That We Would Have Firm Footing
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 40 viewsNotes
Transcript
Fruitful and Effective
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2.
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Focused and Not Forgetful
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
is a command which gives us the third reason for pursuing spiritual growth: so that we would have firm footing.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
2 Peter
USE ILLUSTRATION: Bowling Shoes
Our Assurance: Jesus’s Interceding
Our Assurance: Jesus’s Interceding
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Luke 22:31-
Jesus is praying for us that our faith may not fail
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
Our Savior’s perseverance and power keep us secure.
We cannot do what God can but but God will not do what we must do.
It is never our effort, but it is true however that we must persevere.
We cannot do what God can but but God will not do what we must do.
Our Accountability: Human responsibility
Our Accountability: Human responsibility
It is never our effort, but it is true however that we must persevere.
We cannot do what God can but but God will not do what we must do.
It is our responsibility to grow. We are to be consistent
Ex. Reading bible regularly
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Only when we immense ourselves in God’s word do we experience the renewing of our minds. When the way we think is in line with God’s word, our lives are transformed. And changed lives tell us our spirit is alive.
Our action confirm that we are really believers. (Not only having a right relationship but a having a growing relationship)
John Piper explains, “The danger… is not the danger of slipping into the kingdom with no rewards. It is the danger of not being saved at all. When Peter says, ‘Be zealous to confirm your call and election,’ he means that our lack of diligence in Christian graces may be a sign that we were never called and are not among the elect.”
Our spiritual growth assures us that we indeed belong to God. Therefore, growth gives us stability. It gives us firm footing in life. A stable life is an obedient life.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
“This does not mean being sinless”
Our Tendency: Sinless over Sin less
Our Tendency: Sinless over Sin less
Saying, “Christians are not sinless. But they sin less”
As we grow our lives must be characterized with obedience
We obey more and more and sin less and less
Sinning less does not mean that we have an excuse to sin
“As long as I keep my sins to a minimum level or to an acceptable level, I’m okay”. If we think this way, we are fooling ourselves
God gave us liberty to obey, but there is no such thing as license to sin.
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
The result of living a sinful life is a hardened heart. When we become desensitized and indifferent and our conscience ceases to bother us, we abandon our faith. That is why the Bible calls it a “Fall”
Hebrew
As believers, we do not want to sin. Our goal is not to sin. We choose obedience over sin.
9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
GROWN GIVES US A FIRM FOOTING THAT SIN WILL NOT SWEEP US OFF OUR FEET, KEEPING US STABLE IN LIFE.
10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
Like those bowling shoes, spiritual growth gives us stability. It prevents us from tripping over.
USE EXAMPLE: Apostle Peter denying Christ.
Yet, before that humiliating experience, our LORD gave him a gracious assurance:
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Luke
take note: “when you have returned to Me”
take note: “when you have returned to Me”
--- END ---
We have assurance from the LORD that Jesus is praying that our faith may not fail.
Hebrews
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Jesus is praying for us in real time.
We can notice that it our Savior’s perseverance and His power that keep us secure. It is never our effort. It is true however that we mus persevere.