“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).
Every true believer is the product of God’s grace. He is one who has been born of the Spirit of God and called to live according to the principle of grace, which now reigns in his soul. That means spiritual growth is only possible when the life of Christ has first been implanted in a person’s heart. A Christian is not just a person who is a church member that has been baptized, catechized, confirmed, and partakes of the Lord’s Supper. Important as all these things may be, they do not make a person a believer, although if you are a believer you’ll delight in doing these things! Rather a Christian is one who has been born from above by the Spirit of God and given new life in Jesus Christ. We read in Ephesians 2:4-6: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”
And out of this new life we must grow. Just as every sapling tree that is alive must necessarily grow and produce fruit, so the one who has received new life in Jesus Christ must also grow and produce good fruit. And Christian growth is not simply the piling on of external things. Christian growth is being conformed to the likeness of Christ and it reaches more and more into every area and aspect of our life by dominating our thoughts, words and deeds as the mind is being continuously renewed by the Word of God. Literally, Christian growth means to enlarge or increase in graciousness as one is being conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
This Christian growth is a vital, living, and active work of God in the believer, but it’s also gradual. It never reaches perfection in this life. The Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 114 states: “Can those who are converted to God keep these Commandments perfectly?” “No, but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of such obedience, yet so that with earnest purpose they begin to live not only according to some, but according to all the Commandments of God.” As long as we are in this world we have the remnants of sin to struggle against every day (Romans 7). And this is important to understand because many people think spiritual growth is instant, but Scripture teaches that Christian growth is gradual. Philippians 3:12: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Spiritual growth is a gradual growth through many trials, temptations, sufferings, persecutions, and just as a plant grows by taking in the sun, rain, and nutrients from the soil, so the Christian grows spiritually by feeding on the Word of God, the sacraments, prayer, and fellowship (Acts 2:42). You grow as a believer by living every day according to what you’ve learned in God’s Word.
What about you … are you growing in Christ? Is your life progressively being conformed into the likeness of Christ? You must be if you’re truly a Christian. John 15:2: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” May you truly be a fruitful branch united to the vine, Jesus Christ.