How to Grow in Christ
2 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Mic
Prayer
Do you find yourself frustrated with your Christian life? You want to do the right thing? You have made Jesus the Lord of your life.. but then you keep failing in your walk.
Do you find yourself caught up with anger? or worry? Maybe you’re worried about money problems? or your children? You say things that you should not have said and as a result you are having marital problems, or family problems or problems at work?
You have addictions… or hang-ups and bad habits.
Is there any solution?
Well do I have some good news for you and it is found right here in today’s text.
Please open your Bible’s with me to 2 Peter 1:3-8.
6 Slides (ending vs 8)
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge;
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness;
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Before we took a break from 2 Peter for our Easter messages, we saw in verses 3 and 4 that God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness.
He has given us precious promises by which we can become partakers of His Divine nature!
And in fact this is true, because since the day of Pentecost, God has made the Holy Spirit available to us.
What then is the secret to living a successful Christian life?
To begin with, I want to remind us of the centrality of the work of Jesus Christ in both our salvation and our Christian walk.
We are all born with a sin nature. As God has told us in Romans chapter 3…
3 Slides
10 ...“There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
The reason we have these problems is because we are sinners by nature.
But God sent His only begotten son to pay the price for our sins on the cross at Calvary. It was at Calvary where He was crucified, He died. He was buried and then on the third day He rose from the dead. This is the story of Good Friday and Easter that we celebrated last week.
This is all summed up for us in Rm 4.25.
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25 He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Jesus was delivered up… He was crucified because of our transgressions… but He was raised because of our justification!
It is not surprising when a criminal is thrown in jail because he committed a crime.
But the wages of sin… the penalty for sin is not to be thrown in a jail for a short period of time.
The wages of sin is death for all of eternity.
And what is it that shows us that a criminal has paid the price for his sin in full?
If there was no such thing as probation, it would be when they let him out of jail. His release demonstrates that, as far as the government is concerned, he has paid the price in full ...for his crime.
but how do you let someone out of death? What demonstrates that the price has been paid in full?
.. It is by their resurrection from the dead. When Jesus rose from the dead… it demonstrated that He had paid the price for our sins in full! He was raised because of our justification.
That is what Romans 4:25 is telling us.
but that is not where it ends.…
Jesus has given us everything pertaining to our life and godliness.
He has made us partakers of His divine nature… but that does not mean we can just let go and let God.
We need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling as we are told in Philippians 2:12.
and that brings us to verse 5.
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith supply moral excellence.
We are saved by God’s grace through our faith…
Now let me pause right here. The first step in our growth as a Christian is we need to repent from our sins and place our faith in Jesus Christ. We need to become a Christian.
Have you done that?
and I am not talking about saying a prayer some time long-long ago when you were a child or were baptized. I mean actually repenting from your sins and placing your faith in Jesus. I am not talking about just recognizing that Jesus died and rose again. Placing your faith in Jesus … believing in Jesus means trusting Him enough to follow Him and to do what He says even when everything in your body says no. We stop making excuses for disobeying and instead do it anyway. He becomes the boss of our lives.
If you have not done that, why not do it now. It all begins by placing your faith in Jesus and making Him the LORD or the boss for your life.
If not let me give you a moment right now. and if you are not sure … why not make sure. I will pause and give you a chance to pray.. You can pray something like this.…
God I admit that I am a sinner. Please forgive me of my sins. I want to follow you for the rest of my life. Amen
Our walk with Christ starts by placing our faith in Jesus and making God the Lord of our lives.
but that is not the end of it.
Notice that God in this passage is telling us to apply all diligence.
The Greek word for diligence is σπουδὴν.
σπουδὴν literally means to bring every effort to something.
To do all that you can do …
and to do so in such a way to display a total commitment.
If you were on a sports team… we would talk about giving it your very best… going all out at 100%.
If were were talking about work… we would talk about not only the speed with which you do your work, but also the quality. We do our very best while at the same time, we do it quickly.
I am reminded of when Alice and I were on our last cruise and we were seated in the main dining room near the kitchen door..
We would watch the waiters coming out of the doors of the kitchen and they were walking at a fast clip.. it did not matter if they were pushing a large cart or carrying several plates of food, they were moving rapidly… but when they got to the table they were very friendly, they made sure that everything was in just the right place.. The silver and napkins were all properly placed and they were very friendly. They were diligent in their service.
Now there is something else we need to note about this clause “applying all diligence.. it not only applies to … moral excellence… the first clause on the list.. but it also applies to all the clauses on this list, in short if I were to diagram this sentence for you it would look something like this.
Slide
applying all diligence
in your faith supply moral excellence
(and) in your moral excellence (add) Knowledge
(and) in your knowledge (add) self-control....
etc.
You get the point.
So to get back to How do we
Slide
12 ... work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
We start with our faith on the day we are saved… but that is just the beginning
then
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5 , applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence,… ;
We now start to live out our faith . .… we supply moral excellence.
The word for moral excellence is a broad term. it is ἀρετή which means excellence of character.
We have repented of our sins.. and that implies that there were some things that we knew we had been doing that we should not have been doing.
God does not want me to do those things… so I quit doing them. Instead I do what I think God wants me to do .
I begin to follow Jesus .. to imitate Him. That is called repentance.
I begin doing that based on what I know about Jesus at that time....
but that knowledge is imperfect. There is a lot about being a Christian that I do not know but I do the best I can based on what I know at that time.
but that is not enough… If I want to experience the blessing of God in my life, I need to stop sinning and to follow Jesus so what do I do?
that brings us to the second half of verse 5
and in your moral excellence add knowledge.
