2008 You Pick ‘em Series – “What the Bible Says About…Assurance of Salvation – Part 4”
2 Peter 1:1-11 – “Never Give Up; Never Give In”
Sermon preached at Curwensville Presbyterian Church – February 17, 2008

 

Prayer Introduction: This morning we conclude a four-part look at the first requested sermon topic: “What does the Bible say about…the assurance of salvation?” Can we know, for certain, in this life, that we are saved and will go to heaven and receive eternal life?

Assurance #1 – 1 John 5:13 – God says, Yes you can have assurance [may have it; but not must have it]. 1 John 5:13 – “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Assurance #2 – 2 Corinthians 13:5 – Examine yourselves and you can have assurance. Have you asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord? And is your relationship with God, through Christ, causing you to repent of actual sins – so that you can see you are in the faith?

Assurance #3 – Romans 7:14-25 – Struggle well and you can have assurance. We will not be perfect in this life; but through Christ we will actually delight in God’s law and desire to do good.

And so we come to the last part, asking, “What about those who have fallen away from the faith (in word and/or deed)? Can you lose your salvation? Let’s turn to 2 Peter 1:1-11 for the answer. But first, let’s pray to the one who has given the answer…We pray now for the preacher in the pulpit. He is not worthy, but by your grace he is able. And so it is through Jesus Christ that we pray – Amen!

 

READ 2 Peter 1:1-11: As we walk through this passage a couple of verses at a time, I would have you see – Assurance #4: Grow in godliness and love and you can have assurance.

 

I. Everything We Need (vv.1-4)

Everything We Need comes in verses 1-4. In fact, in the introduction of this letter from Peter we have the gospel. Faith is “received” as a gift from God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Faith is precious (i.e. nothing is more valuable); and is the “same as” the faith of Peter. We are simply called to grow in that faith (which is what this passage is especially about).

            Indeed, verse 2 tells us that grace & peace come in abundance through knowledge of God – knowing God personally through faith. Indeed, the primary way that we know we are saved is because we know the Lord by the “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children” (Romans 8:16; cf. WCF XVIII.2).

            Charles Kingsley – I do not want merely to possess a faith; I want a faith that possesses me. E. Stanley Jones – Faith is not merely you holding on to God – it is God holding on to you.

            And so, verse 3 says – “Everything we need for life and godliness [is given] through the knowledge of him who called us by his glory and goodness.”

            Again, the good news of the gospel is in this verse. God called us by his glory and goodness (not our glory or goodness); and through the knowledge of him (i.e. faith in him) we have life and godliness.

            I like how one Bible paraphrases it – “As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life” (NLT).

            A godly life – life and godliness. Notice that these two things come together. When we talk about salvation (and assurance of salvation) – we must not think of it simply meaning that we get eternal life in heaven. Salvation brings not only life (eternal life), but also godliness. Jesus Christ is Savior, by whom we have eternal life AND Lord, by whom we have godliness.

Verse 4 says – Through this glory and goodness God’s greatness and goodness) you can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

            Wow! Let’s think about that for a moment. We can escape the corruption.

            Not escape the corrupt. Others will still be corrupt. But you don’t have to join in (you don’t “have to go there”) with their corruption. Rather than participating in worldly corruption, we can participate in the divine nature.

            Too many people miss out on salvation – and the assurance of salvation – because they don’t go far enough. They only think about life – and not godliness.

            It’s like the family that saved for a year to experience the glories of Disney World, packed the car in anticipation, drove hundreds of miles, and stopped at the first Disney World sign and had their vacation (Paul Tripp).

            Go all the way. God allows us to participate in the divine nature – to have his Holy Spirit actually dwell in our hearts – so that we have everything we need for life and godliness.

 

II. Simple Addition (vv.5-8)

And so I would have you see the Simple Addition of verses 5-8, beginning with the words, “For this reason.” Which is like saying, “Why would you not?!”

            If someone told you that each day there was a hundred thousand bucks sitting at the bank for you – and you just needed to go to the bank to ask for it to be deposited into your account, why would you not go there immediately – and daily (first thing in the morning)?! Duh!

            If we can participate in the divine nature and escape worldly corruption – and get EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness – why would we not go to Christ immediately – and daily (first thing in the morning)?! Duh!

            Cash in. Get the good deposit. Get the Holy Spirit, “Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it – to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:14).

            Our sinful nature causes us to become complacent or lazy in the faith. And so, through the power of Christ, let us make every effort (and is an effort – going to the bank is an effort – going to Christ is more of an effort, because of this sinful flesh and sinful world that keeps distracting us) to add to our Faith + Goodness + Knowledge + Self-Control + Perseverance + Godliness + Brotherly Kindness + Love.

            These things are not added one at a time, as though you get one perfectly and move to the next. We work on them simultaneously. Right now, let’s quickly look at each one.

            Faith = knowledge of God (do you know God personally – have you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior? Have you asked God to send the Holy Spirit into your heart? (cf. Galatians 4:6).

            Goodness = Good as God defines it; not as man defines it.

            Knowledge = This second letter of Peter’s ends with the words, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Our church’s vision statement has 3 parts: Know Christ, Grow in Christ, Show the Love of Christ. To grow in Christ, through personal discipleship as well as participating in the discipling opportunities of the church (Worship, Sunday School, Bible Study) is the means for participating in the divine nature – and gets assurance of salvation.

