2 Peter 1:3-11 - Diligent Because of Grace

Introduction

I’ve been reading a lot from Walter Rauschenbusch recently.

Rauschenbusch was a Baptist pastor and professor of church history at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. In 1886, he became the senior pastor of the Second German Baptist Church in the neighborhood called Hell’s Kitchen of New York City. This was a neighborhood of extreme poverty, harsh working conditions, and high crime.

After pastoring for about 10 years, Rauschenbusch became a professor at Rochester Theological Seminary. He taught there for about 20 years, until he died in 1918, and it was during his time as a professor that he wrote some of the most influential books on what is called “the social gospel.”

Rauschenbusch was a liberal theologian – he denied the inerrancy of Scripture, he did not believe that Jesus is God, and he downplayed (at minimum) the necessity of Christ’s sacrificial death in the place of guilty sinners for personal salvation. In other words, Rauschenbusch was not really a Baptist or a Christian in any biblical or historical sense of the words.

But he did (it seems to me) identify a serious error in the teaching and the application of many Evangelicals in America at that time. As a matter of fact, I think Rauschenbusch and those he criticized in the early 20th century represent an ongoing and perennial set of errors for Christians in every generation.

We might call these dual errors the “social gospel” and the “private gospel.”

The social gospel teaches that Christianity’s main purpose is to build the kingdom of God in this present world. Christians ought to apply good morals to every aspect of life, and especially defend the defenseless, free the oppressed, and deliver social and economic justice against a system that rewards the greedy and punishes the ignorant and poor.

In other words, the social gospel is all about reforming individuals and revolutionizing society for the better. And these are good efforts, but these alone do not address the sinner’s ultimate need to be reconciled to God through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In the social gospel, the doctrines of atonement and justification (in particular) are lost or rejected.

The private gospel, on the other hand, teaches that Christianity’s main purpose is to induce a profession of faith from individuals. Christians ought to tell people about Jesus and persuade them to pray the sinner’s prayer, walk forward during a church service, and maybe get baptized at some point… but after that, the private gospel has nothing to say about how people should live.

In other words, the private gospel is all about believing in Jesus in your heart, but it makes no demands on your life as a husband or wife, as a dad or mom, as an employee or employer, as a banker or mechanic, as a home-owner or renter, as a taxpayer or welfare recipient, or as a citizen of a community, a state, or a nation. In the private gospel, the doctrines of sanctification and the church (in particular) are lost or rejected.

The social gospel is all about life in the natural world, and the private gospel is all about a spiritual life that has little or no effect on this world.

The social gospel is all about doing good, and the private gospel is all about waiting for good to come at the end of the age.

The social gospel is all about life and community transformation, and the private gospel is all about keeping my religion completely separate from everything else in my life.

Friends, both of these so-called “gospels” are damnable heresies. A Christianity that only focuses on this world and doing good will send people straight to hell, and a Christianity that focuses only on my statement of faith (“I believe in Jesus”) will do the same – it will send sinners straight to hell.

The Bible knows nothing of a private gospel or a social gospel, but only of a comprehensive gospel that saves and transforms individual sinners in every way imaginable (both by the work of God’s Spirit and by their own active efforts). The Bible teaches that spiritually-alive Christians always live in such a way so as to affect positive change in their own lives and in the lives of others. The Biblical gospel emphasizes both (1) the personal need of a Savior and (2) the practical reality of living (personally and communally) under the Lordship of Christ.

Today we are continuing our study through 2 Peter, and we will consider a passage that speaks of both individual conversion and ongoing life-transformation which are inseparable in genuine Christianity.

May God help us to believe His promises, and may he help us to be all the more diligent to live as He those who have become partakers of His own character.

Scripture Reading

2 Peter 1:3-11

3 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, 4 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.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

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. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Main Idea:

Christians are those made alive in Christ by faith; and, therefore, they diligently strive toward godliness in order to enter Christ’s eternal kingdom.

Sermon

1. The Gifts of God (v3-4)

Everything that transforms a sinner to a saint is a gift from God; we must simply believe Him for those gifts.

God gives all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Peter says (in v3), “His divine power has granted to us [i.e., to those who believe, or to those “who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ” (v1)]… His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” (2 Pet. 1:3).

The Bible teaches that if we’ve been saved by grace through faith, then “this is the gift of God” and “not your own doing” (Eph. 2:8).

The Apostle Paul said it like this to the church in Rome, “For those whom he [i.e., God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:29-32).

Therefore, sanctification (or being conformed to the image of Christ), justification, and glorification are all gifts of God.

“Eternal life” in Christ is “the free gift of God” (Rom. 6:23).

