ES2PeJ04 Jude 1-2, 2 Peter 1:5-9
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5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
Before we continue in 2 Peter, I would like to look at Jude’s first two verses. As you already know there is close correlation between these two letters though we will leave Jude behind for a few weeks after today as we continue to look at 2 Peter 1.
Jude 1-2
Jude 1-2
We have already looked at the relationship of Jude to Jesus in being His brother and also His slave. So we continue in the second part of verse 1 and into verse 2. I want us to grasp some important things said here.
Jude sent this letter to those who are called, sanctified and preserved as it says in the NKJV. In the NIV and other translations we find it says: called, loved and kept.
Called, loved and kept. Called by the Spirit, loved by the Father, kept for the Son. In fact we see the Triune God at work in all three of these areas.
Jude made special mention of these three words for a reason and he wanted us to grasp it.
Called
Called
God’s people are God’s because He called them. God initiated this in eternity past setting in motion a plan of salvation.
So, then we have heard the Gospel through a meeting or through a friend or even on the door, and we who have responded are the true Christians who have heard the voice of God. We have heard the Holy Spirit calling away from the world and the world’s empty promises. We have felt Him convicting us of sin and egocentricity. The Holy Spirit revealed the love of Jesus. We have felt drawn to the power of the cross where we understood that He died for us, in our place. Jesus became the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world and more specifically our own. We have heard God say follow Jesus and hear Him and live to serve Him and have responded ‘yes’ to Him. This is what makes us a Christian.
But, maybe I have been presumptuous, perhaps there is someone here who has heard the call of God on their life but has not yet come to Jesus, who has not said ‘yes’ to following Him wholeheartedly, who has not put their faith and trust in Him to save them from their sin. If this is you, then as it says elsewhere in Scripture: Today, now, is the day of Salvation. Do not harden your heart to Him and His call. But receive Him into your heart.
When it was not possible for us to do anything about our plight God sent Jesus Christ and by Him drew us to Him and we responded because He called. He called you by name.
Loved
Loved
Is this not the centre of the Gospel? God the Father loved us. We are told this in many places but the key verses are
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
So, plainly God loves everybody. So, how is this different for the Christian? For those who have not come to Christ there is also anger. In one place God says I am angry with the wicked everyday. He would rather them come to faith in Christ. His love is such that He does not rejoice in their death. But they have spurned His love, rejected it even though it is freely given and available.
But for us as Christians His love is not mixed with anger for we have been reconciled to Him through Jesus whom we received. We have passed from death to life, from condemnation to freedom. He loves us with an eternal, unboundedunshakeable and unconditional love.
Kept
Kept
Once we have come to faith in Christ and therefore reconciled to God He will not let us go. This is a promise we can hold onto and it is Jesus who does the work of keeping us. We have Peter as the great example. Satan had to ask for permission to test Peter but it was Jesus who prayed for him. Though he messed up Peter was not let go for Jesus had prayed for him. And this is what Jesus does even for us now:
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
It is Christ who keep us until He returns to take us home as indeed we find at the end of this letter:
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
We find the theme of being called, loved and kept in Isaiah:
6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
As a result of being called, loved and kept our hearts rise in worship towards God and we shine in the world.
Continuing today in
2 Peter 1:
2 Peter 1:
Verse 4 recap
Verse 4 recap
DIVINE NATURE
DIVINE NATURE
Two week’s ago we saw that we have been given the power of God to live for God and not for ourselves or the flesh, we have been given His promises, of which we have seen in Jude means that we have been called, loved and kept. Now, we are also partakers in the Divine Nature meaning the old is gone and the new is come. To be a partaker of the Divine Nature is to have the image of God restored in us.
Verse 5
Verse 5
Intro
Intro
As this is the case, Peter says, there are things for us now to do. Let’s recap why we are to do what Peter says we should do:
There are seven things that was God’s part in our salvation mentioned by Peter in the first four verses:
faith
and righteousness (v. 1).
grace
and peace (v. 2).
life
and godliness and all things that pertain to life and godliness (v. 3).
the divine nature or new man (v. 4).
As a response to this salvation we are now to do seven things, which we find in verses 5-7. But before we get to these things it is necessary to show the importance of these things.
We have been given everything we need to achieve it in verses 1-4 and now it requires some exertion, that is, we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We are required to put some effort in, we are required to give all diligence to the things contained in this passage - it is not to be passed over lightly but it is for us to put into practice. The word diligence that we find here in verse 5 means literally 'speed'. We would think it means to be slow but no, here it means that we are to get on and do these things quickly, urgently, to pull up our socks!
These things are so important that Peter’s stress upon them is quite incredible. If this is so then that means these verses are some of the most important in all of Scripture for us to take note of and need to be returned to again and again. Whilst we will come to these verses soon let us hear Peter’s rehearsal about all this:
⇒ Note v. 12: Peter says that he is going to always preach these things despite the fact that the believer already knows them. But this is not all.
⇒ Note v. 13: Peter says that as long as he is living, he is going to stir up the believers by reminding them of these things. But this is not all.
⇒ Note vv. 14–15: Peter says that these things are so important that he is going to see to it that the believers are reminded of them even after his death.
