Law and Grace - Grow in the grace

Good morning. We're going to be looking at these two passages together this morning, and there's a good reason for it. These two passages together carry a common theme, and that is they both have the word grow in them. But the word grow is not used in the same way, and I think there's a building in the message between these two. So we'll take a closer look at that here.

To make a comparison, both 1 Peter 2.2 and 2 Peter 3.18 are preceded with cautions. Right? Cautions. Watch out for this. Be careful about that. Not this, but that.

1 Peter 2.2 starts off with a caution in a verse about fleshly things within the believer as well as addressing fleshly things that come out in relationships with others. So it's within the believer and in relationship with others.

That's the caution about 1 Peter 2.2 or what's preceded there in 1 Peter 2.1. And we're going to take a look then at 2 Peter 3, as we saw in verse 17 here, to proceed with a warning not to be carried away by the error of unprincipled men there.

2 Peter 2.7 also has that term, unprincipled men.

We've used this word principle, and principle means two things. One, it's the way things work. And two, it's a fundamental truth. In this context here, unprincipled means not according to a fundamental moral truth, to be specific. We could summarize it as the King James has it, and that is with the word wicked. They are contrary to fundamental moral truth. We would just summarize it with the word wicked. That's what 2 Peter is talking about here. We also have another important point to compare between these two passages here.

Most particularly, and we point out in 1 Peter 2.2 and 2 Peter 3.18, the word grow is in both of those verses and that's a good thing. And we're going to talk about what that means and what that looks like and what's the connection between these two verses here. Each of these verses has a different but complementary, that is they fit together, insight about this word growing here. And so we're going to take a time this morning to take a look at that and examine that.

In 2 Peter 3.18, we're going to notice something really different, and that is the word grow is given as an imperative. It has the idea of something you must do. You must grow. So what does that mean? Why give an imperative to grow? Does that what you do to the plants? You go out and talk to the plants during the early season and say, GROW! Right? Is that what you do? Well, no. But we'll take a look at that here this morning.

1 Peter 2.2, Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. There are two ways that the beginning maturity level is conveyed here, or implied. Both are in reference here to newborn babies and by pure milk. Pure milk is the diet of newborn babies. Now, let's not dismiss that word pure.

The reason is, pure is spelled out here because in the first verse, 1 Peter 2.1, what's happening is impure. Those are the fleshly things that are impure.

And now here in 1 Peter 2.2, he has in sharp contrast the pure milk of the Word, as opposed to the impure things that come out in the flesh within a human being and between human beings.

Newborn babies long for milk, and that's an analogy that Peter makes use of here. Just like newborn babies naturally long for the pure milk, and they grow from that pure milk. New believers are likewise to long for the Word of God so that they can grow from it. We want to make a comparison here. Newborn babies who drink mother's milk grow from it physically. Peter's comparison here is new believers who take in the Word of God grow from it spiritually. Spiritual growth. Now, one of the things we point out here is the Word of God, the Bible, is always an essential agent for growth and maturity.

Once in a while, I'll come across somebody who says, oh, we just need to put that stuff away and just focus on Jesus. No, you don't. Without the Word of God, you're going to be missing a key element required, not optional, required for growth. It's not that we're saying you really need to pack your head full of biblical information or data. That's not what we're saying. But the Word of God is going to be used by God to grow believers.

It's an essential thing for growth. Now, the truth is the Word of God is always needed for growth and maturity, and those two words are related but not the same as we'll talk about here. Growth is the ongoing process. Growth is what takes place as a continual thing, and maturity is the direction that growth is headed. You see the difference there? Growth is the process. Maturity is where growth is headed. And growth is more than just getting bigger.

