September 18th 2017 – 2 Peter 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.

2 Peter 3:18

The final exhortation sums up in itself all the Apostle's positive teaching in the Epistle, and indeed all the deepest things in the Christian Life: To be established in grace and then to enter more deeply and intimately into fellowship with Him - that is how to remain steadfast and unmovable, the great, the only safeguard amid the gathering darkness of the end of the age. We should not, however, miss the significance of Peter's emphasis in the words 'grow in grace'. By its very nature this phrase obliges us to think of Christian advancement as a gradual process. A child does not grow to manhood by fits and starts, but imperceptibly, and in the Christian life progress and development are necessarily gradual. The fact that there are those who bear testimony to what is called a 'crisis' experience transforming their lives does not in any way call in question this fundamental biblical emphasis. Crisis, of course, can take place whether through some sudden illumination that brings an entirely new understanding to mind and heart, or through some radical therapeutic impact of the Word upon the soul ('if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off'). But we need to understand that such crises are merely preparatory, in the sense that they simply clear away obstacles to growth; they do not themselves constitute growth, indeed they make growth possible, perhaps for the first time, just as a serious surgical operation removes a diseased organ that has hindered health and growth and creates the prospect or normal healthy living for the hitherto ailing patient. This is what Peter has in view in these words. Happy is the Christian who understands them and responds to them by allowing his roots to go down into the subsoil of the Word of life and drawing nurture from these limitless depths!