Everything We Need
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Notes
Transcript
Have you ever felt hopeless? Have you ever been addicted to a sin that you just can’t seem to break free from? Have you ever wondered about whether you are truly saved or not? Would you like to have peace and freedom. You can. It won’t be easy, but it will be simple. There is a big difference between simple and easy.
1 Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
What is his divine power that has been given to us? It’s not a what, it’s a who. The Holy Spirit
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
If we have the Holy Spirit in us, then we have everything we need
3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.
Evil desire is not outside of us, it’s within us —
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.
Jesus said we are evil,
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.
we must recognize that the evil that we see in the world, comes from within each and every one of us.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus warned repeatedly that those who do not bear fruit will not enter the kingdom of God
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. 15 “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. 16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’
Jesus said you could recognize those who will enter the kingdom and those who won’t be examining their lives. And Peter is repeating that same warning to his listeners. Enter through the narrow gate, don’t deceive yourself into believing that you are saved when you are not, because most people are not saved and will enter destruction, and only a few will find the road that leads to life.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.
Don’t forget where we came from, our own sinfulness, our own evil, that we recognized that we ourselves were lost with no hope of saving ourselves and needed God to save us by being merciful to us. We must stay humble
10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.
Peter tells us here to examine ourselves, and make every effort to make sure that we are part of the elect, that we are saved and will enter through that narrow gate and not deceive ourselves and be turned away. Paul tells us the same thing
5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.
When we examine ourselves, what are we to look for? We are to look for evidence. For fruit. Because when God comes to live within us, He changes us and we bear fruit. Are we living in Holiness, or are we living in sin? Are we slaves to righteousness, or are we still slaves to sin?
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, 18 and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness. 21 So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. 22 But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life! 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives?
But if we are slaves to sin and we try to defeat sin but we can’t, then how are we supposed to become slaves to righteousness? Repent and believe. You don’t have the strength on your own to defeat sin, but Jesus does and you can put to death the deeds of the flesh only by the power of the Holy Spirit who has to come to live within you first
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, 13 because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
And God will hedge you in
13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord.
12 Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, 14 since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. 15 And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.
Why is this important? Because the Holy Spirit is real, and when He comes to live inside of you He Really makes you into a new creation
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
So the evidence of His Spirit in you is godliness and sanctification, aka fruit and it’s that fruit that gives you and everyone else assurance of your salvation, and it’s godliness that leads you to a fruitful life for the kingdom
Are you a new creation?