Growing in Grace -- Not in Law, or Steps or Anything Else

We have eternal security in Christ today.

Our standing before God does not depend on what other people think or say about us, nor does it depend on our efforts.

Not one bit.

For so long, I struggled with pain and shame in my body and mind.

So attached to feeling right, I was convinced that everything in this life depended on me.

I was surrounded by people who believed the same thing.

When I was overwhelmed with guilt and shame, the very people whom I spoke to, whom I sought help from, spent more time asking if what I had done was so bad.

I had to accept for the first time in a long time, the very people whom I had hoped to receive the truth from did not have the truth themselves.

They did not accept the grace and truth of Jesus Christ.

If we believe that He has taken care of our sins forever, then there is no excuse for us to wonder if we are forgiven or not.

There is no excuse for us to doubt what Jesus did at the Cross, or for us to question whether Jesus spoke the truth when He declared "It is Finished." (John 19: 30)

Now I also understand the full extent of growing in grace, which Peter exhorted all of us to do (2 Peter 3: 18)

The full extent of all that Jesus has paid for at the Cross, we cannot fully understand once we get saved.

Why else did Paul offer the following prayers on our behalf?

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power," (Ephesians 1: 17-19)

and then

"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)

We need to know all that Jesus has done for us, not ask Him to do more.

We need God to show us all that He is doing, not ask Him to start moving in our lives.

We cannot grow in grace, however, if we still think that we can or must earn whatever we are seeking.

I am growing in grace today, because of all that Jesus has done for me. Growing in grace means having a full understanding of the forgiveness which Jesus has purchased for me, and how many people had fought against it or never really believed it.

When I was younger, I remember thinking about the Cross, and saying: "I don't think I will ever fully understand all that Jesus did for me at the Cross."

My father responded: "That is a wise statement."

Indeed it is. Yet we are invited to keep learning, to keep growing in grace.