2 Peter: Growing Grace and Knowledge

Tom is doing a series in 2 Peter in these mornings, and we had our first 1 last week and we're going to carry on in that series, 2 Peter, The Church Bible that you've just have given to you is it's on page 1 2 2 2. And it's the second letter of Peter and apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're going to read the first 11 verses. It's very of it's very easy to read the bible and sort of hear it on 1 level and not allow it to sort of sink in and there's a whole lot of words here, very very powerful wonderful words that we really need to ask the law to help us. So I'm gonna pray right now and ask the Lord to help us here. Father God, please open our ears by your spirit.

Father, it's very easy to hear words, even agree with them, even understand the theology behind them, but in practice, in life. It seems very different. We want you to help us to put these things by your spirit into practice, the way we think of ourselves of the world, how we treat other people, how we love the Christian, how we listen, to wisdom. We pray please that you would help us in this in Jesus' name, amen. So to Peter, chapter one:one.

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours. Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promise so that through them, you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge, self control, and to self control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is short sighted and blind, forgetting what they have been cleansed from, their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Good morning. And as Pete said, my name is Tom. I'm on the staff team here, and a very warm welcome to you this morning, particularly if you are visiting with us. We are in 2 Peter chapter 1. This is the second of 3, Lord willing.

We're going to be in this chapter together, and we're really looking at some of the precious promises that God has made to us and seeing how they enable us to grow and how those promises lead to Christian growth and maturity. Last week, we spent most of our time focusing on just verses 1 to 4, and we were thinking about those precious promises, the gospel, and who God has made us to be in Christ. And today, we're going to be thinking about the way in which that promise leads to practical godliness, leads to a life of growth as as Christians. Before before Christmas, a few of us did the minibus driving test, the theory part of it. And in that, course.

They now include some information on dementia, because lots of people who learn to drive minibuses do so in order to help those with dementia and other disabilities. And the woman in the video described dementia like this, she said, Imagine that you've got a bookcase in front of you, and the books on the bookcase represent a person's memory. At the bottom of the shelf, you always put your largest, oldest books, and those are some of the foundational memories in the brain, so you might have an encyclopedia down there or a DIY manual. They're the biggest, oldest, most foundational book But then at the top, you put the smaller, newer books, and they're the most recent ones. And then she said that dementia is like an earthquake which begins to shake the bookcase.

And when it shakes, which books are going to fall off first? The ones at the top are going to fall off first. The most recent newest memories are going to slip off, but then if it gets worse and the ground continues to shake, Even some of those larger, more foundational memories can fall out as well. And, as she was saying, and as perhaps you'll know, if you've you've cared for someone with a condition like that. It is distressing for them mentally and also for you caring for them, and distressing for them because not only are the books falling off, but they sort of know the books are falling off, and there's not much they can do about it.

But it's also distressing physically because people who perhaps have been very able in their lives are suddenly forgetting they've turned the hob on. Or there's an electric heater going downstairs, and they've forgotten to turn it off, things like that. When the memory begins to fail, and the ground begins to shake and those memories start to fall away, all kinds of things can can go wrong. Now, personally, I found that illustration very helpful for for understanding dementia, but also in a in a in a spiritual way. Now, the parallel is not perfect because normally, it's our sin, which means we forget spiritual truth, but as you can see in this passage, when we forget things such as who we are in Jesus Christ, verse 1 to 4.

When we forget that we have been cleansed from past sins, verse 9, when those kind of things begin to fall off the shelf, then things go very wrong for Christians. If that happens, then we will not be able to grow. Just look with me in verse 8. We'll come back to 5 to 7 in a minute, but let's stay with these thoughts. Verse 8, for if you possess These qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective, and unproductive, in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, in verse 8, he uses that interesting phrase, unproductive knowledge. So here is a Christian who does know stuff. The gospel hasn't lit gone from their minds. It's there in 1 sense, but for some reason, that gospel which they know has become ineffective in their lives. It's not actually lead the information is not actually leading to godliness.

And it's a strange 1, because this person knows that the gospel is true in their minds. They they really do believe that. But if they're honest with themselves, when they look inside they find a growing coldness to that truth. They find that sins which used to trouble them, well, we're a bit indifferent to them now. We find that the knowledge that we have continues to grow in 1 sense, but it isn't matched by a growing devotional life.

The knowledge is there and maybe even growing, but it's not productive knowledge. And the key question is, how does that happen to someone? What is the process by which we end up in that place? Is it because we're not working hard enough, not praying long enough, that our habits and disciplines aren't established enough, maybe, but verse 9, whoever does not have these things is near sighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. The problem is a memory problem.

