The Blueprint for Christian Growth Part 2.

Opening:

It is a beautiful thing to open the Word of God on the Lord’s Day.

Introduction of the Passage:

This morning we are continuing on our passage from last week. We will be in 2 Peter 1:5-11. We covered verses 5-7 last Sunday. Peter was calling Christians to add to their faith. Naked faith is never where a Christian can remain. We are to add various virtues to our faith. And we do this because of the preciousness of our faith and our knowledge of who Christ is. When we see who Christ is and we see the value of the faith He has given us, it is a call to us to live holy lives.

So with this in mind, please stand with me out of reverence for the reading of the Word of God.

Reading of the Passage:

2 Peter 1:5–11“5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Our gracious heavenly Father, we commit this time in Your Word to You. Please bless your church as we study Your Word. May it be honoring to You and edifying to us. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Introduction:

Last week we studied the list. The Christian walk begins in faith. And we live by faith all our lives. But we must grow in our faith. Peter called us to strive to add to our faith. We are to work diligently. This means to work as hard as we can to add these various good things to our faith.

We are to strive to add to our faith virtue. We as Christians are to be a virtuous and moral people. We are to add knowledge. We are to grow always in our knowledge of God and the world He made. We are to add self control. Christians should rule over their bodies and their lives. We are to add perseverance. We are to endure in Christ always. We are to add godliness. We are to obey God in all things and lead godly lives. We are to add brotherly kindness. We are to bear with one another and truly love our brothers and sisters in Christ. No more brother wars. Finally, we are to add love. Christians are to defined by love. Not the fake definition of love our culture uses. But a genuine desire for the good of others.

We are to diligently strive to add these virtues to our faith. Our faith should never remain as only faith. We are to grow.

Need:

But what happens if we do add these good works to our faith? What happens if we do not?

Text Idea:

In our verses this morning Peter is saying that if we diligently add these virtues to our faith we will grow in the knowledge of Christ and confirm our salvation.

Sermon Idea:

You see, those who possess true faith will diligently strive to add good works to their faith, making them fruitful, wise, stable, and ensure them an entrance into the everlasting kingdom.

Interrogative:

I began my sermon last Sunday by asking if works are part of our salvation. Today, we see the answer from the Apostle. We learn what place good works have in the Christian life.

Transition:

So let’s begin. The Apostle Peter begins with the words:

If These Things are Yours and Abound.

Explanation:

By things, Peter is referencing the list in the previous verses. If we as Christians possess not just naked faith but virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love we have several benefits. But it is not enough to merely possess these virtues. We must abound in them. This means we need these virtues in spades. They must permeate our lives. Our lives are to be defined by these virtues. They are to come flowing out of us in every area of our lives. To summarize the whole list we could put it this way. Christians are to live a holy and pure life. And if you do this, Peter says you will not be barren.

You will not be barren.

What does that mean, barren? Literally it means lazy, gluttonous, unproductive, profitless. The opposite of barrenness is productive, fruitful, effective. We think of women like Rachel and Sarah in the Old Testament who were physically barren. They could not have children. Well, when we think of barrenness in the Christian life what Peter is saying is that if you have these virtues you will produce. You will not be a lazy and fruitless Christian. Instead you will bear fruit. Peter says next that if you have these virtues you will be fruitful.

You will be fruitful.

Literally you will bear fruit. This is the opposite of barrenness. If you add these good works to your faith you will not be barren but will bear fruit. And fruit is a common picture of the Christian life. Think of Jesus’ words. He says in Matthew 7:15–20“15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Jesus says Christians are like trees who bear good fruit. False Christians are like trees that bear bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is by the fruit. Apple trees do not grow oranges. So what type of fruit does a Christian grow? Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22–23“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Argumentation:

And Peter is here answering another question. Paul answered the question of what fruit Christians are to produce. But Peter here answers the question of:

How do we grow the fruit of the Spirit?

Now Paul answers this as well later in Galatians, but this is the central focus of Peter’s statement here in this verse. If you abound in virtue, knowledge, self control, brotherly kindness and the rest, if you really strive and add those things to your life, you will be fruitful.

And this answers a question I think many of us can have. How exactly does the fruit of the Spirit work? How do we actually grow these fruit in our lives? Is it God’s work in us? The Bible seems to indicate this. Even in the very name “fruit of the Spirit.” The Bible teaches clearly that the Spirit of God that indwells all Christians bears these fruit in our lives. It is certainly the Work of the Spirit. But that is not all it is.

