The Fruitful Christian

What motivates us to live godly lives? What motivates a Christian to live a godly life?

Three False reasons:

Afraid of God. (Cartoon Bolt)

Appease God.

Obligation.

Three Good reasons:

Gratitude.

“3 Blessed (or let us give thanks) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3

Fear of God. Respect. Reverence.

“The Fear of the Lord prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.” Proverbs 10:27

Please Him.

God loves me and wants the best from me.

Heb. 11:6–“For without faith, it is impossible to please God,”

Becoming the Imago Dei .

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 2:21–25.

Pray…

The Author

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Greeting

1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

It was written by the Apostle Paul who describes himself in verse 1 as a servant to the gospel and an apostle of the gospel.

One is positional, An Apostle, Chosen by Jesus in the flesh t o minister the gospel.

One is attitudinal and positional, a servant/ slave, of the gospel.

In verse 15 Peter also highlights that he knows his life is coming to an end.

The Audience

This letter is written to believers in Peter’s church. Peter is a pastor in the upper Greece region. Notably his churches would produce the greatest theological leaders for the next three centuries. The greatest of these were the Cappadocian Fathers, Basil the Great, his younger brother Gregory of Nyssa, and a close friend Gregory of Nazianzus who would be key writers for the trinitarian doctrine as well as the Nicene Creed.

Gregory of Nazianzus

Let me just give you a little taste of these guys. Here is a quote from Gregory of Nazianzus and think for yourself if you can see the influence of Peter in his life especially from the passage we are looking at this morning:

Stay with us Lord, because our souls are full of darkness and you are the one true light; you alone can satisfy the longings that consume us. For we know that above everything that is beautiful and good, the greatest is this; to possess you forever , O Lord. – Saint Gregory Nazianzen

Here is a man who is dedicating himself to 2 Peter 1:10. He wants to be diligent to confirm his calling before the Lord. He wants to practice the qualities of his faith diligently. He wants to fill his soul with light and stamp out the darkness. He recognizes after a life pursuing Christ that the only thing that fills the longing of our heart’s cry is Christ. Nothing is more beautiful. Nothing is as good. This is his greatest possession.

Had a great walk with a friend last week. He asked me a kind of fun question. “Travis if you received $100 million dollars what would you do with it? What would you do the day your found out and what would you do with it?”

We had some fun learning about our personalities a little bit as told him I would sell my truck and get one of those new Tesla trucks with the ATV in the back.

The reality we both came to though is that we ultimately would have to challenge ourselves with call to steward the funds wisely before the Lord. That would be our calling.

The Purpose of this letter.

This letter is written by the disciple Peter. He wrote the book specifically to the Christians within his church community. The purpose of the letter is found in verses 12-15:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Three Purposes

Remind them of the fruit filled life of gospel living.

Remember to stir up the affections. To allow the Holy Spirit to do his mighty work in your life as you live out the fruit filled life. To remember in dealing with the Holy Spirit we are dealing with the intimate presence of God himself. Not distant, but up close and personal with you as his beloved disciple.

Recall the teachings that lead to the fruit filled life.

Rooted

This series is called ROOTED. It is looking at 2 Peter 1:1-15 and The Lord call for the believers to be completely rooted in Christ, in Him. Nothing in our life is meant to distract us away from this single call. To be rooted in the LORD.

It is moving beyond the belief that Jesus is a part of our life and moving him instead to the center of our life. To move into that position where everything centers around him.

I like the way Alan Noble puts it in his book Disruptive Witness:

“The gospel is not a preference. It’s not another piece of flair we add to our vest. It’s something far more beautiful and disturbing. The gospel is the power to raise the dead, to proclaim the greatness of God in a fallen and confused world.” ~ Alan Noble

Peter lays out a charge in these verses to strive after the Divine Power of God in verses 3 and 4. Then in verses 5 to 11. Finally, in verses 12-15 which we have already covered he gives the charge to Remind, Remember, and Recall these truths again and again.

So this morning let me answer three questions:

What is the Divine Power or Fruit filled life according to Peter?

Why do we fail to pursue the Fruit Filled life?

How can we practically embrace the fruit filled life?

What is the divine power?

English Standard Version Chapter 1

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Peter is the only one who uses this particular term “Divine Power”. The idea expressed is not an unusual one but the way the two words are put together is when compared against the rest of Scripture. However, when you look at Greek works of literature, you find the expression is not as rare. And I only bring this up to point out that Peter has a heart for his church and his people and God has a heart for his people. He wants to be relatable and he connects at that cultural level.

Divine

Power

The Lord teaches us here that access to this power is through our knowledge of him who calls to us in his own glory and goodness.

This would be the call that Jesus has for each of our lives. (Mark 2:17)

We have been called into an honorable status and away from our dishonorable one.

This is all the work of Jesus.

The next clause in verse 4 gives us further insight into his divine power… It states that he has granted us, given to us precious and great promises, very great promises.

Peter does not state specially which promises..

It could be the promise of the Holy Spirit.

It could be referring back to 1 Peter where we see the hope, and inheritance and salvation all pointing to our future.

I believe the idea is that we are to keep all the promises in mind because ultimately Peter wants us to look at the focus of the promises. So through these promises we gain to benefits.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Why do we fail to pursue the Fruit Filled life?

We push against becoming partakers of the divine power.

The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude A. Opening Sermon (1:3–11)

We do not automatically become more virtuous as if God infused virtue into us intravenously; we need to make plans and expend effort.

Jump with me to 2 Peter 1:8

Peter has just gotten done describing the attributes to which we are called to cling, namely virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

The problem is that Peter knows, which is why he is writing this, that we tend to push against these ideals. We know they lead to Godliness and are the elements of divine power, but we struggle to conform to them and make them our own.

This is the power of sin in our lives and why it is so destructive. It causes us to believe lies.

God is not really good and doesn’t want good for me.

My sin isn’t that big of a deal to God.

God knows I just need to get it out of my system.

I know what’s best for my life and God will accept it.

God is angry at me and won’t forgive me because of my sin.

(Intentionally Blank)

We push against escaping from sinful desire.

Jump with me to 2 Peter 1:9

We tend to go back to our former sins. (Back Slide)

We tend to replace former sins with new sins.

We struggle against sin as a constant in this life.

How can we practically embrace the fruit filled life?

We need to live a life cultivating the practices as listed in verses 5 to 7. This will be the focus over the next couple of weeks.

We need to embrace the process of confess, repent, forgive, and grow.