Growing in Grace and Knowledge
“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)
If you received Jesus as your personal Saviour, you likely remember how it happened: maybe a church service, or a gospel tract, or someone explaining salvation to you personally. Did you know the idea that came into your head to receive Jesus came from God the Father? It’s true. Jesus said in John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:” As you heard about being saved, God the Father was convincing you of your need for Jesus. Isn’t that great!
You may have heard Bible verses such as Romans 3:23-”For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” or Romans 6:23-”For the wages of sin is death;” or Revelation 20:14-”And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.” Yet you also heard of Jesus’ love, death, and resurrection: maybe Romans 5:8-“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” or Revelation 1:18-”I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;”
Then you may have heard an invitation verse to receive Jesus, such as Romans 10:13-”For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” As a result, you made the best decision of your life: to receive Jesus as your personal Saviour for forgiveness of your sins and eternal life. Wonderful!
Something else neat: As you heard about being saved, God the Holy Spirit was also dealing with you: “…the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:” (John 15:26) The Bible is called “the sword of the Spirit”: “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:17) God the Holy Spirit uses Scripture to deal with people’s hearts about receiving Jesus. He also deals with Christians’ hearts, using Scripture to address needs in their lives. That is the power of God’s word.
Once you are saved, God still wants to speak to you through His word. There is so much in the Bible that God wants us to know about that will help us, if we’re willing to take the time to pay attention.
The Bible deals with believers about sin in our lives. You may have heard it said, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” Technically true. I John 1:8 even says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Yet 1 John 1:8 is not there to excuse sin, but to get us to be honest with God and confess sin when we should. That’s why the next verse, 1 John 1:9, says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Scripture is also God’s source of hope for us: “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.” (Psalm 130:5) Peter had personal experiences with Jesus that we do not have. Yet we have God’s word. Peter called Scripture “..a more sure word of prophecy;” (2 Peter 1:19) Not an equally sure, but MORE sure, which means that Scripture is more trustworthy than his personal experience.
The Christian life can be a battle. Believers can be tempted to quit. Paul had this concern about believers in Thessalonica, “...lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.” (1 Thessalonians 3:5) Yet Scripture is a source of strength: “...I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” (1 John 2:14)
Being a Christian is supposed to be joyful: “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” (1 John 1:4) The more time you spend in God’s word: reading, meditating on it, and obeying it, the more it will be. To see from Scripture how to have eternal forgiveness of your sins and a home in heaven, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”