Grace Causes Growth

“Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them...”
2 Peter 1:12

Sometimes we need to be reminded of things we already know.

Peter understood that.

Near the end of his life, he wasn't trying to impress the church with something new. He wasn't searching for some hidden truth nobody had ever discovered. Instead, he wanted to stir believers up by way of reminder.

Because sometimes we can get so deep into the forest that we can tell you everything about the bark of a tree and almost forget we're standing in a forest.

We study. We learn. We dig deeper. Those are good things.

But sometimes we need to step back and remember the big picture.

And Peter's big picture begins with grace.

Remember How You Got Here

Peter begins his letter by reminding believers that they have received their faith through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God's divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness.

In other words:

He saved you.

Not because you were able to do it.

Not because you were good enough.

Not because something inside of you deserved Him.

His glory.
His excellence.
His grace.
His power.

Grace found you.

And it has always been grace first.

We are where we are today because of the grace of God.

That's worth remembering.

Do you remember when you first believed? Do you remember realizing that Jesus really was who He said He was? Do you remember when the truth of the gospel became more than information and became personal?

Peter says: Don't lose that.

Stir it back up.

Remember.

The Cross Wasn't Beautiful

We often see crosses today that are polished, decorated and even made of gold.

There's nothing wrong with that. The cross is beautiful to us.

But the actual cross wasn't beautiful at all.

It was bloody. Painful. Dark.

Jesus willingly entered death on our behalf. Yet through that one sacrificial death, He made a way for everyone who believes in Him to pass through death into eternal life.

The message of the cross is a beautiful thing to us because it was not a beautiful thing at all.

Christ took our death so that we could receive His life.

That's grace.

And that grace didn't only change where we're going when we die.

It changes how we're supposed to live today.

Grace Doesn't Leave Us Where It Found Us

Peter continues by describing qualities that should increasingly become visible in the life of someone who has been made new:

Faith.
Moral excellence.
Knowledge.
Self-control.
Perseverance.
Godliness.
Brotherly kindness.
Love.

These things don't purchase salvation.

They are evidence of what salvation is producing.

There is work for us to do as Christians, but we must keep the order right:

The work that I'm doing is not to stay saved or to get saved, but because I'm saved.

We don't work our way toward grace.

We grow because grace has already found us.

Stop Trying to Do Grace's Work Yourself

This becomes especially important when we struggle.

Sometimes we keep coming back to the same stress, the same weakness, the same frustration, and the same failure. We grit our teeth and promise ourselves we'll handle it better next time.

Then we fall flat on our face again.

Peter reminds us that we have become partakers of the divine nature through the precious promises of Christ.

So the self-control you need isn't ultimately found by squeezing harder.

The perseverance you need isn't produced by stubbornness.

The love you need isn't manufactured by trying to feel more loving.

Go back to Christ.

Go back to grace.

Grace was sufficient. Grace did it all to start with. Grace is what saved you. Now let grace guide your life.

The Christian life begins with dependence upon Jesus, and it continues the same way.

Grace Causes Growth

Maybe that's what you need to remember today.

You don't need a new Savior.

You don't need a new gospel.

You don't need to graduate beyond grace.

Remember what Christ has already done.

Remember the cross.

Remember the grace that found you.

Remember the life He placed within you.

And then diligently walk in it.

Because grace doesn't merely forgive the old life.

Grace produces a new one.

Grace found you.

Grace saved you.

Grace sustains you.

And grace causes growth.

A Question for Today

Where are you currently trying to produce in your own strength what God wants to grow through dependence upon Christ?

Bring that place back to Him today.

Prayer

Father, remind me again of Your grace. Keep me from trusting my goodness, my strength, or my ability. Thank You for what Christ accomplished for me on the cross. Help me to live today from the new life You have given me. Grow in me faith, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love. When I try to carry things in my own strength, draw me back to You. Let Your grace not only be where my story began, but what continues shaping who I become.

In Jesus' name, amen.