By Christopher Dryden
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14 ESV
We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is and those who have that hope in Him purify themselves as He is pure (1 John 3:3).
There is something about the continual, the process, the gradual, the development in what is offered by John.
The scriptures are full of the reality of who we are and who we are yet to be because of our relationship with the Father through the Son. There’s our position and there’s our progress. All of these are by grace.
It is with great relish that we tuck into what Paul says about what happens because of the revelation of the grace of God. Due to that revelation, we’re being trained. We’re progressing, we’re starting at one point and we’re making progress as we align ourselves with what is being done in and through us by this wonderful revelation of the grace of God.
There is an image of a Christian that’s about saying a prayer and then joining a club as though once that decision has been made it’s about hunkering down, keeping up appearances and waiting for the end. This is not what happens to those who are truly born again.
As you’re born again you realise it helps if you take on the necessary nutrients to stay alive and keep on growing as you keep on going. That’s a daily commitment even as we witness the growth of that baby one day turn into a toddler turn into a capable young person and then emerge as a confident and responsible adult. That is also hinted at in what John says to his readers as he refers to children, young men and fathers (See 1 John 2).
Those who have heard the gospel and received it to turn to Jesus and follow Him are not designed to stay as they are. They’re supposed to mature, they’re supposed to be fruitful and then receive the necessary pruning to be even more fruitful. This growth is totally dependent on the favour the Father lavishes on those who have seen His grace revealed.
What does that look like – to grow in grace? This is the vision of seeing Christ active in and through you by His Spirit, changing your behaviour and making you even more aware of your tendency to sin and more dependent on Him for the wisdom and strength to navigate life’s challenges keen to display the light of Him who lives in you. That growth is seen in the capacity to be pure of heart, merciful and a peacemaker – eager to do the good works He’s created you to do – and noticing that develops in you even more as you reflect on your journey with Jesus.
There’s never a point to relax and be complacent as though it’s by your efforts that you’ve made progress. There’s the degree of gratitude and humility to know where the growth comes from and where the progress is yet to be made. This degree of training and progress reinforces that glorious hope that those who have that hope in them will see Jesus as He is and be with Him forever.
Peter’s final recorded words in scripture encourage his readers to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. The more we get to know Jesus, it should be the case the more that Jesus can be seen in us.
Ask: Based on what Paul instructs Titus, what are the keys to help understand how you grow in grace?
Seek: What level of appetite do you currently have to grow in grace – is this something that’s a top priority? If not, what can help you to make it so? If it is, what can you do to avoid complacency and encourage others to join you?
Knock: Growth takes place through a variety of factors. Identify four of the factors that may be currently operating in your life and give God thanks for them. As you thank Him ask Him for whatever it takes to commit further to the process of growth in grace.
(Upper Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash)
(Inner Photo by Edward Howell on Unsplash)