Tim Keller, an American church pastor and writer, gives an illustration in 1 of his books or talks. I can't remember about a a teenage girl. He was he was pastoring with her mother as well. And the teenage girl had come to him and she was genuinely distressed because she couldn't get a boy at school to fancy her. And or or to love her, and she was very upset about this, and he said it was very interesting in his conversation with her and the mother, Because when he asked her about the gospel and what she believed, she actually knew everything that she needed to know in order to fight that battle.

The problem was not doctrine. She said, I know I'm loved by Jesus Christ, I know I'm accepted by the greatest man in the universe. I know I have everything that I need to have in him. She knew everything she needed to know, but functionally, she wasn't controlled by it. What functionally controlled her was the love of a boy not the knowledge that she knew, not the knowledge that she had in her mind.

And therefore, Peter would call that unproductive knowledge or worse that she had forgotten the gospel, that she, and it can happen to all of us, was nearsighted and had become blind. Now those are strong warnings, aren't they? Near sighted, blind, forgetful, and they're all to do with Christian memory. Someone who is near sighted, what can't they see? They can't see very well into the future.

Someone has forgotten, can't see very well into the past, and someone who is blind can't see at all. Or in gospel terms, this person has forgotten that Jesus is coming back in They've forgotten that Jesus died for them in the past, and now they can't see at all. This kind of forgetfulness is a killer of Christians. It is the reason that we don't grow. Whatever other contributing factors there may be, this is the reason that we do not grow.

We know stuff, but not in a productive way and therefore the blood of Christ, which we know was spilt for us, is at the same time in our minds and also falling off the shelf. And look, if you do recognize any of that in your own life, and I have to say I certainly do recognize it in my own life, then there's good news for us in verse 12. This is kind of the connecting verse with next week. So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory.

As long as I live in the tent of this body. That's good news, isn't it? This morning, Jesus wants to refresh our memories so that the knowledge we have will be productive. And although when it comes to Christian growth, Many of us kind of instinctively just want to be told what to do. You know, we want to be given new laws or ordered to do something so that we can manage and monitor our progress, and so that we can effectively control our own godliness.

Peter knows that what we need more than anything is to revisit the cross of Jesus Christ. And to think about our past cleansing. You see, if the reason that we're not growing, is because we've forgotten that we've been cleansed from past sins, and that is what he says in verse 9, then in order to grow, we need to remember that we've been friends from past sins, don't we? And so the first point Although it's shorter than the introduction, it's in the same same vein. The first point is is this.

A growing Christian remembers Jesus. Now, if it's helpful that you can imagine this passage a bit like a gospel sandwich. Okay? The filling of the sandwich, is in verse 5 to 7. But first, like subway, if you've ever been to subway, you've got to order your bread upfront.

Okay? You need to get the bread sorted before you even consider the filling without the bread, there is only filling, just a chunk of filling, and that is no sandwich. Okay? You need the bread before the filling. Now, as we've seen there, the first size slice of bread is delicious, and it's in verse 9.

We have been cleansed from past sins. That is the piece of bread that goes underneath the filling, and it it is wonderful. No sandwich without that. But there's also a slice on top, and we saw it last week in verse 1 to 4. Peter says that through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, you have been given a precious authentic faith, and so now, verse 5, for that reason, make every effort to add to your precious faith.

You have been given it by grace, now add to it. Verse 2, he says that as we get to know God, We will see more and more of his grace. We will taste more and more of his peace, and therefore verse 5, for that reason, make every effort to grow in your faith. In verse 3, he says that through your knowledge of Christ, You have everything you need for a godly life. You have escaped the corruption of the world in Jesus already, And so now, verse 5, because that is true, make every effort to add to your faith.

In other words, before we even think about the filling, we need to remember the bread either side. Through Jesus Christ, We have what we need for Godliness. Through Jesus Christ, our sins have been washed away We have been cleansed from our past sins. We have escaped the corruption of the world. We have risen with Jesus.

We are destined for glory. The bread is just wonderful. And so just to underline it again, the deepest reason we don't grow, is because we forget that gospel. We really do find ourselves in a place where we can both see it and are blind to it at the very same time. And so even if you just go home with 1 point this morning, let it be this, find ways to remember Jesus Christ and what he has done for you, find ways to let that gospel lodge in your mind, and all that it means for you, past present and future.

