Before you read another word, I want to ask you a quick question–and please, no scrolling ahead!
Pop Quiz: What were the apostle Peter’s last recorded words?
Take a moment. Think about it for a second. Do you remember?
If you found yourself reaching for your Bible, good instincts! Here’s the answer: “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, ESV)
That’s it. Those are the final words Peter chose to leave with the church. Not a doctrinal treatise. Not a call to a specific ministry initiative. Just these words: keep growing. Grow in grace. Grow in knowledge. And do it all to the glory of Jesus Christ! You know, I find that both beautiful and convicting.
Peter’s Life
Consider who is writing this. This is Simon Peter–the fisherman from Galilee who had walked with Jesus, denied Jesus, wept over Jesus, and been restored by Jesus. This is a man who had seen the Transfiguration with his own two eyes, who had preached at Pentecost and watched three thousand souls come to faith in a single morning. If anyone could have said, “I’ve arrived–I know enough, I’ve experienced enough,” it was Peter.
And yet, at the end of his life, with the shadow of his own martyrdom likely falling across his days, Peter’s burning desire for the church was growth. More grace. More knowledge. More of Jesus. That should really speak to us.
Grace and Knowledge Held Together
Peter holds two crucial things together–grace and knowledge–both of which are essential for growth to take place. To grow in grace is to grow in our experience of all that God has freely given us in Christ. It means savoring His forgiveness more deeply on a Wednesday afternoon. It means resting in God’s acceptance not because that sermon will be perfect, but because our Savior is. It means becoming more and more at home in the love of God, and less driven by fear, less exhausted by to-do lists, more rooted and grounded in the sheer gift of His grace.
To grow in knowledge is to grow in our understanding of who this God is–His character, His promises, His purposes, His ways for us in Christ. It is not cold, academic information; it is the warm and living knowledge of understanding a Person. It is what happens when we open the Scriptures and the Spirit leads us into a great knowledge of the truth.
Both matter–grace and knowledge. Experience without understanding can drift. Understanding without experience can harden. But together–grace and knowledge growing hand in hand–they produce a follower of Jesus who is both rooted and fruitful.
Reflecting on Your Growth
If you’re still with me, I want to leave you with a few questions to consider. Perhaps one of them will be the nudge your soul needs right now.
- Where have you stopped expecting to grow? Is there an area of your walk with Christ where you’ve quietly concluded that this is just how things are for you? What might it look like to open that space back up to the Lord?
- When did you last meditate upon a promise of God long enough to let it actually encourage you? Not just read it–but sat with it, thought about it, believed it, and been changed by it.
- Are grace and knowledge growing together, presently, in your life, or has one outpaced the other? Do you know more about God than you are experiencing of Him? Or are you rich in feeling but hungry for deeper understanding of His truth?
Peter’s last words were not a farewell–they were a commission. They are as alive today as the day he penned them, and they are for you and for me, right now, in whatever season we find ourselves.
Keep growing, friends. There is always more of Jesus to know, and always more of His grace in which to rest. To Him be the glory–both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Dan Williams is the pastor of Trinity Bible Fellowship Church in Blandon, PA and the interim Director of Church Health for the Bible Fellowship Church. The Board of Church Health is available for assessment, encouragement, and conversations about how your church is growing in the Lord. Find out more and request a consultation with Dan at BFC.org/ChurchHealth