“So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:7 NASB)
Have you ever thought about how you “get grace” to work daily in your life, or how you actually “grow in grace” as Peter encourages us to do in 2 Peter 3:18? We know grace comes from God, but is there some depository set in your soul at the point of salvation so that when you need it you have it? Or does God direct us to seek, ask, and knock on the door of heaven so that His unmerited favor may be poured out to us in our time of need from His throne of grace?
By definition, grace cannot be earned; it is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9, 4:7). Yet Peter tells us to “grow in grace.” So while we cannot earn His favor, Scripture indicates there are ways in which we can avail ourselves of His blessing. In other words, He directs us toward means that allow us to receive greater grace.
One such means is given in Psalm 84:11: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
We see another avenue for God’s grace in Peter’s second epistle, where he opens with “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,” (2 Peter 1:2), and closes in a similar fashion with “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” (2 Peter 3:18). In both cases, Peter makes it clear we can multiply and grow the grace of God in our life and walk. And in both references this process is directly linked to our knowledge of God, which we gain by saturating our hearts and minds with the Word of God.
And the more we work to grow in the knowledge of God through His Word, the more uprightly we will live, as the psalmist says, “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You,” (Ps. 119:11). This is what growing in grace looks like. For while it is a gift of God, we receive more and greater grace from God as we work to align our hearts and minds and lives with His Word that we may live in the path of His blessing and favor (Ps. 1:1-2).
The truth of how we grow in grace is reverberated in Philippians 2:12-13 where Paul says, “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
If we desire God’s grace to work His will, then we should work His will believing, by faith, that He will multiply grace to us in the process that we might adore Him all the more. As we strive for holiness, He gives more grace for growing more holy. As we move toward God through Bible reading, prayer and meditation, we receive increased grace and blessing from Him to pursue Him further and know Him better.
As William Ames said, “The Spirit itself applies all saving things to us, internally and most nearly…we do not properly confer grace by ourselves; rather, it is the Spirit which works together with us.”
“… the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ,
will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)
- Lord, You are the One who adds to the church those who shall be saved. You are the One who gives to Christ those You have ordained to life (John 17:6). I am so thankful for Your salvation, Lord Jesus, because You said that no man can come to You, except the Father draws him. No one can come except it is given to him of Your Father (John 6:44, 65). “Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase,” (1 Cor. 3:6-7). You alone can open my ears to hear Your Word and my heart to receive it.
- Lord, I must be like a child in my relationship to Your Word, to love it and long for it and delight in it. Nurture me in the milk of Your Word. Help me look to it as my necessary daily food that is as sweet as honey (Ps. 19:10; Job 23:12) that I may grow strong and mature in my walk with You.
- Lord, make every use of any of the means of grace fruitful by Your power, in Christ, through the Spirit. Without this work of Yours in my life, how will I ever spiritually prosper?
Further References for 1 Cor. 3:7
1 Cor. 4:5; Ps. 62:12; Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; 2 John 1:8
