Truth and Falsehood - 2 Peter 2 - November 28, 2021

 2 Peter 2 Truth and Falsehood

Good morning! We are going to look at 2 Peter 2 this morning, the whole chapter, that’s on page 1018 in the pew Bibles.

I know that a whole chapter is a big bite when studying like we have been but Peter is really only dealing with one topic in the whole chapter and it all really kind of works together.

So let’s start with prayer and then we’ll get to work.

Let’s pray.

So before we get to the text, let’s deal with the context. I just want to go over a few of the things that Peter has reminded us of before we jump into the deep end of chapter two.

So let’s remember Peter’s audience, the original recipients of this letter. They were predominantly Jewish Christians living away from Jerusalem in what is now northern Turkey. The fact that Peter’s audience were already believers in Jesus is important because it makes some of the things he says make more sense than if he was writing to people who didn’t know Jesus already. The fact that they were predominantly Jewish Christians makes a big difference, especially in our text for today because of the references to the Old Testament that they would have been very well acquainted with.

And that’s really the important point of the context as we look at this text today. Peter references several Old Testament accounts that were common knowledge to those Jewish believers. This is important because it should keep us from getting lost in the weeds. I think that will become clear when we read the text.

We also need to remember Peter’s statements that the Lord’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and goodness.

To further flesh out that idea, Peter says that we God’s great and precious promises, and we have the testimony of the Apostles, eyewitnesses of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as well as the words of the prophets. This is all compiled in what we now call the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

So knowing that we have all we need to live as Christians and everything we need to know is recorded in Scripture, armed with that understanding we can turn to chapter two and be a little more prepared for what is coming.

So let’s look at that together, 2 Peter 2.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. 

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” 

The first thing that Peter points out here is that false teachers have always been around and that is not about to change. The Bible is full of accounts of false prophets and false teachers. Church history is full of examples, bookstores are full of examples, the internet is a never ending source of false teaching.

The church has been under constant attack, believers face a constant barrage of falsehood and the sad fact is that people believe the falsehoods.

Peter points out that false prophets and teachers have always been around and they always will be, and as sad as that fact is, Peter points out an abiding truth: the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. 

Peter points out God’s track record when it comes to rescuing the godly and punishing wickedness.

I got a little nervous at the thought of dealing with the fallen angels here in this text, who they are and where they are, but Peter references it as established fact. Satan was cast out of heaven and the angels that followed after him were as well. Peter’s point was not to deal with how and when and why that happened but simply points to the established fact that God knows how to deal with wickedness. 

He cast angels out of heaven, He destroyed the wicked in the flood while rescuing Noah and his family, He destroyed the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to make them an example of what will happen to the ungodly but rescued righteous Lot.

…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment… and we can trust Him to continue to do it.

The other important point that Peter makes is how to recognize false teachers. We can trust the Lord to rescue the godly from trials, but we must also be equipped to recognize false teachers and false teaching to ensure that we stay in that group that he calls, “the godly.”

Peter says in verse one, “false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

Heresy and heretics are not foreign words to our vocabulary, but what do they really mean?

Heresy is simply false teaching and a heretic is someone who teaches or follows that false teaching.

Destructive heresies are false teachings that lead people away from trusting Jesus as Savior for the forgiveness of sin and denying Him as Lord by disobeying His Word.

What we must do is train ourselves to recognize falsehood, and Peter gives us several indicators to look out for.

In verse one Peter says that some false teachers will deny the Master that bought them. That Master is Jesus and He bought us with His own blood on the cross. Clearly denying Jesus and the price he paid for our sin is a clear indicator of a false teacher. Some false teachers profess to follow Christ but deny Him in their teaching and in their living.

Verses 10-19 give a summary of the tell-tale signs of false teachers: namely: pride, lust, and greed.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

I could go on and on, maybe even name some names of false teachers, but I think it would be more valuable to remind us all of the secret to recognizing falsehood and that is the knowledge of the truth.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness, by which He has granted to us His very great and precious promises, so that through them we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

We have the promises of God, the testimony of eyewitnesses, we have the words of the prophets, this is the truth, and where can all this be found? In our Bibles.

We will only be able to recognize falsehood when we are well acquainted with the truth, and we have it right here in the Bible.

False teachers will tell you that the Bible is too old to be trusted, that it was written too long ago to be relevant today, that it doesn’t apply, that it can’t possibly be applicable to today’s culture, it was written by men and men are fallible and prone to weakness.

But we know that every word is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.

False teachers will promise liberty and freedom but deliver only bondage to sin, selfishness, pride, lust and greed, they promise more than the Word of God, as if all that we have been given by God, all that is available to us through faith in Jesus Christ, is not enough.

But God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, we have God’s Word the Bible the source of absolute truth.

Get to know your Bible and you’ll get to know the One who inspired it.

Get to know your Bible and you’ll be able to recognize falsehood.

Get to know your Bible and with God’s help you’ll be able to discern between truth and error.