It's why I'm so glad we're having the Lord's supper this morning. Because when we take the lord's supper as a church family, that is God's way of picking up that big book and putting it back on the shelf. When Jesus commanded it, he said, you should do this, why? In remembrance of me. It is an exercise in remembering so that we can grow.

The first point then, is that a growing Christian remembers Jesus. Secondly, and this is a longer point, a growing Christian makes every effort. The growing Christian makes every effort. So you remember that we're dealing with a sandwich and not with toast, There is a filling here for us to explore, and without that, there is no sandwich. Or in more normal language, the gospel and the life that it produces always go together.

You cannot divide them. If Jesus Christ is our Savior in verse 1, then he is our Lord in verse 2. You cannot have him as 1 without the other. You cannot have him as your savior, and reject him as your lord. And if he is your lord in verse 2, then he is also your savior in verse 1.

These things go together. 1 commentator puts it in this striking way, quotes on the screen. Peter would say that if we believe what he believes, then we must behave as he behaves. If we do not see that need and if we do not follow his prescription, we demonstrate that we actually believe something different, a false gospel. Peter would say that if we believe what he believes, then we must behave as he behaves.

If we do not see that need, and if we do not follow his prescription, We demonstrate that we actually believe something different, a false gospel. If Jesus is our savior, he is our lord. If he is our savior but we don't listen to him, then what we have is not a different take on Christianity, what we have is a different gospel, and it is a false gospel. The grace of Jesus and the life that follows necessarily go together. And so He says in verse 5, for this reason, make every effort to add to your faith.

Now, that phrase means to be diligent. It means to be earnest, But it can also mean to be hasty. So for instance, when Mary finds out she's pregnant in Luke's Gospel, we're told that she gets her stuff together, and she runs to the hill country in order to see Elizabeth. And the word runs is the same as the phrase make every effort. And so the point here is Be diligent, be earnest, yeah, but now that you know Jesus Christ, you know what you need to know, so don't hang around.

Run into Godliness. Be speedy about it. Get your things together and go for it. Be hasty in adding to your faith. There's a kind of obviousness about this.

Well, you know Jesus, you know you've been forgiven. Well, up, you get get your stuff together, run into Godliness. Embbrace the life that follows quickly. Diligent, earnest, hasty. 2, add to your faith goodness, and to goodness knowledge, and to knowledge self control, and to self control perseverance, and to perseverance godliness, and to godliness mutual affection, and to mutual affection love.

Now people have wondered whether there's an order here, as if this was a ladder of godliness, which begins at faith and ends at love at top, and these are just different rungs on the ladder. And I I kind of agree with that in some sense. I think it is true, isn't it? That the Christian life begins with faith, When God opens our eyes, he enables us to trust in Jesus Christ and be born again, And then Paul does say, doesn't he? That the whole law is fulfilled in keeping just 1 command.

To love your neighbor as yourself. So in that sense, it is a kind of build up. It begins with faith and then love is the end of godliness. Love is kind of chief expression of godliness. So maybe in that way, there is.

But whether you can push it further than that, I'm not I'm not really sure. This this I think is more like a market stall full of fruit than a ladder of godliness, which we tick off 1, move to the next 1, tick off 1, move to the next 1, mastered that, next 1 up, It's more like beholding loads of wonderful fruit. These are just different ways in which the knowledge of Jesus will change us. These are things which the false teachers in this letter didn't have. They had a message, but they didn't have a life that followed.

But they are the things that should possess a Christian. Stuff like goodness, or as the old King James version would translate it, virtue, make every effort to add to your faith virtue. Which means a kind of excellent life, to be excellent in every way. And because Jesus is the definition of goodness, to be like Jesus. Add to your faith goodness.

There's knowledge. And that is interesting because it's a different take on the knowing word in verse 2. So the focus here is not the knowing of relationship, but but actually just knowing stuff. In other words, part of growing as a Christian is getting to know the word of God better, laying hold of Christian doctrine, getting a better grip of it and understanding it. So that as we grow from year to year, we we really are growing in what we know about God and the truth that he's revealed, we ought to make every effort to be growing in that way.

There's self control, or as others put it, self mastery. So here is a person who has faith in Jesus, and they are adding self mastery. They are becoming masters of themselves. Their speech and their desires and their thoughts are in check. They are obeying orders.

They are self masters. Now that is a that's a challenge, isn't it? Because if like me, you find yourself sometimes unable to keep yourself in check, ruled by passions outside of yourself, quick bursts of anger, irritability, explosions, getting crossed with yourself being erratic, up and down, then we need to add to our faith, self. Mastery. Next, here's a word that's used 34 times in the New Testament, and it's perseverance.

