Ephesians 4:13-19, 2 Peter 3:18, 2 Peter 1:1-2
Growing in grace is growing in the knowledge of the saviour which is Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:1-2, reveals that our faith is from the righteousness of God which explains further to be Jesus our Lord.
The knowledge of God Is the knowledge of Jesus our Lord. “The unity of faith and knowledge” does not mean unity in denominations, it means unity in the knowledge of God.
It’s not sufficient enough to know you are growing in Christ, growing in His knowledge, the emphasis should be as you grow in grace it should be seen in all things, in every dimension of your life.
One may not be able to see knowledge, but knowledge will reflect in all aspects of your life. When a man is beginning to grow up into Him, we see it in different areas of his life. What men will see is virtue, that is what is captured as Grace as Virtue.
A man will come in contact with virtue, before he meets knowledge. Even if he sees knowledge first, if that knowledge is not backed up with virtue, the knowledge may not be meaningful to him. It may not make any difference in his life.
So as a man is growing in knowledge, growing in the grace of God, the corresponding effect of the knowledge, the increase in knowledge and growth in knowledge should be virtue. As you grow in knowledge, people encounter the life of God in you, people see the character of Christ in you, which is the fruit of the spirit.
We have seen in 2Pet 1:1 that our Faith is gotten through the righteousness of God that is Salvation comes through the righteousness of God. So Faith in this context is our salvation, Christianity and the life of Christ.
We arrived in Christ by the righteousness of God. Our arrival in Christ is what made us Christian. So Christianity is not a religion, it is an arrival into Christ.
2 Peter 1:5 KJV “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;”
“Add to faith virtue” in that Scripture is not saying you should improve your salvation, it is saying now that you are saved, show to the world that you are Saved. Let the world experience Christ in you.
Salvation is a gift and it will remain a gift. That a believer you know has a bad character does not stop him from being a Christian or stop him from being saved. Good character is evidence that you are beginning to embrace the truth in the knowledge of Christ and its reflecting in your character.
It does not Improve your salvation but it shows the world that you are saved and you are beginning to learn the ways of the Lord. And the only thing men will see is not your salvation but your good character. Your salvation reflects when people interact with you, in your speech, your composure, your carriage and your dealings with men.
Character does not make a man saved, there are people with good characters that are not saved. You don’t have to be a Christian to be good, there are good men and women that are not saved.
You don’t need to be a Christian to be upright, but because you are a Christian, you should even be more upright. Add virtue to your faith. Virtue is moral excellence, conduct and good character. These attributes listed as good virtues/character were captured as fruits of the spirit in the scriptures.
That a man is born again means that he has the spirit of God, that the spirit of God lives on his inside, the fruit of the Spirit of God ought to manifest in your life. You can’t claim that you are born again, filled with the spirit of God and there are no fruits of the spirit in your life.
Most times the issue we have is growth problems, knowledge gap. A good character is a function of knowledge. When you see the way a man responds to situations, carries himself, and behaves in the midst of challenges, it may be a knowledge gap.
The way people will know that you carry God is when they taste God in you, this is achieved through kindness that you show to people, bowel of compassion. Your kindness must be birthed out of love because some acts of kindness are actually strategies. They are not love based, nor genuine.
Love is an action done without expecting a reward.
Are you a strategist or a lover?
Nobody grows in Christ and does not have the nature of Christ. It’s about behaving like Jesus who laid down his life.
There is knowledge that we can gather that is not fruitful, and the only way to know whether the knowledge is fruitful is that there is virtue to back up knowledge.
How grown are you and how are you growing?
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (KJV)
The only fruit of the Spirit is love. Inside the fruit are seeds. What comes out of it in its expression are joy, peace, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.
When you walk in the Spirit, you will be gentle. You will have self control. Growing in grace is growing in virtue.
One of the evidence that a man is fervent is his giving.
2 Corinthians 8:1-2 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality (KJV)
The Macedonia church has a grace for giving. This is not about salvation. This is the evidence that the grace was upon them. There is a grace of giving. There are areas of our lives which we have found grace and there are also areas where we are deficient, believing in God.
Paul said the grace oaf God was upon them in their deep poverty. That they were struggling and had deep poverty yet they still gave abundantly. It is not wealthy people that give but givers. Kindness is a grace upon them.
Sacrifice for people is a grace. An average man is selfish but when you see a man giving sacrificially , it is grace. It is not common. This person can go out of his way to give. There is a framework and supernatural workings of God.
It has reference to God. It has a backing and the move of God in your life. Such grace are knowledge based. They are experiential- a track record of God’s goodness. When a believer give he does not give because he has more than others. A believer gives more than another believer when it is given cheerfully and sacrificially. This is grace inspired. It is knowledge driven. It is growth-related. It is an experience. It is a reflection of the believer’s walk with the Lord over time.
When we give to the Lord it is a way of saying this is what we believe in Him because we have had experience of it. This is why it is a knowledge and experiential gap.
The reason you see many not doing well is because they are not liberated financially yet. Many still see their monthly income as their source. There is a need to grow beyond that. It requires growth. Putting the supernatural first. Knowing favour and the supernatural at work will help you learn to shift your source.
The grace of God, the spirit of giving was common among the Corinthians.
Paul mentioned that these set of people were driven by brotherly kindness and empathy
2 Peter 1:7, 2 Corinthians 8:3-5
There is a need for you to grow. You cannot be learning the nature of Christ and not be growing. You cannot be a prayerful person and your bowels of compassion are not towards a brother.
If you truly intercede enough, you should receive a word or two about someone who needs support in your local church.
As a leader if you demand great responsibility and service from people you should at least know the quality and the depth of their life. The apostles were all out for themselves in the book of Acts. We should see that we grow in compassion. Grow in virtues, brotherly kindness, knowledge, self control and in all things.