Pastoral ministry is “the gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6).

Every skill, experience, and opportunity Christians have to “serve one another” is a “gift” of “God’s varied grace” to be “stewarded” by those who receive them (1 Pet. 4:10).

Friends, all things that affect Christian life and Christian living are gifts from God, and we ought to receive them with gratitude and humility.

These gifts come from knowing God.

Peter says (in v3), “all things that pertain to life and godliness” come “through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3).

Knowing God and living with and for Him are inseparable.

First and foremost, we must know God as Judge and Savior.

God is our Judge because He has created us, He rules over us, and He makes demands on His creatures.

Of course, we have not obeyed God’s commands, and we have not honored Him as our Creator and sustainer, so we deserve His judgment against us.

And God is our Savior – displayed ultimately in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who has given Himself to suffer for our sin and earned the righteousness that God demands.

It is only by trusting in Christ that sinners like us can “escape from the corruption” of this world (v4), experience God’s “glory and excellence” (v3), and enjoy God’s “precious and very great promises” (v4).

Friends, if we come to this “knowledge” of God – that He is both Judge and Savior – if we come to know God personally and experientially, as He is revealed in Scripture and made known to us by His Spirit, then we will possess all of God’s gifts – “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (v3).

God’s glory and excellence are the basis of God’s gifts.

In other words, God’s gifts are gracious (not based on anything in us).

Peter says (in v4) that it is “by” or “through” (NIV84) or “because of” (NLT) God’s “glory and excellence” that “he has granted to us his precious and very great promises” (2 Pet. 1:4).

These “promises” to which Peter is referring here are summed up in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Throughout the OT, God promised that a Messiah or Christ would come to save and deliver God’s people from every effect of the curse (Gen. 3).

In the NT, God promised the forgiveness of sins, adoption into His family, and the full blessings of complete salvation to all those who would turn from their sin and trust in Christ.

And these promises are accessible to anyone who simply believes God for them – they are based upon God’s own “glory and excellence,” not based upon anything good or worthy in us.

Friends, this is why we must never downplay or underestimate the importance of personally and individually trusting in God for what only He can do.

We – you and I – must (individually and personally) be reconciled to God.

And we depend entirely on God’s grace for this reconciliation – we don’t deserve it, and we could never earn it or accomplish it.

The gifts God gives, the promises He’s made, and the life and godliness God brings to individual sinners are all on the basis of His sheer grace, which displays His own glory and excellence and even draws believing sinners into His own glory and excellence.

But God has purposed more than the mere change of our eternal destiny – God means to shape believers into the image of Christ…

God is not only interested in getting sinners to heaven, He’s interested in forming (or reforming) sinners right now so that they belong to the heavenly kingdom.

God’s purpose is to make His people know Him and reflect His character.

Peter says (in v4) that God gave His 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” (2 Pet. 1:4).

This, then, begins to push us down the path Peter is arguing here.

Christians are those made alive in Christ by faith (and this happens when we simply believe God’s promises and receive God’s gifts by His sheer grace)… and when Christians come alive in Christ, God begins His work of making them “partakers” or “participants” (NIV84) in His own “divine nature” (v4).

As I read a bit ago, God’s purpose is to “conform” those He loves “to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29).

Or to put it another way, God means or purposes the full restoration of His image (His character, His nature).

And this is no passive activity in the life of a believer…

2. The Necessity of Diligence (v8-11)

God’s gifts are not only for life from death (i.e., regeneration or spiritual rebirth) but also for a new kind of life (i.e., godliness and sanctification), which confirms or validates or makes reliable God’s electing call.

The indicative is the rationale for the imperative.

Peter says (in v5), “For this very reason, make every effort…” (2 Pet. 1:5); and (in v10), “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election” (2 Pet. 1:10).

Salvation by grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Christ alone is not only not contradictory to the command for Christian diligence, but salvation by sheer grace is the rationale which makes Christian diligence a necessity.

Some of us may be tempted to think in terms of two opposite errors – either salvation is by grace alone (and therefore it doesn’t matter how the believer lives) or salvation requires active effort on the part of the believer (and therefore it is grace plus good works that saves).

But the Bible does not teach either of these errors.

The Bible teaches us to trust in Christ alone for our justification, AND it teaches us that those who are justified will display good works.

As the great reformer, Martin Luther, put it, “Salvation is by faith alone, but the kind of faith that saves is never alone.”

In fact, it is precisely because sinners are made alive in Christ by grace alone that they respond with life-long repentance and faith (turning from sin and living for Christlikeness).

The presence of certain qualities confirms or validates God’s call.