A huge, perhaps the central chunk of this sandwich is persevering with Jesus. Looking back to the cross, looking forward to the future, and patiently waiting for Jesus. Other translations put it constancy. Add to your faith constancy, which is a good which is a good way of putting it, isn't it? Is is is there a constancy to your Christian life.

Whatever else is changing around you, that is that is constant. There is a persevering constancy about faith. Next, we have godliness, and then he goes on to mutual affection, or as the old NIV put it brotherly kindness. And again, that is a really interesting word because apparently, the new testament is the only place where that word was used outside of the family home. So it was a very common word at the time, but only used to describe the kind of love that would exist under your own roof.

And so you can imagine these first century Christians pretty shocked to hear a word that they were familiar with now being applied to the brothers and sisters at church. The kind of love that you see under your own roof, that the kind that has got to be part of your church life as well. And then lastly, love itself which is no ordinary love. It is the word used of God's love. It is a sacrificial others first love.

And as a say, although I'm not persuaded, there is a there is an order here. These last 2 I think are very important because they show us that our knowledge of Jesus must affect the way we relate to each other. If we're growing in our understanding of Christian truth, But we're not increasing in patience and humility and servantheartedness with 1 another, then God would actually describe that as ineffective knowledge or worse as a forgotten gospel. If knowledge doesn't lead to just ordinary expressions of love for 1 another, Whatever else it is, it is not the knowledge and view here. So now we've got our sandwich together.

We've seen the bread We've had a brief look at the filling, and without wishing to push this beyond the realms of imagination, it's time to eat It's time to eat the whole sandwich together. How do we begin to apply this or continue to apply this? Well, firstly, it's worth saying, yet again, and there's no trouble to keep underlining this, we need to remember Jesus Christ. We need to remember that the blood of Jesus Christ has been shed for us brothers and sisters, and our sins have been wiped away. Before we even were created, Jesus knew the sins that we would commit, and he still came, and he still dies and he provided a full satisfaction for all of them.

They have been cleansed by the blood of Christ. We have been made new in him, and we need to just find ways to make that stick. Because maybe looking at this list, you thought, well, okay, goodness is a bit vague. And I don't really understand that. Brotherly, kindless, I think I've mostly nailed that.

Brotherly, kindness would be the 1 that I would say I've I've got down, but self mastery will know that is the 1 I'm going away from here, and I'm going to work Jolly hard on, to be a master of myself. Fine. But if we stop there, it is gonna be counterproductive. Because in reality, The way to work on self control is to fix your eyes on Jesus. That that is how we do business with this passage.

If we want to grow in goodness, we must look to the 1 who was good in every way. Look to the 1 who was most excellent in everything we did, look to Jesus, and we will find goodness growing. If we want to work on self control, the way to do it is to look to the 1 who showed it perfectly, who was self controlled even to the point of death on a cross, and as we consider him and his self control, we will find the fruit growing in our lives. If we think actually no brotherly kindness is what I need to work on, then see the 1 who before he died washed defeat of his brothers, who showed brotherly kindness, and we will find that fruit growing in ourselves. Look to Jesus, and the Christian Life will follow.

But with that in mind, secondly, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take these 7 qualities, not including faith, and with 1 every day over the next week to pray that the grace of God would grow us in that area. To think to think about how, we really can take this instruction seriously and to put some grace centred effort into our characters. How can we do that? Put some grace centred effort into our character. No 1 is gonna be perfect until the new creation.

That is true. But the truth is, if we are going to possess these qualities in increasing measure, verse 8, if we are going to have knowledge that is productive verse 8, then that is the kind of thing we must do. That is part of what it means to make every effort to grow. And then from a different angle, It'd also be good to think about how we spend our time from week to week. So for instance, and no 1 No 1 wants to make laws on these things, but it is worth asking ourselves, isn't it?

Do do the programs that we choose to watch, and the things that we choose to listen to, and the computer games that we choose to play make it easier or harder to grow in these ways. Do the way does the way that we spend our time often in the name of entertainment make it easier or harder? Does it help us or does it hold us back? It's just worth thinking about it. It's not a law, but it's a it's a good idea to ask that kind of is the way I choose to spend my time making it harder or easier to add to my faith in these ways.

That would be just 1 Good question to ask. So remember the Tim Keller, illustration, Where where are we? With this? If we're honest, do we find ourselves a little bit like that girl? Really knowing what we need to know, but finding a lack of productivity in our lives.

