Grow in Grace

The Holy Spirit said in 2 Peter 3:17-18, “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 Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

If someone were to say, “Nothing can be known for certain,” they would be making a self-destructive statement; for if “nothing can be known for certain,” this would then include this very own declaration. In other words, it must not be certain that “nothing can be known for certain.” Anyone who makes this statement has just forfeited his right to an audience. Not too differently would be the old man who says, “The older I grow, the less I know.”

In Leviticus 19:32, God commands, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.” Then, in Proverbs 16:31, the Holy Spirit specifies that “the hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” The elderly are to be honored, but such honor is more glorious if the elderly are in the “way of righteousness.” According to the previous text from 2 Peter, the “way of righteousness” includes growing “in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord” Jesus Christ. Maturity in a Christian should include growth in the knowledge of Christ. And that additional knowledge ought not be solely the discovery that “the older I get, the fewer the things about which I am yet convinced.” Where is the hope in that for the Christian young person?

The Proverb previously mentioned about the “hoary head” is preceded by much encouragement “to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity” (Proverbs 1:2-3). We need older men (and women) in the church who can honestly say, “My son, hear the instruction of thy father,” (Proverbs 1:8) and then afterwards still have something worthwhile to say.