You would be very disturbed if you simply saw a 60-year-old Vern standing in front of you that looked like he was still 2. That would be disturbing. And other things too, if I was still acting like a 2-year-old. Anyway, let's forget that. Alright, as we'll soon see, the spiritual growth process is focused upon the person of Christ. And this is big. This is not incidental. If somebody tells me, oh, I want to grow spiritually, but they don't have it in mind to focus upon the person of Christ, they don't get it. And Peter makes that point here. Spiritual growth is focused upon person of Christ. There is no other direction of maturity. That's what maturity looks like, the person of Christ. Now you have here, this is a chart on page one, and I think it's very revealing.

This is throughout the New Testament, different passages that deal with the right food for the right level of maturity. Peter introduces this first beginning level of maturity and the food that goes with it, milk. And so what you have spoken of in different passages, Peter is the one who puts the milk level of food with newborns, but then you have two or three passages in the New Testament for each word. Nepios, infant, so just older than the newborn.

And then a youth at some stage there. A couple passages deal with that. And then finally, maturity. And I have a few passages that address that. So scripture is actually very consistent. Look at the New Testament, very consistent about using milk and meat or solid food as fitting to a certain age. So all put together, Scripture has a very consistent message about the appropriate food for the appropriate age and stage.

Peter here is, of course, addressing in 1 Peter 2.2 this newborn stage. The reality is what is needed for growth and maturity is the Word of God at all stages, but different teachings out of the Word of God. The milk is what he is focusing upon here. So why is the Word of God essential? Why isn't it? Boy, that's a nice option. Why is the Word of God essential?

Jesus, when he is praying to the Father hours before being crucified, hours before dying on the cross and saying it is finished he's praying to the father and he says sanctify them in the truth and your word is truth. Sanctify them in your word that's the truth we behold Christ the living word through the written word so you get that we behold Christ the living word God's message in the written word God's written message and thereby we are transformed. How does God change believers using his word? One of the key ways he does so is as we behold the Lord through his word, we are transformed as a ministry of the Holy Spirit. Isn't it interesting that the Holy Spirit inspired, God breathed, the text of Scripture. As Peter puts it, the prophets of old were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God, but also uses the Word of God in our lives to transform us as we behold the Lord through His Word. All scripture is God-breathed and spiritually profitable.

2 Timothy 3.16 and 17 makes this abundantly clear. All scripture is useful. Can scripture be misused? Oh yeah. Scripture can be misused, but it is intended by God to be useful. God has a purpose that he had it designed to be useful. for our lives. The Word of God is alive, powerful, and spiritually penetrating. I think that's one thing. It's interesting, Nancy and I will do quite a bit of counseling of different varieties, but one of the things we find is there's nothing like the Word of God.

If someone wants to, they can go out and pay some secular counselor, but we are privileged to use the Word of God because as you see in this diagram here on page 2 it shows a lot of things and we'll get to more of it in a little bit but one of the key things Hebrews 4.12 the Word of God is alive and active and it penetrates where? Here's the Word of God you've got a copy of it probably in the Purax or one in your hand here is the Word of God the Bible it's a physical entity isn't it?

How deep does it go? Guess what? It goes that deep. It touches. It touches at the contact point between soul and spirit. It gets that deep. Nothing gets that deep. Nothing else out in the physical realm gets that deep. Amazing. We have an incredibly potent and very penetrating Word of God. And God has not given it just as spiritual data and information. Oh, and by the way, it's not something to just sit there and argue with. That's not why He gave it to us. It is something that is intended to touch us at the deepest place and to change us by God's intent.

Now, 1 Peter 2.2 says you must long for. I put the word must in there because many of the translations don't carry across that aspect of the word.

You must long for the pure milk of the word. It's translated long for in the King James desire and that's certainly a good translation. It's used nine times in the New Testament. This is the only time in the New Testament out of those nine times when this word here is used as an imperative. You must long for.

Now that's real curious. Don't people kind of have their feelings, and then after they have their feelings, then they do something with their feelings? Isn't that how a lot of people operate? How is it that you are told that you must have this thing that we tend to call a feeling? Hmm. That's curious. Well, I think there's an insight we need to have here. Facts, faith, and feelings.

