Remembering Who We Are

Introduction

(Engage) I can’t remember names for the life of me. I think I know all of your names, but don’t test me on that. I’ll get nervous and forget. This was very obvious this summer during my internship. Over the eight weeks I met lots of different people. Lots of names to remember. Some of them I knew I would meet again so I’d really try to remember their name. Others . . . as I was shaking their hand instead of trying to remember their name I was think, “I am definitely not going to remember your name.”

(Focus) Its one thing to forget a name. If I were to see someone again whose name I forgot it might be a little awkward but I could just ask them what their name was again. Besides, humans forget things all the time. But what happens when we don’t remember something of extreme importance? What happens if we forget who we are in God, what he has done for us? What impact might that have on our lives as we attempt to live for him? How can we be sure we know who we are in Christ and what we are called to in Christ?

Maybe your the young Bible college student. You’ve been a Christian all your life. You get to Bible college out of a desire to serve God and you begin to really dig into the Word of God for the first time. As you read and study you start to come along passages that demand your perseverance and threaten falling out of grace if you don’t. While you believe in the grace of Jesus you grew up in a tradition of Christianity that so stressed holiness it bleed into legalism. You remember your childhood preacher yelling and slamming his fist every Sunday as he insisted you live a perfect your life or fall from grace. As you encounter these passages and remember your upbringing you begin to doubt your own salvation and if you’re doing enough to keep your faith. You have forgotten by who’s power you are kept.

Or maybe your the forty year old man. You’ve gone to church your whole life and since you’ve been married with kids you have kept going. Your certainly not against the church and you would call yourself a Christian. However, you have forgotten the passion you used to have for Christ. You go to church but you’re not plugged in, you hardly listen to the pastor any more, thoughts of lunch and the game encircle your mind during the sermon. You don’t even remember what it looks like to follow Christ anymore. One Sunday the pastor is preaching on Galatians five, the list of the works of the flesh, and while you think you’re an alright guy two of those items snap you out of your Sunday morning trance. Paul’s words on fits of rage and drunkeness. It isn’t uncommon for you to snap at your co-worker, wife, and kids and most nights you take the edge of with a few to many drinks. You have forgotten why the moral law of God matters.

(Set the Stage) In his second letter Peter seems to be answering this question. We’re starting a series through second Peter entitled “A Call to Remembrance,” where we will see that when we remember the glory of God, remember what he has said to be true in his Word, and we are reminded of his imminent return there is nothing that this world can throw at us to cripple our faith.

Not much is known about the audience of this letter. It is fair to conclude based on the language and ideas that this was written to a non-Jewish audience of Christians. We know from the letter that their were certain false teachers who were mis-representing God’s sovereignty. They taught that there would be no judgement or resurrection nor was God active in the world, so you can live however you want. Peter will push back, immediately, by refocusing our attention on what God has so richly provided for us.

4. (Preview) Peter will remind us in our passage today what it is God has done and what that means for our behavior.

5. (Announce text) If you have your Bible turn to 2 Peter 1:3-9.

Remember that Christ has empowered you.

The first Reminder that stands out to us as Peter starts his argument here is how we have been empowered in Christ. That in Jesus we have everything we could ever need to live the Christian life. He has provided for us the keys to life here and forevermore.

Peter shows us in verses 3 and 4 that God has empowered us to live in the way he wants us to live. He has done this by his own glory and by calling us into relationship with him so that we don’t have to live stuck in our sin.

2 Peter 1:3–4 CSB

His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

All We Need

From the start Peter is reminding believers that everything they need to live for Christ now and receive eternal rest has been provided for them. There is no call here for believers to muster up their own strength to receive life. It comes through knowledge. Knowledge in the Bible almost always has to do with covenant relationship. Like Adam knew Eve. To know Jesus means he takes the initiative. He comes all the way to us. Like God moving through the animal halves to Abraham, so has Christ moved towards you.

You have received in Christ the ability to step into life. Life know and life to come. He has provided it for you by his own glory. In his glory he sees it fit to honor you. Glory and honor in Greek are synonymous. So that you belonging to Jesus is based on the fact that he saw it fit to honor you.

To the person who would doubt that they have truly been provided life Jesus would lift up your face here and say, “remember who you are because I say you are honored and I have provided for you life and godliness.” Perhaps it comes by way of reminder. One Saturday you’re volunteering at the community food pantry. The lady who directs the pantry pulls you aside and say’s, “I praise God for the Christ I see in you.” You’re reminded in that moment that it is Christ working in you. It was your love of Christ that got you to the pantry that morning. It was your love of Christ that allowed you to interact with the people that came into the pantry that morning in a generous way. Christ is working in you.

No Excuse

It also means that we have no excuse not to live lives of Godliness. So empowered are you in Jesus that you are unstuck from this worlds corruption. If promises of eternity have been provided for you by Jesus power that life must start now. Christian it means your desires are changing. If you have been honored by Christ you will begin to look like Christ.

Remember what it means to be a Christian, what it looks like to be a Christian. Not stuck in the gunk of the world around you, you’ve been pulled out.