            Self-Control = Jen tells of teaching 2nd grade class at a Christian school in Florida. At the start of one school year they were talking about the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – Galatians 5:22-23) and little Matthew raised his hand and said, “Mrs. Ledford I need to tell you that I don’t have any self-control.” None of us do by our nature. But if we participate in the divine nature – the Holy Spirit will give us this fruit of the Spirit.

            Perseverance = Nowhere does the Bible say that we will be perfect. But the Bible does say we can persevere. Indeed, all believers may have their assurance shaken from time to time. But as we persevere in the faith we gain greater assurance.

            Godliness = We’ve already seen that life and godliness come from participating in the divine nature. May we desire godliness

            Brotherly Kindness = You know the Greek word for “brotherly kindness” – “Philadelphia.” Jesus says the second part of the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourselves. 1 John 3:10 says, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” I remember when I was in 9th grade asking one of the youth leaders – “Does this mean I need to love my sisters too” (I have three of them). And he said, “Yup!” Oh man! I am definitely going to need the Holy Spirit to do that!

            Love = This is, of course, the great commandment. Love the Lord and love one another. “Faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.” And none of this is possible apart from actually participating in the divine nature – actually having the Holy Spirit living in our heart.

 

III. Apostasy: Nearsighted & Blind (v.9)

And so we come to verse 9, which speaks of those who do not have these things – because they are Nearsighted and Blind. The fancy word is “Apostasy” – the person who professed faith, but has fallen away from the faith in word and/or deed.

            If you have been saved, you cannot lose your salvation; but there are many who turn away, because they never had never truly been saved in the first place.

            1 John 2:19 says of one group, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”

            The 18th chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith (the chapter on Assurance of Grace and Salvation) begins – “Hypocrites and unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God, and estate of salvation (which hope of theirs shall perish)” [Westminster Confession XVIII.1(a)].

            Indeed, there are many who have false hopes. In the Book of Job, of the hope of the godless it is said, “What he trusts in is fragile, what he relies on is a spider’s web” (Job 8:13). Unregenerate man hopes in cheap grace – grace without discipleship, faith without repentance. And it is as flimsy as a spider’s web.

The Prophet Micah rebukes the unregenerate and unrepentant, “Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord and say, ‘Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us’” (Micah 3:11).

            Indeed, the hypocrite says, “I believe in God, Jesus and the Bible and all that stuff” but lives a carnal life – devoid of repentance – and thinks judgment will never come.

How long will we turn a blind eye to the sins of those church members who profess to be Christians – and yet do not show any fruit of salvation; so that they have a false hope? They are hell bound, and we stand by saying nothing.

And it confuses our own assurance of salvation; because we say, “Well no one is perfect?” Of course no one is perfect. The difference is that the hypocrite does not even seek repentance; while the true believer does. The hypocrite will cry, “Foul – stop being so negative, who are you to judge?” when someone calls out their sin. However, the believer will acknowledge that the sin is a sin and will seek the cross of Christ so as to turn from it.

Our assurance is lost when we stop being a community of faith that calls one another to repentance – we must actively in encourage the pursuit of godliness. When we smile and nod at each other – and allow each other to remain stuck in a sin – we are not given the chance to put our faith into action!

            Here we see the difference between those who are apostate, and those who have “backslidden.” Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.” The backslidden Christian has simply “forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” And if we confront them gently – seeking restoration; then we will see repentance and restoration. But the apostate will refuse.

            There are people we know in life that we would say we were so sure that they were Christians; but then they turn away from the Lord. We must never give up, but we must also never give in.

We must, we must, we must, not be more concerned about offending a person, than we are about offending God.

            We must, we must, we must, call sin a sin. The elect will demonstrate their faith by repenting.

            We must not give up, but we also must not give in. It gives false hope to the perishing, and takes away from the assurance true believers can be enjoying.

 

IV. Make Sure to Be Sure (v.10-11)

And so verses 10-11 conclude, Make Sure to Be Sure – “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

            If you ask many Presbyterians how they became Christians – they typically begin, “I grew up in the church…”

            Growing up in the church does not make you a Christian. In fact, growing up in the mainline church over the past 70 years has resulted in many people not becoming Christians – even though they may be regular churchgoers.

            When God called me into ministry – he caused me to care deeply for those who grew up in the church; but who have not grown up into the image of Christ; because they do not truly know Christ.

            I grew up in the church and saw the hypocrisy of those who proclaimed faith for an hour on Sunday morning, but didn’t live it the other 167 hours of the week.

            I saw those who went to church regularly; but never knew the joy of salvation.

            I saw many who had gone to Sunday School and church and knew the words associated with faith; but they never added to their faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

            And I have watched the mainline church dwindle in numbers – because people who had “gone to church” had never come to Christ.

            Assurance of salvation can never come from going to church; but can – and will – come from coming to Christ – asking him to be your personal Lord and Savior; asking for the Holy Spirit to live in your heart and change you from the inside out – so that you grow in godliness.

            Assurance of salvation can never come from being complacent and comfortable; but can – and will – come from examining yourself – and asking for God to examine your heart so that you can see the areas where you need to come to the cross for forgiveness and the ability to turn from sin to righteousness – so that you grow in godliness.

            Assurance of salvation cannot come simply from listening to a sermon; but can – and will – come from taking action based on the inward conviction of the Holy Spirit at work when God’s Word is read and proclaimed – so that you grow in godliness.

            Assurance of salvation can be yours. Not because I said so; but because God is saying so – right here, right now – so that you grow in godliness.

            Let us pray. If you have never responded to the gospel, do so now. If you have been complacent, respond now.

Prayer for salvation and assurance…pray that…

 

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE – AMEN!