2 Peter | Chapter 3 – Scripture Supply

2 Peter 3:1-7

“Doubting the Day of the Lord”

Vs. 1-2 Unmixed minds

Vs. 3-5 Divine revelation verses human reasoning

Vs. 6-7 And winner is

Intro

As we start the third chapter of Peter’s letter we note three things in the very first sentence.

First Peter addresses them in a tender way calling them “beloved”. It is a clear distinction that Peter makes having just spent much of this letter warning about false teachers. He wanted to let them know that such conversation wasn’t because he was angry at them but rather because he loved them so.

Second, Peter mentions that this was the second letter which tells us that this was the same group of believers that he had written to previously. The importance of this is that often we think that our ignorance is due to lack of information, but it is clear that their ignorance was twofold.

Finally, Peter informs his readers that their ignorance was lack of activity in the right things (stir up pure minds) and a “crowded mind”, too much activity in the wrong things (by way of reminder). He had taught them these things previously when he had been with them. Peter was not writing to these believers about “New Subjects” ; instead he wanted to remind them of those truths which had changed their lives and would continue to do so if they had the right activity in the right things.

Peter changes from the topic of false teachers to the encouragement of the followers of Christ. There are two things that we can learn from the subject matter in this section.

It seems that one of the false teachings that was peddled had been to discourage Christians concerning the “Second coming of the Lord” (verses 4-5).
The second thing is that his readers would know where Peter had such hope and confidence as he defends his steadfast faith by giving examples from the word of God. Nothing had happened during the time that Jesus had ascended to change his view of truth.

It is important to examine for a moment why this particular false teaching was so effective in discouraging believers. As it magnifies why it didn’t work for Peter. The argument of the false teachers is found in verse 4-5 “Where is the promise of His coming”. Their reasoning was ,“For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” The false teachers that Peter calls “scoffers” in verse 3 saw the universe as stable, a closed system and determined that God does not intervene in human history.

They were saying things like, “You keep talking about the King, His presence, His ministry, His promises. Well, where is he in this evil generation? He is not attentive in His ministry; he is not doing anything.” It is easy for me to understand why this false teaching is effective as our vista is from time, space, and matter. And as those things move slowly through our lives from day to day we are tempted to believe in the inactivity of God, but nothing could be further from the truth. When time passes without the promise realized discouragement can set in.

Vs. 1-2 Unmixed minds

Vs. 1-2 By use of the phrase “I now write you a second epistle (both in which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder)”; that the problem with these first century believers was not lack of information! The word in the Greek for “pure” means unmixed and it is here that we see why confusion enters the hearts of saints, it isn’t the immediate abandonment of truth but rather the slow mixture of the world’s lies with God’s truths that eventually over time turns the heart. What Peter wants to “stir up pure minds” before they become mixed up has to do with the second coming of Christ. Peter also lets you know “HOW” he is going to do this in verse 2 as it will be making them “mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and savior.”

Peter is specific as to what these false teachers were mixing up in the minds of these believers in verse 4-5 as it had to do with the second coming of the Lord. Before we can understand Peter’s scripture encouragement we need to be specific as it relates to what about Jesus’ coming was under attack. Was it:

Jesus’ coming in the air to “catch” up His church?
Jesus’ coming to earth to reign?

The word in the Greek for “coming” in verse 4 in the scoffer’s argument is “to be alongside” and speaks of a personal presence. It is a word that is used for both the rapture and the coming to earth to reign. The context of verses 4-5 makes it clear that mixing up was not dealing with the rapture as verse 10-12 clarifies that it is the promise of the second coming that was being mixed up and the dissolving of the earth and humanities judgment that scoffers were deliberately mixing up. The reason this was effective was that Christians of all ages are prone to examine the promises of God under the microscope of earthly life, we suffer from “nearsightedness” that causes us to not trust the vision of the throne of God. The bible tells us that there will be a definite end to the world as we now see it and Peter will go on in verse 7 will even reveal how it will occur. There is going to be a great and climatic end to the world in a final judgment. But it is hard for even Christians to believe this. There are several reasons for this:

Natural self-preservation
Natural reason and human observation

Peter’s reply to them is not based upon reason or human logic as there is a flaw with using those as it relates to the second coming of Christ or for matters of faith in general. The works of God aren’t meant to be understood, to be figured out in time, space and matter, we are too limited. Now they are meant to be believed based upon the revelation of God and trust in His nature. Atheists trust in human reasoning above divine revelation and they do so knowing full well in human history that it is human reasoning that has been shown to be consistently wrong and not divine revelation. Scoffers, Peter says, are willfully ignorant. He picks out of human history one story that proves his point: the flood scoffers mocked and ridiculed the man of faith, Noah for 120 years. They mocked the only truth that could have delivered them from judgment.

Vs. 3-5 divine revelation verses human reasoning

Vs. 3 The first reason Peter says that you cannot believe the Scoffers but can trust in divine revelation is that divine revelation saw their mocking coming when these same Scoffers could not see divine revelation coming. Which accurately predicts the other? Not only does the divine predict that Scoffers will come, it goes further than generalities and gets into specifics revealing why they scoff as it has to do with their own “lusts” or evil desires. The bible predicts that instead of the gospel’s influence in the world improving the world, but at the second coming of Christ humanity will not improve, the world will not be getting better. In fact, the whole of the world will be in total apostasy and rebellion against God.

Jesus said in Luke 18:18 that “when He comes again will He even find faith on the earth.” Despite scientific advancements, educational standards and global communication we don’t see the improvement of humanity. Yet human reasoning says that our failures can be traced to the lack of advancement in those things. So how do they explain their failures, well they blame faith in God of course! And divine revelation predicts even that. We ought not to become depressed by the current condition of humanity as it has happened just as God said it would and indicates that His word can be absolutely trusted and is 100% reliable for us to be obedient. The word of God knows man better than human reason that has said humanity is going to just get better and better with advancements and the eradication of faith in the living God.

That’s what John Lennon sang about in his song “Imagine” the irony is that John’s death was at the hands of what he believed was getting better. If humanity is getting better and better then there is no need to insist that law abiding citizens should no longer have the right to bear arms as there would clearly be no need to protect ourselves.

Vs. 4-5 divine revelation also predicts the Scoffers argument being in a very vulnerable area of human suffering and injustice. The Scoffers see nothing changing, no intervention in humanity through human history. The point is that God can’t be trusted because He is either unable to deliver or unwilling to do so and on either of these he cannot be counted upon. The problem with this argument is that it is aimed at our perception of time in which Peter will correct in verse 8 when he corrects that God’s watch is more accurate than ours. Where is God the Scoffers ask, things aren’t changing, where was He when your wife was sick with cancer and died? Where was he when you lost your job etc. The argument ought to sound familiar as it is the same one used by Satan to Eve in the garden, “Did God really say?” God is not indifferent nor unable, but His ways are far above ours and His timing as well as His love and justice is always perfectly distributed!