For the man who has forgotten why his rage and drunkeness cannot coexist with his claim to be a Christian this passage reminds him that Christ has honored him so that he is free to resist those pulls. No excuse. Maybe one night it comes by way of conviction. He gets home after a long day at work. His wife hasn’t had the opportunity to get dinner in the oven because she to had a long day and had the kids after school. He snaps and yells at her. As he turns to leave the living room he sees his youngest son sitting on the couch beginning to cry. In his heart he realizes the effect his rage has had on his family and he is starting to understand that he doesn’t have to act this way.

But what does it actually look like to be provided with life? If I am to believe that I am set free and empowered in Jesus what is the fruit that reminds me that this is true? This is where Peter moves next.

The Reminders of your faith.

The second Reminder that Peter writes on is how the fruit in our lives serves to remind us of our faith. The fruit in our lives serves to remind us that we have truly been empowered by Christ. We can be confident in our salvation when we see ourselves growing to look more like Jesus.

In verses 5-7 Peter lists for us the fruits that are evident in believers.

2 Peter 1:5–7 CSB

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

We have already said that we live out our faiths because of what Jesus did, for this very reason we make every effort to grow. We should remember again that it is by his power we grow. It would be easy to try to grow by our own power. This is Spirit empowered effort. We have been granted everything required to do these things. It’s like when teacher gave you the questions for the test before hand and the answers are in the class notes. Everything you need to be successful has been given to you. You just need to find and remember the answers.

Then he lists seven fruits that should be seen in the follower of Christ. The style here resembles an ancient literary style called a sortie. So while it seems as though these must build on each other in a sequential order that likely isn’t the case. I imagine these are evident to us. Goodness is obeying Christian ethics, knowledge here is likely the wisdom to discern right from wrong, self-control is our ability to resist temptation, endurance is us standing firm in the faith, godliness is likely referring to respect for God, brotherly-affection is the familial love we have for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and love is the type of love that would have us sacrifice our own desires to build others up.

Lists like these are seen throughout the New Testament, especially in Paul, and they offer a good reminder of what fruits should be growing in us.

Again, the question is how do we know we are in Christ? If these exist in increasing measure. Then we are reminded that we have not scored the knowledge of Christ.

2 Peter 1:8 CSB

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This isn’t overnight transformation. The fact that we should see them increasing means the fruit in your life tomorrow should be more evident than it is today. The purpose here is not to create a check box. Peter is reminding us that we can be confident in our empowerment when we see evidence of any fruit at all. If you don’t see a vineyard today praise God for the single grape and continue to seek him and pursue these things. Your fruit will increase.

When you are tempted to give into your lust but you resist instead you are increasing in goodness.

When you remember what the Bible says about honoring your parents and so you hold your tongue when you’d rather backtalk tour father you are increasing in knowledge.

When you think you might want one more drink but you know it would lead to drunkeness so you put it away you are increasing in self-control.

When it would be easier to shrug off a question about your faith from an antagonistic coworker but you answer him in patience you are increasing in endurance.

When your friends are making impure jokes and you hold your tongue in reverence you are increasing in godliness.

When you help the widow at church mow her yard you increase in brotherly affection.

When you give generously so that your own wants are affected you are increasing in love.

When you see your fruit increase, be confident that Jesus has you.

The warning is the negative of what we have discussed. The opposite of remembrance is to forget, to be blind. Not remembering what Christ did for you on the cross.

2 Peter 1:9 CSB

The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.

Peter answers our question here. How can we be sure who we are in Christ? When we remember what Jesus did for us, we become the people he created us to be. When you look back on the Cross it inspires you to pursue Jesus with the fruit of your life. To such an extent that the fruit itself reminds you of your honor in Christ.

Maybe you’re like Peter. Maybe you know his story. Peter was one of Jesus’ closes friends. He walked with him from the very beginning of his ministry and was included in Jesus inner-circle. Peter was there at the cross and the resurrection. Sure, Peter had his moments. One time he tried to keep Jesus from taking the cross, to which Jesus responded by calling him satan. After the cross Peter denied Jesus three times, but he was restored in epic fashion. Peter is present at Pentecost and preaches to thousands. The church exist today in large part because of Peter’s witness. But even Peter could forget the cross. You see Peter was Jewish but much of the early church was made up of Gentiles. Peter had no problem eating with Gentile believers when some big shot Jewish Christians arrived from Jerusalem he stopped eating with them, he no longer was practicing brotherly affection or stedfastness. He had forgotten the Cross. He was blind. It takes Paul’s rebuke, as we see attested to in Galatians 2, to wake him up.

Remember the cross often. It is your power for godly living.

Conclusion

I said at the beginning I was awful with names. This is true, however, I do remember the names of people I have a lot of contact with. There is one name that sticks out to me as I think about remembering who Christ is so we can become who he wants us to be. When I was studying at Moody my best friend’s name was Brandon Pattison. Patty for short. Patty was not the typical Bible college student. He had grown up in Chicago and was an activity duty Marine for five years out of high school. Patty struggled with the transition to Bible college life. He struggled to tame his tongue and use self-control when it came to alcohol and tobacco. He was often frustrated with his desire. Yet I have never met someone so determined to pursue righteousness and never slip into legalism. Patty knew who it was who empowered him to overcome his desire. He remembered Christ and his promises and made every effort to cultivate fruit.

That’s a testimony that causes me to remember that through Jesus I have been provided all that I need.