Welcome back to our study of II Peter...thank you, Matthew, for last week’s teaching introducing the book and covering the first four verses...

Goal for tonight is to understand the role and power of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification

As we did in I Peter, we’re going to identify a theme verse that captures the main thought of the book, and then commit that verse to memory...as Matthew discussed, Peter is writing to these Christians – not precisely identified – and reminding them of the truth they already possess, urging them to know Jesus and to move on to maturity in Him...while there are a number of verses that could be used, I chose II Peter 3.18...

Let’s practice our scripture memory skills!

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Keep working on it...it takes time and repetition to memorize something...you can do it!

Now we’ll turn to our text for tonight...II Peter 1.5-15... let’s stand in honor of God’s word

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. // 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. // 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. // 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.

As we tackle this passage, please keep our theme in mind... learning to walk in Christ as the Holy Spirit transforms us into His image... growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus...

As we begin tonight, I’d like to step back into verses 1 through 4 from last week, and draw out a few thoughts that link to the passage for tonight...

Verse 2 is the first time we find what I think is a key word or idea in this book, and that’s the word “knowledge” – Gr ‘epignosei’, from the root word, ‘gnosis’ ... it means to have personal recognition of something, to come to understand something clearly and distinctly, as true and valid; often calling for a positive or negative reaction; to have knowledge...also refers to the cognitive or intellectual content of that personal recognition, the knowledge itself...24 forms of this root word, some that we know well from English, such as “diagnosis” and “prognosis”  

Peter is concerned that we KNOW God, that we personally recognize Him, that we understand the content and truth claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that in that knowledge, we are called to love and follow Him...our knowledge of God is very important to Peter...he uses the word seven times in three chapters, second only to I Corinthians with ten uses, but that’s in sixteen chapters...

To that end, Peter says in verse three that we have all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence... we have all we need to walk faithfully and completely in Christ, to live in the life of God and walk in godliness...and that comes to us through knowing Him who called us...every new believer has all that he or she needs to live for Jesus...as Paul says in Ephesians 6, we are issued the whole armor of God, every piece of it...we all continue to grow and learn and mature, that’s true, but even at conversion, God doesn’t leave anything out...He has granted that to each of us, meaning to officially bestow something upon another...and it’s in the perfect tense, meaning it’s a completed past action with ongoing effects in the present...as a Sovereign King, the Father has formally given you all you need, and that giving has eternal and ongoing consequences...and He has given you His precious and very great promises in His word for all of life, such that we now partake of His own divine nature...and we’ve escaped from the corruption, the decay, that is all around us in the world through sin and our desires for it...the blessings are staggering...Peter could end right here and say “amen” and we would all shout “hallelujah!” – but wait, there’s more! And that’s our passage tonight!

Build on the Foundation                              1.5-7

Peter begins the transition from our justification in Christ to our sanctification in verse 5 with the words “for this very reason” – what reason? The gift of faith in Christ, all we need to walk in that faith, His precious and very great promises to secure that faith, and a deliverance by that faith from the world and to His kingdom...

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

Peter uses language similar to Paul in I Corinthians 3...the idea is one of building or growth or increase...the Gr word translated “supplement” is only used five times, and could be simplified a bit to say “add to” or give something useful to someone – that’s the essential meaning of it...

But what are we “adding to” as we grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Everything that happens in our sanctification as we mature in Jesus builds on one foundation: Jesus Himself...Paul makes that clear in I Corinthians 3.11 -- 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

So what does the apostle counsel us to build on our foundation of faith in Jesus Christ?  How shall we supplement our faith?

Peter lists seven qualities in a clear sequence: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love...think of them as building floors on a building...with faith in Christ as floor 0...we’ll adopt the European floor numbering tradition for tonight...we’ll examine them in order, but with a special view to seeing how they build on each other...

Virtue: Gr ‘arete’ five uses, four by Peter, three in this book...also translated “excellencies” as in I Peter 2.9, “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” – it means moral excellence as a feature of one’s character...

Knowledge: as I said a few moments ago, this word is Gr ‘gnosis’ – the psychological result of perception, reasoning and learning...sometimes reached over a period of time, sometimes simply endowed by God...to “know” something or someone...

Self-control: the trait of resolutely controlling one’s own desires, especially sensual desires; only four NT uses, notably it’s the same word that is used in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, where it is listed as the ninth and final fruit in the passage...

