New Math

A school bus was making its final round of the day. A young boy jumped off just as a man jogged by.

"Hey, mister," the boy shouted, "can I jog with you?" The jogger wasn't in a hurry, so he nodded, and the boy joined in jogging. Within five minutes, the boy gave the jogger pretty much his whole life story. His name was Matthew, and he was ten years old, precocious, and full of life.

Abruptly, however, Matthew stopped. "Look at this," he ordered as he showed the jogger an 81/2 by 11-inch piece of paper that had been laminated. In big black letters across the top, it said, "Fourth Grade Math Whiz." Underneath was Matthew's name, the school name, the date, and the teacher's signature.

His pride was undaunted. "I'm a math whiz," he went on beaming, not waiting for the jogger to come to that conclusion by reading the card only inches from his face. "Last year, my sister was the math whiz," he continued, "but this year, I'm the math whiz!"

"That's great," the man replied.

"Yep," said Matthew. "But you know what's really great? When I get home, my dad's going to be really proud."

And isn't that what we all want? We want to make our father proud, our mother proud. We want to earn the esteem of family members and business colleagues and friends at church. And that's fine.

But more important than all of these, says Jesus, is to make God proud of us. (Adapted from Terry Hershey, Go Away Come Closer)

Do you want God to be proud of you? I know that I do. I want to live a life that pleases God. I want to live a life that when I stand before him, he says:

Matthew 25:21 CEB

21 “His master replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good and faithful servant! You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’

This past nearly two months has been interesting as Darlene, and I have assumed the role of teachers. Math has been interesting because they don’t do it like we did when we were in school. Fortunately, with having lots of kids in the house, there is someone who understands it and can help the one who is struggling.

Did you know that there are some interesting and complex math problems in the Bible?

What does 1 + 1 + 1 equal? It equals 1. Let me explain.

God the Father + God the Son + God the Holy Spirit = 1 God

We are going to look at another complex math problem this morning, and it involves addition by subtraction.

We get to Addition by Subtraction

Peter opens this second chapter of his letter with the word, Therefore. That word means that because of what was written or said or consequently. Peter is pointing back to what he wrote in verse 23.

1 Peter 1:23 CEB

23 Do this because you have been given new birth—not from the type of seed that decays but from seed that doesn’t. This seed is God’s life-giving and enduring word.

You have been given a new birth, and it is God’s life-giving and enduring word. Because you have been given this new birth, you need to start doing addition by subtraction.

You are going to begin adding to your life by subtracting from it. Look there at verse 1

1 Peter 2:1 CEB

1 Therefore, get rid of all ill will and all deceit, pretense, envy, and slander.

Peter says to get rid of these things. Mark Twain once said:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 34: James / 1 & 2 Peter / Jude Growing Goes Better with Milk

Most people are bothered by those passages in the Bible which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always notice that the passages in the Scripture which trouble me the most are those which I do understand

The Apostle James wrote very similar words when he wrote:

James 1:21 CEB

21 Therefore, with humility, set aside all moral filth and the growth of wickedness, and welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you.

Peter and James use the same word, which means to get rid of or cast it off. They are saying that we must subtract these things from our lives. There is no place in the life of a Christian for any semblance of evil, ill will, deceit, pretense, envy, or slander.

Why does Peter point out those things? They impact our relationship with our fellow believers. They violate the law of love. We cannot truly love someone if we have ill will, deceit, pretense, envy, or slander.

The Apostle John wrote in his first letter

1 John 4:7–10 CEB

7 Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. 8 The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. 10 This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.

How can we say we love someone if we lie or hold ill will towards someone or are envious of them or slander them? We cannot. The truth is that if we live that way, then we are not even a Christian. That is not my opinion; it is what the Bible says. John wrote in that same letter in chapter 3

1 John 3:7–10 CEB

7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, in the same way that Jesus is righteous. 8 The person who practices sin belongs to the devil, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. God’s Son appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those born from God don’t practice sin because God’s DNA remains in them. They can’t sin because they are born from God. 10 This is how God’s children and the devil’s children are apparent: everyone who doesn’t practice righteousness is not from God, including the person who doesn’t love a brother or sister.

I am convinced now more than ever that the church would be more effective if we took these commands seriously. I am convinced that many of our problems would be resolved if we took these commands seriously. If the church, if the individual members of the church would take sin seriously that we would be much more effective, and we would live that abundant life that Jesus promised.

There are consequences to sin. We can try to get as close as possible without getting burned, but we will get burned. Paul wrote to the Galatians

Galatians 6:8 CEB

8 Those who plant only for their own benefit will harvest devastation from their selfishness, but those who plant for the benefit of the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.

All of these sins that Peter mentions deal with untruth. Sin is always deceitful and lacking in the truth. Truth comes from God, and falsehood comes from the devil.

If we really want this life of fullness and blessing, then we have to put off or get rid of all forms of evil in our lives. Jesus came to set us free. He sets us free from sin and through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives sets us free from those evil desires.

This subtraction involves a radical transformation of our lives.

Paul Cedar wrote:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 34: James / 1 & 2 Peter / Jude Growing Goes Better with Milk

The closer we come to Christ, the more He replaces our desires with His.

We can practice addition because of subtraction

Look at verse 2 and 3

1 Peter 2:2–3 CEB

2 Instead, like a newborn baby, desire the pure milk of the word. Nourished by it, you will grow into salvation, 3 since you have tasted that the Lord is good.

He starts these verses with the word “instead.” Instead of practicing sin, we are to put it off, and instead, we are to be like a newborn baby.

