God’s Prognoses Regarding Our Sanctification

Introduction: The Apostle Peter addresses his second epistle to a group of people that he identifies as sharing with him a “like precious faith,” or in our own phraseology, a faith of equal standing. He then goes on to express his wish for them as a wish for complete sanctification. Sanctification, as much as Justification, is a part of the divine bestowal of spiritual life. And just as God made full provision for our Justification through the righteousness of Christ, so too He has made full provision for our Sanctification. Now, the Holy Spirit switches focus from what God has provided for us to what God expects from us. Think of it as though God is our great Physician (which He literally is). When a doctor operates on you, there are inevitably follow-up procedures that he demands from you—whether it be to take certain medications, to do certain exercises, or both. So God, having faithfully and abundantly provided for our Justification and Sanctification now gives us a prescription of our part in this process. Our part is to add such things as God has enabled us to add to the equation. Like a doctor, God then gives us a prognosis of our condition if we obey His commands:

I. The Positive Results of Pursuing Sanctification (2 Pet. 1:8, 10-11)

A. Stated Negatively

1. You won’t be one who shirks his responsibilities (2 Pet. 1:8)

2. You won’t be one who brings forth no fruit (2 Pet. 1:8; Lk. 13:6-9; Jn. 15:1-8)

3. You won’t be one who fails to reach his final destination (2 Pet. 1:10)

B. Stated Positively

1. You will have an assurance of your salvation (2 Pet. 1:10)

2. You will have an abundant entrance into an eternal kingdom (2 Pet. 1:11; 1 Cor. 3:7-14)

II. The Negative Results of a Lack of Sanctification (2 Pet. 1:8-9)

A. Ignorance (2 Pet. 2:8)

B. Spiritual Myopia (2 Pet. 2:9a)

C. Spiritual Amnesia (2 Pet. 2:9b)

Conclusion: Summary of 1 Peter 1:1-11