The whole purpose of these particular verses is not going to surprise you for it is the whole purpose of Peter’s letter - it is so that we can know Jesus. We are to put our efforts into what follows, so let us concentrate and in order to do this because we have to grow and be fruitful disciples.
Anecdotes, Incidents, and Illustrations When a Christian Grows
Doctor Bonar once remarked that he could tell when a Christian was growing. In proportion to his growth in grace he would elevate his Master, talk less of what he was doing, and become smaller and smaller in his own esteem, until, like the morning star, he faded away before the rising sun.
So, we are going to slow right down in here in 2 Peter whilst we look at the verses to the end of verse 15 but especially verses 5-7. If Peter thinks it is important to iterate and reiterate and reiterate then we need to give due care and diligence to what is said here: So, let us hear these verses again:
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
What are we to do? To add.
It is like a mathematical term. We are not to subtract but to add. And we are to add these seven things together. It is these things that Peter lays so much on the line for. We are to do this with all the power that Christ gives us and to do so with all our might. We are to supplement our faith.
FAITH
FAITH
All these additions are additions to faith and each one listed is a foundation upon each other. Why upon faith? Well, it is our faith that separates us from everyone else. Without faith it is impossible to please God. In the religious world we find that there is faith in lots of religions and most of them have good works as part of them. That is really the definition of a religion. It is someone who does good works. Note that this does not sound any different to us for we are also to do good works. Is this not part of these seven things we are to do? The difference is that other world religions are trying to get the approval of God or gods and goddesses or people. But as we have already heard, without faith it is impossible to please God. True faith needs to be defined - faith is putting our trust in Jesus for our salvation; it is a work that He has already completed.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
We are no longer about trying to win the approval of God in order to gain salvation - for we have already received it as a gift. And seeing we are called, loved and kept it is a gift that is ours forever.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
So, as a result we do good works in response to the incredible love of God in Christ Jesus.
VIRTUE
VIRTUE
The first thing we add to our faith is virtue, as it is properly translated. This is a word not often used today but it has a very long history. We find Plato using it in his writings 400 years before Jesus and it would seem that Peter has made use of his writings in his first letter.
Let’s hear Plato then Peter...
The true votaries of philosophy abstain from all fleshly lusts, and hold out against them and refuse to give themselves up to them … they who have any care of their own souls, and do not merely live moulding and fashioning the body.
To repeat Plato said “abstain from all fleshly lusts, and hold out against them … they who have any care for their own souls”
And what was it that Peter said in his first letter?
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
Well, that is almost word for word.
And let us hear what Peter says in complete context:
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
In Plato’s day up to Peter’s and beyond there was a shared sense of what is good and honourable and right. And both Christians and non-Christians alike were saying: Abstain! Don’t fall to the idea, very prevalent today that there is no connection between the body and soul for what is done with your body can damage the soul. Unfortunately our shared morals are no longer shared in our time. Today we are very sensual and too much about this world and its passions.
Paul also indicates these things to us in
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
So, let me clarify what is virtue. To live a virtuous life is to life a life worthy of praise and of honour. To live honourably. To do the right thing no matter what. In 1 Peter we heard that we are to live such good lives that God is praised and honoured.
But I have left the best to last about the word virtue. It is this word that describes Jesus in verse 3. Being the first thing we are to add to our faith it evidently means that we are to become like Him. In fact, you could say that is one of our main objectives as Christians:
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
As we have been predestined to be like Jesus that will be the end result but plainly Peter thinks that we should be already on the way to it.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We need to put all that we can into our Christian lives. We are to improve ourselves. We have a choice, we have freedom of choice, we can stay as we are or run the race with perseverance and with practice.
We need to improve upon what we have already achieved. As Paul says in
16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Let me remind again that we are to put all our energy and determination and work into adding to our faith. Today we have looked at virtue. Faith has to express itself in good actions. We are to grow in goodness, as we realise an error in our ways we are to extinguish it from our lives. If we using crass jokes, or using words that are dishonouring to Jesus, or see in us jealousy of others, or covetousness, or gossiping, or whatever the case is; when we discover that there is something in our lives that does not match the Word of God then we are to confess it to God and ask for His help and power to overcome. We have His divine power to help us. His promises to encourage us.
Let us remember also the words of Jude that we are called, loved and kept. We did nothing to be called, nothing to be loved, nothing to be kept yet we have these as precious promises and gifts to us because He is love and He is faithful to His own. It is as a result of all these that we add to the faith that has already been given to us. Let us, therefore, live honourable lives before Him.
Benediction
Benediction
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Benton, J. (1999). Slandering the Angels: The Message of Jude. Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.
Blum, E. A., & Wax, T. (Eds.). (2017). CSB Study Bible: Notes. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Elwell, W. A. (1995). Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Gardner, P. (1998). 2 Peter & Jude. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.
Helm, D. R. (2008). 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: sharing christ’s sufferings. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). 1 Peter–Jude. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
Moody, D. L. (1898). Anecdotes, Incidents, and Illustrations. Chicago; New York; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 20:02 18 May 2019.