Recommended Reading

In his closing words in 2 Peter 3:17-18 the Apostle leaves his readers with a stirring exhortation: “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”

Peter was well aware how easy it is for Christians to be lead astray by false teachings, particularly when those teachings appeal to our own desires. One has only to consider how the “health and wealth” movement has spread through the evangelical world to see that principle at work in our own day. But how then are Christians to avoid falling into heresy? How do we maintain a steadfast adherence to the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints? Peter answers that if we would not be led away into error, we must be about the business of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We grow in grace as we attend upon “the means of grace”: prayer, the reading and preaching of the Word, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are the ordinary means, by which the Lord builds up his people in the faith. But we are also to grow not only in the grace but in the knowledge of the Lord. This will only happen if we are reading the Bible, which is God’s word and the place wherein the Lord speaks to us, revealing both His nature and our duty. If we are not, then we will be no more likely to “grow in the knowledge of Christ” than we would be to grow physically if we never ate. That is why we handed out M’Cheyne’s Bible Reading Guide to the congregation at the beginning of the year (please send me an email if you would like a free copy!). We hope it will help you to systematically read your way through the Bible.