Perfecting Our Faith Through Works

Bible Reading [LSB]

Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received the same kind of faith as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, a brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these things are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in whom these things are not present, that one is blind, being nearsighted, having forgotten the purification from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and choosing sure; for in doing these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been strengthened in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has indicated to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my a departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

Introduction

The second epistle of Peter is the disciple’s swan song, much as the second epistle of Timothy is Paul’s swan song. Paul wrote his final epistle, 2 Timothy, while on trial in Rome and anticipating his execution. Peter wrote his final epistle, 2 Peter, anticipating his death as foretold by Jesus at his third appearance to the Disciples (John 21:18). Much like 2 Timothy, this epistle was written to believers. Paul was writing his letter to Timothy, his protege, while Peter was writing to his fellow believers in Asia Minor. The two epistles are even structured in a similar fashion. In 2 Timothy, Paul urges Timothy to accept his calling and then to deal with corrupt teachers. In 2 Peter, Peter challenges his audience to hold fast in their faith and then warns of false teachers and their distorted heresies which lead to apostasy.

In his salutation, Peter reminds us of our equality in Christ through our faith. Though our faith may not be equal in its refinement, it is in its essence, origin, aim, and end. We must always remember:

its origin: the precious blood of Jesus

its aim: to glorify God, the blessed Trinity

its end: sanctification so that we might worship at the feet of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

He also reminds us of the sufficiency of Christ and the greatness of His mercy and grace. Lastly, he reminds us of the wondrous gift, salvation, Christ freely gifted to us in spite of our rebelliousness, calling us out of our filthy servitude to sin and the devil.

In today’ sermon we focus on the importance of holding fast to and growing in our faith in Jesus Christ, our LORD and SAVIOR.

2 Peter 1:5-7 Maturing Faith

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

In this passage, Peter shows us the fruits, the tangible results, of our growth as believers. This maturation is not guaranteed; it is stimulated and urged by the Holy Spirit but also requires our obedience and diligence to come to fruition. This progression begins with that most blessed moment of salvation, the moment when we repent of our sins and profess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is at that moment that the Holy Spirit takes root and indwells us and we are born again as Christians, Children of God. In that moment of salvation, we are the seed that fell on good soil (Matthew 13:3-9). With this genesis, faith is sown in our hearts and it moves from faith to uprightness to gnosis (i.e., working knowledge) to self-restraint to hypomone (i.e., patient endurance) to godward-piety to philadelphia (i.e., fraternal love) to agape (i.e., preference through selfless, perfect love).

Now let’s take a little time to unpack what Peter is showing us so that we may better evaluate our walk with God.

We start with Faith. The greek word here is pistis (pis’-tis). Pistis means FAITH, belief, confidence. It comes from the greek word peitho which means ‘to persuade’ or ‘to be persuaded’. Pistis in secular antiquity referred to a guarantee, a warranty. Here, Pistis refers to God’s divine persuasion when it takes root, it is distinct from human belief and confidence, and yet it involves it. Throughout the gospels, Jesus speaks of believers being called by God. In Jesus’s Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9), God is the sower, he is the one who places the seed. And it is our heart which is the soil. As such, the word, the seed, is sown by God. If our heart is good soil, the word takes root and germinates into faith. Likewise, Pistis is a gift from God, as when Jesus healed the leper on His way to Jerusalem and told the him, “Stand up and go your faith has saved you [made you well]” (Luke 17:19).

From faith we seek to obtain Moral Excellence. That phrase is the translation of the greek word areté (ar-et’-ay). Arete means excellence of character, virtue, UPRIGHTNESS. It is a word that is almost exclusively used by Peter in his epistles; the one exception is it’s use in Philippians 4:8 where the word is translated ‘excellence’. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things.” Arete is marked by an active seeking to do well, seeking not to sin.

And from uprightness (translated in our reading as moral excellence) we gain Knowledge. Now knowledge is a translation of the greek word gnósis (gno’-sis). Gnosis is a knowing, knowledge, wisdom. However, its not referring to a ‘book smart’ kind of knowledge, gnosis is functional, working knowledge gleaned from first-hand, personal experience that connects theory to application. Gnosis is an APPLIED-KNOWLEDGE that is only as accurate and reliable as the relationship from which it was derived. Imagine the first time you sailed on a boat it immediately sprang a leak and sank, your ‘gnosis’ of sailboats would be that they sink, this would be unreliable. Fortunately for us, the gnosis here is based upon our faithful and righteous God. As such, our gnosis is grounded in our experiences with God, be that blessings and miracles or be that tribulations survived. Gnosis is found when we have walked with God and have experienced God’s providence guiding our lives.

