If these words in 2 Peter 3:18 are indeed the apostle’s final exhortation, they land with the weight of a life spent following and proclaiming Jesus. His closing sentence is not merely a pious farewell but a pastoral imperative: grow. Peter, who had seen the risen Christ and suffered for the name, commends one final direction to the people he loves—a summons to continual spiritual development centered on the same Lord he served.
To “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” names two inseparable movements in the Christian life. Grace is the source and power of our transformation: it humbles us, forgives us, and frees the heart to pursue Christ. Knowledge is not mere information but an ever-deepening intimacy with Jesus—knowing his character, his cross, his resurrection, and learning to read every circumstance through his lordship. Together they shape holiness: grace changes the heart’s posture and knowledge orders the heart’s affection and obedience toward Christ.
Practically, Peter’s charge directs how a congregation and each believer should invest their days. Grow by reading and receiving Scripture as the story that reveals Christ; grow in prayer that fixes our dependence on him; grow in humble obedience through trials that refine faith rather than extinguish it; grow in community by receiving and offering teaching, correction, and encouragement so that knowledge becomes lived wisdom. Remember too the doxology that follows: growth is not an end in itself but the means by which Christ receives glory now and into eternity—our sanctification points beyond ourselves to his praise.
If these are truly Peter’s final words, they leave us with both urgency and assurance: urgency to press on in growth, assurance that it is Christ’s grace that enables it and that every step is for his glory. Continue, then, in simple means of grace—Scripture, prayer, obedience, and fellowship—trusting that the Lord who began this work will complete it. Be encouraged: Christ’s grace accompanies your growth, and the glory belongs to him now and forever.