Grace isn’t just the ticket that gets you into heaven. It’s the fuel that powers every moment of your Christian journey from salvation to glorification.
Most believers understand that grace saved them, then immediately revert to performance-based Christianity, where they earn God’s approval through better behavior. They got in by grace but think they stay in through good works.
That’s theological schizophrenia.
The same grace that justified you also sanctifies you. You don’t graduate from grace to something more mature. You grow deeper into grace, understanding more fully what you already possess, receiving more completely what’s already been given.
Growing in grace means increasingly recognizing that every spiritual advance happens not because you tried harder but because you trusted more deeply in what Christ accomplished.
This isn’t a license for lazy Christianity. It’s liberation from exhausting self-improvement projects that never produce lasting transformation.
Grace-based growth looks radically different from willpower-driven religion. One produces rest. The other generates anxiety. One creates gratitude. The other breeds pride or despair.
The Mechanics of Grace-Driven Growth
Growing in grace operates on principles that contradict religious instinct. Instead of earning God’s favor through performance, you receive freely what He’s already given. Instead of striving to become acceptable, you rest in the acceptance Christ secured.
This grace doesn’t make you passive; it makes you secure enough to risk obedience without fear of rejection. You fail without losing identity. You succeed without earning approval.
Growth happens through believing more deeply what’s already true about you in Christ: you’re loved, accepted, empowered, and being transformed by His work, not yours. This produces sustainable maturity because it’s rooted in His unchanging grace, not your fluctuating effort.
The command to grow in grace recognizes that understanding God’s unmerited favor is a lifelong journey, not an instant arrival.
Bible Verses For Growing In Grace
1. 2 Peter 3:18 – Grow in the Grace and Knowledge
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
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2. Ephesians 2:8-9 – By Grace You Have Been Saved
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
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3. Romans 5:2 – We Have Gained Access by Faith Into This Grace
Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
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4. John 1:16 – From His Fullness We Have All Received Grace Upon Grace
Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
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5. 2 Corinthians 12:9 – My Grace Is Sufficient for You
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
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6. Titus 2:11-12 – Grace That Brings Salvation Has Appeared
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
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7. Romans 6:14 – You Are Not Under the Law, but Under Grace
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
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8. Hebrews 4:16 – Approach God’s Throne of Grace With Confidence
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
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9. 1 Peter 5:10 – The God of All Grace
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
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10. Acts 20:32 – The Word of His Grace Can Build You Up
Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
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11. Romans 5:20 – Where Sin Increased, Grace Increased All the More
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
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12. 2 Corinthians 9:8 – God Is Able to Bless You Abundantly
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
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13. James 4:6 – He Gives Us More Grace
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
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14. 1 Corinthians 15:10 – By the Grace of God I Am What I Am
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
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15. Ephesians 4:7 – To Each One of Us Grace Has Been Given
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
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16. Colossians 4:6 – Let Your Conversation Be Full of Grace
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
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17. 2 Timothy 2:1 – Be Strong in the Grace That Is in Christ Jesus
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
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18. Hebrews 13:9 – It Is Good for Our Hearts to Be Strengthened by Grace
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.
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19. 1 Peter 4:10 – Administering God’s Grace
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
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20. Acts 15:11 – We Are Saved Through the Grace of the Lord Jesus
No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.
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21. Romans 3:24 – Justified Freely by His Grace
And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
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22. Galatians 2:21 – I Do Not Set Aside the Grace of God
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
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23. Ephesians 1:7-8 – The Riches of God’s Grace
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding.
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24. Titus 3:7 – Justified by His Grace
So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
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25. 2 Corinthians 8:9 – You Know the Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
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26. Philippians 1:7 – You Share in God’s Grace With Me
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.
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27. 2 Thessalonians 2:16 – Eternal Encouragement and Good Hope Through Grace
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope.
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28. 1 Peter 1:13 – Set Your Hope on the Grace to Be Brought to You
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.
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29. Romans 11:6 – If by Grace, Then It Cannot Be Based on Works
And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
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30. Hebrews 12:28 – Let Us Be Thankful and Worship God Acceptably
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
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31. 2 Corinthians 6:1 – Do Not Receive God’s Grace in Vain
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
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32. Acts 11:23 – He Saw What the Grace of God Had Done
When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
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33. Galatians 5:4 – You Have Fallen Away From Grace
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
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34. 1 Corinthians 1:4 – The Grace Given You in Christ Jesus
I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
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35. Ephesians 3:8 – This Grace Was Given Me
Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ.
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Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Growing In Grace
Growing in grace means understanding more fully what you already possess in Christ, not earning something you lack. Too many believers treat grace as an entrance ticket, then switch to performance mode for everything afterward. They got saved by grace but think they stay saved, grow, and please God through works.
Paul’s question to the Galatians applies today: having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by the flesh? Grace doesn’t just save. It sanctifies. The same unmerited favor that justified you also transforms you daily.
This grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness, not through legalistic rule-following but through secure identity in Christ. When you understand you’re loved unconditionally, sin loses its appeal. When you know you’re already accepted, you don’t need validation through compromise.
Growing in grace produces sustainable transformation because it’s rooted in Christ’s finished work, not your fluctuating effort. You fail without losing identity. You succeed without earning approval. God’s grace is sufficient for your weakness, making His power perfect precisely where you’re inadequate.
The command to grow in grace recognizes that comprehending God’s unmerited favor is a lifelong journey. Each day reveals new dimensions of His goodness, new applications of His mercy, deeper understanding of what He’s freely given.
Say This Prayer
Heavenly Father, I’ve been trying to earn what You’ve already freely given, and I’m exhausted from this performance-based Christianity.
I understood grace saved me, then immediately reverted to works-based living, where I try earning Your approval through better behavior. I got in by grace, but thought I had to stay in through performance. Forgive me for this theological confusion that’s stealing my joy and producing anxiety instead of rest.
Teach me to grow in grace by understanding more fully what I already possess in Christ. Help me to recognize that the same unmerited favor that justified me also sanctifies me. That I don’t graduate from grace to something more mature, but go deeper into grace.
Strengthen my heart by grace, not by ceremonial efforts or religious performance. Let Your grace be sufficient for my weakness, so Your power is made perfect where I’m inadequate. Help me to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, not in my own willpower.
When I fail, let me run to Your throne of grace with confidence instead of hiding in shame. When I succeed, let me recognize it’s Your grace working in me, not my superiority producing results.
Free me from exhausting self-improvement projects that never produce lasting transformation. Replace anxiety with rest, pride with gratitude, and despair with secure identity in Christ.
In Jesus’ Grace-Filled Name, Amen.