Spiritual Maturity

2 Peter 1: 1-21

spiritual maturity

Revelation 3:15–16 ““ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

We are called to live the good news of the Gospel of the kingdom. God with us

Kingdom of God:

the story of the Bible is the story of the Kingdom of God.

3 D’s

1: Dwelling- God with us. the story of the Bible is God dwelling with us. Sin has created distance.

2: Dominion- We reflect God. Light to darkness. God into all the world and make followers of Jesus. Bring the gospel of the Kingdom to the end of the earth.

3: Dynasty of king Jesus. What does the world have to offer in comparison to the kingdom of God. The hope of our future.

If the Kingdom of God is our end goal then what are we doing now to fight the good fight

1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

The story is told of three junior devils coming before Satan as they prepared to visit earth in order to destroy men’s souls. The first one said that he’d try to trick men by telling that there is “no heaven”. Satan replied that people have a natural hope and that this lie would not work very well.

The next one stepped up and said that he would try to convince people that there is “no hell”. The devil responded that this wouldn’t work either because every person has a conscience which warns them of hell—you couldn’t fool them for very long.

The last demon offered his deception by simply stating that he would whisper there is “no rush” into the ears of all who would listen. The evil one rejoiced because he knew that people love to put things off. Their procrastination in little things would lead them to delay the more important things and cause them to  neglect their spiritual lives until it would be too late.”

We will be in 2 Peter 1:1–15

2 Peter 1:1–15 ESV

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

I want to start in vs 12 for a minute to share what Peter is saying to everyone and I echo it.

2 Peter 1:12–15 “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.”

But now lets go back to the top.

Peter is writing this in a time when Nero is destroying Christians left and right. It would be easy to deny being a Christian out of fear for your own life. But in an age where the fear is not life or death but rather will I be canceled Peter is encouraging the church (us) how to stand strong in our faith.

2 Peter 1:1–4 tells us that God's divine power has been given to all who have obtained faith in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ; and that this divine power becomes effective through the knowledge that God has called us to his glory and excellence.

We are given everything we need to succeed in this life. and by success I’m talking about that We are called to live the good news of the Gospel of the kingdom.

Since God has given power for godliness, strive to become godly! This is the heart of New Testament ethics. We labor for virtue because God has already labored for us and is at work in us. Don't ever reverse the order, lest you believe another gospel (which is no gospel). Never say, "I will work out my salvation in order that God might work in me." But say with the apostle Paul, "I work out my salvation for it is God who works in me to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). Never say, "I press on to make it my own in order that Christ might make me his own." But say with Paul, "I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own" (Philippians 3:12). There is a world of difference in a marriage where the husband doubts the love of his wife and labors to earn it, and a marriage where the husband rests in the certainty of his wife's love and takes pains joyfully not to live unworthily of it. Peter's point is: God is for us with divine power. Of that we may be sure. Now, in the confidence of that power, take pains not to live unworthily of his love.

2 Peter 1:5–7 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”

Verses 5–7 describe how we should live.

I think what Peter is saying in verses 5–7 is this: true Christians do not stop pursuing growth in grace (3:18). They go on. They advance. They apply themselves with diligence to increase in these things

Dont float, Swim Hard

Think of it like this: when you are at the beach and have been playing in the water for a long time and you finally look up and notice that your spot on the beach is not in front of you but actually way down the shore.

What it illustrates is this: Christians who just float never stay in the same place. Christians who disobey verses 5–7 and do not apply themselves with diligence to bear the fruit of faith drift into great peril. We must strive even to stand still, the tide of temptation is so strong.

The evidence that God's power has been given to you by faith is that you are now making every effort (as verse 5 says) to advance in the qualities of Christ.

Works dont save you. hear me on that. Serving is not going to get you into Heaven. but your heart should long to serve others. Dont let your worth be taken up in how much you serve but delight in serving God.

Verse 8 makes explicit the warning 2 Peter 1:8 “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Recall from verse 2 that it is in "the knowledge" of Christ that there can be a barren and fruitless knowledge of Christ. It is possible to make a start in the Christian life, but then to become indifferent and unfeeling and careless in using the means of grace, and to drift into destruction.

2 Peter 2:20 “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.”

If the knowledge of God's glorious promises does not spur us on to strive against the tide, then we will be barren and fruitless and drift to our destruction.

2 Peter 1:9 “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”

Verse 9 describes what has happened in the person who quits swimming and is not pressing forward in Christ's qualities. "For whoever lacks these things (in verses 5–7) is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins."

2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

Verse 10 makes crystal clear what is at stake in such blindness and powerlessness and fruitlessness: The danger described in verses 8 and 9 (as an incentive to advance in the fruits of faith) is not the danger of slipping into the kingdom with no rewards. It is the danger of not being saved at all. When Peter says, "Be zealous to confirm your call and election," he means that our lack of diligence in Christian graces may be a sign that we were never called and are not among the elect.

Everyone has sinned. But because of his great mercy, God ordained that a people for his own be saved by grace. These are his elect, his chosen whom he has predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. And Paul explains in Romans 8:30 that those elect whom he predestined to Christ-likeness he also called, and whom he called he also justified, and whom he justified he also glorified. None of God's sheep will ever be lost. They are eternally secure.

But from our side, the most important question of life is: am I among the elect who God predestines to be like Christ and then calls and justifies and glorifies forever? If we are, God wants us to know that we are. He wants us to have joyful assurance, for out of that assurance flows tremendous power for sacrificial service that gives him glory.

Therefore Peter says, "Confirm your election! Make sure of it!" How? By standing in your faith and pressing on to virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly affection, and love

So here's the application:

Are you making every effort towards moral excellence? Are you making every effort to increase your knowledge of God's character and his will? Are you making every effort to strengthen your power of self-control? Are you making every effort to enlarge your capacity for patience? Are you making every effort to cultivate godliness to develop a heart for God? Are you making every effort to grow warm in your affection for your fellow believers? And are you making every effort to stir up love in your will for the person you dislike the most? If these things are in you and increasing, you will not be fruitless (v. 8), you will never stumble (v. 10), and you will enter the eternal kingdom of Christ (v. 11). But if these things are not your earnest concern, then it is because you have shut your eyes to the beauty of God's promises, and have forgotten the humble exhilaration of being forgiven.

Therefore, the Word of God warns us against being lazy in our faith and drifting away from Jesus Christ our only hope. And the Word encourages us to fight the good fight of faith and take hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12, 19); to lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and run with perseverance the race before us (Hebrews 12:1); to press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14); to advance and grow and go forward in virtue and knowledge and self-control and patience and godliness and brotherly affection and love (2 Peter 1:5–7); and in this way to reassure our hearts and make our confidence firm that we are indeed called to share in God's glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:10, 3).