Always Be Ready: Peter's Vision of Christian Discipling

Introduction

Last week we considered Peter’s emphasis on the full and true knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. We weighed the impact of the blessings that he proclaimed, past, present, and future, and considered his call to diligently apply ourselves to virtue. We looked at the way that this diligence confirms and verifies and demonstrates our calling and election, affirming the abundant supply of kingdom citizenship to us.

Peter now continues by reflecting on his personal responsibility to these believers in regard to this full knowledge and virtuous behavior that he has put forth as central in his letter so far.

Peter assume three roles here, as I observe the text: he assumes the role of a pastor, of a father, and of an older fellow believer, and in assuming these roles he gives us a clear and practical example of what church leaders, parents, and older Christians ought to be doing with the full knowledge and virtuous behavior described in verses 2-11.

Tonight, I think, will be immensely practical for us as we consider Peter’s commitments and how they set the example for us.

So first, as we get started, I think we would do well to consider our own roles and responsibilities as concerns the full knowledge of God in Christ and the virtuous behavior that ought to mark us as Christians.

Raise your hand if you’re a pastor, elder, or leader in the church.

Raise your hand if you’re a parent.

Raise your hand if you know a Christian who is younger than you.

Raise your hand if you know a Christian who has been walking with the Lord for less time than you have.

I hope everyone raised their hand at least once.

My point is this: we all have someone in our lives, just as Peter did, for whom we are responsible to remind of the truth, stir up to virtuous behavior, and deposit Godliness into. So I want to spend a few moments tonight considering how we, like Peter, are to do this.

We’re going to examine this text a little bit differently tonight, and look at it as a whole rather than in individual parts and pieces.

First I want to look at Peter’s commitments.

Repeating and Reminding

Peter makes three commitments here that are all related but distinct.

What are Peter’s 3 commitments?

Verse 12 - I will always be ready to remind you.

Verse 13 - I consider it right to stir you up by way of reminder.

Verse 15 - I will be diligent so that you will be able to call these things to mind.

So Peter’s three commitments center around a readiness and a diligence to remind his people of the full knowledge of God in Christ and the virtuous behavior that it produces, and to issue these reminders repeatedly.

So we see here first then that Peter has a preparedness to remind his people of the truth. He is always ready, he is always prepared.

So let’s talk about this.

How are we to always be ready and prepared to remind others of the truth?

I can think of at least two ways.

You need to know the truth. You need to have the Word of God written on your heart, built up into your mind, so that you even have the capacity to remind others of it. This is why it is so critical to be ingesting the Word and feasting on it on a regular basis, for yourself. This is why it’s important to know the critical frameworks of historic Christian orthodoxy. This is why it’s important to always be saturating your mind with the things of God. Only when you know the truth are you ready and prepared to remind others of it.

You need to be bold. Too often Christians I think are guilty of a sort of fear of being “too spiritual.” I want to seem “authentic,” so I never talk about the things of God with my brothers and sisters. While I certainly affirm that we are Christians in the whole of our life, and that a Christian who does nothing but read their Bible and pray all day every day because, as Peter said last week, useless and unfruitful, and that every Christian should have a hobby that they can share with others, I also equally affirm that as Christians we should be both quick and bold to share a word of reminder to our brothers and sisters. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to speak of the things of God in any situation, but certainly when you are with your brothers and sisters.

So knowing that Peter is always ready to remind others of the truth, we next want to look at how Peter qualifies the truth.

What type of truth does Peter intend to remind the church of?

Truth that they already know. In other words, basic truths. The fundamentals. The more core and basic doctrines of the Christian faith.

What are some core fundamentals of the Christian faith?

I think it can be boiled down to three things, and these are the three things that the church has distilled doctrine down to for the last 2000 years. Three items that have formed the basis of every confession and catechism that the church has produced in the last 2000 years.

The Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments principally teach us three things: what God requires of all men, how far short they fall of such a holy requirement, and how, upon receiving the righteousness of Christ, they are to live as His people. The Ten Commandments therefore serve as the single-most important ethical guide in all of Scripture. Some modern scholars might argue that the Sermon on the Mount ought to hold that title, but the Sermon on the Mount, rightly understood, is simply an explanation, expositions, and application of the Ten Commandments.

The Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer, in a word, teaches God’s people how to pray. If the Ten Commandments teach us how to relate to God ethically, then the Lord’s Prayer teaches us how to relate to Him spiritually. The Lord’s Prayer also teaches us some fundamental theology as well, regarding God’s role in our lives as provider, as holy, and as the forgiver of sins.

The Apostle’s Creed. While not contained directly in Scripture, tradition holds that this early creed was crafted by the Apostles around the time of Pentecost, and serves as essentially the only statement of faith that is universally affirmed by all Christians traditions the world over.

These three items then serve as the most fundamental realities that the Christian must know and understand: how to live, how to pray, and what to believe.

These are among the basic truths that I believe Peter is always ready to remind these Christians of, and these likewise are the basic truths that we also ought to be ready to remind one another of.

Peter is clear then, even at the end of his life: we are never too old, never too mature, never beyond hearing the fundamentals of the faith. Never too old for the old, old stories of Jesus and His love, as the old song says.

I want to look at the other side of this as well. Not only should we be ready to remind others of the fundamental truths of the faith, but we should also be ready on the other side of that to receive reminders of the fundamental truths of the faith. It’s easy to think that you’ve matured beyond the basics. It’s easy to say “I know all the old truths, give me something new.” But this type of attitude is exactly what Peter intends to warn and guard us against because it is the exact type of attitude that allows false teaching to enter the church. If Peter’s primary purpose in writing this letter is to equip the saints to stand firm against false teachers and false prophets, ground zero, boot camp in that battle, is a knowing, understanding, and constantly returning to the basics.

A person in our church recently asked me why I don’t often discuss the details of heresies and false teaching when I come up to teach. There is certainly precedent for such teaching. Two of my favorite theologians, Francis Turretin and Petrus Van Mastricht, are famous for their extensive “polemical” writings. Van Mastricht includes a “polemical part” in every section of his systematic theology. Turretin’s magnum opus, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, has is built into the very title, as elenctic is an old word meaning “serving to refute.” I agree with these men, that refuting false teaching is of critical importance for the church. But I think where that starts is not with identifying and scrutinizing every heresy and every false teaching and naming every possible false teacher. Where it starts is knowing the basics. If you know the basics, if you’re grounded in the fundamentals, and you know them so well that you can practically recite them in your sleep, you will be able to easily identify and avoid false teaching and twisting of the truth. It’s like FBI counterfeit experts. They can easily identify counterfeit money not because they’ve made themselves experts in every possible method of counterfeit printing. No, they can identify counterfeit money because they know the genuine article as well as it can be known.

And that’s what Peter wants for us here. He wants us so grounded in the fundamentals that we can identify false teaching without even breaking a sweat. He wants us so dialed in on the unity and sufficiency of Scripture that we don’t have think twice when Andy Stanley tells us to unhitch from the Old Testament. We can say “no sir, that is wrong.” He wants us so dialed in on the deity of Christ that when someone says “Well, the Son is always subservient to the Father. They’re not really equal,” we can say “no sir, that is wrong.” He wants us so dialed in on justification by faith alone that when the Roman Catholics say “Salvation is earned by grace plus the sacraments or grace plus good works,” we can say “no sir, that is wrong.”

Peter is clear then: as leaders, we have to be committed to teaching the fundamentals, and we have to be committed to them. I have had some folks come up to me after I preach or teach and they’ll say “Well Daniel, I really enjoyed the message, but it seems like you say a lot of the same things over and over again.” And to that I would respond “Yes, that’s exactly the point.” If I say something new, I’m not being faithful to the model that Peter presents, and I’m not being careful to guard our church against false teachers and heresies. And this is not unique to this section of 2 Peter. Philippians 3:1 carries the same theme.

Philippians 3:1 LSB

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

If repeating the same truth over and over again was good enough for Peter, and good enough for Paul, it is good enough for the pastors and teachers of our day.

And as those who sit in the pews, we also have a responsibility to eagerly await the teaching of the old truths. We ought to receive with gladness the repetition and reminders, knowing that, just as every repetition in the gym makes your body stronger, so every repetition of the truth makes your heart and mind stronger.