Then from gnosis we derive Self-Control. The greek word egkrateia (eng-krat’-i-ah) means mastery, self-control, in the King James Version it is temperance, another translation would be SELF-RESTRAINT. The word Egkrateia comes from the greek word kratos, which means ‘strength’ and is the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially sensual appetites. Egkrateia is found through exercising dominion over oneself and one’s urges. Peter is telling us that from our daily walk with God and seeing him move in our life, helping us through trials, experiencing his blessings, we are able to weather temptation until at last we have dominion over it. Where once this temptation was an inevitable stumbling block, it is no longer so enticing because we know that the momentary pleasure derived from the sin is unequal to the blessing of obedience.

We’ve come a little ways, so lets review the progression thus far: from faith to uprightness to gnosis/applied-knowledge to self-restraint.

Next we see from our self-restraint we experience Perseverance. The greek word used here is hypomoné (hoop-om-on-ay’), which can otherwise be translated as ‘a remaining behind’ or ‘A PATIENT ENDURANCE’. Hypomone literally means “an abiding under”, a dwelt in, a lived-in kind of endurance that is cheerful and patient. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, uses the same word in the when he tells us that tribulations survived bring perseverance (hypomoné) which bring proven character which bring hope, a hope without shame because of the love God poured into our hearts (this is a paraphrase of Romans 5:3-5). We experience many tribulations, inappropriate movies that can lead to lustfulness, spouses who over escalate foolish arguments that can lead to angry outbursts. The Christians to whom Peter was writing were also suffering the tribulations of being persecuted and hunted for their faith. Peter knew he was to be killed on behalf of Christ. By over-coming these tribulations, we develop stamina, endurance, hypomoné, which fuels us for the next trial.

Now from this accumulated hypomoné, we gain Godliness. Here, Peter uses the word eusebeia (yoo-seb’-i-ah) which means PIETY, godliness, holiness. It comes from the root word eusebes, which is formed by the two words eu, meaning “well,” and senomai, meaning “to be devout,” “to be well devout”. Eusebeia denotes piety which, characterized by a Godward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him. Unger’s dictionary says “it is the sum of religious virtues and duties, bringing to its possessor blessedness ‘for the present life and also for the life to come’ (1Timothy 4:8). Strong’s Concordance says eusebes means well reverant, pious, devout, godly. The root of eusebes, ‘seb’, signifies sacred awe and describes reverence exhibited especially in actions; it is reverence or awe well directed. So from our over-coming trials, we gain perseverance (we see God working and how he carries us through) we seek to please Him with His glory in mind.

From godliness we develop Brotherly Kindness, in the Greek, philadelphia (fil-ad-el-fee’-ah). Philadelphia is love between brother or fraternal affection. A prime example of philadelphia in the Bible is the love between David and Jonathan. This kind of love is evidenced by forgiveness, compassion, joy, and affection but is directed by affinity.

Lastly, from Philadelphia we develop Love. Peter here uses the Greek word agapé (ag-ah’-pay). This word translates to English as love, goodwill, or in the King James Version, charity. Agape, properly means love which centers in moral preference. So too in secular ancient Greek, agape focuses on preference, likewise the verb form (agapao) in antiquity meant “to prefer”. As such, this is divine love, or more literally, what God prefers. In the love of men to men, especially that love of Christians toward Christians, this love is enjoined and prompted by their religion, it originates from the soul. Agape is used to describe the love of God toward men, Christ giving his life for us that we may be co-hiers with him in heaven. Agape is also used to describe the love of God toward Christ.

Agape, this Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in an implicit obedience to His commandments. Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Agape love seeks the welfare of all (Romans 15:2) and works no ill to any (Romans 13:8-10). It is a love that is purged of all coldness and is deeper than phileo. Phileo implies an instinctive, affectionate attachment; but agapao is a sentiment based upon judgment and adulation. Before the Passover feast, at the end of Jesus’s ministry, John says “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end (completely)” (John 13:1). Agape is the highest and purest love; it is the apex of Christlikeness and should be the aim of all Christians.

2 Peter 1:8 Maturation Allows Contribution

For if these things are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we walk with God, we should see a pattern of growth. Not that we will never stumble but that we should become more mindful of our failings, more sensitive to the Spirit, and more conspicuous in our outpouring of love.

In these verses, Peter not only shows us the light but he also shows its shadow. While faith is the root of our salvation, works are the fruit which bring glory to God (our purpose and aim in being) and also give evidence of our faith so that others may see the goodness of God and repent. The shadow, of course, is the understanding that a lack of growth may be evidence of a lack of faith.

When I see here the mention of unfruitfulness, I am reminded of Jesus cursing the fig tree in Bethany (Mark 11:12-14). Because of the fig trees unwillingness to bear forth its natural fruits to our Lord, he cursed it to wither and die. If it could not serve its natural function, it had no claim to life. I am also reminded of Christ’s admonishment of the Church in Laodicea which was neither hot nor cold which Christ said he would spit out of his mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). And James says in the second chapter of his epistle, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). If faith gives a covering of sins through salvation, then a dead faith is possibly evidence of a false conversion. Returning to Jesus’s Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9), a dead faith is like the seed that took to the soil but was scorched by the Sun or the seed that grew among the thorns which choked it out.

