“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 believer must make diligent use of the means of grace that God has given for our spiritual growth, and at the same time we must also avoid things that are harmful to our growth. The same is true in the physical world … if a farmer wants his livestock to grow healthy he feeds them good food, but he also keeps them away from poison. So also in our spiritual life … there are many things that are harmful … it’s what the Bible calls “the world, the flesh and the devil” (1 John 2; 1 Thess. 2). We must be careful who we associate with because “Evil company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33). The believer must also put away sinful activities such as sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, and things like these. We must replace these vices with the virtuous qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, truth, and righteousness.
But especially destructive to spiritual growth is the sin of the tongue: gossip, slander, and backbiting not only damages others but also ourselves. James 3:6: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” We must speak gracious and wholesome words that promote spiritual growth, and we do this by having the love of God as the law of our tongue. Colossians 4:6: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt…”
But if we are to grow spiritually, we must also have spiritual rest. As an infant needs rest in order to grow, so also believers need rest if we are going to grow spiritually. We need to have peace of mind. We can become so restless by the trials, temptations and suffering of this life. Therefore we need to rest, and we do this by trusting that we are accepted by God on the basis of Christ’s merits and that our future is certain and secure because it rests on nothing but the blood of Jesus. Spiritual rest is trusting completely in the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and this gives us the confidence that He will keep us safe until the end! If we are to grow spiritually we must cultivate a restful spirit through faith in Christ.
The Apostle Peter says: Grow in grace that you might stand and not be led astray by the error of the wicked. But Peter also says we must also grow because in this way God is glorified as we are conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. May God give every believer the grace to continue to grow in Jesus Christ and may we be faithful in exercising the means of grace God has given us so that we also might say with the Apostle Peter: “To God be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”