A Salvation Supplied and Applied: Part 1

Intro:

Almost home…this is such an encouraging reminder that we just sang as the church that we are all pilgrims traveling to a place, sailors sailing towards a blessed shore.

In Lord of the Rings, when the elfish characters came to the end of their lives, they boarded ships at a place called the Gray Havens and they traveled by boat to Valinor, their eternal place of rest. Picture in your mind, a group of your kinsmen, your brothers and sisters, boarding a ship to the same place of eternal rest. They have all lived these difficult lives with joys and defeats. They were leaving others behind who they had met along the way but who could not come with them. As they step foot on that boat, finally able to see the destination in front of them, I can imagine a overwhelming sense calm and rest flooding over them. They had reached the end.

Now this is fiction, beautiful fiction I might add, but it is based in reality in the belief of God and an eternal rest. For a few weeks, we are going to look at 2 Peter 1:1-11 and we are going to reminded of this very truth…we are on a journey to our eternal rest and we are almost home. We can think of it as arriving on the celestial shore or we can think of it as entering into the magestic gates to our eternal kingdom. This is Peter’s thoughts in 2 Peter 1:11

“11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

This is where we are going in this brief reprieve from 1 Samuel. I want to focus our attention on where we are going as God’s people and how its possible that we even get there by Gods power and grace supplied in Jesus Christ.

I am gonna stop at v 11 and I don’t know how many weeks it will take me to get there, so buckle up and strap in as the Spirit encourages our pilgrim hearts to see the horizon of hope where all followers of Jesus Christ will dwell securely with him and how his power and provision gets us there.

I. A Unifying Salvation (v 1)

2 Peter 1:1 “1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

Like all letters of the NT, we are met with the same type of introduction, this time not by the apostle Paul, but by Peter. The background of this letter is simply that Peter has already written one letter to the NT churches and this is letter #2 which is why we call it 2 Peter.

2 Peter 3:1–2 “1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.”

To be very concise in just 3 short chapters of this letter, Peter wants to instruct and encourage believers of the NT church to remember the word of God that was given by the Lord to the apostles. But why? There is always some reason to write, some problem to address, and some instruction needed.

I think chapter 2 gives us a clue:

2 Peter 2:1 “1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”

Lenksi writes that,

“First Peter was written for those who are to meet persecution and suffering, whose faith, faithfulness and hope are to be strengthened, Second Peter is written for those who are to meet false, libertinistic teachers, and whose faith, diligence in godliness, and knowledge are to be fortified. Hope is one thing, full knowledge is another. Suffers need steadfast hope fighters against loose errorists need true heart knowledge”

Therefore this letter exits for the church so that you and I can be reminded of the battle that exists for truth! True knowledge of God vs erroneous babble about God. Our culture is at war for truth and the church is getting lost in the weeds. The rise and accessibility of technology and information generates a podcast, Tiktok, youtube Channel, short, tweet or story about a variety of bad theology and information about God. It’s everywhere screaming at us and if we don’t have the correct understanding about God, we cannot navigate through the weeds to find the right path.

Peter helps us with this by pointing to the supernatural work of Christ to be the grantor of spiritual life and true knowledge about God. We can only fully know God and understand him when we are radically transformed with the spiritual capacities for such things. Only those supernaturally created to belong to the kingdom of God will actually be able to enter into it.

2 Peter 1:11 “11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

Peter is NOT saying that God shows you the path clearly, you just have to follow it until the end. That is not what these 11 verses will teach us. Instead, we will see that we need eyes to see the path, legs to walk down the path, a mind to comprehend the direction and a heart to push on until the end with determination. All of these faculties are given by God so that His glory and His fame are the supplier of our spiritual lives.

Let’s begin today with v 1:

A. The Apostle

2 Peter 1:1 “1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:”

To begin, we see that Peter identifies himself as the author which has been strongly debated through the history of the church. Many scholars through the history of the church have argued against 2 Peter being included in the canon of Scritpure and many argue for it. I will not argue for that here for the sake of time but know that I am preaching from 2 Peter because I believe the apostle Peter wrote it and it was inspired by the Holy Spirit for the churches, thus belonging in the canon of scrpture.

He calls himself Simon Peter which is the name that was used for Peter throughout the gospels. Both Simon individually and Peter individually were used for him. He was the converted fisherman with his brother Andrew who became the first disciples of Jesus and who eventually became the outspoken leader of the disciples. It was Peter, empowered by the Holy Spirit, stood at Pentecost and delivered a powerful sermon with amazing supernatural results. History attests that Peter’s fiery boldness for Christ was consistent to the very end of his life as he was martyred for his faith under Nero in Rome.

Notice how Peter classifies himself…..”A bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.” Those are not two ideas that naturally flow together. One is of low estate and one held in high esteem.

Like Paul, Peter identifies himself as an apostle in order to communicate the authority by which he will speak. Peter will spend a great deal of time in this letter masterfully connecting the words of Jesus and the work of the Spirit to inspire holy men to deliver His word to the people.

Look with me at the end of chapter 1

2 Peter 1:16–21 “16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

This is a helpful argument that Peter makes as he journeys to the meat of his exhortation in chapter 2 regarding false prophets. He is validating the work of the Holy Spirit to speak through holy men, like himself, to deliver the true knowledge of God through the spoken and written word. His apostleship validates his message that is given here. He of course was an apostle, ordained by God and given to him by commission from the Lord Jesus Christ. Both his servitude to the Lord Jesus and his apostleship of the Lord Jesus were merely gifts given by the Lord’s gracious hand.