Get to know your Bible!

Amen.

The Lamp in a Dark Place - 2 Peter 1:16-21 - November 21, 2021

 2 Peter 1:16-21 The Lamp in a Dark Place

Good morning! We are back in 2 Peter and we are going to focus on verses 16-21 this morning, and that’s on page 1018 in the pew Bibles.

Though we are going to focus on verses 16-21 I want to go back to verse 12 so that we can get a running start, set some context, and remember Peter’s purpose in writing this letter.

So let’s look at that together.

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Let’s pray.

So for the last few weeks we have been talking about the qualities that we should add to our faith and what it looks like to mature as disciples of Jesus Christ. But that was not Peter’s sole purpose in writing to the church.

Peter wanted to remind the church of what was most important, and he made every effort to make sure that the church would be able to recall these things even after he had died.

But the things that he wanted the church to remember was not just how to behave, not just what kind of building materials to use, the gold, silver, and precious stones, but to also remind them of the very foundation that they were to build on.

The church needed to be reminded of these things back in the First Century because, as we will see when we get to chapter two, false teachers were trying to deceive Christians to follow after them, to abandon what they had  learned and pledge allegiance to them and their falsehood.

Praise God this teaching was preserved because the same thing is happening today.

Peter gave the church two reminders of the sure foundation of the truth that they had been taught: the word of credible witnesses, and the Word of God Himself.

This text was Peter’s reaffirmation of the truth, the foundation on which we stand by faith, and the ground he stood on to defend the church from the false teachers in chapter 2.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

What is Peter talking about? The Transfiguration of Jesus.

Let’s look at Peter’s own account of this through the pen of Mark in Mark 9.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” 

2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 

9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

In any court of law cases stand or fall on the word of eye witnesses. Peter was an eye witness of the power and coming of the Lord Jesus.

He witnessed the majesty of Jesus when His face was changed and His clothes became intensely white. He witnessed it when Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father when He spoke from the cloud and said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.”

Peter is telling the church, “we didn’t make this up, me and James and John, we saw this with our own eyes, and we heard with our own ears God Himself declared that Jesus is His Son. This was no cleverly devised myth, this is the truth.”

Peter was an eye witness, he was there when Jesus walked on water, he was there when he fed the five thousand, he was there when Jesus gave sight to the blind and raised the dead and healed the lame, he heard Him preach good news to the poor.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

And then, as Alistair Begg put it, “Peter did what all good pastors must do: point men and women back to the Bible.”

Not only do we have the word of eyewitnesses but we also have the Word of God. 

19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

John Calvin wrote, “The truth of the gospel is here simply proved by a twofold testimony, that Christ had been highly approved by the solemn declaration of God, and then, that all the prophecies of the prophets confirmed the same thing.”

The prophetic word that Peter mentions here was specifically what we call the Old Testament. Peter declares that the Word of God was more sure than even his own testimony and the truth of the promise of Messiah in the Old Testament was confirmed by its fulfillment in Jesus.

I know that I don’t do a lot of preaching out of the Old Testament, but please don’t ever take that as that it has no value or is not important anymore.

Matthew Henry wrote, “Read the Old Testament as a prophecy of Christ, and with diligence and thankfulness use the New [Testament] as the best exposition of the Old [Testament].”

We have the gospel testified to by the Apostles in the New Testament and the gospel confirmed by the prophets in the Old Testament.

Jesus is on every page of Scripture, both New and Old Testaments and we need to pay attention to it as a lamp in a dark place.

The word Peter used for a dark place means: squalid, miserable, filthy darkness.

This is not only the world that we live in but it is the condition of our hearts apart from Christ, there is no one who is good in and of themselves but we have the Word of God that shows us the light, it shows us who Jesus is and what He did for us and what He is continuing to do for those that trust in Him.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

And we will have that light as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path as it says in Psalm 119:105, we will have that light until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts.

This phrase is a subject of lots of debate. But as we have seen, Peter is writing to believers, to people that already have faith in Jesus Christ, so that day dawning and the morning star rising can’t mean when people come to faith in Jesus. 

So if that isn’t it, what could it be?

We have the light of the Word of God, both Old and New Testaments, given by God Himself as Peter says there in verses 20-21, as a lamp to navigate this filthy darkness and squalid misery of this life now, and when Jesus returns the day will dawn and the Morning Star will rise in our hearts. 

Jesus said in Revelation 22:16, “I am the Root and Descendant of David, the Bright Morning Star.”

When the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts is the dawning of eternity at Christ’s return, when we shall see Him face to face, not in a glass darkly, on that day we will know Him fully even as we are fully known.

How do we know that all this is true? Because the Bible says so and the Bible is from God Himself and God the Holy Spirit is the best interpreter of His own words.

20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

I want to close with Peter’s short sermon to Cornelius and his household from Acts chapter 10 where he covers all that I have said so far just much more briefly…

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

This is the simple gospel, predicted by the prophets, witnessed by the Apostles, preserved in God’s Word, the Bible, and proclaimed to you today.