And the way we put this, Faith and the facts is like the train and the tracks, okay? Here are the facts, that's the tracks, right? The faith is the locomotive sitting on the tracks, right? Faith and the facts is like the train and the tracks, and the feelings follow like the caboose, okay?

What our culture has been telling us is, boy, whatever those feelings are, that's what you do, right? That's what our culture has been telling us for decades. Whatever those feelings are, that's what you do. And by all means, do whatever your feelings tell you what to do, right?

Scripture puts it a different way. We put our faith in the facts and the feelings follow. Okay? Faith in the facts, like train the tracks. We put our faith in the facts and the feelings follow. Got that? All right. It's not poetry, but anyway, it sort of works. Okay. So this must long for, how are we to take this must aspect? Okay? What does must mean?

Just like it is very important for newborn babies to nurse, in fact, there might be even some anxiety, especially in biblical times when you don't have a bunch of bottles and Gerber has nothing to do with anything. You might be real concerned if this baby isn't nursing after some period of time. There is a sense of urgency in this, right? There's a sense of urgency. It's a sense of urgency and a sense of necessity. But there's one more thing aside from that, okay?

We look at 1 Peter, just right after this passage, it says here in 1 Peter 2.24, "...he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." This is an identification truth, isn't it? Die in relationship to sin and live in relationship to righteousness. Peter ends towards the end of the letter, "...peace be with you all who are..." what? in Christ. So Peter is not explaining, but he's teaching identification truth here.

So as we look at this, imperatives also make good sense and follow the logic of our position in Christ. That's why you'll sometimes hear me use this term logical imperative. What's the logic? Because you have this position in Christ, therefore this. Since you are a believer and Christ is in you, therefore this. Because of this, therefore that. So what we're saying here is we have a position in Christ that is certain. And there's a reason why we have a position in Christ and why Christ is in us. And those reasons are because that's how life is to get lived out.

That's how the imperatives are given to us without just being a law. It's not for you to do. It's for you in Christ to do it. It's not for you to do. It is Christ in you doing it. It is not our job to go out and execute what God tells us to do. We've been fired, and worse. We've been crucified with Christ in order to make sure it's not us doing it. God does not want it. The imperatives make good sense of our position in Christ where He does it, not you and me.

One other point we want to make in this passage here, the last part of that 1 Peter 2, 1-3, is he makes reference to taste in the spiritual realm. One of the points we make is all five of the senses are referred to in the New Testament, one or more times, sometimes several times, all five of the senses are referred to in the New Testament on the spiritual side.

Isn't that interesting? Ephesians 1, 18-19a, the eyes of your heart. Did you know that your heart has eyes? Wow! You have tasted, and tasted what? It isn't just tasting a fruit or something externally, it's spiritual tasting. Dull of hearing, Hebrews 5, 11-14 makes reference to that. 2 Corinthians 2, 14-16, the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him, and that's not the only place where it's referred to. And then finally, Ephesians 4, 19, being past feeling. So all five senses are referred to in the spiritual realm.

And this one particularly, 1 Peter 2.3, is one that's made reference to. We have this diagram again, and one of the things we've noted there, here's the five senses in the physical realm. There are also five senses referred to in the spiritual realm. There is, in essence, an analog in the spiritual realm for each of those five senses. So now we have 1 Peter 2, 1 through 3, we call this expanded and explained.

The idea is to bring forth the context and the meaning from the Greek text out into English. So it gets a little wordy, so I apologize for that, but nonetheless I think it gets some points across. Let me read that along with you here. So on page 2, therefore putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, all of which originates in the sin nature, like newborn babies, there is an urgency and it just makes good spiritual sense, based on who you are in Christ, for each one of you to long for the pure milk of the written word of God, so that by means of the word of God you may be made to grow in respect to salvation, receiving the spiritual benefits of the salvation you already have. If, and this is assumed to be true for the sake of thinking about this along with me, you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. One thing I want to point out in this expanded and explained, this word grow in this passage is something where we're on the receiving end.