Now friends, in the battle for truth, Satan and his manufactured skeptics want you to doubt the authenticty and the veracity of the revealed word of God. These skeptics who self classify themselves as scholars want to tear down the work of the Holy Spirit in delivering the inerrant word of God to the churches. The Baptist Faith and Message of the SBC speaks clearly on the distinctive regarding Scripture:

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

We need to put down and turn off what people say about the Bible and pick up and listen to what the Spirit says to us about the Bible and its meaning. If you are going to be able to stand for truth, you have to be a student of scriptural truth and not just a listener of it. The way that people are losing the ability to do menial tasks now trust computers and AI to do for them is the same way that people become so uninformed about what the Bible actually says. This is Peter’s message to the churches to stand for truth.

B. The Audience

Now back to Peter’s other designation: “A bondservant”

Being a bondservant to Christ is the necessity to saving faith. It is a surrender to Jesus as Lord. Romans 10 tells us to “confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord” but this is not a command to lip-service. Confessing with your mouth follows a heart that believes Jesus is raised from the dead and a will that is already surrendered to the Lord over all of their life.

As a bondservant, Peter is also identifying with his audience with an equality of value and worth in Christ. Peter may be an apostle send out by Jesus, but he is chiefly a slave of the Lord Jesus like every other true believer in the churches. He does not have a higher seat at the table. He does not get to park closer to the building than the rest. He is simply stating that He is subservient to the Jesus Christ as Lord over his life.

He clarifies this in the second half of v 1 in addressing his audience of this letter:

“To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours”

Now faith is the gateway to the kingdom of heaven and Peter has received faith in the Lord Jesus just like the rest of us. Peter, Paul, James, John were all apostles called by their Lord but their faith in Christ was a gift to them in the same means and same quantity as every other believer. The Greek language here teaches that true and genuine faith across the history of the church is rooted in a faith in Jesus of equality and worth. No person gets more saving faith than the next and therefore, there cannot be elitism or hierarchy of value in the church.

As a church, we should never make others to feel that we are better than them because we might be more mature in our faith. Maturity should lead us to a greater humility and not a prideful upper class mentality in the church. With an evidence of the grace gifted to us by God, oru desire as God’s people is to help others grow just as we have grown, solely by His gracious power.

C. The Agent

2 Peter 1:1 “1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:”

Finally, this faith is equally a precious asset of the spiritual life and it is equally gifted or supplied by the Lord Jesus. Notice the language here that is enforced throughout this section of scripture.. “received a faith”(1) and “he has granted us divine power” (3) and “he has granted us his precious promises” (4) and “entrance into the kingdom abundantly supplied for you” (12).

In all of these areas, we see that Christ is the source of salvation and he is the giver of all good gifts, most importantly, our confidence that when we get to the end of this life, our eternity is secured fully in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Notice immediately, the designation of the Lord Jesus as the agent of salvation. How can we possibly be saved from so great a wrath and fury from the Judge over sin? How can we stand before a Holy God? The Savior who was sent into the world is God in the flesh. The full and complete deity of the only Son of God is necessary for us to be freed from sin.

The word righteousness implies a legal standing before a holy God. How does a sinner become righteous where he can dwell eternally in a holy and heavenly place with God? He must be made righteous, not by any work done BY him but a work done in Him by ONE who is better than him. Jesus makes a way for sinners to dwell securely in a holy place by making them holy. He makes them holy and fit for heaven by offering his perfect life as a substitute for theirs so that sin is atoned for and wrath against them is appeased. They are set free and they are given the righteousness of their Savior and God so that they can enter into the Kingdom. In short, by the work of Jesus, we are fitted for our heavenly home.

Paul wrote wonderfully about the righteousness in Christ that saves sinners. Turn with me Romans 3

Romans 3:19–26 NASB95

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Now notice all the world is accountable to God as the law reveals that we all fall short of God’s standard for holiness. We are all guilty before God because of sin. Jesus gives his life as an atonement for sin to demonstrate his righteousness and as the Fathers lays the wrath against sin on his Son, our sin debt is paid by Jesus and and justice is accomplished in the work of Christ.

Now as I conclude this last point, let me state a problem that I see in this world. I see a large segment of a population want to turn the nation back to a belief and focus on Jesus. In the political and sports world, there is a growing mention of Jesus to counteract the loud segment of atheism and skepticism that exist in culture. While I thankful to hear the mention of Jesus in the social sphere, I have to ask the question: Who is the Jesus that you are mentioning and talking about? Do you serve the Jesus of the Bible?

If Jesus is our Savior and Lord, then our lives are so greatly changed by the way we live. We don’t mention his name because its popular to do. We mention his name as a praise on our lips of gratitude for what he has done and a pleading with others to escape the wrath that is to come through Jesus alone.

Acts 4:12 “12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.””

D. the Aim

2 Peter 1:2 NASB95

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

This v 2 is more than a greeting for Peter. The work of Christ grants us these two pivotal doctrines for our lives as Christians- grace and peace. We receive an unconditional grave where faith meets salvation. Faith is granted to undeserving sinners and forgiveness is the result. A grace equally distributed, sufficiently provided and freely given.

That grace leads to peace with God. peace is with god is not just n abstract idea but a reality of reconciliation.

this is found in the gospel: the knowledge of Jesus Christ;

To conclude today, ask yourself this afternoon are you believing in the Jesus of the Bible who is the only Lord and Savior of sin? Is your belief in Jesus show evidence that you are reflecting a life of holiness becuase you have been changed by Him?

Are you rooted in the knowledge of him so that as skeptics come and try your faith you will withstand their attacks against truth and against your faith? Are you prepared to give a defence for the hope that is within you? Are you more dependent on the word of God or on what others say about the word of God?

Are you thankful for the gift of salvation? Does your life reflect a heart and attitude of praise of a salvation supplied by the Lord Jesus?