Likewise for all of us, we need to be reminded to remind, as it were. Be bold and quick to remind our brothers and sisters of the truths we confess and proclaim. These simpler reminders serve to galvanize our church and bring us into greater unity with one another around what truly matter: the truth once for all delivered to the saints.

Peter is eager to repeat and remind, and he also gives us two outcomes of the repetitions and reminders.

Strengthening and Stirring Up

Let’s look at the text and see what these outcomes are. First let’s look at verse 12.

What is the outcome of the repetition of truth in verse 12?

Strengthening.

An athlete only becomes strong by repetition. In facts, that is a core part of athletic training vocabulary. “Hey bro, how many reps you get on the bench today? Hey bro, how many reps you get on the deadlift today? Hey bro, you a high reps, low weight guy? Hey bro, you a low reps, high weight guy?” Repetition is critical to the process of becoming great at anything. Drilling and training, amassing rep after rep in the truth, is Peter’s method for gaining and maintaining spiritual strength against false teachers. A church who fails to repeat the old truths on a regular basis produces weak and anemic Christians who won’t last a single round in the ring against false teachers and heresies. On the other hand, a church that is faithful to repeat those things consistently and persistently will produce strong Christians who can stand toe to toe against the fiery darts of the devil and against the lies of false teachers and heretics.

This theme of strengthening runs all throughout the New Testament.

Colossians 2:6–7 LSB

Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and being built up in Him, and having been established in your faith—just as you were instructed—and abounding with thanksgiving.

Paul would remind us, as we repeat the truth and are strengthened in it, that Christ is the ultimate source of that strength. Those who are strong in the truth for it’s own sake have missed the point: Christ makes us strong in the truth so that we might be useful and fruitful for Him.

We see this exemplified in Acts 16:4-5

Acts 16:4–5 LSB

Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to keep. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were abounding in number daily.

Paul and Timothy were traveling, repeating and reminding the churches of the word of the apostles from Jerusalem. The result? Spiritual strength.

Hebrews 13:9 LSB

Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

In the midst of a series of practical exhortations, the author of Hebrews issues this warning: do not be carried away by varied or strange teachings, in other words, do not be fooled by heretics and false teachers, but instead be strengthened by grace.

So then, if would avoid weakness and anemia as Christians, if we would be built up and strengthened and established, if we would be durable, hardy Christians that can withstand and even triumph over false teaching, we must get reps in the truth. We must get reps in grace. We must get reps in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This starts with your weekly commitment to be here in this building every time God’s Word is opened, sitting under it’s teaching, hearing the truth week in and week out. Truth training is a team sport, and that’s what we’re doing when we come together under God’s Word.

It continues with your daily commitment to be in God’s Word, reading it, studying it, listening to it, digesting it. Are you willing to put in the work when no one else is watching so that you can grow strong?

It expands by your commitment to sit under the old creeds and catechisms, and built those explanations of the truth into your head and into your heart. Any good coach or personal trainer will tell you, if you’re gonna get strong, if you’re gonna get good, you have to follow a system. You can’t just make it up as you go. You have to stick to the system. That’s what creeds, confessions, and catechisms do for you. They give you a system to follow to help you get stronger, faster.

It grows by getting yourself a Godly mentor who can help disciple you. We all need older, wiser, more mature Christians to help us in our walk. Great athletes have personal trainers, strong Christians need Godly mentors.

Getting reps in the truth will make us strong Christians.

But for Peter, the repetitions and reminders serve a second purpose. We find this one in verse 13.

What is the outcome of the reminder in verse 13?

Stirring up.

In this context, what does Peter mean by stirring up?

I think a few things are in view here.

Stirring up carries connotations of resurrection. This is the same base Greek word that is translated throughout the New Testament as “raised up” or “raised from the dead” both in reference to Christ and to the future hope of the believer. So Peter is actually making an interesting play on words in verses 13-14. He’s keenly aware of his own mortality, speaking of his earthly dwelling and his imminent departure, yet he provides a subtle reminder that, though the outer man is wasting away, the inner man is being renewed day by day, according to the grace and truth of verses 2-11. Therefore, reminding one another of the truth sets our eyes ahead on the future day when we will be fully and finally stirred up - raised to eternal life in Christ.

