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From the Pastor's Desk ...         Pastor Smith  Email: Revdrksmith@verizon.net

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April  2004

     “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen”  (II Pet. 3:14-18).

 GROWING IN GRACE, PART II

    This is the second in a series of articles on growing in grace. (The first article was, “Growing In Grace During the New Year,” January 2004). As some of you know, our theme for the year is, “Growing In Grace: Seeking A Closer Walk With God.” I am concern about our growth in the Lord. There is no doubt that we have grown numerically and financially. But, I am burdened as to our spiritual growth.
    Growing in grace has to do with yielding or surrendering more and more of our life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Growing in grace means to live in total dependence in Jesus Christ. Growing in grace is to allow the Gospel to transform how we view ourselves, the world and the way we interact with other people. Growing in grace does not come just by time, being in the Lord nor by place, being in the church. It is an act by God with human cooperation. I want to suggest that growing in grace is an intentional process.
     There are three phases of our maturation journey. The first phase is positional grace. That is, when we first accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we receive God’s saving grace. Paul writing to the church at Ephesus states, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). So our first encounter with GRACE is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. He who was rich, for our sakes became poor, so that we, who was poor, could become rich. (II Co. 2:8:9). This is God’s gift to the believer.
    The second phase is experiential grace. By this, I mean that now that we have grace, we are to grow therein. Growing in grace is not an option for the believer. In the text, cited above, Peter admonishes the believers to make every effort to grow in grace. He ends his epistle as he had begun with Christian growth. The Christian life is either a life of growth, or it is a life of decay. Anything that is alive must grow or die. (Here I mean death, not in the sense of salvation, but rather to an ineffective witness and being unfruitful.) The growth should be in grace and knowledge. The Christian journey starts with the knowledge of the Lord, continues in the knowledge of Him as a safeguard against apostasy, and will culminate in the full knowledge of Him. (I John 3:1-10). Growing in grace is not a human effort alone. We are to rely on God’s power (2 Pet. 1:3) and God’s promises (2 Pet. 1:4). My spiritual growth is generated by my understanding of the grace given to me as a gift and the Scriptures given to me as my guide. However, we must response with wholehearted obedience to God’s guidance.
     The final phase is ultimate grace. This grace has been reserve for us for a future time. Ultimately, we shall become what Christ meant us to be. Paul says it like this, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:3). When we accept Christ we are given the opportunity to become. One day we shall be just like Him. (Rom. 8:29). Paul states, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (II Co. 3:18, NASB). The Greek word for transformation is metamorphoomai. It is fascinating and instructive that Paul uses the same word that describes the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly to describe the spiritual transformation in the life of the Christian. The process is just as mysterious, and the results (what I shall be) are even more wonderful. We must continue to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord. Then, one day, He will say of us, “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Ps. 1:3).
    Come let us grow together in grace and knowledge, so our Father will be gloried.