WE note five things about Peter’s injunction.
Firstly it mentions “grace” before “knowledge”.
Secondly it concludes one of the great biblical statements about the end-times.
Thirdly it is made in contrast to a preceding warning.
Fourthly it is followed by one of the great doxologies of the Bible.
Finally, we note that the writer Peter, who in his younger years had some problems with “grace” and “knowledge”, penned it.
Personally I find the fifth consideration most comforting and in line with something that A W Tozer observed in his excellent book entitled GOD TELLS THE MAN WHO CARES and reprinted as chapter 17 of THE BEST OF TOZER
I write this editorial and my related article on pages 3 and 4 out of a deep and painful recent experience from which I was rescued by my dear wife who has gone through a most painful experience herself.
Hers was physical; mine was spiritual. Grace always triumphs.
We commend this CETF to you as a watershed issue that may lead to wonderful things ahead if the Lord wills.
God bless you.
THE word “grace” appears 122 times in the New Testament (KJV) and the Greek (“charis” or “karis”) from which it is translated a further 34 times making a total of 156. Paul’s epistles employ the English word 91 times while Peter’s two short letters use the word 10 times and the Greek equivalent twice more. In his first chapter Peter greets the Christians with the words:
Grace to you, and peace be multiplied (1 Peter 1:2);
And he concludes his writings with the injunction,
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ToHim be glory both now and forever. Amen (2 Peter 3:18). Grace is at the heart of the Gospel. It starts our Christian existence
–
For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
And controls our spiritual life and development –
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than all of them: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).
If we don’t have grace we are nothing and we have nothing. More than that, it is not unreasonable to conclude that Peter’s statement about “grow{ing} in grace”strongly implies that unless we do we cannot attain the true “knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. The two, grace and the knowledge of Christ, are intrinsically joined and the first always precedes the second.
NEEDED – Grace!
Some of the key elements of existence are extremely difficult to define. How for example do you define “life”? Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) wrote, “Growth is the only evidence of life” (Apologia pro Vita Sua [1864]).
“Life is a struggle” say the Communists and the evolutionists. I prefer the idea that “Life is growth” and that applies in all areas – physical, and spiritual.
When grace ceases to grow in us we cease to be truly alive spiritually. Peter tells us that we are to “grow in grace”and he implies that such will lead to an increase in “the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
The Greek “gnosis” = “knowledge” is sometimes signified in general intelligence, and understanding. Often the word contains the idea of moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living. In 2 Peter 3:18 it is not simply theoretical or academic knowledge, which in Christian service can be a damaging, even a damning thing.
Satan is very clever. Education alone is inadequate. Take a devil and educate him and all you have in the end is an educated devil.
Peter may have lacked formal education as is suggested by the expression “they were untrained (Gr. “agrammatos” = lit. Illiterate or un-lettered) and ignorant (Gr. “idiotes” from” idios” = lit. one’s own i.e. pertaining or belonging to one’s self) men” (Acts 4:13), but he extolled the “wisdom” that resided in the formally well educated Saul of Tarsus who became Paul the apostle.
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom (Gr. “sophia”) given to him has written to you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to understand, which they that are ignorant (Gr.“amathes”) and unstable distort, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Pet 3:15-16).
 |
|
 |
|
Education alone is inadequate ... grace moulds and shapes us ... knowledge on its own inflates us. |
|
 |
|
 |
But the point is, it was not Paul’s education that made him what he was but rather the grace of God in his life, which opened him up to the “knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” All the education in the world can’t produce that. It takes GRACE — the grace of God. GRACE – in the End Times There are five simple truths with which Peter’s concluding remarks present us that are relevant to our time as they were to his time.
In fact they are per tinent to ALL time:
Firstly grace not knowledge commences the spiritual growth process. This truth cut across the dominant idea of the Greek culture in which the early church was established. One of the ideas of Greek philosophy was that knowledge is virtue. They argued that to know what is right is to choose what is right. All of history protests the falsity of that idea. As the poet expresses it: “We have known the best and chosen the worst.” Knowledge is not virtue and to pursue it inside or outside the church as the primary or principal thing will lead to disillusionment and disaster.