Peter says (in v8), “if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:8); and (in v10), “if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Pet. 1:10).

Friends, we must remember that there are at least two ways that the Bible speaks of salvation – one from God’s perspective (an eternal or spiritual point of view), and the other from our perspective (a temporal or experiential point of view).

From God’s perspective, He knows exactly which sinners He has called and elected unto salvation.

He never changes His mind, He never revokes spiritual life, and He loves His own forever.

Those God causes to be born again unto spiritual life never fall from it or lose it or fail to enter the eternal kingdom of Christ.

But from our perspective, we cannot know which sinners God has called and elected unto salvation… rather, we experience and act in real time… according to what is observable.

People do change their minds, and people do seem to be spiritually alive for a time and then later live as spiritually dead men.

Sometimes those who claim the name of Christ do fall away and fail to enter the eternal kingdom of Christ.

Here we are confronted with the reality that there are certain qualities or characteristics that are observable in the lives of those who are truly called or elected by God unto salvation – those who are born again think and act and speak as Christians in the world.

“if these qualities are yours” (v8)… “if you practice these qualities” (v10)… then you will “confirm [or validate or make reliable] your calling and election” (v10).

The absence of these qualities denies or invalidates God’s call.

Peter says (in v9), “whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Pet. 1:9).

This is nearly identical to the language James used when he said, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being… a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:22-25).

James went on to ask that famous rhetorical question: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14).

Of course not, James says. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead… You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:17, 24).

In other words, is one merely professes faith in Christ, but does not live in keeping with that profession of faith, then he is self-deceived and does not have faith at all.

Or to use the language of our passage, the person who “lacks” the “qualities” that “confirm your calling and election” cannot be assured entrance into Christ’s kingdom.

Remember that Peter’s concern throughout this letter is that some who seem to be believing and following Christ right now will be deceived by false teachers or they will be dissuaded by scoffers.

Peter wants his reader to prepare themselves to persevere in the face of deception and opposition – and in order to do this, Christians are going to need to do more than merely “believe” something in their hearts… they are going to need to diligently live in light of what they truly believe.

The way of diligence is the path of perseverance.

Peter says (in v10-11), “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 enteral kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:10-11).

Note the rationale here – because “all things that pertain to life and godliness” have been graciously given to those who know God and believe His promises, “therefore… be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.”

In other words, those who believe and live with the qualities that accompany belief… those who diligently strive to possess and increase in these qualities… they are the ones we can know have been called and elected by God… and they will persevere… they will enter into the eternal kingdom of Christ.

As R. C. Sproul used to say, “A profession of faith never saved anyone, but the possession of faith saves every time.”

Friends, do you only have a profession of faith – “I believe in Jesus”? Or do you possess the kind of faith that saves – the kind that shows up in the qualities we see here in our passage today?

Let’s conclude our time by considering the qualities of perseverance…

3. The Qualities of Perseverance (v5-7)

Christians who persevere are those who possess and increase in the qualities of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and Christian love.

Peter says (in v5), “For this reason” – because God has “granted… all things that pertain to life and godliness… so that through [His promises] [we] may become partakers of [His] divine nature” (v3-4) – “make every effort to supplement your faith…” with various qualities that will make you persevere and confirm God’s electing and transformative power in you (2 Pet. 1:5).

Now, let me be clear about what we’re considering here. This is not a formula for earning your justification or your right standing before God. I’m not saying that if you’ll pursue these qualities, then you can know that God loves you and forgives you.

No, I’m saying that the presence of these qualities (or the absence of them) speaks to the validity or genuineness of your faith/belief. We passively trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the adoption into God’s family, and then we actively live in light of our new trust or faith in Christ.

Let’s consider of these qualities each in turn.

Supplement or add to “faith with virtue” (v5).

Note that “faith” is the root or basis from which all of these other qualities spring.

Faith is belief or trust in God, and those who rely on God and His promises live their lives in a new and Christlike way.

The first “quality” or characteristic that Christians are commanded to add to “faith” is “virtue” (v5).

This word carries the idea of “moral excellence.”

Christians are to make it their aim in life to apply God’s moral or ethical standard to everything.

What has God commanded me to do?

What does God forbid or put off limits?

God’s good laws are not to be dismissed or ignored by Christians who trust in Christ to save them, but these laws are to be obeyed by those who now love and trust the God who has graciously welcomed them into His family.

Friends, how are you making it your aim to know and to obey God’s good laws in your life?

How are you helping others around you to know and to obey God’s laws?

Supplement or add to “virtue with knowledge” (v5).

This second “quality” or trait of Christian living is “knowledge.”

