Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Growth in grace is the gradual increase and maturing of the believer in the knowledge, holiness, and graces of the Christian life—the progressive aspect of sanctification viewed under the figure of growth. Peter’s closing exhortation gives the doctrine its name: ‘grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ The Christian life is not static but is meant to be a life of continual progress—from the new birth as a babe to the maturity of a full-grown man in Christ. Scripture employs the imagery of organic growth: the believer is a tree planted by rivers of water bringing forth fruit in season, a plant that grows, a child that matures from milk to strong meat, a body that increases with the increase of God. This growth is real and observable: increasing in the knowledge of God and His Word, in faith, in love, in holiness, in the mortification of sin and the exercise of the graces of the Spirit, in conformity to Christ. It is the work of God, who gives the increase, yet it engages the believer’s diligent use of the appointed means—the Word, prayer, the sacraments, the fellowship of the saints, and the disciplines of grace—through which the Spirit nourishes the soul. Growth is not always uniform or uninterrupted; there are seasons of rapid advance and seasons of apparent stagnation, even of decline, and growth in some graces (such as humility and self-knowledge) may feel like going backward as the believer sees more of his own sin. Yet the settled trajectory of a true Christian is forward and upward, for the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Spiritual stagnation, by contrast, is an unnatural and dangerous condition, a sign that the means of grace are neglected or that the soul has grown cold. The doctrine therefore both comforts (progress is to be expected and is the fruit of grace) and admonishes (the believer is to give all diligence to grow, adding to his faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and love), pressing every Christian toward maturity in Christ.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines GROW as to increase in size or stature by natural process; figuratively, to advance; to improve; applied to growth in grace, the increase of Christian graces.
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GROW, v.i. — ...4. To advance; to improve; to make progress; as, to grow in grace, or in knowledge. 5. To increase in bulk or quantity.
GRACE, n. — ...The free unmerited love and favor of God; also, the spiritual influences which renew and sanctify the heart. To grow in grace is to increase in the Christian graces.
📖 Key Scripture
2 Peter 3:18 — "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."
2 Peter 1:5-7 — "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance... and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity."
Ephesians 4:15 — "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."
Proverbs 4:18 — "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition, but the doctrine is undermined by spiritual complacency that expects no progress, and by the perfectionism that mistakes growth for arrival or measures it by feeling rather than by holiness.
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Growth in grace is undermined first by spiritual complacency—the settled stagnation that expects and pursues no progress, content to remain a perpetual babe, neglecting the means of grace and assuming that conversion is the end rather than the beginning of the Christian race. This is an unnatural and dangerous state, for in the spiritual life there is no standing still: the soul that does not grow tends to decline, as a field untended grows weeds. Scripture rebukes those who, when for the time they ought to be teachers, have need that one teach them again the first principles, remaining on milk when they should have advanced to strong meat. The believer is commanded to give all diligence to grow, and stagnation is a reproach, not a resting place.
The doctrine is undermined from the other side by the perfectionism that mistakes growth for arrival, and by a feeling-driven measure of progress. Some, mistaking a season of zeal or an emotional experience for spiritual maturity, suppose they have grown far when they have only felt much; others measure growth by the intensity of religious feeling rather than by the increase of holiness, humility, and conformity to Christ. True growth in grace is often quiet, gradual, and unspectacular—deepening humility, steadier faith, more constant love, greater hatred of sin, increasing likeness to the Savior—and it frequently feels, to the growing soul, like going backward, as increasing light reveals more of indwelling corruption. The mature Christian is more conscious of his sin and more dependent on grace than the young convert, not less. The recovery of the doctrine restores both the expectation and the right measure of progress: the believer is to grow, really and continually, toward maturity in Christ, using the appointed means with diligence, and gauging his advance not by feeling but by the slow, sure increase of the graces of the Spirit and the likeness of his Lord.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The doctrine rests on the command to grow (auxanō) in grace—the path of the just shining more and more—adding grace to grace toward maturity.
Usage
"Growth in grace is the progressive maturing of the believer—in knowledge, faith, love, and holiness—the trajectory of a true Christian."
"‘The path of the just shineth more and more’—stagnation is unnatural; the soul that does not grow declines."
"True growth is often quiet and humbling: the mature Christian sees more of his sin and depends more on grace, not less."