Article: Are you growing in the Lord? If not…why not? | Jacob Varghese

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18
Growth is a sign of life. Growth is sometimes painful but growth is always good. Are you growing? If not…why not? Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that is what is expected of us as children of God. This process of growth necessitates consistent intake of the word of God.The word of God has the Lord Jesus Christ as the constant, primary subject. The pervasive presence of Christ throughout the scriptures is a vital truth for growing in grace, since grace is found in the Lord Jesus. God’s will for our lives is that we might live in His word. This allows us to grow in His grace that we might know him better. This truth is to delight our hearts and change our lives. Why was the grace of God given to us? If you understand the reason for which something is given, it is much easier to understand the gift and the same is true here for the grace of God. According to the Bible, the law was given to show us that we are sinful. But the grace of God was given to turn us to God. The grace of God was not given so that we could merely learn about the concept of grace. Understanding grace is important but that alone will never change a life unless we move from the knowledge and understanding of grace to the application of grace. We often know what to do, but we just don’t do it. The benefit comes from the application. Application makes all the difference- grow and live by grace. The grace of God is an extremely profound subject. The apostle Paul calls the gospel of Grace a mystery. God the father is the source of grace. Jesus Christ is the grace of God. Because grace comes from God, it takes God to understand grace fully. God does that through His holy spirit who will open our eyes.

Grace is a covenant. Some people use the acrostic GRACE to represent God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. God’s grace is His unmerited, undeserved and unearned favor on those who have sinned. God provides His grace to us not because of anything we have done to earn it and not because of anything God desires to get from us. God gives His grace to us free of charge.When we have Jesus, we have God’s grace and this grace is abundant.Paul writes that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. To understand what grace is, we need to understand Jesus. We need to understand Jesus not only with the mind but also with the heart and submit to follow him where he leads us.When we submit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit will teach us everything we need to know about grace. The grace of God is the engine that drives the life of a successful Christian .God’s grace moves man to act according to God’s pleasure, it enables, it sustains and equips us to walk in a manner that pleases God. Without God’s saving grace no one can grow as a Christian. Grace is the oxygen that the Christian needs to breathe. Grace is God’s unmerited favor; it is kindness from God we don’t deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift from God.

“Grace” is the English translation of a Greek word meaning “that which brings delight, joy, happiness, or good fortune.” The word grace is a short, simple word but understanding the biblical depth and meaning of grace can take a lifetime of study and application. The command to grow in grace does not mean that we should gradually give up sin. Bible does not command us to leave sin bit by bit. We are to grow in God’s favor, in His estimation of us and satisfaction with us and in worthiness of His favor. Growth in grace presupposes that we have already repented of sin, that in practice we have abandoned all known sin. We are pardoned and favored by Him for the sake of our Lord, Jesus Christ. His favor assumes that we have renounced rebellion against God. As we know God more, we will be capable of loving Him more and displaying deeper confidence in Him. The more we love, believe and know God, the more God will be pleased with us; and we stand higher in His favor, the more He will bless and use us in His service.

To grow in grace we must increase in knowledge of what it means to be entirely given to God. Fully surrendering everything we are, have, desire, and love as quickly as these objects come to our mind is a condition of growth in God’s favor. We must constantly, earnestly pray for His guidance and guard against resisting and grieving Him. More and more implicit faith in God required to grow in the grace. We need confidence in God’s character so profound that we trust Him in the dark as well as in the light. Implicit faith is unwavering and unquestioning state of mind that rest in God, His promises, His faithfulness and love- no matter how trying and apparently un reasonable the guiding circumstances may be. But every step in the Christian’s life must be taken under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A deeper personal, experiential knowledge of Christ is a must to grow in grace. Knowledge is indispensable to walk in God’s favor, being one of the conditions of growth in grace. But knowledge itself is not grace. A person can explode in knowledge, yet have no grace at all. Growth in gifts is not proof that an individual is living near to God. One who professes Christ may pray fluently, preach eloquently, exhort powerfully without even being holy. I have seen people excelling in all outward religious practices but still having no favor from God. Just because a person thinks he is growing spiritually does not mean heis growing in the grace of God as well.

If you are conscious that you exercise more childlike faith and complete confidence in God, this proves that you are growing in grace. Our life, attitude and spirit manifest this ever expanding faith in God, we demonstrate to everybody that we are increasing in the grace of God. Calmness in hardship evidences growth. It shows that our soul is firmly anchored in Christ and able to withstand the storms of life. To grow in grace is to mature as a Christian. We are saved by grace through faith and we mature and are sanctified by grace alone. Peter also confirms that we need to grow in our knowledge of Jesus and to have that intimate relationship with Him because the more we know of Him, the more of Him will be seen in our lives. The scriptures contain all the knowledge we will ever need to learn of God, His son and His spirit.
Once I read the story of a tiny mango sapling that suddenly decided that it wanted to be independent and grow on its own. It said to the rich soil- “You need not nourish me anymore with your minerals and other stuff. I can grow up by myself.” It then looked up to the clouds and said, “Hey, you clouds there! You need not pour down pails of water like that on me. I don’t need water. I shall grow on my own.” And the soil and the clouds promptly did so. You can guess what would have become of the poor sapling soon afterwards. It had to meet a pathetic death, without the nutrients and water, which were the very essentials for its life and growth. God has graciously granted us a new birth, a new beginning. We have been planted as tiny saplings in God’s vineyard. The soil is the word of God that is rich enough to make us grow into sturdy and fruitful trees. And God has also got a pail of water in His hands- He showers His grace without measure. But, how are we, as saplings, responding to His care? Are we adamant and stubborn and indifferent to God’s love and protection? Do we reject His word and His grace instead of acknowledging them with gratitude?

Paul exhorts us to “grow” in the grace of the Lord. In other words, salvation is not going to be a oneday affair or experience. It is the starting point. We are like that tiny sapling. After our born again experience, we all need to grow continually in our spiritual life. Paul was not only a great missionary; he was an apostle and church planter too. It is said that in less than fifteen years, he was able to establish churches in four provinces of the Roman Empire. The secret of Paul’s success was that he received the grace of God abundantly. Once Paul confessed, “I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the churches of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect.” Once when Paul pleaded with the Lord to take away the thorn in his flesh, the Lord promised him, “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. And it was only by that grace of God that Paul survived and stood strong even in tough situation.

God’s grace is available even for us also who are His people. When we make commitment to serve the Lord, He pours His grace on us abundantly. Bible scholar Donald Barnhouse said, “Love that goes upward is worship, love that goes outward is affection, love that stoops is grace.” To show grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who does not deserve it and can never earn it. Charles R.Swindoll explains it with an incident that happened in his life. It was his thirteenth birthday. Having just broken into the ranks of the teen world, he acted as if he had a crown on his head. But his father was not impressed with his attitude. While Charles was lying on his bed, his father was outside, weeding the garden. He said, “Charles, come out and help me.” But Charles replied in a high tone with little respect, “No…it is my birthday.” “After all I am in ripe age old of thirteen and he is asking me to weed the garden”, he rebelled in his heart. In a few minutes he heard his father opening his bedroom door. Before he could realize his father spanked him right and left all the way to the garden that Charles weeded the whole day till evening. But that same night his father took Charles out to a surprise dinner. “He gave me what I deserved, earlier. But later he gave what I did not deserve. The birthday dinner was grace!” he said later.
Christ came to this world, shed His blood and died for us to cleanse us from all our sins. All we need is to claim His grace by accepting the free gift of eternal life. Let us continue to grow in His amazing grace that has saved us without any reservation.

JACOB VARGHESE

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