Growing in the Faith

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This is a sermon based on 2 Peter 1:1-4. It is the first in a series of messages on 2 Peter and it emphasizes the necessity and expectation that Christian believers will not become stagnant or remain static in their faith, but will grow and mature in it.

Written Excerpts:

2 Peter 1:5 ^(NKJV) But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,

Introduction:

I don’t need to tell you that we are witnessing a major transition take place in our society and culture. It has been happening behind the scenes for a few decades at least. But much more recently it has been “coming out of the closet” and blatantly paraded by the media into all of our homes and in our faces. One of the characteristics of this transition, aided and abetted by the national media, is the destruction of truth. We are rapidly learning that we hardly know any longer whether we are being lied to or not; whether events are staged or spontaneous; or whether our perceptions have been manipulated in order to arrive at foregone conclusions.

I remember times in my life when I used to wonder what it must be like to live in a country such as those in the former Soviet Union, where you never could know for sure what the truth was about current events or even about history. Now, we’re living it here. 

But, these conditions are not new. As I indicated, it has happened in many other nations, and it was also prevalent in biblical times. Several of the NT books of the Bible were written specifically because of false teachers who had cropped up among the believers and the churches and were distorting the truth. One such book is the book of 2 Peter.

In previous churches where I served I did a series of sermons based on verses 5-7 in chapter one. I would like to share those messages with you over the next few weeks. Perhaps I will end up doing a study through the entire book of 2 Peter before we’re finished, I don’t know for sure if that will be the case or not. For today’s message, I want to highlight the message found in a few words in verse 5: “… giving all diligence, add to your faith….”

So let’s begin our study today by considering some background information about this letter and then looking at Peter’s message to Christian believers.

I.       Background on 2^nd Peter.

Peter is writing his epistle to Christians in Asia Minor – possibly the same churches to which he wrote his first letter, although the more general salutation in v. 1 of the second letter would allow for a wider audience. (“The strangers/pilgrims who are scattered throughout [names of regions]” vs. “Those who have obtained like precious faith.”)

It would appear that the occasion and purpose of this letter is to refute some teachings of false teachers that had infiltrated the church or emerged from within the churches. These false teachers perverted the doctrine of justification and promoted a rebellious and immoral way of life.

The delay of Christ’s return doesn’t mean he is not coming. He is coming and there will be a judgment. (3:3ff)

God’s salvation and grace doesn’t mean that believers do not need to live a holy life. Holiness as a lifestyle is expected. (3:11,14)

II.     Salutation:

Peter views himself as a slave to Christ. 

He claims apostleship. His authority is not his own, but was given to Him by the Lord Himself.

Writes to those who obtained same precious faith as he and other apostles. 

·     God’s grace is open and accessible to all, which is to say to apostles and non-apostles. (Expositor's Bible Commentary)

·     This faith they have obtained is the same precious value as that which the apostles have. How much do we value our faith?

·     Faith is provided by the righteousness of God and Christ.

*    The word [righteousness] has the ethical associations which we find given to it in the Old Testament; here it means the fairness, the justice of God. (Tyndale Commentaries)

Traditional greetings. (Grace and peace to you) “Be multiplied” – i.e. more than enough.

Knowing God and Lord Jesus brings grace and peace. 

III.    Describes Effects of God’s power (3-4)

The omnipotent power of God gives everything we need for life and living godly. (cf. Titus 2:11, 12).

·     God has called us to glory and virtue. 

*    God has called us to live above the kind of life we were living prior to knowing Him. (Reflect His glory and His character.)

*    The point is that the One who calls, enables. (Tyndale Commentaries)

·     God has given exceeding great & precious promises

*    “exceeding great” – Gk. Superlative form of “megas” from which I assume we get the word “mega” we use today to mean “big, huge, etc.”

·     By these (i.e., His glory and virtue or goodness) we join Him in His nature. 

*    Taken together, the triple agency of the promises, the power and the person of the Lord Jesus regenerate a man and make him a sharer in God’s own nature, so that the family likeness begins to be seen in him. (Tyndale Commentaries)

*    Being partakers of His divine nature means that we are fleeing (leaving, separating from) the corruption that is in the world. There are a lot of Christians (including preachers) who talk as though there is no difference between the conduct of a believer and a non-believer. 

They emphasize the fact that one is forgiven and the other one isn’t. But, Scripture clearly teaches that a true believer and follower of Christ will have more and more changes in his/her life that distinguishes them from those without Christ.

So God has provided everything we need to live the Christian life of faith. 2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV) … His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness….

IV.    Growth is normal

Give diligence to add to your faith. Don't be satisfied or complacent with present state! Yes, you have obtained this same faith that we have (v. 1), but don't be content to just remain at the same level of faith or Christian character.

Start with Faith then “add to.”

“Add to” – probably best understood not as a numerical adding up of more and more qualities, but “…develop[ing]  one virtue in the exercise of another: “an increase by growth, not by external junction; each new grace springing out of, attempting, and perfecting the other.” Render, therefore, as Rev. In your faith supply [mix in] virtue, and in your virtue [mix in] knowledge, etc.” (Vincent’s Word Studies)

God never intends to let us stay in the same condition we were when He saved us.

Conclusion:

(A. W. Tozer Sermon: Victors of Victims) If Satan opposes the new convert he opposes still more bitterly the Christian who is pressing on toward a higher life in Christ. The Spirit-filled life is not, as many suppose, a life of peace and quiet pleasure. It is likely to be something quite the opposite. Viewed one way it is a pilgrimage through a robber-infested forest; viewed another, it is a grim warfare with the devil. Always there is struggle, and sometimes there is a pitched battle with our own nature where the lines are so confused that it is all but impossible to locate the enemy or to tell which impulse is of the Spirit and which of the flesh. There is complete victory for us if we will but take the way of the triumphant Christ, but that is not what we are considering now. My point here is that if we want to escape the struggle we have but to draw back and accept the currently accepted low-keyed Christian life as the normal one. That is all Satan wants. That will ground our power, stunt our growth and render us harmless to the kingdom of darkness. Compromise will take the pressure off. Satan will not bother a man who has quit fighting. But the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of eternity just cannot afford such a thing.

We will be coming back to continue looking at this matter of growing in the faith. We’ll be talking about what it means to “mix in” all of these qualities that Peter mentions here.

Let’s close by singing the hymn, Wherever He Leads I’ll Go.