Steadfastness: also translated “endurance” or “patience” ... it’s the word translated “steadfastness” or “patience” in James 1.2-4: 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Interestingly, the same word is used in classical Greek to mean “to remain behind” as in a small military force remaining behind to secure a position...to endure or be steadfast...

Godliness: to be devout or devoted to the Lord, to be pious...also used in 1:3, “life and godliness” – to live an increasingly godly and holy life...

Brotherly affection: love between friends, brothers, family...Gr ‘philadelphia’ – the city of “brotherly love” – used in I Peter 1.22 as well

Love: Gr ‘agape’ – God’s love, self-sacrificing love...115 NT uses...used of the love between the Persons of the Trinity, especially between God the Father and God the Son...used of God’s love for humanity, and occasionally for love between people...it’s used in just about every verse you can think of that highlights love...to mention just a few...

John 3.16

John 15.9: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 

John 17.26: I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” 

Romans 5.8: but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

All of I Corinthians 13

And lots more...

How do they build on each other? Let’s think about this: 

Once a person comes to faith in Christ, you often see an immediate change in their moral standards...they clearly see the difference between who they were and who they are now in Jesus, and that awareness of sin is used by the Holy Spirit to lead them to a change of heart that is visible as a change of action...the Spirit draws them to a life of virtue instead of sin...old sins begin to be put away and new habits of holiness begin to emerge...

Very quickly thereafter, a new believer experiences a deep desire to know their Savior more fully...they want to add to the saving knowledge they have of Jesus...the Spirit creates in them a thirst for the Word and they want to know more about God...worship services, small group studies, and most of all, the Bible, become very important to them as they want to learn more...

As a bulwark against sin, the Holy Spirit begins to build into the new believer an increasing measure of self-control...the Christian is gifted with the ability from the Spirit’s inner power to say “no” to sin, based on the growing inner spiritual moral compass and the growing knowledge of Jesus and His work in them...

And as a believer experiences greater virtue, learns more about his faith, and begins defeating long-time sin patterns, a resolute steadfastness starts to take hold...a refusal to go back to his old life, to give the enemy a foothold...a steadfast believer is one who, in James’s words, Resists the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4.7

And one who has advanced to this point in her Christian walk would rightly be called “godly,” the fifth brick in Peter’s Christian character building effort...devoted to the Lord, righteous in both action and attitude; difficult to tempt to sin, steadfast in holiness

You’ll notice that so far, these character traits are internal to a person’s soul and spirit...evidenced in behavior, yes, but internal...the next two are external...

A Christian will exhibit “brotherly affection” toward other believers...it’s described as the affection between siblings in God’s family...this external quality is so important to build the fellowship within a church...we’ve felt this kind of love as we moved from place to place throughout our career...in places far from home and family, the church becomes your family, and we depend on the “brotherly affection” of other Christians...

And the capstone quality of believers is love...it is the crowning characteristic that distinguishes true Jesus-followers from other people...they truly love each other and also people outside the church...this word is Gr ‘agape’ or God’s kind of love...this isn’t the kind of love that one finds in the world...this love is like a divine fingerprint, a marker that the person who loves with agape love knows the Lord...the words of Jesus in John 13.35 are true: By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

So...to your faith add virtue or moral excellence...then add a deeper knowledge of God...then firm up your self-control, then plant your spiritual feet solidly in the steadfastness of the Spirit, develop godly character, then live out brotherly affection within the body of Christ and the love of God to all people everywhere...good advice from the apostle Peter!

Confirm our Calling                              1.8-11

Now Peter turns from the instructions for building Christian character in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, and describes for us two types of believers...

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Look carefully at Peter’s words in verses 8 and 9...he identifies two Christians: one who is growing and one who is, at best, stagnant...let’s examine them...

The growing Christian: Peter phrases verse 8 in the negative, but if we turn it around, he describes a person who is intentionally building on her faith as Peter just advised...adding growing godly character to the God-given saving faith...she is effective, living a visible and consistent witness in front of the world as the traits of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, and godliness produce genuine affection inside the body and love to the world...she’s becoming a skilled builder...as the puritan William Law once said, she has heard “a serious call to a devout and holy life” and has responded to it with energy and purpose...