And if so, by grace, and by remembering the gospel, and by making every effort, how can we grow as disciples of the Lord Jesus? That's the second thing. Thirdly, lastly, a growing Christian makes every effort, part 2. And that's because he says the same thing again in verse 10. Therefore, my brothers and sisters make every effort to confirm your calling and election.

For if you do these things, you will never stumble and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now, in some ways, the language here is even more striking, isn't it? And maybe confusing, because on the 1 hand, If God chose me before the foundation of the world to belong to Jesus, if he chose me for that purpose, then in what sense can I confirm his work? Is it now up to me in some way to finish the work of God's election. And the answer is, yes.

You see, if we are under the impression that, well, look, God chose me in the beginning, and I'm going to make it in the end, so who cares what I do now? Holyness, sin, obedience, rebellion, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter at all, I'm free to do either or neither because God chose me in the end, so I make it in the beginning. I chose me in the beginning, I make it in the end, so I can I can just do whatever I want? You know, if that's how we think, even though no 1 would actually say it, So boldly, if that's how we think, then we have really misunderstood the grace of God and why he sets his grace upon us.

Look with me at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 and Romans 8. God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world, why? To be holy and blameless in his sight. Romans 8 28, and we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And what is that good?

For those God 4 knew, he also predestined, why? To be conformed to the image. Of his son. So in both passages, this is the question, why does God elect his people? To make them like Jesus.

He chooses us in order to change us. So then in what way do we confirm that? Well, we join God in that process. Let me try to illustrate it for you, and this is honestly, by no means a perfect illustration. But let's say that that you have been selected for a luxury holiday.

You have been emailed or called to say that you have been selected to win a luxury holiday. Most of us, in our day and age, would dismiss that immediately as a hoax or a scam and would want nothing further to do with it. But for argument's sake, Let's say it's a genuine it's a genuine price. You've been selected for a holiday in the Maldives, let's say, next summer. Now, what are you going to do in the run up to that holiday?

You have been chosen. It is coming in the future. Well, you're going to at least take some time off work, aren't you? To make sure you can go? You're going to look at the calendar and book it off.

You're going to tell someone that you love, the good news, and maybe want to bring them along with you. You're going to want to find out what holiday it is. Is it an adventure holiday? Or is it a beach holiday, and you're going to want to prepare appropriately. You're going to want to, as the day gets closer, check-in online, perhaps, Make sure you know how you're getting to the airport.

There are all kinds of things you are going to do between your past selection and your future holiday. Now, do any of those things sort of actually affect the original selection? No, but they evidence it, don't they? They testify to it. You're preparing for it.

In light of what's happened in the past, you're getting ready for the future, and as the day approaches you're getting more and more ready to enjoy your future. It's that kind of thing. If God chose us in order to change us, If he selected us to make us like Jesus, then let's make every effort to be like Jesus. To evidence that calling in our lives, to confirm it in our lives to say, yes, Lord. It is true.

I praise you that you've set your grace upon me. I I want to evidence that in my life. I want to testify to it. I want your goal for me to be my goal for me. So please lord make it happen.

So this isn't meant to rob us of any assurance. Because if God chose us in the beginning, then neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our lord. That that is true. But Peter says, yes, brothers and sisters, but if you want to avoid being nearsighted, If you want to avoid being blind and gospel forgetting, then confirm that calling with your life. Evidenceance that calling with your life, make every effort to approve it in your life.

And why? Well, verse 10? For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome. Into the eternal kingdom of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, a rich welcome into an eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ is our Savior.

When he cried out on the cross, it is finished. He really meant it. He had he had paid for our sins. He'd finished the work, but he is also our lord And wouldn't it be good to leave this world fighting for this kind of thing? So that when we do see him, it won't be such a big leap between this life and the next life.

Of course, it's always gonna be a big leap. But what I mean is that that we won't be surprised by the priorities of heaven. That we won't arrive to this place of beautiful holiness and be disappointed. Because actually we've been living for that, and we've been longing for that, and we've been wanting to grow in holiness, and we're wanting to see our Savior, and we've been wanting to be like him, and we've loved those things. So can we agree, I hope to help each other here, to make every effort.

To add to our glorious faith, to not forget the gospel, and to confirm our calling. With our lives. Should we pray together and ask for God's help, let's pray. Let's take a moment, and you can read through the passage or reflect on anything that God has spoken to you about. And use the opportunity to pray and to repent of sin.

To ask that we would remember this gospel and live the life that follows.