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2 Peter 3:17–18
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 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.”
Peter closes his final letter to the church not with a lament but with an exhortation and a doxology. Having spent three chapters warning against false teaching, exposing the character of false teachers, and emphasizing the certainty of Christ’s return, he leaves his readers with a single imperative that captures the whole of the Christian life: “Grow” (2 Peter 3:18).
The warning comes first. In verse 17, Peter reminds his readers that they have been forewarned; they know that false teachers will arise, they know the marks of error, and they know the danger of being “carried away” by the influence of lawless men. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. With knowledge comes responsibility, and the responsibility here is vigilance.
But Peter does not end with warning. He ends with growth. The Christian life is not a static holding pattern in which we merely avoid error and wait for Christ to return; it is a dynamic, forward-moving journey of increasing intimacy with the Lord Jesus. We are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (v. 18).
Notice that grace comes first. Growth in the Christian life begins with grace, the unmerited favor of God that saved us and that sustains us at every stage of our journey. We grow in grace as we come to understand more deeply how dependent we are on it, as we learn to receive it more freely, and as we extend it more generously to others. The means by which we grow in grace are the ordinary means that God has appointed: the preaching of the Word, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and prayer, through which the Spirit nourishes our faith and conforms us to the image of Christ.
Knowledge follows grace, and the two are inseparable. The knowledge that Peter has in mind stands in contrast to the pretentious, esoteric knowledge of the false teachers described in this entire letter. Their “knowledge” was speculative and self-serving; the knowledge that Peter commends is the personal, relational knowledge of Jesus Christ that deepens as we walk with Him through the ordinary and extraordinary circumstances of life.
The letter ends with glory ascribed to Jesus Christ. Peter’s final word is one of worship. Whatever challenges the church may face, the glory belongs to Christ “both now and to the day of eternity.” That doxology is the ultimate answer to every heresy and the ultimate expression of every truth that Peter has taught.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Peter’s letter ends not with a warning but with worship, reminding us that the glory belongs to Christ alone. Let us pursue growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Savior through the ordinary means that He has appointed: Word, sacrament, and prayer. In these, the Spirit nourishes and deepens what He has begun.
For further study
- Jeremiah 9:23–24
- John 17:1–3
- Ephesians 4:11–16
- Colossians 2:6–7
The bible in a year
- Psalms 126–127
- 1 Corinthians 8