Amen.

Power and Progress pt3 - 2 Peter 1:10-15 - November 14, 2021

 2 Peter 1:10-15 Power and Progress pt3

Good morning! We are continuing our work through the second letter of the Apostle Peter. Today we are going to look at verses 10-15 of chapter one, page 1018 in the pew Bibles.

We have been looking at this first section of Peter’s second letter to the elect exiles of the dispersion which, in the First Century were the churches spread throughout Northern Turkey. But praise God, He has preserved His Word so that we can read it almost two thousand years later just as it was first delivered and translated into our own language!

I know that I said that we are going to be looking at verses 10-15, and we are, but we can’t look at just those verses without examining them in their context so we are going to read verses 3-15 so that we can try to preserve the continuity of the context of our text for this morning.

Let’s look at it together.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Let’s pray.

Early on in the life of our little church family the elders adopted a statement that became a kind of measuring stick for everything that we do as a church family. If somebody had an idea to do something and it didn’t really fit with our little phrase we didn’t do it. We haven’t done it perfectly, and I’m sure if you’ve been around for a while you could make a case that there have been things that we have done that didn’t fit. Sorry about that.

Making and maturing disciples was that original statement, later amended to: Making and Maturing Disciples Together as a Family.

If there was an idea that didn’t fit that statement, we don’t do it. Simple.

What isn’t simple is what exactly “maturing disciples” means. Or at least it may not appear that way at first.

Making disciples is easy enough to understand, calling people to faith in Jesus through the gospel. When a person puts their trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sin they become a Christian, a disciple of Jesus.

And that begins the journey of maturing as a disciple, meaning that once a person is saved, they are just beginning not ending their journey. We don’t simply board the cruise ship called salvation and sit on the deck waiting patiently until we arrive at Heaven’s port.

As we discussed last week, we are not passengers on a cruise ship but we are crew members on a battleship, each expected to do their part to serve the captain and the crew and rescuing those around us that are drowning in their sin and welcoming them aboard to become part of the crew through faith in Jesus.

Peter laid out a list of qualities that are to be added to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. All born from faith.

He said in verse 8-9, 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Having and increasing in these qualities are what maturing as a disciple looks like. Once we come to faith in Christ it is our responsibility to learn and grow and increase these qualities in our lives, when we don’t we become ineffective and unfruitful, when we don’t, we willfully close our eyes to the truth of our salvation having forgotten that we have been forgiven of all our sin.

Now, all of that to bring us to our text for this morning.

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There is so much we could talk about here! Lots of people have!

Peter uses some of the same words several times in this whole text, one of which is the word for “diligent.”

When he wrote in verse 5 to “make every effort,” it is the same word as he used in verse 10, only here he admonishes the church to kick it up a notch, “be all the more diligent.” He uses it again in verse 15 saying that he will make every effort.

So just as the church is to be diligent to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, we are to be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure.

This phrase has often been separated from its context and that hassled to a great deal of confusion about what Peter really meant when he said it.

Calling and election are two thoughts that go hand in hand, one dependent on the other. The main idea is that of election, in which God, in His sovereignty and grace, chose people out of the world for Himself, and then, in His omnipotence and grace, called them to faith in His Son, not based on anything that we had done to deserve it but based solely on his grace.

These are ideas of much debate but the Bible is quite clear on this truth.

But if we leave it all alone by itself, “be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure…” It would seem like God needs further convincing, like we need to show Him that we really are saved somehow.

Friends, God is not the One that needs convincing!

If you have faith in Jesus Christ it’s because God, in eternity past, willed it so, and when the time was right, he called you to faith in His Son, you were made a disciple.

But now that you are a disciple you need to mature as a disciple, you need to grow in your faith. This is not an abstract idea of impossible to measure mystical growth.

Listen to the verse again with more context…

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

JP Lange wrote, “depend not on the case of the dying thief.”

The dying thief was the one crucified next to Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him in His kingdom and Jesus told him that he would be with Him in paradise.

That should be an encouragement for those who are converted on their deathbed, that it is never too late for someone to be forgiven of their sin through faith in Jesus. It is not, however, an excuse for us to wait until the last second to live for Christ.

Being diligent to add the qualities to our faith of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love is how we make our calling and election sure, it’s how we confirm it to ourselves and those around us.

The Christian life requires God’s grace for our salvation and our diligence to live it out.

Calvin wrote, “Labor that you may have it proved that you have not been called nor elected in vain.”

Paul addressed this idea in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15,

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Through faith in Jesus Christ the boat we are on will make it one day to Heaven’s port, and our diligence to mature as disciples, to add these qualities to our faith, will determine the reception we receive there and whether we come in to port with our flags unfurled and welcomed in like Olympic champions or if we come paddling in clinging to a plank like we escaped a shipwreck. 

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Amen.