Probably no better key-verse on growth in grace can be found than
Second Corinthians 3:18, and in that verse is gathered up the messages
of these other passages that have been considered: “But we all, with
unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the
Lord the Spirit.” As we look unto Jesus, and grow in his knowledge and
grace, we are changed, as one scholar has translated it, “from one
degree of glory to another degree of glory.”
As we get to know the Lord Jesus better and better, sin becomes more
horrible to us; we see its true character. This does not mean that
we become worse sinners, for we are growing from one degree of glory
to another. But we appreciate more and more what sinners we were by
nature, apart from grace; we see the depravity that follows sin, and we
exalt the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ which has saved and is saving
us from such sin and corruption.
The margin of Second Corinthians 3:18 adds a final glorious touch:
instead of “beholding as in a mirror” there is the translation which
many believe more accurate, “reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord.” It is ours to behold and then to reflect. Do they see Jesus in
us? It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). He himself is
the secret of growth in grace, as of all else.