Challenged to Grow
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Challenged to Grow
Challenged to Grow
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
“For this very reason”
“For this very reason”
Blessed 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,
We have work to do, (based on what Peter had just told us)
Could be previous reason “we may become partakers of divine nature”
However, verses 3&4 made several statements that are fully interdependent and are all subordinate to the first statement in v3.
He has granted us all things that pertain to life and excellence in virtue, through a relationship with God, who called us to His own glory and excellence, who granted us great promises, so that we may be partakers of the divine nature…
For this very reason … Peter is going to tell us how we ought to respond.
Properly understood, the reason Peter gave us allows us to respond properly to what is expected of us.
You could almost imagine a conversation with our beloved brother, Negative Ned.
“If you took this list of stuff seriously, (NED DOES THAT) then you would see that this is more than we are actually supposed to be able to do.”
a) Ned, He has granted us ALL THINGS pertaining to life and virtue.
“But my salvation is by faith alone!”
That’s true Ned, but God has “called us to His own glory and excellence in virtue.”.
“I’m ok with just living a simple Christian life”.
Now we get to the root cause, Ned wants assurance of salvation but ultimately wants to live his own life. (loves God, but he approached his faith like a consumer.)
We have been granted to be partakers of the divine nature. Our lives are NOT supposed to be ordinary!
“make every effort”
“make every effort”
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
Really doesn’t need much elaboration does it?
Important that we understand to what level of effort we should put into pursuing this life we are called to.
“make EVERY effort”
It does underscore the level of commitment we are to have in pursuing this life of excellence in virtue.
Remember: “We are escaping the corruption of this world because of sinful desire.”
This will take every ounce of effort and zeal on our part to do this.
“supplement your faith”
“supplement your faith”
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
This immediately finds itself in a seemingly contradiction to what most of us have always learned about our faith.
Sola Fida - justification by FAITH ALONE!!!!
I shouldn’t need to supplement my faith with anything.
“We are saved ‘by’ faith without works but we are not saved ‘to’ a faith without works.” -Unknown
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
We understand what James meant when he said “faith without works is dead.”
Do you want to know a major reason why the Christian church is dying in the US?
Because far too many Christian are like Ned, and have a consumer attitude toward God.
They claim to have faith but don’t really want to work at it.
Their faith, according to Jame, is dead
And so are their churches
At least point out the relationship between the characteristics listed here...
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
Supplement faith with virtue
that huge all by itself
How do you do that?
Supplement Virtue with knowledge
and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
Supplement knowledge with self control
Supplement self control with steadfastness
Supplement steadfastness with Godliness
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Supplement Godliness with brotherly affection
Philadelphia (a Phileo love)
Supplement brotherly affection with love
Agapeo - deepest form of love
I so much appreciate the patters and consistency in scripture, and this is one of them.
two most important commandment in all of scripture
Love (agape) with all your heart soul, mind, strength
Love (agape) your neighbor as yourself.
We start with our faith and we are called to pursue this deepening relationship with God which leads back to the most important commands in scripture.