What Is “Growth in Grace”?
Growth in grace makes us more and more to conform to the likeness of our Lord Jesus. There is no perfection in his brethren on earth that can be compared to the measure of the stature of his fulness. By faith we receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is just the character of Christ produced in us by the new life of the Spirit. Every one of the nine graces which constitute the one fruit of the Spirit,—“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control,”—belongs to the Christian who is trusting Christ for victory. But in each of these graces he is to abound more and more. This is true growth in grace.
One who by yielding his life to the mastery of Christ and by trusting his word, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” has received the fulness of the Spirit, may know very little about the Bible, or prayer, or Christian service. Day by day he learns more of the wondrous things out of the Word, learns better how to study it and use it in personal work; day by day he learns new secrets of prayer from the Word and by the diligent practice of prayer; and gradually he becomes a more efficient and expert laborer in the harvest. This is true growth in the knowledge of the Lord.