Vs. 6-7 And winner is

Vs. 6-7 Peter goes to the true trusted source of divine revelation as the answer brings up the flood that human reason ignored even though they had a preacher proclaiming its coming for 120 years. These early human ancestors trusted their human reason above divine revelation saying, “Our human science reveals to us the impossibility of your faith.” Only to find out the horrible reality that their deaths proved the reliability of divine revelation. Scoffers fail in the same place every time, “divine revelation isn’t meant to be understood to be beneficial, it is meant to be believed and obeyed!” And even here the Bible predicts the reason for their willful disobedience, as in verse 5 we are told “For this they willfully forget: that by the WORD of God…”

2 Peter 3:8-9

“Doubting the Day of the Lord (part b)”

Vs. 8 Do you know the time?

Vs. 9 GST

Intro

In the third chapter Peter addresses one of the more effective false teachings that the false teachers employed that discouraged believers. Peter quoted their false teaching in verse 4-5 “Where is the promise of His coming”. Their reasoning was “For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” The false teachers that Peter calls “scoffers” in verse 3 saw the universe as stable, a closed system and determined that God does not intervene in human history. The issue was why this was effective, and it was because it called upon the deployment of “human reasoning” instead of trusting in “divine revelation”. The uncertainty of the present condition of these believers from the standpoint of human reasoning made it seem as though God was unable or indifferent to their suffering!

It is a choice we face today as we can choose to accept the ideas or philosophies of men, or we can trust God’s word. These philosophies are NOT divided based upon liberal and conservative viewpoints; they are far more sophisticated as their aim is to get the person away from the clear teaching of God’s Word. The world is NOT going to get better as “human reasoning” suggests but evil isn’t going to win, this is clear from the perspective of God’s word; God is not slack concerning His promises. There are different types of “human reasoning” ; some well-meaning Christian conservatives believe that their viewpoint is not only right but will win and we can legislate our way to God’s Kingdom. Oppose liberal ideology, take up arms, don’t take the vaccine…etc. It becomes an obsession “researching everything from rightwing internet sites” but all that happens is the world becomes convinced that the gospel of Christ is about what we are against and not what Jesus has finished on the cross. Any ideas or philosophies of men that gets us away from trusting God’s word is one in which we should abandon. One of the tactics of the enemy is division as we disagree on events that are affecting all of us, but aren’t the things that our heart should be focused on. To counter this Peter will set the hearts of these saints back upon God’s perspective as it relates to the adverse events in our lives.

Vs. 8 Do you know the time?

Vs. 8 Again Peter addresses his readers with the tender words of “beloved” to indicate his heart towards them. There are two points that Peter wants his readers to understand:

The phrase, “do not forget this one thing” in the Greek is, “stop allowing this to be hidden from you.” This indicates that the “Scoffing” false teachers were actively engaged in this deliberate deception. The deception was to encourage the willful ignorance of how “God views His activity in time”. First there is a difference between the “Scoffers” and the discouraged believer in their ignorance of this. The Psalms record such discouragement from honest hearts, but the nature of their question isn’t mocking faith but wondering why the delay! The Bible talks about the “SOON” return of Christ and here we are waiting 2000 years. The Christian needs to be balanced between the expectation and anticipation of Jesus’ return without slipping into the predicting of the specific time. To do this Peter says the fulfilment is: “with the Lord” the promise is not something that we can know nor is it something that we ought to spend all our time trying to understand when it will take place; it’s with the Lord! When we focus our attention on prognostication we can become discouraged when our predictions don’t happen, and we can also assume that God’s delay is somehow because of either “inability” or “disinterest”!

Vs. 9 GST

The next thing Peter says is “One day is a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Peter’s admonition is a quote from Psalm 90:4 where we read that, “For a thousand

years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. ” The point of this quote seems to be similar to Isa 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and so are My thoughts than your thoughts.” We must always remember that we cannot by our very nature understand the mind of God! We instead must approach our discouragement with regards to what we perceive as “God’s delay,” not a problem with God but instead one of human perspective! There is an infinite qualitative difference between how God views time and how we do.

We cannot view events the same as God for four reasons:

God sees them from eternity, and we see them from the prison of earth. This speaks not of altitude of the vista but rather what Isa 46:10 declares that God “Declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” God is above time, yet we are His creation bound by time and think and operate only in the sphere of time. So, when we think of the fulfillment of God’s promise and purposes, we must be careful NOT to ascribe to God our understanding and limitations.

To God, Peter reminds us that, “One day is a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In other words, God does not LIVE at all in the realm or terms and conditions of the process of time!

The second point is also found in the above statement out of Psalm 90:4 and that is God is above time but acts in time! Although God does not LIVE at all in the realm or terms and conditions of the process of time, He clearly has chosen to operate in this realm, He created it as He began it by creating the world in a moment in eternity and so doing started the clock of history! Though he is above it He set time in motion! God, the Watchmaker made the watch but doesn’t wear one but makes sure that the one that we are all wearing functions perfectly just as He made it to and everything in the world of time happens perfectly according to His plan and not always ours.

We need not worry about the events of our life; we won’t leave time one second before it is time!!! Everything in this world and in our specific lives operates on the exact same time GST time zone, “God Standard Time”. The problem we have is that we forget that God is not bound to work in the DST or Dale Standard Time zone that I often prefer. And when God doesn’t work in my time zone, I wrongly doubt the events of my life as if he is either “unable” or “disinterested”. The bible records 86 times the phrase “in due time” and that is a reminder that God was telling the readers that the events of their life were “right on time”, His time! God’s watch is a “divine Chronograph” that starts and stops only on His command and plans, not ours!

Vs. 9a The third point is one that is found in the 9^th verse as we find here what delays or stops time is far different with God than what controls our earthly time. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” What moves the hands of “God’s watch” is what we are told in Genesis 6:3 “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.” The moral conditions of when man no longer was heading the opportunities to get back in the right relationship with Him. As it relates to His second coming He will come back to humanity again as Genesis 6:5 says of the days of Noah a time when “The Lord sees that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only on evil continually.” That is not a fixed date on our calendars, but it is one that is fixed on His! He isn’t looking at a watch He is looking at the hearts of humanity and that will determine the fulfilment of time! We can pick a date on a calendar, but God is not obliged to keep it as He alone as Hebrews 4:12 reminds us “is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.

Vs. 9b Finally Peter reminds us that God “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”. He is not “tardy” with regards to His coming, He has made a promise, and He will keep it perfectly. God is greater than His promises, especially the way we wrongly interpret them. What has caused the “delay” from our perspective is not incompetence but instead LOVE for the LOST. Had God not delayed from our perspective I would never have had the opportunity to know His love for me. Oh, how we all should praise the seeming delay! God is always willing to save a person, but people are not always willing to be saved!

He respects the wills of His creation even those who are fighting against His Love for them, and His seeming delay is not tardiness to keep His promises but rather patience with fallen humanity giving them every opportunity that His love demands through history, but His justice is also on that same watch and only He knows when the two hands will meet!