You've been made to grow. How did you do that? By the pure milk of the word. You've been made to grow. So we actively long for the pure milk of the word. We are on the receiving end of that growth then. So we're going to connect up between those two.

1 Peter 2.2 tells you how the growth happens and in the believer the growth happens by means of the Word of God. That passage is abundantly clear on that point.

Now 2 Peter 3.18 describes that growth. So we have a connection between these two passages that is really wonderful because it tells us how do we grow and then what does that growth look like? What's it headed towards? The believer is caused to grow by the Word of God. We're on the receiving end of growth from the Word of God as God has used the Holy Spirit in our lives.

In 2 Peter 3.18, the grow is actually the imperative. You must grow. So it's not just you're on the receiving end of it in this verse, but you must grow. I want to talk about what does must mean. How is it that I can be given a, you must do something, and by the way the growth is supposed to be in grace.

Hmm. Put that together, right? So let's take a look at that. That's a curious one. Peter had seen the grace that we are to grow in, lived out in the person of Christ. Got that? Peter had himself seen the grace that we're to grow in, lived out in the person of Christ. Here's how John describes it. Here's Peter's fellow apostle, John 1, 14-18.

And the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. That's the living word, right? and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father and glory is the radiant essence of who God is full of grace not just with a little bit of wimpy skimpy grace not just mini grace full of grace and truth john testified about him and cried out this john the baptist saying this was he of whom i said he who comes after me as a higher rank than i for he existed before me even though john the baptist is six months older than Jesus. For of His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. So this full of grace is grace piled and piled and piled one on top of the other. In football that's a penalty, piling on. In grace it's not. In grace it's not.

For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. Christ was the one who explained grace by living it out. Explain grace by living it out. It is urgent and logical that you grow in grace. Urgent, just like the newborn babe must have the milk, it is logical based upon who we are in Christ.

One of the ways we put it here is that we are always catching up to what God has already done in us. We are learning about it. Christians have this interesting problem. We're born with amnesia. Things have happened to us, God has done things, and we have no idea what that is. So we're always going, Oh! Catching up to what God's already done. Because it wasn't like this. As soon as you believed, you knew you were identified with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding. You knew that right off. Not so much. We catch up to what God's already done. That's what the Christian life is about. We're catching up to what God's already done, and we're catching up to what He's yet to do.

The imperative grow is not by A principle of law. It's not driven by a principle of law. Just like we have in the drawing here. Here this guy wasn't growing in Christ, so we stoned him. Right? No. It is not driven by a principle of law. There is no threat. Therefore now, how much condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? None. Okay? Zip. Zilt. Nada. Okay? Why?

It's because growing in the grace. Growing in the grace. The imperative is driven by the reigning principle of grace and the logic of your position. Forgive one another in order to be forgiven. Forgive one another because if you don't forgive, you won't be forgiven, right? Sermon on the Mount.

No. Ephesians 4.32 Forgive one another as God in Christ, past tense, has forgiven you. That's grace forgiveness, right? Grace forgiveness. You've already been forgiven, so just don't even worry about that. But forgive one another because you've been forgiven. That's grace forgiveness.

The imperative is driven by the reigning principle of grace. We breathe as Christians in an atmosphere of pure grace. It's not a mixed atmosphere. It's pure grace. It is the permanent operating system for the Christian. We are beloved. And we know the truth. So there's no basis for us to be carried away or to fall.

This 3.17, 2 Peter 3.17. There is every reason for us to grow in grace. It only makes sense for us to grow in grace. We are beloved, we know the truth, as opposed to those who bring in falsehood. Verse 17. So there is every spiritual reason for us to grow in grace. Every.