Now we need to be careful as we read this and not assume that Peter is calling them babies. Peter is saying that instead of practicing sin, we are to be like a newborn baby and desire the “pure milk of the word.”

What is a baby like when it is hungry? It cries, it may even scream, you might think that a demon possesses it. They are hungry, and they are craving that bottle, they want that formula that the bottle brings. There is the idea of a deep desire that Peter is trying to get across to us.

The translation that I am using calls it the “pure milk of the word.” This milk, which is spiritual and pure, is descriptive of the word. We are to crave the unadulterated, pure word of God. There is no substitute.

To crave something is an active longing for or desire for. We are turning away from sin and turning towards God. We are not just turning towards God, but we are craving God and his word. There is an extreme desire here. One of my favorite Psalms has these words:

Psalm 42:1 CEB

1 Just like a deer that craves streams of water, my whole being craves you, God.

That is an intense desire or craving. The author to the Hebrews wrote:

Hebrews 12:2 CEB

2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.

It is fixing your eyes on Jesus. We have to be fed God’s word. One thing that a pastor hates to hear when someone leaves the church for another church is that they say, “I was not being fed.” Do you know why the pastor’s hate to hear that? It is not the pastor’s responsibility to spoon-feed someone. We all have a responsibility to read and study the Bible. You don’t just belly up to the bar on Sunday. If that is all you are receiving spiritually, then you are acutely malnourished.

Peter says there in verse 2:

Common English Bible Chapter 2

Nourished by it, you will grow into salvation

Nourished by what? The pure milk of the word, spiritual milk. If you are going to be fed, then it is going to take more than a 30 or 45-minute sermon on a Sunday morning. You need more, much more.

To be nourished is to eat something daily. Physically eating a nourishing diet affects your entire body. You wouldn’t think of just eating once a week and then starving for the rest of the week. You eat every day. You do that because your body craves nourishment.

Peter goes on and says in verse 3

1 Peter 2:3 CEB

3 since you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Peter it seems is making an assumption. He is assuming that the pure milk of the word is nourishing the Christians he is writing to. He is expecting that they will grow into salvation. Why is he making that assumption? It is because “since you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

I believe that Peter is referring to their experience with God. Once you have tasted or experienced that the Lord is good, you have two choices. One is to reject the goodness of God, and the other is to continue to crave and desire God. The Psalmist put it this way:

Psalm 34:8 CEB

8 Taste and see how good the Lord is! The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy!

Our goal as Christians is to grow in our faith towards maturity and Holiness. The word of God nourishes our growth. You simply cannot grow in your faith if you are not receiving a steady diet of God’s word.

Jump down to verse 8

1 Peter 2:8 CEB

8 This is a stone that makes people stumble and a rock that makes them fall. Because they refuse to believe in the word, they stumble. Indeed, this is the end to which they were appointed.

For those who are unbelievers or even those who call themselves Christians but refuse to believe in the word, they stumble. This is what happens when we refuse to believe the word of God, when we refuse to live in obedience to Jesus.

So how does this new math work? The answer to the equation of Addition through Subtraction is obedience.

Subtraction plus Addition equals Holiness

Paul Cedar wrote:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 34: James / 1 & 2 Peter / Jude Building with Living Stones

Jesus Christ, “the living stone,” invites us to become “living stones” so that He might use us to build His church. We cannot live in spiritual isolation. We must be available to Him and to each other so that our Lord can use our lives to build the kingdom of Christ

Peter wrote there in verse 9

1 Peter 2:9 CEB

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are God’s own possession. You have become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his amazing light.

Peter is saying, in other words, we are to be like Christ because of what God has done for us. Daniel Powers wrote that “any hope to spark a revival of spiritual growth and Christlikeness in our churches and society today will begin with a renewed hunger for the Word of God.”

As Christians, we are God’s people. We are a chosen people; we are a royal people; we are a holy people. We are called to be like Christ, holy in character. This is not just individual Holiness, but it is community holiness.

What is the reason for this? Peter says it there in the latter part of verse 9.

Common English Bible Chapter 2

You have become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his amazing light.

That is our purpose of telling about God. Tell about all the wonderful things that God has done. We are to be living and breathing, walking testimonies of the goodness of God.

Maxie Dunham tells the following story about something that happened in Hollywood:

They were making a movie, and one of the sets was a filling station. It looked exactly like a real filling station, except that it had no fuel, no energy, no power. The station was so realistic, and in fact, the cars kept driving up, asking for a fill-up. Someone came out and explained that it was only a Hollywood set, and after the shooting of a couple of scenes, the whole thing would be dismantled.

Right after the shooting of the last scene, sure enough, another car drove up. Several of the actors were still in the uniforms of service station attendants. They decided to have a little fun. They pretended to fill up the man’s tank. When the man started to pay, they told him there was no charge. They said the fuel was free as a part of a promotional scheme. So the man drove away, thinking he had a full tank and that he had gotten a terrific bargain. Actually, he was still empty. It looked like a filling station but wasn’t at all. There was no power there. I pity the poor man getting on a California freeway with his mistaken notion.

There are churches like that filling station. They look like churches. They sound like churches. They may smell like churches. There is, however, an emptiness, a deadness - something essential is missing. (from Being and Doing as the People of God, Maxie Dunham).

I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be like that kind of church, that kind of Christian. We cannot merely subtract stuff; we have to add to our lives Christlikeness, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. I want the power of the Holy Spirit in my life and the life of our church.

Have you experienced this new math? Have you subtracted from your life so that you can add to it? Have you experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit? If not, please do not drive out of this parking lot until you have prayed to be transformed by the Holy Spirit of God!