2 Peter 3:10

Intro

In the third chapter Peter quoted the false teaching in verses 4-5 “Where is the promise of His coming”. Their reasoning was “For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” He calls them “scoffers” in verse 3 as they viewed God unable or inept to intervene in human history. The world is NOT going to get better, but evil isn’t going to win. This is clear from the perspective of God’s word; God is not slack concerning His promises. We must not focus our attention on prognostication, or we will become discouraged when our predictions don’t happen, and we can also assume that God’s delaying is somehow because He is either “unable” or “disinterested”! Instead, we need to approach our discouragement with regards to what we perceive as “God’s delay” not as a problem with God but instead one of human perspective! God is above time; He does not LIVE at all in the realm or terms and conditions of the process of time! Though God is above time but acts in time! We don’t have to worry about the events of our life, we won’t leave time one second before it is time!!! Everything in this world is operating on the exact same time as the GST time zone, “God Standard Time”. We often forget that God is not bound to work in the HST or Human Standard Time zone that we prefer. We must not ascribe to Him that He is either “unable” or “disinterested” because He doesn’t work in our time zone. God’s time and delays are not a date on a calendar but based upon Hebrews 4:12 as the Only One that “is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. What causes our seeming “delays” is not incompetence but instead LOVE for the LOST. We will now focus our attention on the 10^th verse where Peter will issue another encouraging truth with regards to GST, that not only is God Standard Time all the right time is a restorative time as it will set all things back as they were designed!

Vs. 10 It’s history

Vs. 10 One of the problems of history is that we look back to see if there are any patterns that can guide us to the purpose and plans of today. It has been said that “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” But there is some truth that who drives forward by looking back? We all want to know if there is an objective and purpose to life and people have looked to history to help to answer that pressing question. There are four views of human history:

Progressive optimism: Things have been bad in the past, but we are gaining progress and as science, education, environment, and government improve there will be a synthesis of utopia where it will all come together, and humanity will reach the 5th dimension, an age of Aquarius. It was first put out there by German philosopher Hegel of human advancement and progress. This philosophy of human history is very popular today and is what is pushing the world forward in thought today. People are basically good and if we can eliminate the things that go against this then we will arrive at a global unity, a one world government ruled by good people all operating in each other’s best interest. This was Karl Marx’s point of view.

Historical cycles: This was put forth by Greek philosophers as they said that history just goes around and round in circles. There seems to be an advance only to see human history fall backwards. They cite the “rise and fall” of empires and civilizations and there does seem to be some truth to this as we can see this in the quote in Eccles 1:9 where we read that “there is nothing new under the sun, what is, has been; what is to be, has already been”. The problem with this view isn’t the view but the lack of understanding that such things are not random or a matter of “fate” but instead are under the hand and control of God. We are not “spinning” out of control, we are spinning under God’s control!

Modern scientific: This view is based upon the second law of thermodynamics that says that things aren’t progressing; they are in a state of decline, running down, not speeding up. And that eventually the clock will just stop working altogether. Many scientists hold this view that life on this planet is not sustainable and that in time life will no longer be able to be supported and that will be the end of human life. In this view people begin to live only for now as we are all doomed, and history is a meaningless, lawless, and shapeless sequence of human events.

Biblical View: The last view is the one found in Peter’s words in verse 10. This view reminds us that human history is under the control of God and not open to fate. Humanity isn’t going to progress, they are going to regress and do so in spite of education, environment, and government. This is why throughout human history we see cycles of advanced development followed by decline of the essentials of the basic needs of people. Humanity is incapable of self-government and in time no matter what progressions they have made they will oppress and destroy each other. God knows this and is not blind to it and in fact is using humanities failures to point to the need for a relationship with Him. There is a purpose and a plan even in the chaotic mess that humanity has made, and God is working out His purposes even through the chaos.

Verse 10 declares three important truths to those of us that hold the “Biblical View” of history:

“But the Day of the Lord”: First, God’s Word states that God controls history. Human history is on a path that is fully understood and controlled by the Living God. There will be none that will escape the “Day of the Lord”. Though the time of its appearance remains a mystery, the certainty of its arrival is a fact! To clarify this Peter describes this as coming as a “thief in the night”. All of humanity is moving forward to a consummation of crisis that is unavoidable and unescapable apart from a relationship with the Living God!

“In which the heavens will pass away with a great noise”: Second, the Biblical view of history includes the disillusionment of TIME. All that has been and all that is and all that will be no more. Peter reminds the scoffers that said, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” It was God that built the watch that all of humanity has run on GST “God Standard Time” and here we are told that “heavens will pass away”. There is no better way to show fallen humanity that they don’t control their destiny and time than to destroy time itself! The Bible is not the history of the world, it is the history of God’s action towards a fallen creation redeeming those willing back to what He created and controls! In time we see God reaching out to Adam and Eve after the fall and clothing them in a slain lamb skin instead of the self-effort of a fig leaf. We see the ungodly works of Cain that killed the grace of God that Able practiced. We see the preservation of Noah and his family who trusted God instead of listening to the shouts of the world. We see God working through a man named Abram who though past the time of children promised a multitude that cannot be numbered. God walking through the pages of human history all seen in the Word of God!

“The elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” Finally, God’s Word reveals that there will be an ultimate consummation of God’s plan for human history. The clock hands are moving to the exact time when the second hand will be on the hour hand. Sin will be dissolved and right now we see this moving towards this as God is calling people out of the kingdom of darkness into the light. A New Kingdom is coming, Jesus said that it was not of this world, and we are told that this New Kingdom will never cease. What people have placed their hope in apart from Jesus is “melting away” it won’t last, they are all burning up! God is fashioning a new world, a new creation that will be devoid of sin and selfishness. A glorious world of peace, joy, laughter and praise! No more pain and sorrow, a place of unity and beauty! Why even death is destroyed and melted away and we are there not based upon our efforts but trusting in God’s!

Biblical History doesn’t promise us an amazing future based upon our goodness, ingenuity, and hard work. No, it says that those things will lead to our destruction. Those things will lead to wars and rumors of wars, troubles, and destruction. Christians should be expecting this and not doubt God’s plans as this is what Biblical history tells us will happen. The hope of the follower of Jesus isn’t on the world getting better and better but rather in a new heaven and new earth! Our hope and joy aren’t in this world, it’s in a new world! The events and disappointments in this life shouldn’t cause us to doubt God but it should get us to loosen our hold and hope in humanity and to grab a hold of the joy of the biblical view of history!