It only makes sense for you to grow in the grace in which you've been made to stand permanently. When we went through Romans 5-2, we made that point. The grace in which we stand is the grace in which we've been made to stand, and it's written in such a way, in the original text, it means you've been made to stand permanently. God intended and most definitely carried out to put you in a standing of grace. completely and permanently.

We're not working to get to a standing in grace, okay? We're not working, you notice it says standing in grace, it's not walking and it's not running. We're not fighting for grace. You know, it's as we put it, don't just do something, stand there! Right? So this is important. This is important. We stand in grace. It's urgent that we grow in the grace in which we stand. Not grace we're earning, not grace we're working towards, not grace we get by percentages. You're already there. If you're a believer, you're already made to stand in grace permanently. That's it.

Grace that is the reigning principle for us. Remember, principle is either a fundamental truth, or the way things work, or both. In this case, it's both. How do things work? The reigning principle of grace. What's a fundamental truth? Grace is the rating principle.

It's both. It's both of those things. It only makes sense that you and I grow in the grace that is sufficient for you. Here is the Apostle Paul. He says, Man, this is a real pain in the neck. I'd like you to take this away, Lord, whatever it is. He doesn't say what it is, but boy, it bothers him. He keeps going back to the Lord, and the Lord says, My grace is sufficient for you. Ever have something that just really bothers you? Maybe even something that ticks you off? It's irritating? Keeps hurting? Maybe it's your body? Maybe it's somewhere else?

My grace is sufficient for you. It is all sufficient grace. All sufficient grace. It is completely adequate. There's no way that grace falls short. Ever been in a situation where you felt inadequate? Welcome to the club. Grace is always adequate. Grace is always adequate. It only makes sense for you and I to grow in the grace that is so over-the-top awesome that God will show it to us for the rolling ages of glorious eternity.

Ephesians 2.7. If I were to ask somebody just face-to-face and say, hey, do you understand grace? The answer I should get is, I'm just learning. Right?

Because if it's something that God's going to show to us for rolling ages of eternity, we are just barely scratching the surface here. And we've been teaching about law and grace. This is the 100th and final lesson in the Law and Grace series. And we are just beginning. Right? We've hardly scratched the surface. But we will move on to something else, and it'll be gracious. OK? All right.

It only makes sense that you and I grow in the grace which in God is way, way over the top in His riches. The way Ephesians 2, 4 through 8 puts it, mercy, God's wealthy in that. Grace, oh wow, let me tell you, surpassing over the top, just blown out of the ballpark. This is hitting the ball and it goes into orbit. that kind of magnitude of grace, and it's not wealth of grace, it's plural. Riches. Okay? Wealths of grace. God is so over-the-top wealthy in grace, you're just going to spend eternity just with circuits blown. Wow! Wow!

It only makes sense that you and I grow in the grace by which we are given a new history in Christ. You don't like your old history? That's fine. You're not supposed to like it, right? In fact, somebody told me they like it. That's probably a problem, right? Your new history in Christ has been given to you graciously.

There's nothing we did to earn it. Even the growing in it is not anything that is our merit. It's His. The new history we have in Christ and the grace by which Christ indwells us. Who we are in Christ, who Christ is in us. The grace that can strengthen hearts.

Hebrews 13.9 says it's good for hearts to be strengthened by grace. You ever feel like your heart's a little weak at times? Strengthened by grace. Strengthened by grace.

Doesn't need to be bucked up with a little bit of law. Doesn't need that. Doesn't need reinforcement or a little bit of extra support. Nope. Strengthened by grace, which is totally sufficient, totally adequate, the reigning principle The grace in which we've been made to stand. That grace. Now, grace is not a commodity. You don't go into even a Christian bookstore and say, hey, cut me off there five pounds of that there grace. Wrap it up for me, I'll take it home and get it in the fridge. It doesn't work that way. Why? Because grace is not just a commodity. Grace isn't something you can just cut out a five pound slab of.