This is Rm 12.2.
Slide
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
We begin to study the Bible. We get involved in a Sunday School class.
Are you in a Sunday School class?
We get involved in Wednesday night Bible Study and Sunday night Bible study. We set aside time every day to spend time in God’s word.
as we are told in 1 Pet 2.2.
Slide
2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
This passage is not telling us to get an education in the eyes of the world.
It is teaching us to get an education about what the Bible says in how to live our lives.
It is not saying to study math or physics, or English, or in my case … accounting. These can good if they are put into subjection to the word of God.… otherwise they will only make you a smarter sinner on the way to hell.
This passage is teaching us to make Bible study a major priority in our lives.
I think of Mary who was sitting at the feet of Jesus… she could not get enough of His words, while Martha was distracted preparing food for all the guests in their house. We need to be more like Mary soaking up every word even if other things have to wait.
And as we begin to get more involved in the Word of God and what the Bible teaches, we will find that some of our old way of thinking were wrong.
God has something to say about the type of language I use.
about the words that come out of my mouth.
He has something to say about the way I dress.
He has something to say about the way I use my money. and
the people I hang out with.
Following Jesus becomes more complex. I need to exercise self-control if I am going to change my behavior to truly follow Jesus and what the Bible teaches.… and that brings us to verse 6
Slide
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness;
I need to apply what I am learning to my life.
That is why I encourage you to have a journal next to you when you read your Bible.
You are looking for a “my thought for the day” How can I apply this passage to my life right now?
and that brings us to the anachronym SPACE
Slide
From this passage that I am reading, I ask myself the following questions…
Is there a sin I need to confess?
Is there a promise I can claim?
Is there an Attitude I need to change?
Is there a command I need to Follow?
Is there an example that I should follow? or not follow?
Or is there something that it is trying to teach me?
The word SPACE will help you to remember these principles or questions.
As Christians, as followers of Christ, we do not study God’s word just to gain knowledge but so that we can apply it to our lives, and that will require self-control and not only self-control but perseverance.
The word for perseverance is υπομονη.
It means to stand up under pressure.
This word describes one who refuses to bend, break, or surrender because he is convinced that the territory, promise, or principle under assault rightfully belongs to him.
It denotes a refusal to give up.
It could be translated as “staying power… or hang-in there power!
It could be used to describe Jonathan and his armor bearer who climbed up out of the craig in the rocks in front of a Philistine fort..… and they defended their plot. They refused to give up. and as a result, they killed about 20 soldiers from the Philistine garrison. You can read about it in 1 Samuel chapter 14.
or.… Think of Jesus during good Friday! He was given a mock trial.. He was beaten. He was insulted. He was whipped. He was spit upon. He was crucified… yet He held His tongue. He did not raise His voice. He could have ended it at any point. He could have called down legions of angels. He could have just said the word and all of His accusers would have dropped dead at His feet.
But He endured it all… Why?
because He loved us so much that He chose to pay the price for our sins. We deserved everything He endured and more. But He patiently and with perseverance with υπομονη paid the price for our sins.
He endured the agony, the pain, and embarrassment willingly.
Why?
Because His death was the price demanded to purchase the forgiveness and redemption for the very people who were doing this to Him. He endured it to purchase our forgiveness - yours and mine.
This same word - υπομονη - is used in Heb 12.2.
Slide
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Can we do less than follow His example?
And as we apply these principles we are learning...
as we study God’s word,
we become more godly or more like god. We don’t become God… but we become imitators of God as we are instructed in
Slide
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
The word for godliness can also be translated as piety.
We grow in our reverence for God and toward His word, His church, and His people.
We become known by our behavior as a .… people of God.
We should be known for our piety…
meaning that we are soft spoken… no unwholesome word comes out of our mouth…
we become known as a people who encourage others to do that which is right,
to worship God… to walk in love even as Christ walked in love.
We encourage others to remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy. and we model this in our behavior.
Then to our godliness we add brotherly kindness.
Slide
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
The word for brotherly kindness is φιλαδελφια - love for our brothers… and that does not just mean our Christian brothers.
Remember the words of Jesus to the lawyer (He was probably a scribe- an expert in the Law) the lawyer wanted to inherit eternal life. He had tried to keep all the commandments from his youth up. What was the one thing he was lacking?
13 Slides (ending vs 37)
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
27 And he answered and said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead.
31 “And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 “And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 “But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
34 and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 “And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”
37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
Paul tells us the same thing in Rm 13.8.
Slide
8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
or
Slide
If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
We treat others in the same way we would want to be treated.
Slide
12 “Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
and finally, we are to add to our brotherly love.… love - αγαπε love.
a love that does not seek it’s own.
αγαπε love is not an emotion… it is a choice. It is a choice to seek the very best for the other person and not .… just to wish them the very best… but
to do whatever I can do to help them achieve it.
It is not a love to make me feel better.… it is a love seeking the best for them.
This love is described in
5 Slides (ending vs 8)
4 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; ...
Isn’t this what we all want?
Is this a description of your life?
Do you want to experience the power of God in your life?
It all begins with putting into practice these 8 principles.
If you want to grow in Christ? If you want to experience true peace… it will only come by practicing these 8 principles.
3 Slides
5 .… in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge;
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness;
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
and we need to be pursuing this 8 principles with all we have got… with all diligence.
Jesus summed this all up in
Slide
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
and the great commandments
3 Slides
37 And He said to him, ”‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
If this describes our life, then
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Does this describe you?
If not… why not make a commitment to begin doing that today?
The altar is open....
Let’s all make a commitment to implement these practices into our lives.
Let’s pray