2 Peter 3:11-14

“What manner of person ought you to be”

Vs. 11 Biblical perspectives

Vs. 11-14 How we should now live

Intro

In the third chapter of 2 Peter, the author quoted the false teaching in verses 4-5 quoting their words, “Where is the promise of His coming” with regards to Jesus’ 2^nd coming. Their false teaching had discouraged true believers as they viewed their difficult present circumstances. The false teachers had said, “For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” The implications caused the believers to falsely assume that God was either unable or inept in intervening in human history. Peter’s answer was to remind them that the world runs on G.S.T. “God Standard Time” and not H.S.T. “Human Standard Time”. The problem isn’t God’s, it’s ours! He further reminded them that the world is NOT going to get better, but evil isn’t going to win either. In 3:10 Peter reminded them that God is not slack concerning His promises, He “will come as a thief in the night.” What causes our seeming “delays” is not incompetence but instead LOVE for the LOST.

Now in these verses, Peter, at the close of his letter will further “remind them always of these things” (1:12). The first thing I noticed in my examination of this section is the number of words that Peter used to exhort these dear saints. Three times he uses the word “therefore”, he also uses words, “looking, hastening and nevertheless”. Putting these words with phrases like “What manner of persons ought you to be.” and “be diligent to be found by Him..”, “beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness…” and verse 18, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord…” This leads the reader of this letter to realize that in light of what Peter has said throughout this brief letter there was a clear expectation of what his readers were to do in light of the information he had presented.

Vs. 11 Biblical perspectives

Vs.11 To set up the expectations Peter reminds them of two truths that they need to keep in perspective as they are called to live life in difficult circumstances:

Vs. 10, 12 “The day of the Lord WILL COME as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements WILL melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” “…the heavens WILL be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.” The First truth that followers need to be constantly reminded of is: “This world will be destroyed”!! There will be no reformation of this world, no amount of education or corrective reforms will spare this world. It is time that the Christian starts believing and living out the truth of the Word of God in regard to this world. This world is not our HOME, and that is true all the time and not just when we face adversity or circumstances that are contrary to our interests.

The Church needs to be more excited and living in the reality of our future home of the New Heaven and Earth than it is in being excited about the doorway of the rapture! We must STOP trying to make the earth our heaven!!! The world we live in will be destroyed, “purged” by fervent heat that will melt away “both the earth and the works that are in it”. The Bible speaks of two earth destroying events, the “flood of Noah’s time” and what Peter mentions here as the “Fervent heat” that will burn up both the earth and the works that are contained in them. The destruction of the current world and works by fire is to burn up all that sin has affected and in this we can see that from God’s perspective there is nothing that can be regenerated and reformed as in the time of Noah and the flood as things were allowed to grow back and repopulate. But that will not ever be the case again; humanity has a chance to see that even when you start with sin that has been “washed away” it will grow back just as strong! This life is NOT ALL THERE IS, and the fact is we at times become way too attached to that which the Bible says is passing away. We’ve become too entangled with the affairs of this life on earth and forgotten the glory that is to come.

Vs. 12, 13 “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” “We have, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” The second truth that Peter wanted the Christian to have the right perspective about is the “New heaven and earth”. The follower of Christ must guard their heart against trying to make earth their heaven as it will never produce hope during difficult seasons of life. Our hope is not in reformation, it is in recreation!!! Our hope according to the bible as odd as it sounds is in understanding that this world is doomed. The gospel message with regards to the world as we know it isn’t “repent or perish”, NO the gospel to this world is the world is going to perish!! In Jonah 3:4 “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”. There have been far too many “preacher-politicians” whose gospel has been that through government, education we can reform the earth into what the Bible declares is heaven.

This world will never be heaven and what the gospel says is that it is doomed so that those in the world will ask, “What must I do to be saved?” In 1 Corinth 2:9 we read, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” There are some in the Church that have switched the tags on their clothes and have been putting off Christ and putting on the old man! Saints, heaven is the first-time redeemed humanity will ever fully understand what Jesus gave up redeeming us. When we see Jesus for the first time in glory, we will see the meaning of life and the cost paid by Him so that we can have life! You will remember the time you were on earth during your journey, the time you wasted in pursuit of sin, the time you wasted in trying to make earth heaven. Oh, how I think we all shall regret what we wasted when we could have lived differently on earth. Let us not ever forget that what awaits us is the glory to come not

Vs. 11-14 How we should now live

Vs. 11-14 Peter gives a threefold answer to the question he asks in verse 11, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?” I will for continuity’s sake take these out of order to the verses as I believe that it will make more sense.

Vs. 12a “WATCH”: The word that Peter uses is “Looking for” which he uses three times in these verses. The question is, “What does Peter mean by the use of this word?” It is what we mentioned above that the follower of Jesus ought to be living with a blessed hope and expectation not upon the world being reformed but instead upon the word of God being fulfilled! I’m not saying that the Christian can’t be informed and even involved in making the world we live in a better place but that is NOT OUR HOPE! We can be active in restraining evil and its effects, but we will never be able to rid the world of it. The question the believer needs to ask is what is our hope…. What are we looking for? The things we observe in this world are temporal and things that we cannot see are eternal! We must not be so earthly minded that we are no heavenly good!!! Saints we need to spend each day remembering that this world is not our home and not trying to transform it into heaven but instead allow God to transform us for heaven!

Vs. 11, 14 “WORK”: The second point Peter makes with regards to what kind of persons we ought to be is defined immediately in the words “holy conduct and godliness”. The right perspective will cause the believer to be engaged in the work of sanctification as we are being transformed into the image of JESUS. The follower of Jesus not only “looks for these things” they are to “prepare for them”. “Seeing that all these things are going to be dissolved, what are you living for?” This is such an important point that Peter reemphasizes it in verse 14 saying, “Therefore be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” The realization ought to bear fruit in our conduct and you can see in a person’s character if they truly believe the above truths. The Bible never asks the Christian to live a good life apart from reminding them that this life is to be lived in direct view of our eternal life! We claim to be children of God and believe the word of God, well are we preparing for what He has promised us? That is what John would write in 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Vs. 12b-13 “WITNESS”: The last point Peter makes centers around the phrase in verse 12 “hasten the coming of the day of God”. The question is what does Peter mean by this exhortation? We see that the motivation behind it was the dissolving of the present heaven and earth and the promise of the new heaven and earth in verse 13. There is nothing with regards to the G.S.T. that could move the fixed time ahead as we cannot change the purpose and plan of God. So, this cannot refer to things fixed upon God’s calendar but instead it must have reference to the moral atmosphere that God has placed His church into. The way we can “hasten the coming of Jesus” is by doing the work of God in sharing His love, by going into the world and making disciples. The Christian and the Church must “hasten His coming” by spreading the gospel, by preaching and by doing mission work and as we do so we are doing everything to bring about that fixed date.

Peter says that this is what the church and the Christian can do if we have the blessed hope of a new heaven and earth. We are watching for the soon return of the Lord, working on our own heart and lives, and witnessing to everyone we meet of the hope that lies within!