As a young Bible College student back in 1958 I heard the then Principal of the Canadian Prairie Bible School, who was visiting Brisbane, warn us about men who are “educated beyond their intelligence.” I thought it an insightful comment and have never forgotten it. Grace not knowledge is the primary thing, simply because grace moulds and shapes us, whereas knowledge on its own inflates us:
Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (
1 Corinthians 8:1).
Secondly, Peter’s appeal to “grow in grace” concludes his teaching on the end times (c/f all of 2 Peter chapter 3). The great thing about the message of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ is that it is so practical. It has a way of focusing our attention on things that are impor tant. What was true about “growing in grace” in Peter’s day and throughout Church history is doubly true in the end times.
In the face of the last day “mockers” who will walk “after their own desires” (v. 3) and in the light of the fact that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (v. 10) after which “all these things shall be dissolved”(v. 11) Peter tells us that we should be holy and godly, which requires a constant “grow{ing} in grace”.
Apart from the clear textual reasons for this there are others that become clear in the time frame as the end approaches. For example, if we fail to “grow in grace” we may lose patience with those, with whom we disagree to whom God retains patience in the face of the pressures of the apostasy. Good and godly people are under great pressures today. The Lord recognises that and we should too. Then there is the more direct aspect of the church in the west facing possible persecution, which seems to be closing in as Islam becomes more dominant. We most certainly will need to “grow in grace” in order to face that persecution. Grace is a dominant feature among Christians who have suffered under repressive regimes.
Thirdly Peter sets this growth in grace in contrast to the danger of error and instability:
Beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness (
v. 17).
Every word of God is inspired – even the conjunctions. The “But” of verse 18
emphasises the alternative to what Peter has warned against in verse 17. We may argue all night and day about our eternal security in Christ — and let me say right away that the Bible makes it clear that IN Christ we are eternally secure — but if we are not careful we will neglect the fearful warnings of Scripture about error and instability. These things can only be countered by a continuous positive response to Peter’s command, “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (V. 18).
Fourthly this consideration by Peter caused a responsive praise in one of the great doxologies of scripture — “To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (v.18). That’s what growing in grace leads to. Christ is the beginning and ending and the centre of all things and Christ is in the heart and at the end of grace, just as He is at its beginning.
“To HIM be glory,” says Peter. “We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth,” says John (Jn 1:14). It’s a true remark that if there’s no theology there will be no doxology. Praise and worship is not just verbalising something. They are the overspill of the development and continuous growth of the grace of God in the lives of His people.
Finally this growing in grace about which Peter writes creates strength and faithfulness as he himself proved. Of all the original apostles initially Peter was probably the quickest to act and speak and the slowest to learn the lessons of “grace” and of the “knowledge of Christ”. In fact there was a time when he insisted that he knew more than Jesus knew about him and about the future. He actually rebuked Christ for what He proposed and contradicted what He prophesied:
{Jesus} began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said that openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get behind me, Satan: for you do not think the things that are of God, but the things that are of men (Mark 8:31-33).
And Jesus said to them, All of you shall be offended because of me this night: ... But Peter said to him, Although all shall be offended, yet I will not. And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times. But he spoke the more vehemently, if I should die with you, I will not deny you (Mark 14:27-31).
Many Bible scholars believe that Peter instructed Mark in the facts that he records in his Gospel. That he did not omit these incidents which must have been a blight on his memory plus the fact that ever yone of the four Gospel writers includes some reference to Peter’s denial of Christ in the face of his strong affirmation that such would NEVER happen shows us two things:
1) Peter had grown greatly in grace;
and
2) The Holy Spirit inspired men to record this great man’s failure and subsequent spiritual growth to encourage all of us.
If that measure of “grow{ing} in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”could happen to Peter it can happen to anyone. May it be true in my life.
NEXT: True GRACE viewed biblically — What is it? How it impacted Peter and influenced his writings.
About the Author...
Found this information useful?
BOOKMARK this page NOW!
Web Site by
S & R Cope in association with
Appeared in Issue CETF NR 30 2004
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3
© Copyright 2006 Christian Witness Ministries, except where noted. All rights reserved
|
|
|
|
|
-Last revised-
Monday, October 09, 2006