But there is another type of believer – the stagnant Christian...this person has paid little to no attention to developing a godly character after his conversion to Christ...his faith has not yet resulted in any fruit, for he has failed to add the necessary traits to develop a godly character, including those on Peter’s list: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, and godliness, and it’s a given that his life is not known for love, either familial love or godly love...Peter describes this one as “nearsighted” in Gr. ‘myopazo’ the source of our medical word for nearsightedness, myopia...and this condition has caused him to be spiritually blind, defined as unable or unwilling to understand spiritual truth...why would a person reach this state? 

Because he has forgotten who he is, and what Jesus has done for him...and worse, the sense of the Gr word ‘lethe’ is that the man is accountable for this condition...it is unawareness caused by neglectful or heedless failure to remember...this describes a person who comes to faith, or at least appears to do so, but doesn’t begin to grow in Jesus...the seed of faith is stagnant, dormant because of an unconcerned and thoughtless heart...to be most generous, this person is so distracted by the things of the world that, as Peter says, he has forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins...he has forgotten or disregarded his own identity in Christ...he seems to no longer know who he really is...he is blind, thoughtless, careless, heedless, dull to the things of the Spirit, distracted and sidetracked by the temptations and lusts of the world...the apostle John described this condition in his first letter , I John, chapter 2 verse 15 through 17... Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. – what we see in this world system is not of our Father, and is intended to distract us from knowing and loving and serving Him...

Peter gives us a prescription to ensure that we are healthy, growing Christians: 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 

Peter is clear about what we must do to continue to walk with Jesus: be diligent -- be zealous, be eager, to confirm your calling and election...confirm means to prove something to be true...how do we do that? Here we turn to the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4.1:  I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called... confirm God’s election of you...same word here as in Romans 9.11...He has elected you, He has given you a high and holy calling...confirm it...in other words, live out your faith, being sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, walking in a worthy manner...confirm your faith by your life...Crowder wrote a song with a simple and challenging lyric: If you’re free, prove it... J.C. Ryle said it this way: Tell me not of your justification, unless you have also some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ's work for you, unless you can show us the Spirit's work in you.   We have been set free by the blood of Jesus, not to live our own lives, but to live out His life in this world...we are free, not unto ourselves, but unto God...so prove that freedom by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit! Confirm your calling! If you do, the doors of Heaven itself are thrown open for you...you will receive the rich provision of God to enter His eternal kingdom...

Remember His Truth                           1.12-15

Now Peter closes this brief passage on a personal note...

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.

Peter encourages his readers much as a father would encourage a son...not so much teaching as reminding them...he is re-minding them, calling back to their thoughts that which they already know, but need to lay hold of again in a fresh and new way...as Peter writes, both to his original readers and to us, it is truly the Holy Spirit who is calling us to remember...more about that next week...Peter knows he is to die soon, and he has resolved that he will bring the truth of God to the church of God until his dying breath...all godly preachers want their flocks to remember God’s word long after the preacher himself is gone...you don’t have to remember us, just remember the Word of God...so that “you may be able at any time to recall these things.”

Summary

So to bring Peter’s message to the point of application, here it is: build on the foundation, confirm your calling, remember His truth

Let’s consider this...

How far along are you in your building project? Have you added to your faith in Jesus? Are you pursuing growth, relying on the Holy Spirit to accomplish that in your life? What about moral excellence? Your knowledge of the Holy One? If the Lord graded you on our self-control, what would He say? Are you steadfast in the face of adversity, digging in and staying put when the world wants to push you away from Jesus? What would be your reply if someone asked you this question: are you closer to Jesus today than one year ago? And externally, are you actively loving people, both the family of God, and the people in your world who need to know Jesus? 

Are you a growing Christian or a stagnant Christian? Are you being effective for the kingdom, generating fruit, both in character and in evangelizing and discipling others? Or are you dormant, uncaring and unresponsive to the word and work of God? Don’t let your eyes be open to the things of the world and blind to the things of God... pursue places of effective and fruitful service, and ways to practice holiness instead of sin...if you want to assess if you are growing or stagnant, just do this: take note of how you spend your money, your time, and your energy...that will tell you what you really care about... 

Are you deliberately remembering to remember the truths of Scripture? Don’t be like the foolish person of whom James speaks, who looks in the mirror, turns away, and forgets the reflection...remember what you have learned, diligently remembering and applying it...

Build – confirm – remember.