Today’s Scripture: 2 Peter 3:18

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

As we practice the disciplines necessary to develop Bible-based convictions—diligent but dependent Bible study, Scripture memorization, continual meditation, and applying Scripture to real-life situations—is there any room for grace? What happens if I stumble in Scripture memorization, for example?

First of all, God does not love us any less. His love for us is based solely on the fact that we’re in union with his Son. Christ’s righteousness has become our righteousness. Our sins were laid upon him, and the penalty for them was fully paid by him on the cross. Daily his blood cleanses us from all sin. God’s grace, his unmerited favor, is never conditioned on our performance but always on the unchanging merit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our progress in the pursuit of holiness, however, is conditioned on our practice of the disciplines God has given us. It’s true that we’re transformed increasingly into the likeness of Christ by the Spirit. It’s also true that one of the chief means—in fact, probably the chief means—he uses is the renewing of our minds. And Paul was quite emphatic in Romans 12:2 about submitting ourselves to the transforming influence of God’s Word by which our minds are renewed.

Therefore, we may say that our acceptance by God the Father is based solely on his grace to us through Christ. His favor is never earned by what we do nor forfeited by what we don’t do. But we may say with equal emphasis that our progress in pursuing holiness is significantly conditioned on our use of God-appointed disciplines. And they have been appointed by God and initiated by God.

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