. But he previously detailed the character qualities and heart posture of false teachers and scoffers. So, in light of what Peter does tell the beloved regarding false teachers and scoffers, we can work counter to determine how a believer can and should grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In today’s devotional, we will consider four ways (stay tuned: next week we will consider a few more) to grow.
The first inference that we can make from Peter’s letter is that believers are to sit under sound, biblical teaching – teaching that emphasizes God’s holiness and glory, man’s need for a savior, and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ (much of 2 Peter). Sitting under sound, biblical teaching will enrich our minds to further understand God’s grace.
Another way believers grow in grace and knowledge is to meditate and delight in the word of God. Psalm 1 tells us, blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. When we mediate and delight in the word of God, God – in his grace – changes our appetites to desire and cherish the very things that He delights in. It fills our minds with goodness and truth and beauty so that we can more readily discern (or know) truth from error. And let’s not forget that our hearts cannot love, what our minds do not know.
Further, we grow in grace and knowledge when we sing spiritual songs and hymns to him with grateful hearts (Col 3:16, Eph 5:19-20). When studying these verses, I was paused by Paul’s command to have a grateful heart when we sing. Let’s be honest, sometimes our hearts are burdened and heavy and therefore, lifting our voice to praise him seems daunting or insurmountable. Yet, we are to train our hearts to cry out to him – both in the high points and low points due to what he has done (defeated death, redeemed us), is doing (sanctifying us, calling sinners to himself, sustaining us, etc.), and will do (return, fully and finally defeat Satan, give us glorified bodies, establish new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells, etc.). And as we sing songs that are truly worshipful to God, we are molding our minds after his grace which imprints onto our hearts.
Lastly, we grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when we confess our sins to him (1 John 1:9). What a beautiful blessing it is that the Holy Spirit reveals our sin to us so that we can repent and be restored back to God. And moreover, how marvelous it is that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so, out of humility and obedience we confess our sins and as we do, we come to know more fully the extent of God’s amazing and unending grace.
In a world that tells us that God’s ways are not good, that we should esteem and value our own autonomy above all else, that there is no absolute truth – we must be rooted and grounded in the word of God, so that we not only grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but also so that we will not be enticed by false teachers and scoffers and led astray. Beloved, sit under sound, biblical teaching; take delight in God’s good, life-giving word; sing God-centered hymns and spiritual songs to him with a full, grateful heart; and confess your sins to him. And know this beloved, the Christian life is a growing life; there is always more and more of him and his grace to know, love, cherish, and worship.
Prayer: Father, I confess that there are areas in my life where I have esteemed what the world says over what you say. I confess that I can be ungrateful. By your grace, help me to discern truth from error. By your grace, give me a right perspective of your grace so that my heart will be content and grateful. Protect me from being led astray.
Reflection:
- Identify some modern “truth-isms”. Who are the spoken and upheld by? Are there any that you are tempted to believe or follow? Why? How are they contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ?
- Identify one way that you are growing in the grace and knowledge of Him (use the list above). How has that particular area brought you closer to knowing him and experiencing his grace?
- Identify one way that you need to grow in the grace and knowledge of Him (use list above). Make a plan to be diligent in that area and be ready to see God move.
Hymn to Sing: On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand
