ADVANCE IN GRACE AND IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD

To advance in grace and in the Knowledge of Christ, is to enter a grace mindset with knowledge that will propel you to travel far into the realm of higher dimensions and possibilities in Christ. It's about stretching your faith in grace and constantly learning something new about Christ and the possibilities contained in Him. Its simply about developing your "grace mindset" and your spirit man in Christ through His knowledge.

Reference: 2 Peter 3:18 New Living Translation (NLT) "Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen."

Peter is saying, "there is room for growth and advancement in these two areas: The Lord's Grace and His knowledge." And we must acknowledge that there is a dichotomy between the "grace" and "knowledge" of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Morever, the keyword in the above Scripture is "growth".

According to Peter, we must grow in the grace of Christ. Grace is what God has given to us to enjoy the Christian life in every way. By the system of grace, we deserve God's best. Therefore, to grow in grace is to develop the "grace mindset". How? Developing a sense of grace is to acknowledge that God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness and to work it out. Everything means all, including supernatural abundance in life. Now, if you imagine less in Christ, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve. That means, your mindset cannot hold more because you have refused to grow in grace.

Growing in grace is to imagine God's best and walk in light of it now. It is the ability to always believe and choose God's best in everything and go for it. Again, it is the "grace mindset". The root of this mindset is "daring faith". There are Christians who can't afford to think less of who God is and what He can offer. Much of that understanding stems from the work of God's grace in their lives through the Word. They have grown in grace to the point that they only make high demands in the realm of divine possibilities by tapping into the power of their strong belief in the efficacy of God's Word, both in their conscious and unconscious state of mind.

For instance, such Christians can't afford to accommodate sickness and disease in their bodies for another day, knowing quite well of the healing grace they have received in Christ. To them, sickness and disease are not permitted to live in their bodies. They must fade away immediately, not tomorrow. Beloved, that's grace in operation. The same applies to every other benefit of salvation in view. People with this mindset believe that anyone can be anything great and attain any height in God, with proper motivation of the Spirit. Their growth-mindset in the realm of grace stretches them to thrive in good success and their advanced knowledge of Christ positions them to become smarter in the things of the Spirit.

According to Peter, the second reality we must grow in is the "knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The Bible says, "By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence." (2 Peter 1:3 NLT). Beloved, we receive everything we need by getting to know Him. Even His knowledge is essential for our growth in grace.

Growing in His knowledge affords us a huge opportunity to grow spiritually stronger and deeper. One aspect of this knowledge is knowing more and more about Christ in our minds, in terms of accurate and exact information of Him. This knowledge is a thriving, motivating and informative input in our system. The other is getting to know Jesus better and better in our intimate relationship with Him, in terms of the Holy Spirit's influence and engagement. Both aspects contribute to making our faith more vibrant and productive in Christ. Therefore, to really know Christ, we must continue to grow in His revelation knowledge and in our experiential understanding of what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and as Savior. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Proverbs 4:18; Romans 5:15; Ephesians 4:15; Colossians 1:10.

Exuberant Declaration: The grace of God is my conscious realisation of God's abiding presence and provision in my life and the full knowledge of Christ, my exceptional advantage and essential for a successful Christian living. The most profound applications of this insight yields my unlimited possibilities and causes me to excel in life of godliness. Therefore, my heart is too full of gratitude to God for the consistent growth in His grace and His revelation knowledge, in favour and harmony of my identity in Christ. Hallelujah!