If we see a lack of works in our daily life, we should stop and evaluate our heart. It is not the natural position of the Christian to not embody the commands of Christ.

2 Peter 1:9 Remembering Our Past

For in whom these things are not present, that one is blind, being nearsighted, having forgotten [escaped their notice] the purification from his former sins.

In James’s epistle, God, through the author, tells us: “But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).

When you see a lack of growth or a sliding backwards, remember your sins and the gracious God that provided a means out for you. Remember our place in Christ; He is our master, and we are His slaves. While the concept of slavery chafes us because of the abuses of chattel slavery and indentured servitude, it is important to recognize that in this life, we are bound. We are bound to either this world, under the dominion of Satan and the yoke of sin, or our Blessed Savior Jesus Christ who promised us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30) and though we were his sworn enemies, freely died for us so that we may be co-hiers with Him in the Kingdom of God!

Remembering back to the famine in Egypt (Genesis 47:18-26), the people of Egypt were without food and money to pay for food. It was Joseph, installed by God at the right hand of the Pharaoh, who suggested that the Egyptians sell themselves as slaves for all generations so that the Pharaoh would be beholden to them for their safety and their lives. In its ideal, this would be the benevolent tyrant who would always and ever see after the welfare of his people. As such, the Egyptians looked upon this offer as a mercy and a blessing, not a curse. Likewise, we look to our perpetual servitude to the Holy Trinity as the ultimate mercy and blessing that saved us from the famine and wearisome burden of our sin. As such, do we not owe God our obedience? And do we not have so much to be thankful for? If you are not seeing your faith working, turn, look deeply at your heart, and repent. God will supply you with strength you need to follow Him.

2 Peter 1:10-11 Gifted Assurance

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and choosing sure; for in doing these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

Just as works are the fruit of our salvation that bring glory to God and bear witness to others, so to does it bear witness to ourselves. Works are the evidence of our salvation that we may have security, that we have assurance, in our position in Christ. Assurance of salvation is God’s gift. It is God’s gift that brings us to Christ! It is God’s gift that grows us in Christ!! It is God’s gift that keeps us in Christ!!!

We confirm the power of Jesus’s salvific work by our choices and our actions. James, in his epistle reminds us: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected” (James 2:21-22). Paul reminds us in his epistle to Romans that the Old Testament tells us “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” and that “to the one who does not work, but believes upon Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). James and Paul were not speaking against each other but with each other. James says Abraham’s faith was perfected. The greek word is teleioo (tel-eh-ee-oh) which is a verb meaning to perfect, to complete, to finish… the basic sense is “to bring to completion” to make something perfect. Paul is saying that Abraham’s belief (faith) was counted as righteousness (salvation). James is saying Abraham’s works made his faith perfect, complete, improved to its greatest end. God tested Abraham’s faith and his works, like fire, burned away the dross leaving pure faith. This is a picture of perfection like the refining gold. Salvation comes from faith, and with salvation, sanctification; this sanctification is evidenced through works, which increase and refine faith.

Conclusion

Just as Peter wraps up the section that we read at the beginning, I thought it important to remind you all of these things which you already knew: we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), serving God with fear and rejoicing with trembling (Psalms 2:11) and that through our works, our faith is refined and we are gifted assurance in our salvation.

As believers, we must continually examine our faith and faithfulness to Christ and His will. Even as we see growth in our walk with God, we should be diligent to remain upright as we walk from FAITH to UPRIGHTNESS to GNOSIS (knowledge) to SELF-RESTRAINT to HYPOMONE (endurance) to GODWARD-PIETY to PHILADELPHIA to AGAPE, that selfless, perfect love. Furthermore, we should regularly pray for faith and for God to make us righteous so as to bring Him greater glory. We should pray the same for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Likewise, we should pray the same for non-believers.

If there are any of you among us today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as both your personal savior and have crowned him Lord of your life. I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict you in this moment to answer God’s calling. Jesus said “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). If you have questions, please come to me and my fellow trustees. We will gladly speak and pray with you.

Closing Prayer

“Yahweh bless you, and keep you; Yahweh make His face to shine on you, and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His face on you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).

I pray that the Lord will give you all strength this week, that the Holy Spirit will fill each of you wholly to overflowing, that the Lord grant you faith unceasing, and that you will grow in your knowledge and love for Him and that you will pour out that knowledge and love to all of those whom you meet.

We thank you, most glorious and merciful God for all the blessings that you have bestowed upon us. You truly are awesome. We pray that you watch over all of us here and bless all believers around the world as they gather today to worship you as one church, the Bride of Christ. We pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in conflict, danger, distress, and tribulation. If it is your will, delivery them; if not, strengthen them with your Holy Spirit. We pray for Pastor Nathan and his family, that they are healthy and refreshed, abiding in you. We thank you for your Son who died on the cross for our sins. And for the Holy Spirit who indwells and keeps us. Thank you, God, for your goodness and benevolence.

In Jesus’s name we pray.

Amen