This is the idea of sanctification. Has anyone heard that word? Sanctification is the term we use for how throughout the Christian life we become more like Christ. You see this concept all over the Bible. And it is part of our salvation. The Bible talks about salvation in two broad ways. Justification and sanctification. Justification is when we are saved. We are washed by the blood of Christ. Our sins are forgiven and we are made children of God. But after this moment we begin on this path of being more holy. That’s what sanctified means. It is the life long process of being made holy.

And sanctification is a cooperative effort. We are justified (saved) by God’s grace alone. God gives us faith, brings our souls to life, and makes a new creation. But we are still fallen sinners. So for the rest of our lives we are being sanctified. And what Peter is saying here is that we are to strive or work hard at our sanctification. And we do not work alone. God did not just justify us and then abandon us. He has given us His Spirit. And the Spirit enables us to do these good works but we are still to do them.

Justification is 100% the work of God. We do nothing to make ourselves right with God. But after that moment of salvation we strive and labor to obey the God who saved us. And as we do, the combination of our work and the power of the Spirit working us, we begin to bear these fruit.

So Peter is calling us to this work hard. Good works are a central part of our salvation. Not our justification but our sanctification. So we are called to do good works. And we are to work hard to add these virtues to our lives. Now the Spirit does enable us and even helps us. But we are still to work at it. And if we do, we will bear fruit.

Transition:

But there will be those who attempt to disagree. Some Christians have always attempted to say that they don’t have to do anything. God saved me by grace, so now I can just kick back and live however I want. I’m saved so it doesn’t matter how I live. These are the people Peter is dealing with. So he next gives a warning in verse 9. And he starts by saying:

If You Lack These Things.

Explanation:

So if you posses these virtues he listed you will bear fruit. Specifically you will bear the fruit of the Spirit. But what if you do not have these virtues? What if you are content with only faith. What if you are one of those Christians who says, “I’m saved. I believe the right things. So it doesn’t matter how I live.” You know the type. These are the Christians who act like they have their ticket punched and can now just do anything they want to. Well, if you are this way, Peter says:

You will be shortsighted and blind.

These are interesting words. Shortsighted, you’ve lost the big picture. You are only thinking about right now. You’re living for right now at the expense of the bigger picture. This is like the kid who gets his first paycheck. His parents tell him to tithe on it, to put some in savings, and then to put some into bills like gas or college fund, and then take a little bit to have fun with. Well, what does the kid do? If he’s anything like me when I was young with my first job, he spends it all on dumb stuff. He’s got money in his pocket and cannot wait to burn it. The parents are focused on the future. He is focused right here and now. He’s shortsighted.

He would be better to look ahead and think wisely. But instead he is short sighted. Many immature or misguided Christians are that way. They taste of God’s overwhelming grace and they get shortsighted. It doesn’t matter how I live, because God will forgive me.

And if we are not careful, this leads to blindness. It can actually blind us to the depth of the reality of our sin. I think we can honestly all relate to this. How often are you actually crushed by your sins? How often does it break your heart that you sinned? The sad reality is that we are all of us so often blind to our own sins. We see the sins of others so clearly, but are so blind to the sins of our own hearts. And that does not negate other people’s sins. Sin is sin. But we must avoid being blind. We must avoid the mentality that says, “my sin does not matter because God will forgive me.”

And this is exactly where you and I will be if we do not add to our faith. We must add to our faith virtue, and knowledge, and self control, and perseverance, and brotherly love, and all the rest. Because if we do not, we will be shortsighted and blind.

But worst of all, if you lack these virtues:

You have forgotten your salvation.

Peter says, “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” If we do not actively strive to live godly lives we will quickly become so blind that we will forget the reality of our salvation.

Remember what God saved you from. Do not become blind to your own sin. Remember the depths God saved you from. C.S. Lewis said that “a man does not truly know how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good.” As we strive to add these virtues to our lives, it will become apparent how much we need to grow. But if you just coast in life, you will likely be very blind to your sin.

All of us will be tempted to live this way. It is so much easier to just ignore your sin. It is so easy to just coast and not truly strive after righteousness. But true faith cannot live this way. You’ve forgotten your very salvation. Calvin said this. “It then follows, that those who do not strive for a pure and holy life, do not understand even the first rudiments of faith.” If you think you can live this way, you do not understand the very basics of the faith. This is why it is so important to add these virtues to your faith. Calvin went on to say, “Though, then, we daily sin, and God daily forgives us, and the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins, yet sin ought not to rule in us, but the sanctification of the Spirit ought to prevail in us...”