2 Peter 3:15-16

“The Fight of Faith”

Vs. 15a Consider that

Vs. 15b-16 Truths about stability

Intro

Peter has some final points to make in this little letter before he closes it with a strong exhortation in 3:17-18. The letter as a whole is an “Encouragement against discouragement” and if we skip down to verse 17 we know the aim of this exhortation as Peter writes; “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS, being led away with error of the wicked.” Here Peter tells the Christian of the greatest danger facing the follower of Christ…. “Our Fall from our own Stability in Christ”! We Christians love to talk about the things that are aimed at us from a fallen world system, we love to talk about some in the government wanting to shut down churches from meeting, but the truth is many Christians haven’t been meeting for years! We live in an “unstable world” but again the truth is that our biggest problem isn’t the “government mandates” it is the professing follower of Christ who has fallen from their OWN Steadfastness.

I have heard many a pastor quote Hebrews 10:25 as the basis of forsaking the governmental orders of not gathering together as a church but they need to read the context of this passage again as it reads: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” This exhortation isn’t aimed at defiance against a tyrannical government mandate, NO it’s an exhortation aimed at the lack of steadfastness of the believers and followers of Jesus who have “fallen from the lack of steadfastness in their own faith.” The greatest need for the follower of Jesus who has been established in grace is to strive to continue in it. We do so against the tide of discouraging trials that will take a determined awareness NOT to be led away! It is a similar warning as Paul’s to the Galatians in 3:3 where he wrote; “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Now we will examine this exhortation of Peter to understand not only the reasons why we FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS but the antidote to doing so.

Vs. 15a Consider that

Vs. 15a First we will examine, according to the entirety of the letter, the three main areas of attack against our stability.

First, in 2:9 and 3:4 we see that there was great pressure placed upon “the seeming delay of the return of the Lord.” We have looked at this extensively but clearly Peter needed to continue to “remind them always so that they would be established in this present truth”, 1:12. Throughout this letter Peter prepares them as did Jesus of the reality that in this life you will have trials and tribulations. It shouldn’t be a surprise as we have been warned beforehand. This is important so that discouragement based upon ignorance and the lack of information can be thwarted. No one likes “bad surprises” the unexpected suddenness of unknown adversity can shake a person lose from their stability in Christ, so Peter has reminded them that such adversity is what is to be expected and he does so ahead of time so as to that they may say, “Oh, Jesus spoke of these trials and tribulations, but we can be of good courage because He has overcome the world!”

God has taken great effort in His word to prepare us as much for “WHAT IS COMING” as He has for “HIS COMING” and our problem with discouragement is because we have ignored the FIRST message and only focused upon the second. Consider Paul’s words in Gal. 6:9 “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we SHALL REAP if we do not lose heart.” It is losing heart that is the greatest thief to our reaping in due season!

Second, in 2:12-22 Peter speaks of “The lies of false teachers” that had been effective in shaking the followers of Jesus away from the stability of the firm foundation in Jesus. We will not revisit all of their lies but clearly in verse 17 Peter was concerned that such lies were having an effect upon the believers as he said that they were in danger of being, “led away with the error of the wicked.” It is not an easy thing to be a Christian in these days of information age. Sometimes I think that the greatest false teaching isn’t “miss teaching” but the lack of “teaching”. So much of what is being heard in our churches today isn’t necessarily “untrue” it just isn’t “THE TRUTH”! Due to increased challenges facing the church many a pastor’s stands against not gathering has granted them a visible platform but with this opportunity instead of teaching the word of God they have spent their time talking more about their defiance which neither glorifies God nor further His kingdom….please pastors “stop talking about Covid”.

Finally, it is clear that Peter is not offering “New information” instead he needs to remind them as their problem was NOT in a lack of knowledge but rather in a lack of application of what they already knew. As such the third and most difficult area that attacked their stability in Jesus is clearly stated in verse 17 was their “Own propensity towards instability and laziness.” We need only to look at our own life and we will discover the amazing determination and effort we possess with regards to our pursuits to achieve what interests us and at the same time examine the lack of determination when the beneficiary is the Glory of God and the furtherance of His Kingdom!

Our instability has far more to do with apathy, indifference, and laziness then we are willing to admit. And the truth is my mentioning this fact could very well be the reason someone used to leave this Church and seek another as they didn’t want it pointed out! It takes an extremely great obstacle for something or someone to stand in between a person for what their heart longs for as they will endure anything in its pursuit. But when it is the things of God, loyalty to the gospel and the furtherance of His kingdom the smallest inconvenience will stop any and all progress! This points out the true problem…it is that my heart is longing for the wrong things. Jesus said this in Matt 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Having shown this throughout the entirety of 2 Peter the question next is what is the antidote to FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS?

Vs. 15b-16 Truths about stability

Vs. 15b-16 Before we look at what enables the believer not to “fall away from our own steadfastness” in light of what is often brought forth in the Church as cures from this illness I’m taken back by what Peter doesn’t mention. The fact that Peter doesn’t bring up these popular remedies can only suggest a few things:

They were not known yet and the treatment in the Word of God lacked insight that today’s church now has available. To believe this I would have to be incredibly arrogant and have a view of a large man and a small God and that for me takes faith that I cannot possess.
That today’s remedies are not part of the cure but rather symptoms of the illness! This is the only position that I can agree with! As Peter doesn’t bring up any appeal in four areas that all the Christian pop philosophies do:

Effort: I see no words of Peter aimed at human will power and grit! He doesn’t say, “Try harder…put you back into it!” Peter’s antidote has nothing to do with human effort as he is well aware that just like in the garden the night of Jesus’ arrest when asked to stay awake he could not and fell asleep!
Education: Neither is this an appeal for further education or catch phrases when facing difficulties and adversity. Peter doesn’t say, “Well brothers…there is no use of crying over spilt milk!” Peter doesn’t say, “Just keep looking up … .keep positive … .what’s the use of complaining!”
Exercise: Another thing Peter doesn’t say or exhort is half time rally cry, “Do your best team… and let Jesus do the rest!” No amount of practice will keep us from falling from our own steadfastness if we do not have the right thing to start with!
Experience: Finally, Peter makes no appeal to their past experiences, “I know things haven’t turned out as you expected, and the Lord hasn’t returned but think of all the positive mountain top experiences you’ve had … .look at them and cheer yourself up!”

Having said that Peter gives “What can keep the believer stable!” And he says it is, “The longsuffering of our Lord” as such “Longsuffering is salvation”! In other words, the thing that we need to be stable is the very thing that caused us to be stable in the first place… “The Word of God” or more specifically the gospel! We confront the contradictions in our life that come about through adversity and stick to the word! We must not fall into the trap of using what we don’t know to interpret what we do know! We don’t always know the purpose of the circumstances in our life, but we do know in Whose Hand they have passed through, and we must use Him who we know to interpret what we don’t know. Peter does this by reminding them of the security and stability of the WORD OF GOD!

