Growing in Grace
Hebrews 13:9 says, “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.” (NKJV)
Growing in grace is about allowing our hearts to be established in grace. For it is by grace we have been saved that no man should boast (Ephesians 2:9).
There are so many different things that our hearts can run after today. But, the grace of God is what is secure, and eternal.
Where does your heart turn in times of uncertainty? The author of Hebrews was referring to “extra” things added to the gospel as requirements of the faith (according to Matthew Poole’s Commentary). They were looking to be strengthened by something external and not by grace.
But the grace of God comes to the heart. It is not an external pursuit. It is not something we can systematize and create a plan to qualify for.
Not at all. The grace of God is like the wind. You can’t own it. But, on a hot day, there is nothing quite like a cool breeze coming through.
That is God’s grace in our life. It comes to us in the heat of life. I mean the real pressures that can cause us to “sweat,” physically, financially, emotionally, or relationally. We can try and strengthen ourselves in a lot of different ways.i
So, when the heat is turned up, what do we turn to? What’s our “go-to”?
The author of Hebrews encourages our hearts to be established or strengthened by grace. When you look at the original language, it draws on the idea of having something that is solid. We are looking to be strengthened by one of the most solid rocks in the universe, the Rock of Christ.ii
In the hardest of times, we need not look beyond the old rugged cross where the blood of Christ was shed. We need not look beyond the grace we find in the cross. Hebrews 10:22 charges us to “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (NKJV).
An evil conscience can cause us to look to externals for support over the grace of God. At times, we violate our conscience, and the conscience for sure “keeps score.” It will remind us of deeds left undone or deeds that never should have been done in the first place.
That is a part of walking out our faith. Our conscience cries out against us. We look to lead or be an encouragement to another and our conscience can say, “Who are you to lead or encourage someone else?”
Our conscience is technically correct. We are not anyone special in and of ourselves to lead or encourage anyone. But by the grace of I will fall just like the next person. I am not living in a fallen state even though I am in a fallen world. I am living with a quickened spirit that has been made alive in God. A heart that has been established by the grace of God and not by my own merit.
I take that “dirty” conscience, that cries out against me, to the old rugged cross and say, “I can never feel good in and of myself. But, you make all things new. Would you wash my conscience with the sprinkling of your blood today?”
Our wonderful Savior, who sits on the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16), extends the cleansing power of His blood. We realize that yes we were once lost and broken, but we have now been redeemed, set free, and established by grace.
This is growing in grace. When we struggle and come up short, we don’t look to an external prop that will ultimately be like leaning on a broken reed (not supporting us in the end but only causing us harm).iii
It is not an external support in times of challenging circumstances, but the internal grace of God. “It is good that our hearts be strengthened by grace” (NIV). Look to the Lord in trying times. Allow the grace of God to strengthen your heart.
Trust in this prayer from the Apostle Peter as well. 1 Peter 5:10 says, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” (NKJV)
And may the words of our Lord Jesus Christ also provide us reassurance: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV
This is a guarantee and a promise. The guarantee is that we will have trouble. The word for trouble is literally “pressure.”iv You are going to feel pressure, whether it is financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual. That is a guarantee in this. No way around it. The promise though is what we have to hold onto–that He has overcome the world. We don’t deserve his matchless salvation freeing our sinful souls, but we can receive it by His grace alone. And may that grace strengthen our hearts today as we grow in it.
Amen and amen.
i Artificial Intelligence expedites strange doctrines. Not that AI is bad. But it is fast to bring to you an idea. Google an idea and you will see what I mean–so much information pops up. As of 2024, an “AI Overview” pops up at the top of a Google search. It’s an amazing tool.
ii Strong’s Concordance connects the verb “bebaioó” (confirm; establish) to the adjective “bebaios” (firm, steadfast, sure). Drawing on the idea of our hearts being established and confirmed because we are standing on solid ground, formed by the power of God, and forever established at the Cross of Calvary.
iii Isaiah 36:6 “Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.” (NKJV)
iv Trouble or tribulation is “thlipsis” (translated affliction, persecution, tribulation) and literally or figuratively means pressure according to Strong’s Concordance.