Yes, we will sin. But we must always strive to put these sins to death. We should be striving to add virtue to our faith. We will repent and strive to walk closer and closer to Christ.

Transition:

And Peter repeats this call again in verses 10-11. He says to:

Make Your Call and Election Sure.

2 Peter 1:10–11“10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Explanation:

Now, just a word of explanation. I know that word election can be confusing. So let me simplify it. The Bible teaches that God, from before creation, divinely chose those who would be saved. Then He calls them and all those who He chose respond to that call. Everyone who is saved is saved because God chose them, not because they chose God.

So what does Peter mean when he says we need to make our call and election sure? He is not here saying that somehow we elect ourselves. Our salvation and election is not by our own works or our own will. Our salvation is the work of Christ according to the will of the Father from before time. Those who God predestined before the creation of reality are saved. But here’s the problem, we don’t see the heart.

Charles Spurgeon once said that if the elect had yellow stripes on their backs he would run around lifting the backs of people’s shirts and then sharing the gospel with them. But that’s not how it works. God did not include a list of names in the Bible of all those who would be saved. Indeed, no book on earth could hold all those names. We know God knows, and He has them in His book of life in heaven, but we do not know. So what are we to do?

This is what Peter is answering here. We cannot see the heart. We do not know who is elect and who is not. So what are we to do? Confirm your own election. How? By obeying Christ.

Illustration: The king’s two servants.

Let me illustrate this. Picture with me a King from long ago. An ancient medieval King. He is a good King. The best of Kings. He is righteous in all His rulings. He is wise beyond words. In His Kingdom there is peace and joy unspeakable.

And this King has many servants. But let’s focus on two of them. Both of these servants regularly profess their love for the King. He brought them into His house, and saved them poverty in a neighboring kingdom. He payed their debts and even their lives. And day in and day out they profess their love for him.

One day, the King calls both servants in and gives them commands. He gives them the list of tasks they are to do in His house. Both servants respond saying they love the King with all their hearts and would do anything for Him. They then leave and here is where the differences show. One servant goes and gets to work. The other goes and sits in the kitchen and eats. One does all the tasks. Now he is new, and he does not do them particularly well. But he does them. He dusts where told to dust. He hauls out trash where commanded to do so. And sure, he misses some. But he works hard. And he does the best he can.

But all day long the second servant just sits in the kitchen and eats. Now the whole time he is in the kitchen he is professing how much he loves the king, but he just sits there. He does not even one time do any of the work the King called him to do.

Which servant loved the King? Which servant’s profession of love was true? The one who obeyed the King.

Now years go by. The faithful servant has labored day in and day out for years. He no longer misses any trash or dust. And the other servant has grown fat and lazy. But the faithful servant suddenly has a crisis of faith. He begins to doubt if he really loves the king. He starts asking, “how can I know I love the King. How can I be sure He loves me?” He wants his calling to be sure. He is struggling with doubt. What might you say to him to encourage him?

I know what I would say. You have served the King faithfully all your life. You have worn blisters into callouses in service to the King. Your profession is not in vain. The content of your life proves you love the King. I would have no words of comfort for the fat and lazy servant. He does not love the King. But the faithful servant proves he loves the King by how he lives.

Argumentation:

And this is what Peter is saying. Work hard to confirm your calling. Strive to prove out your election. How? By doing good works. By being virtuous. Knowledgeable, self controlled, persevering, godly, kind to your brothers, and loving. And if you strive to do these:

You will never stumble.

Now Peter is here speaking in drastic terms. He is not saying that somehow you will achieve perfection on this earth. We all will sin. But what he is saying is that you will have victory over sin. What sins do you struggle with? Lying? Lust? Addiction? Anger? Gossip? Bitterness? You can put those sins to death. You can have victory.

And ultimately, Peter is saying you will never fall out of the faith. If you add these virtues to your faith, you will never fall away from Christ. You will never apostatize. You will grow closer to your Lord and never fall away. And someday, if you pursue these virtues, you will prove your faith to be true. You will not fall away. And someday:

An entrance into the everlasting kingdom will be given to you.