Notice the words of Peter with regards to Paul’s letters: In verse 16 Peter writes that in all Paul’s letters, even though some of the things that Paul wrote are difficult to comprehend, people try to twist or choke out the truth as they did the rest of the scriptures! The amazing aspect of Peter’s statement is that even at this early date Peter affirms the inspiration of Paul’s letters as being equal to the first testament as well as the gospels. Paul’s letters are God’s Word not Paul’s opinions! We don’t need human wisdom when we can open our bibles and read God’s truths that transform! The choice is simple: Man’s wisdom or God’s wisdom!

Next notice the descriptive words Peter uses to describe Paul as, “our BELOVED brother”. These words in light of the history of Peter and Paul reveals that Peter had already overcome the greatest obstacle that hinders our stability in our faith … .Pride which keeps us from being teachable. You remember Paul’s description of their disagreement in Galatians 2:11–13 as it says that: “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.”

How wonderful it is in the first century church that when corrected a man like Peter could take such correction and still recognize that the instrument God chose to use didn’t keep him from growing in grace!

I also notice that Peter is ready to admit that some of the things of God’s word through Paul were “hard to understand”. But the difficulty in understanding must never be an excuse for our lack of stability. The best gems are often found in the hardest rocks, so stay at the work as you will be rewarded if you remain. But it is certain that you will never gain the treasure if you leave the dig! It is here that I want to give you several truths that will enable you to be a successful miner in God’s word:

Study the word carefully and with a heart that desires to learn!
Study the whole of scripture, not just topics!
Study with an open mind so that you will have an open heart!
Study with a broken heart to grow more in love with Jesus!
Study with a bent knee praying the truths into your own life!

2 Peter 3:18

What does it mean?

Intro What does this exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, mean?

Intro

Today we close Peter’s 2^nd letter with what can only be described as the “divine expectation” and the “Believer’s responsibility” to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The very first word in verse 18 is “BUT” and it is a contrasting word, in which we only need to look at verse 17 and read the exhortation found there in the word “beware” to see the contrast. There the warning in verse 17 was focused upon “avoidance” whereas in verse 18 the reader is taken to the “positive in contrast to avoidance”. The Christian life is NOT only about what to watch out for, things to avoid keeping us from stumbling. No, it is equally about advancement as the best way to avoid falling backward is to advance and move forward!! There can be NO “static stagnate pathway” that will lead the follower of Christ closer to the goal of God’s glory radiating from their life! Peter does NOT write about some hypothetical vague maturity in the words “GROW” but instead tells his readers specifically what area they were to “GROW IN” “….grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The only problem we have in this verse is to be found in us as we can clearly see “Who” we are to grow in and what such growth will produce in us “grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Our “Old Man” or our “Flesh” has developed amazing ways of “self-centered preservation”. Even in the clarity of such divine expectation” and the “Believer’s responsibility” it will adopted “intellectual agreement” as a way of keeping itself alive to avoid obedience. Quote the verse, agree with it, say it often and nod in enthusiastic approval and in so doing you can avoid having to “GROW IN … .grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The question is “How can we avoid this pitfall of self-centered preservation”? I believe it can be achieved if we Christians can ask and answer “Three questions with regards to the “Believer’s responsibility” to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

What does this exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, mean?
How can I do or apply the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life NOW?
How will I know if I have been applying the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life?

This will be the outline that we will follow so that we can avoid our self-centered preservation!

What does this exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, mean?

Before we can apply this or any other biblical exhortation, let alone evaluate our application we MUST discover exactly what is meant in the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The key word in this understanding is the word “GROW” and it is a descriptive word that causes the reader to ask, “What things necessitate GROWTH”?

It is here that we begin answering the first part of our three questions:

For something to GROW it must already be alive!: You can’t plant a rock and expect to produce a crop. This means that this exhortation presupposes new life in Christ as a prerequisite. No growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may indicate that such a person was never alive to start with! There is never an appeal in the Bible for those dead to behave as if they are alive. The bible is not interested in the conduct and behavior of those who are not Christian. The gospel never comes to a person who is not a Christian and offers them a way to live a better life! No, it comes to a dead individual and offers them a way to be alive! The Christian who Peter makes this appeal towards is “different” then those whom they share this earth with, they are alive and have become partakers of the Divine Nature. This implies an obvious need for “self-examination” and that in itself may be the start of the answer that we are alive!

Life naturally leads to GROWTH!: The word “GROW” makes it impossible for this exhortation to mean that the Christian to apply this has to “ADD” something to their life to achieve development! This is universally true in all things that are alive they naturally do what “alive things do, they GROW”. The very fact of life is that it always contains the idea of GROWTH! Wherever you find life you find the inherent possibility of GROWTH! There is no better way I know to test my life than to see if it has the possibility or capability of GROWTH. If it cannot GROW then it is clearly not Christian! I need to make sure that I clarify “GROWTH” is not mere “addition”. We can all “ADD” things to our lives that are not growth. The difference is mechanical versus organic! Things that are alive are “organic” that is they “naturally reproduce”. Mechanical growth is a measurement but not signs of life. You can take and add to a pile of dirt and keep adding to it over time but left alone that mound of dirt won’t on its own GROW to a larger mound of dirt.

Organic GROWTH is a process and not instantaneous: We cannot look at “methods” of growth instead we are looking at the “mystery” of growth as it relates to the process. You can be aware GROWTH is happening, but you cannot make it happen or even see it happen in the moment. What I mean by this is that “GROWTH” is never sudden, instead it is “progressive and gradual”! A Christian is never “Suddenly Sanctified” as they are “Suddenly Saved” or “Suddenly Glorified”! Spiritual Growth is similar to physical growth as it is gradual; you never see a baby make a “quick instant jump into an adult”. Instead, it’s a gradual step by step process from infant to toddler to young child to teenager to adult! It’s progressive in that there can be no skipping of steps in the process.

Growth is specific and not random: Peter is clear in what direction our “GROWTH” will be in as he writes that it will be in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter has clear objectives in the believer’s growth as it is in two areas both found exclusively in “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Peter is not talking about the believer growing in “graciousness” though it may include this characteristic. Instead, Peter aims deeper to say that our growth will be in the realm of “GRACE” and that can only mean that we will grow in our life in the area of the life that we have due to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That GRACE is alive and develops, expands and increases as we go forward in our faith! We GROW in our appreciation, understanding and application as we realize that we are the special object of God’s unmerited favor and kindness to us who have not earned one drop of it! God is continually wanting to extend this favor towards me even though I never deserve it. Growth can be seen as I become increasingly aware that I am NOT GETTING WHAT I DESERVE OR EARNED!

No, I am getting grace! Furthermore, I am

receiving “the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The believer is also growing in the ONLY ONE in whom is hidden all TRUTH! I should be growing in my knowledge of Jesus, who He is, What He alone has done and will continue to do. I will grow in trust in what He has done with all my sin; past, present, and future! As I grow I will be at more peace as I know that He has won, and the events of this life are only temporary and even though I can’t see it yet are all pointing to eternity! I will Love Him and what He loves, I will major in what He majors in and want only what He wants!

Growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will enable us to meet the contradictions and the adverse situations and circumstances we face in this life! The more we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the more peace and joy we will manifest during difficulties. Paul wrote of it this way in Rom 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Next week will take up the other two questions asked and answered by verse 18:

How can I do or apply the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life NOW?

How will I know if I have been applying the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life?

2 Peter 3:18

How do I apply it?

How can I do or apply the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life NOW?

Intro

Last week we started the close of Peter’s second letter with the “divine expectation” and the “Believer’s responsibility” to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We noted the expectation and responsibility…(GROW) we recorded the specific areas of growth…(Grace and knowledge) we also were blessed to be given the exact location and only place where we can find these two areas…(Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ). The truth is that the most effective way for the Christian NOT to stumble is to advance and move forward!!

I confessed to you all that I suffer from a “self-centered preservation” that has adopted “intellectual agreement” as a way of keeping its self-alive to avoid obedience. It is because of this that the Holy Spirit led me to ask, “Three questions with regards to the “Believer’s responsibility” to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The first of which we looked at last Sunday: What does this exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, mean?

Now we will examine: How can I do or apply the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life NOW?

And the following week will examine: How will I know if I have been applying the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life?

Again, by way of review we looked at:

“What things necessitate GROWTH” and recorded four truths about growth:

For something to GROW it must already be alive!
Life naturally leads to GROWTH!
Organic GROWTH is a process and not instantaneous!
GROWTH is specific and not random!

Now we can look at the second of our three questions asked and answered by verse 18:

How can I do or apply the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life NOW?

It seems that Christianity has tried to answer that question by two very different viewpoints:

The first view is that growth is mechanical and as such there is no way a person can Grow in grace while being planted in this world system. They say you will need to come out of this world to grow and because of the difficulty of ALL of Christianity to leave the world they have created both a special class of people as well as special locations to achieve this. We have seen different groups attempt this departure from the world as they try to create special communities in order to stimulate “GROWTH”. I saw one such place in our recent mission’s trip to Mexico as the Mennonite’s who originated in Germany, but faced difficulties sought to reestablish this special place in Russia before failing then moved to Canada and finally relocated to Mexico. The problem they realized wasn’t just government or location, but they have realized that it is an internal personal struggle as they kept on kicking out their own people for the fear of the world invading their special place until in the 90’s when they realized that they had kicked out more for the world then there was those in their special community who were “Growing in grace”! The Roman Catholic church also did this by creating a special class of people calling them the Religious and laity and then established places for the religious to retreat from the world’s so- called monasteries. But these haven’t worked very well either and it is so exclusive that it cannot be seen as a way to achieve any separation and growth if only a few can even have access to it!

The second view is organic and starts by what we saw last week that realizes that we cannot make ourselves grow by changing our external environment. The organic viewpoint sees that we can notice certain necessary conditions that promote growth and are essential to it and they can be found not in a “special external place” but in every heart that seeks to “GROW”! The Bible supports this viewpoint as Paul wrote in Eph 3:17-19 in his prayer saying, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” The author of Hebrews in 10:16 quoting the prophetic promise of such growth from Jer.31-33 said that “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.” The work was already done by God in our hearts when we received Jesus. Now we are simply applying the conditions that necessitate growth and our responsibility to make certain that we are open to those conditions so that we will GROW!

Since this is an “organic” viewpoint We need to examine organically what necessitates growth naturally in the physical realm and then plug that into the spiritual realm.

There are four things that are essential for growth:

Sunlight: The passage before has already given us this telling us that the source of energy and light that is most essential for our growth is “Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. So, the SUN = THE SON! He is the source of all we need to grow in grace as well as knowledge. He is the only one that provides the resources necessary for our maturity. Beyond Jesus being essential for our maturity looking at the organic realm of a physical plane I see three other elements that are necessary for our growth. Food, water, and air! Spiritual growth would be impossible without these three elements provided by Jesus.

Food: Think of any and all life and you will see the necessity of food for growth and as a Christian the Bible is plain with regards to what the Christian diet is to be on spiritually, the word of God. Peter had already commented on this in 1 Peter 2:2 “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” The Christian that doesn’t have a consistent diet upon the Word will become unhealthy and stunt their growth in grace and knowledge of Jesus. Those who have grown in grace and knowledge have all done so by maintaining a constant diet upon God’s Word. Every Christian ought to cultivate a heart of continually being a student of God’s Word as it is food for the Soul and the Spirit. Those who are immature in their faith are those who don’t read their bibles and are not seeking to apply its truths to their lives. It is for this reason that consistent attendance to a church that teaches through God’s word can be extremely beneficial to a person’s maturity in Grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. I know of no other way to be healthy spiritually than consistency to the Word of God!

Water: The second essential element necessary for growth in grace and knowledge is “PRAYER” or “communication” with the Lord. It is what waters the word of God as we remind ourselves the truths we have you read. Such communication must not just be one-sided where we talk to God but equally important that we learn to listen to God as we are still before Him. And think this is a time which we are meditating or contemplating on the truths of God’s character and nature as seen in His Word and His creation. Prayer also involves “waiting” upon and not busying yourself with the “things” of this world and life. I think every believer can benefit from giving themselves a “timeout” at least 30 m minutes a day where we can be still before the Lord with the cares and concerns of our heart not where we are telling Him what to do but rather listening to Him tell us WHO HE IS!

Air: Finally, if we are to have growth in grace like growth of the physical realm there must be “AIR” and I think that air for the believer is that FAITH in the work and promises of God. The faith isn’t in our way being the best or that God will work things out in the way we want Him too, when we want Him too but instead that we have the faith and trust to believe that the way in which God’s chooses to work will be in the way that is best and consistent with His character and nature and because of His love for us best also for us even when we can’t see how! We will need to grow in this AIR that uses what we know to be true about God to interpret what we don’t know about our present situation and circumstance and choose to breathe the AIR of His nature instead of the lack of air of our understanding!

If the Christian is to grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus, they will need to do three things with regards to these essentially elements that ensure our growth:

We will need to avoid the things that keep us from these essential elements. This is why Peter warned against the “junk food” of the false teachers as the danger wasn’t just the poison of false teaching it was that it was keeping them from the healthy food of the above things. If we know that something is standing in between me and my growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, then I must be desiring to cut whatever it is off.

We will need to “exercise” in the right things as well. As already mentioned, the Christian life isn’t just about avoidance, it’s about practicing the right things. I can avoid doing wrong habits but that alone won’t enable my health to become strong. That will take exercise and not just a right diet.

We will need to learn to rest. I believe that this is far too often undervalued in terms of our practice. We can have all the necessary things for growth and even be avoiding the wrong things and exercising the right things but if we are not getting the rest needed it will hinder our growth. This is one area that I neglected for most of my ministry and have learned that I didn’t grow spiritually as I could have and when Donna got sick and eventually went home with the Lord God showed me that He had placed me in a place where I had to learn to rest in Him and be still! We can spend all our time “trying to Grow” praying to God but see little maturity because we fail to rest in Him. I have grown in this area as I had no choice but to rest in His loving arms.