Here we are reminded that it is not merely our sincerity or intention that counts.

We ought to know what God’s will is for us.

We cannot know precisely if it is God’s will for us to buy a certain size house, to work a particular job, or to live in one town or another…

But we can know that it is God’s will for us to speak the truth, to honor the institution of marriage, to disciple our children and grandchildren, to preserve and defend human dignity… to generally order our lives according to His instructions and design.

Friends, how are you “making every effort” to “know” God’s will and to apply it well in your life-decisions, in your daily routine, and in your general work, play, and leisure?

Supplement or add to “knowledge with self-control” (v6).

The third “quality” or feature of Christian living is “self-control.”

This might be one of the most frequently cited features of Christian living in the NT – second only to love for fellow Christians.

Self-control or self-restraint is one of the “fruit of the Spirit” cited in Galatians 5.

One particularly distinct feature of Christian living (different from non-Christians in the world) is that of self-restraint or self-denial.

As we’ve highlighted many times before, Christians are not completely free from the desire to sin, but Christians are those who repent or turn away from their sin… they resist their natural sinful desires, and they don’t “follow their heart.”

John Calvin, in his Institutes, wrote about self-control, saying,

“We are not our own: let not our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds.

We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is convenient for us according to the flesh.

We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours.

Conversely, we are God’s: let us therefore live for him and die for him.

We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions.

We are God’s: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal.”

Supplement or add to “self-control with steadfastness” (v6).

The fourth “quality” or trait of Christian living is “steadfastness.”

It is fitting that “steadfastness” or “endurance” is listed immediately following “self-control.”

Haven’t we all set ourselves (at one time or another) to making an effort toward self-control or self-restraint, and only a short time later given up our commitment?

We all know (generally) what is good for us, what we ought to do, and what we ought to turn away from… and when we do set our heading toward self-discipline, we must continue striving to keep it.

The wind and the waves (of culture, of convenience, of circumstantial difficulty)… these will all push and pull our boat, but we must keep our hands on the wheel and keep on repositioning our rudder so that we will maintain the self-restraining and virtuous course.

Friends, I know in the Minter house, we have repeatedly and often needed to recommit ourselves to getting things in order, to doing what is right, and to eradicating from our lives what we know is hindering us from maintaining our course.

Supplement or add to “steadfastness with godliness” (v6).

The fifth “quality” or characteristic of Christian living is “godliness.”

This one drives home the main point I’ve been making even more.

I’ve been highlighting the dual reality that God gives, and God requires simultaneously in the life of a Christian.

God gives Christians all things that pertain to “godliness” (v3, same word), and God commands us to “make every effort to grow” in “godliness” (v5-6).

“Godliness” is the practice or expression or activity of those who are “partakers of the divine nature” (v4).

We who have been given the righteousness of Christ are now to live righteously – we are to be like God or like Christ.

This is both what God is doing in us and what He has commanded us to do (by His grace and power).

Supplement or add to “godliness with brotherly affection” and to “brotherly affection with love” (v7).

The sixth and seventh “qualities” of Christian living are “brotherly affection” and “love.”

Notice the progression –

Virtuous living with a growing knowledge of who God is and what He commands.

Then comes self-control or restraint along with steadfastness or endurance to continue in it.

Then Peter mentions godliness, which is a comprehensive effort to grow in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness.

And, finally, brotherly affection and love, which are the key or preeminent distinctives of godly character among God’s people in the world.

Brotherly affection (i.e., Christian love displayed among the household of God) and love (toward Christians and non-Christians) are the qualities that sum up all the others.

Notice also that these qualities cannot be displayed in one’s own private thoughts or words or actions.

How can we show affection for one another if we are all by ourselves?

How can we show love if no actual person is the object of our loving words or deeds?

Friends, God most definitely means to save sinners by making them saints, and this means both the personal change from unbelief to faith and the social or communal transformation of the whole Christian life.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, I’ve argued today that Christians are those made alive in Christ by faith – that faith alone in Christ alone is the beginning of the Christian life. And I’ve also argued today that Christians are those who diligently strive toward godliness in order to enter Christ’s eternal kingdom.

This is no social gospel. I’ve made it clear that sinners must be personally and individually reconciled to God through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And this is no private gospel. I’ve made it clear that saints cannot persevere or expect to enter Christ’s kingdom on the last day if their profession of faith in Christ is not validated or confirmed by their possession and increase of various Christian qualities.

May God help us to rely upon Him for all power we need to possess spiritual life and growing godliness… and may God help us to diligently strive for comprehensive transformation… so that we may display God’s character in this world and live to His glory and excellence in the world to come.