Many have objected to the language of this verse. In fact, many theologians try to water down that word entrance. They fear it speaks of works based salvation. But in an effort to defend salvation by faith alone, they actually water down a beautiful Biblical truth. An entrance into heaven is only supplied to those who strive after these virtues.

I say it all the time. True faith is living faith. True faith is a faith that works. True faith will strive after adding these virtues to faith. Let me put it this way. If you hate obeying Christ, what makes you think you are saved? If you hate obeying Christ, why do you think you love Christ? You cannot love Christ and hate His commands. You cannot love Christ and hate His Word. If you love Christ, you will obey Him. It is that simple.

Those who love Christ strive to honor Him in their lives. They diligently seek to add good works to their faith. And we see this in Ephesians 2:8-10. This is one of the most clear proof texts that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Ephesians 2:8–10“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

We are saved by grace through faith. We are the workmanship created in Jesus, for what? For good works. That is why He saved us. We are a new creation so that we might live righteously before Christ.

Conclusion:

One of the main things I want you to take away from this is:

Profession of Faith Does not Always Mean Possession of Faith.

What do I mean by that? Just because you claim to be a Christian does not mean you are one. You may claim you have faith. But I ask you this, are you obeying Christ? Do you desire to please Christ? No one who is saved can hate God’s commands. How often does David in the Psalms say he loves the Law of God. The Law. David loved God’s commands. Can you say the same?

A Christian proves he is a Christian by the fruit of his life. No one who claims to be a Christian yet lives in open hatred of Christ is to be believed.

Now I want to be clear. I am not saying profession of faith is unimportant. It is very important. We are to confess Christ is Lord. I am not saying that we should lock the church doors and not let anyone in unless they have proven over years they are actually a Christian. The opposite is true. Biblically, profession of faith is to be easy. It is a low bar. Christ Himself welcomed children to him. The word used in that passage is actually infants. He then used those infants as an example of faith. We are to possess faith like those infants. They possess a faith we are to emulate.

This is one of the reasons we do not have an age limit here on when children can profess faith. Children, even young children can profess faith in Christ. The doors to the church are wide open and even young children are welcome to the Lord. Profession of faith matters and the bar is low. Do you believe Jesus is who He says He is and are you trusting in Him for salvation. That is the bar.

The purpose of what Peter is saying is not to sow unnecessary doubt. Children, even young infants can poses faith according to Christ. What Peter is saying is that each of us must evaluate if our profession is true. Do we possess true faith.

Transition:

That is the point. Each of us must ask, do I in my own heart trust in Christ.

Conclusion:

True faith is faith that grows and produces fruit. True faith bears fruit of good works. It strives after these virtues. And as we grow in these virtues, it is an assurance to us that our profession was not in vain.

Visualization:

I brought up children on purpose. Children are such a beautiful example. I have talked to so many young young children and asked them if they love Jesus. To see the joy in their eyes as they almost scream out “YES” almost brings me to tears. Do you trust Jesus? “YES!” I ask my kids this all the time. And this is a type of profession. It is beautiful and I believe it is honoring to Christ.

But I never leave it there. Parents should never leave it there. We should always seek to help our kids live out that child like faithful profession. We don’t tell our kids, “okay, you love Jesus. Now live anyway you want.” No, we call them to live out that profession. When they sin, we teach them to repent. We teach them to strive to add to that faith virtue. To that virtue we teach them to add knowledge. To knowledge we help them add self control. To self control we help them add perseverance. To that we help them add godliness. To godliness we help them add brotherly kindness. To that we help them add love.

Reiteration:

Profession of faith is good. It is beautiful when a child makes profession. It is beautiful when an adult makes profession. But seek to add to this faith. And this is clear with our kids. So Apply it to your life too.

Application:

I have one question to leave you with. You must ask this of yourself.

Does the Content of Your Life Match Your Profession?

Do not rest merely in the fact you say you love Christ. Actually love Christ. If you see areas of your life where your life does not match your profession of faith, change it. Live in a manner worthy of your calling. And add to your faith. The true Christian bears good fruit.

Closing:

So in closing, do not hinder the children. Profession of Christ is beautiful, if it’s from the mouth of a babe, or a grown adult. Profess your faith. But then evaluate your heart. Are you striving after these virtues? If you possess them, you will be fruitful, wise, stable, and be given entrance into the everlasting kingdom.

Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer:

Offering:

Offertory Prayer:

Benediction:

2 Peter 3:18 “18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”