Now next we will conclude with the third question: How will I know if I have been applying the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life?

2 Peter 3:18

“How will I know if I have been applying?”

Intro

For the last two lessons we have looked at the closing of second Peter verse 18 where we are clearly shown the “divine expectation” and the “Believer’s responsibility” to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We noted the need to understand three things about this exhortation due to our “self-centered preservation” that often adopts “intellectual agreement” as a way of keeping itself alive to avoid obedience. The “Three questions with regards to the “Believer’s responsibility” to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The first of which we looked at last Sunday: What does this exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, mean?
Now we will examine: How can I do or apply the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life NOW?
And following that we will examine: How will I know if I have been applying the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life?

In response to the first question, we noted four truths with regards to: “Things that necessitate GROWTH”:

For something to GROW it must already be alive!
Life naturally leads to GROWTH!
Organic GROWTH is a process and not instantaneous!
GROWTH is specific and not random!

Then in answering our second question on application we examined four organic necessities for spiritual growth that mirrors the natural process in the physical realm:

Air: Finally, if we are to have growth in grace like growth of the physical realm there must be “AIR” and I think that air for the believer is that FAITH in the work and promises of God.

In light of the question in application I came up with three things the believer will need to do with regards to these essential elements that will ensure our growth:

We will need to avoid the things that keep us from these essential elements.
We will need to “exercise” in the right things as well.
We will need to learn to rest.

Now we conclude 2 Peter with the third question: How will I know if I have been applying the exhortation of “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in my life?

How will I know if I have been applying the exhortation in my life?

The final question I asked myself was based upon my understanding of my propensity towards “self-centered preservation” as I often convince myself that I am applying the word of God in my life and need not do so in some area. As it relates to growth and spiritual maturity in my life I believe that two statements can serve as reminders that may spare me from “self-centered preservation”:

If I think that I have “arrived” or that there is no more room for “growth” in spiritual maturity in my life then it is a clear indication that I am NOT GROWING in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.
Second, my objective to Grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus is NOT being better than I was as that is subjective and nearsighted in its aim. NO, my aim is, and true measurement must only be to be continually more useful in displaying God’s glory as there becomes more of Him and less of me!

There can be no doctrine of “perfectionism” as it is a contradiction to Peter’s exhortation to “GROW” as if we were “PERFECT” then we would have no need to grow! Our ambition is not to be impressive in comparison to our fellow Christian’s, instead it is to be more useful for our Lord! We are not looking at ourselves, instead we are looking at the Author and finisher of our faith. Along with those 2 reminders I see four other indicators that I’m applying the exhortation to Grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus:

My examination must NEVER be an examination or comparison with others: If it is this then it is most likely a “self-justification” to stay the way I am as I am examining another at my expense. We are “Justified by faith” and NOT by thinking we are better than another believer who is on the same path we are! Our growth and comparison isn’t based upon what someone else is or isn’t doing!

My examination must NEVER be based upon my activity: Our growth in Grace and knowledge isn’t visible due to our business and activity in spiritual pursuits. Physically the most immature are often the busiest especially children when compared to adults. When we start out our examination of our own maturity with thoughts of self-justification that sounds like badges of honor or trophy’s we are claiming activity as the indication of maturity.

My examination must be upon the standard of the word of God: The next two ways of self-examination serve as the standard, first it must be based upon the word of God. Our test is to see the maturity described in the Bible then to lay our life next to it to see if we are growing towards int’s truths or away from them. The Christian is clearly seen in the New Testament writings, it is also helpful when we see in the Bible the characteristics that are given to us that the writer declares as not signs of maturity in growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

My examination must be upon the conformity to the character of Christ: In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he wrote to them in 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christi Jesus…” Our examination can best be seen in our conformity to the life that Jesus lived while here on earth. The gospel accounts of how he lived in this world give us a clear example of how to view our growth in His grace and knowledge.

Sometimes I find in my own life it is easier for me to gauge my progress in Growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus by what ought NOT be seen in my life. So, looking at this a different way by asking the question with regards to my spiritual maturity; “What are the characteristics of an immature life?” Again, this can be seen in the physical realm as we can see six characteristics or signs of immaturity that are normal when a person is young and growing but as they mature ought to be seen far less frequently in the spiritual realm:

Instability: A child is unstable and can quickly change as they are emotion driven. They can be easily frightened, easily depressed and discouraged. Also because of these emotions they can be easily persuaded to change positions to benefit better emotions. While this is normal as a child it ought not be normal in a mature believer who is growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus.

Lacking understanding: They lack experience and understanding which tends to make them prone to a lack of discernment. Paul wrote about this immaturity in Ephesians when in Eph 4:14 he wrote, “that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” The immature Christian is always the first victim of false teaching as they haven’t grown in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

Arrogance / insecurity: Immaturity often manifests itself in an insecurity that is seen in self-promotion and excessive communication about one’s own self. Immaturity likes to be the center of attention, like to be an exhibitionist that wants to be out front, talking about their experiences, education examples but always in the positive. They love to talk about all the things they are doing to show themselves as mature believers. When they lack the education if they are older, they will boast in their biological age and years in Christ to indicate their maturity in Christ.

Prone to excitement: Another sign of immaturity is that a child is in love with entertainment and the spectacular and exciting experiences. These “experiences” are what they gauge maturity upon as it never requires transformation of their character. Large numbers are an indication of anointing and the larger the better as it creates more thrills and chills.

More interested in experiences then relationships: The immature believer is more interested in the “teacher” then what is taught! Paul had to correct the Corinthian church as it wants to compare and identify with the teacher more than grow in the truth that was being taught. Most of the immaturity in this regard also centers around the “spectacular” and the reason for this is that such adherence requires NO personal transformation. Speculation upon end times, standing against things that have a following and politics are usual topics that appeal to the immature!

More interested in the gift than the giver: Finally, the immature are always more interested in the “gifts than they are in the graces” of a Christ-like character! All the attention being paid upon the “blessing” and no attention upon He who alone has “Blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.”

I believe that I ought to regularly ask myself three questions with regards to my growing in grace and knowledge:

Am I the worst sinner I’ve ever met? Do I see and recognize first and foremost the blackness of my own heart before I recognize the blackness of other hearts? Am I wanting more to be delivered from my own faults and failures above pointing out others?

Do I recognize that this world is not going to improve? Am I less surprised by the wickedness, do I understand that the state of the world is a spiritual problem and can only be changed by the work of Christ? Am I less lured into the temporary trinkets and bobbles of this world?

Do I love God more than I did? Do I desire more of Him and less of me? Do I seek a deeper relationship with God above only asking that He gives me more of what I need? Is my greatest ambition in this life to see that every moment of the day He will be glorified in my life? I pray that we make finding the correct answer to these questions our life’s quest!