Stirring up carries connotations of awakening. There has much chatter about revival in recent days. Peter cuts incisively through the noise and says that a stirring up, a reviving, an awakening of the church must happen by way of a reminder of the truth. To try and conjure revival by appealing to one’s emotions apart from the truth is actually to allow yourself to fall prey to false teaching rather than training yourself to be strengthened against it. Peter is clear then: the truth and the full knowledge of God and of Christ ought to stir us up, awaken us, revive us, but if the revival is removed from the context of the truth and the full knowledge of God and of Christ, it’s not true revival. Folks have asked me what we might do, both our church specifically and the church in general to “start a revival” in our part of the world. My response is always this: Revival happens every time God’s Word is opened and the truth about God, Christ, the Spirit, and the Word is proclaimed. Revival happens every time we come to the Lord’s Table to be reminded of and partake in the New Covenant, the atonement, and the forgiveness of sins. Revival happens when false teachers are rebuked and Christ’s church is strengthened in the faith once for all delivered to the saints. That is my response because I think that would be Peter’s response. And look at Acts 2. I think Peter knows a thing or two about real, Biblical, Spirit-blessed revival.

Stirring up carries connotations of emotional engagement. The truth needs to have an effect on our affections. When we receive repeated reminders of the truth, the outcome ought not only to be that our minds are strengthened, but also that our hearts are warmed. A true Spirit-illuminated understanding of sound doctrine and of the truth should always yield an emotive, affective response. Like a poker stirs up the embers of the fire, bringing light and heat, so also repeated reminders of the truth ought to stir up the embers of our hearts, causing us to love Christ more and more.

Repeated reminders of the grace and truth and virtue of verses 2-11 ought to both strengthen us and stir us up. Peter now closes this section with a personal commitment to diligently remind his people of these things up to the moment he departs his earthly dwelling.

Diligent Until Departure

In verse 14, Peter acknowledges his own age, his own mortality, and the fact that he does not have unlimited time here on earth. As mush as this passage is laced with allusions to the Great Commission, here Peter seems to be referencing his own personal Shepherd’s Commission given to him by Christ Himself on a beach, likely 20 or 30 years ago as Peter is writing this:

John 21:15–19 LSB

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep. “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

An aged Peter is therefore faced with the looming reality of his own departure. And as the armchair philosophers might say, the question for Peter is not “How much time do I have?” but rather “What am I to do with the time that has been given me?”

And his answer to that question sets a high bar for Christians everywhere.

What is Peter’s commitment with the time that he has been given in verse 15?

He is committed to diligence until his departure. Diligence in ensuring that those entrusted to his care do not quickly forget the grace and truth and virtue that he has sought to repeat and remind them of. He is committed to diligence in strengthening and stirring them up even after he is gone.\

As diligent as we must be in pursuing virtue from verse 5 and as diligent as we must be in confirming our calling and election in verse 10, we must also be diligent to repeat and remind others of those same things that we’ve walked in.

Peter’s commitment must be our commitment. As we consider the Great Commission, as we consider our responsibility to repeat and remind others of grace and truth and virtue, and thereby strengthen them and stir them up, we must also consider how to build for the future, and consider how our ministry might have impact for Christ once we’re no longer here.

What are ways that we can be diligent to ensure that those around us and in our care will be able to call grace, truth, and virtue to mind after we’re gone?

I can think of a few answers to this question:

Get in people’s lives. It’s hard to leave a legacy if you don’t know anybody and nobody knows you. Spend time with people outside these walls. Do things together. Make memories. Build relationships. In the midst of that, the building opportunities will come. The legacy-leaving opportunities will come.

Be purposeful about your conversations. Talk of the things of God with one another. Pray with one another. Ask real and authentic questions about people and expect real and authentic answers. Take a genuine interest in the lives of others.

Conclusion

Peter sets a clear and helpful example for all of us in these verses. He shows us the importance of repetition and reminder when it comes to the grace, truth, and virtue that we’ve been given and called to. He shows the outcomes of strengthening and stirring up. In so doing he charts a path of diligence until departure for all Christians.

The question for us tonight after all we’ve discussed is simply this: will we be diligent until we depart? For some of us that may seem soon, for other far off. But we don’t know what tomorrow holds. Life can change in an instant. So will we be diligent until we depart? Will we steward well the time we have been given? That’s what Peter would have us do.