Grow in Grace ~2 Peter 3:18
"but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him [be] the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." 2 Peter 3:18
Strong's definition of "Grow"; 837. auxanó, (a) I cause to increase, become greater (b) I increase, grow.
HELPS Word-studies: 837 auksánō – properly, grow (increase); become greater in size (maturity, etc.). 837 /auksánō ("to grow") is key to authentic discipleship. Indeed, the Lord requires non-stop progress (development) in the life of faith.
"Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you." Proverbs 1:23 KJV <---- This we need to do on a repetitive basis for our entire lives. THAT is how we "grow in grace". Reading God's Word, comparing ourselves to what we read and hopefully we will often be cut to to the heart because we fall short. We then seek God in repentance and ask Him to help us fulfill what He is telling us we must do. THAT is humility. And God loves when we come to Him in this manner.
"Although he is scornful to arrogant scoffers, yet he shows favor to the humble." Proverbs 3:34 (NET)
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"So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth." ~1 Corinthians 3:7
“He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.” — Matthew 13:31, 32
The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; they do not know what causes them to stumble." ~Proverbs 4:18, 19
"Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, “The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”? But He gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.” So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you." ~James 4:4-10
(NET)
"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS." 1 Corinthians 3:18-20 NASB
Jesus tells us that IF our eye is SINGLE (Strong's #573 haplous = "[undivided] focus). If our eye (all our heart, mind, soul and strength) is on Jesus, THEN (and only then) will our "whole body will be full of light." (Matt 6:22; Luke 11:34). But if our eye is complicated then "your body also is full of darkness." (Luke 11:34; Matt 6:23) "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays." Luke 11:36
The apostle Paul spoke in his epistles that which the Lord revealed to him by walking after the Spirit. God purified Paul of impurities and Paul conveyed what he learned through letters to the congregations.
God showed Paul that he couldn't serve Him unless Paul obeyed every bit of instruction.
By revelation from God, Paul said,
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
25 Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
26 Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
27 But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]. 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27
See what God told Paul? That he is a phony hypocrite if he doesn't DO what God says. Namely this,
"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul," Deuteronomy 10:12
And the only way to fulfill this commandment is to have Christ live in your heart. To become born again through the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And that is eternal life.
And if we do not do this, we will end up in the same exact hell as the devil.
Paul said it of himself in 1st Corinthians. And he shared that revelation with the church and it is the Word of God for our instruction.
"Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 Amplified Version
Turn at God's reproof, behold He will pour out His Spirit unto you. He will make known His Words unto you.
Turn at His reproof in His Word and keep turning. And this is how a man will grow into the fullness of the stature of the measure in Christ.
[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. Ephesians 4:13 Amplified Version
May God the Father open your understanding to the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor 11:3
One commandment. All the heart (to God's Word). The very thing Adam and Eve sinned against. We must strive to not fall away from this simple truth. May the fear of God fall upon you all that you may enter into the very beginning of wisdom.
There is "One Lord, one faith, one baptism," Ephesians 4:5
There are no loopholes, no cults, no sects. Only One God and One Holy Spirit and One baptism. And One Word of God. And One interpretation. And ONE sound teaching.
Let your eye by single.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
This is salvation through the mercy of God, by faith in His Messiah, and the gift and power of His Holy Spirit within.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 1 Peter 1:23
And we live for ever ..if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,... Romans 8:13
Amen
Yours in Christ, Thomas Richards
You can be saved!
God loves the people in the world so much that He came down to die for us. If God is opening your heart to His message and you feel convicted for your sins which have separated you from a holy God and you feel the need to be forgiven, then say this prayer. This is how I was powerfully converted to the Christ in 1997!
Say, "My Lord and my God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe Jesus the Christ died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. I believe Jesus raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and is now on the right-hand side of God listening to this prayer. I open up the door of my heart and I invite You in, Lord Jesus. Thank you, God, for saving my soul and I vow to serve you with all my heart which is the first and greatest commandment. Amen."