Grace is focused on Jesus Christ. That's where we grow. It's personal spiritual location. It's not just, okay, here it is and we've got a GPS. Grace is right there. It doesn't work that way. It is in Christ. That's where grace is. That's where grace gets expressed. That's where we experience grace is in Christ. In Christ in us. It has a personal spiritual location and that's where the growing takes place. In the grace.

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So physical growth is about me. Physical growth is about you. But spiritual growth is about Him. Always. It's very important that we get that location thing settled. If physical growth is about me and you, spiritual growth is always about Him. It's always about Him.

We're not told to just grow in the grace of knowledge. Isn't that nice? Hey, grow in the grace of knowledge. Is that what you hear? It's a complete sentence. It meets the grammar criteria, but that's not what He calls for, is it? We're not told to grow, just do it. Not that.

The grace and knowledge are totally centered on Jesus Christ. You want to find grace outside of Christ that you can grow in? Can't find it, folks. Doesn't exist. You want knowledge in which you're going to grow? Can't find it outside of Christ. Christ is the person, the personal spiritual location where the growth takes place and nowhere else. And it's all under grace. Completely. We can't do it. We can't merit it. We can't be more determined. We can't say, boy, that guy's a really good Christian. Nobody's a really good Christian! Christ is the only good Christian! Right? Right?

Take note that we grow in the knowledge of His Lordship, our Lord and Savior. There are those in Christendom today who will tell you, you've got to make Christ Savior and Lord, or you're not saved at all. What this tells us here, we're going to grow in His Lordship. We're going to grow in His Lordship. It is not a requirement for salvation. It is a requirement for growth. That's different. That's different. We're going to grow in the Lordship of Christ. Not use it as a prerequisite for getting saved.

Growing in the grace and knowledge. God has made things such that the written word of God is basic to our growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the living word. You must grow, and how do you do that? By the pure milk of the Word. That's how you do it. You want to grow? The milk of the Word is involved there. You don't take an end run around it.

You also don't make the Word of God an end in itself. It's the means, and it's going to point you towards Christ. You're going to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, and the Word of God is going to be an instrument that God uses to pull that off. Growing in the grace and knowledge of the living word by means of the written word glorifies him. That's how that passage ends. Growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ by his written word glorifies him. Notice that knowing a lot about the Bible can be used to try to glorify me.

That's a problem. People say, boy, you know a lot about the Bible. Uh-oh. That's a problem. That's not what it's for. How many points does God give for just knowing a lot about the Bible? None! It's not rewardable. God is not pleased if we just know a lot about the Bible. It's not what it's for. That might make someone's head real big, but that's all it's going to do. God is not pleased with just a lot of Bible knowledge.

He's looking at using it so that we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what He has in mind. To Him be the glory both now and for the day of eternity. Amen. And it will happen because of God's Word. It will happen because we grow in dependence upon Him through the Word of God. The grace of Jesus Christ will amaze us forever. So we ought to start getting amazed now. It will amaze us forever. That makes really good sense. 2 Peter 3, 17 and 18, expanded and explained. Now, I'm expanding the words and explaining the words. I'm not going to expand myself. I've been trying to get that the other way.

You, therefore, beloved of him, since you know this beforehand, be on your guard, so that you are not carried away captive by the error of unprincipled men, and fall in your daily condition from your own steadfastness which you now have in Christ, and your eternal position. But as God's intended alternative to those hazards, there is a spiritual urgency, and it only makes spiritual sense that you grow in the most abundant grace and intimate personal knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen? Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we truly are amazed at your grace. We have, as we have said here just a little bit ago, we have barely scratched the surface of this thing called grace. Matter of fact, it's so amazing that we will gasp in awe on into the rolling ages of eternity at how amazing grace is. And Lord, we do pray, since we're to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we do pray that you would teach us daily moment by moment, exactly what that means. We do give you thanks for this grace that will amaze us forever. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.