In II Peter 3:18 it says, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Does this scripture mean that as we study our Bibles and become more knowledgeable we are blessed with more grace?<\/p>\n\t
Grace refers to the fact that we have been given a gift that we did not earn — salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:8-9). But the fact that we have been given a gift does not imply that God doesn’t expect anything of us. Receiving the gift involved our faith in Him. And further, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:10).<\/p>\n One aspect of the things expected of us by God is personal growth. Becoming a Christian isn’t the end, it is be beginning. So while in grace, while saved, we are to grow. “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ<\/em>” (II Peter 1:10-11). We are to grow so that we are more firmly rooted in the salvation that was richly given to us.<\/p>\n Another aspect, that is related to the first, is growing in what we know. “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God<\/em>” (Colossians 1:9-10). The word of God is the guidebook for our growth. Christians should never feel they have had enough of it or have learned all there is to know. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious<\/em>” (I Peter 2:2-3).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: In II Peter 3:18 it says, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Does this scripture mean that as we study our Bibles and become more knowledgeable we are blessed with more grace? Answer: Grace refers to the fact that we have been given a gift…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[48,383],"class_list":["post-16963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-grace","tag-growth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-initiates-grace-god-or-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":16963,"position":0},"title":"Who initiates grace, God or man?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I do a lot of reading on theology and it seems like there are all kinds of versions on certain topics. I pray for God to shake up Christianity one day so that all these different interpretations of the His Word are eliminated and the Truth is illuminated. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91157,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/by-works-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":16963,"position":1},"title":"By Works or Not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton An atheist thinks he sees the following verses as \"contradicting\" each other. Atheist: Salvation by Faith or Works: \u2022 Ephesians 2:8-9: \"For by grace you have been saved through faith\u2026not a result of works.\" \u2022 James 2:24: \"You see that a person is justified by works\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91555,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-a-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":16963,"position":2},"title":"Is Baptism a Work?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Vicky Buckwalter It is not uncommon to hear some insist that baptism is not a work. Yet I fear that, in responding to criticism from denominational voices who accuse the Lord's church of legalism, we have grown hesitant to admit that baptism is indeed a work-specifically, a work authorized\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37273,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-we-be-given-grace-without-repentance\/","url_meta":{"origin":16963,"position":3},"title":"How can we be given grace without repentance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does this mean? Does this mean that we are giving grace without repentance? I'm looking at a church and I looked up their beliefs, this was one of them. \"That God has given us all a measure of grace according to our gifts: Ephesians 4:7\u00a0\"But to each one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63540,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-teaching-of-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":16963,"position":4},"title":"The Teaching of Grace","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Titus 2 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you talk to people in the denominations, much is made about the Grace of God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Emphasis is place on God\u2019s grace - Ephesians 2:8-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To the point that if any mention is made of men needing to accept the offered gift,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19527,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-there-passages-that-say-we-are-saved-by-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":16963,"position":5},"title":"Aren’t there passages that say we are saved by faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You say\u00a0that \"You will never find where the Bible says that baptism is a symbol, or that one is saved at the point of faith.\" What about Luke 7:50? Jesus said to the woman, \"Your faith has saved you; go in peace.\" Ephesians 2:8\u00a0\"For it is by\u00a0grace you have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}