You, therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand. Beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked: but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3: 17-18) Peter re-emphasizes the fact that the end of time is coming and that Jesus is coming back. Before this time, though, even some members of the church will be led away by “the error of the wicked.” In the meantime, Peter’s advice for the rest of the faithful is that they grow in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Growing in grace means acknowledging that it is only by God’s grace that we have grown. Without it, we would have already withered and died. Growing in grace means having an ever increasing awareness of the grace of God everywhere we look in our lives. Growing in grace means accepting and resting upon God’s grace without feeling the need to work for the salvation and justification that only grace can provide. Growing in grace means acting more and more gracious as we approach each person and encounter each problem.

In Ephesians 2: 8, Paul says, we are saved by grace. Here, Peter reminds us that after we have been saved by grace, we must grow in grace.