Responsibility to Be Growing

Transcript

GR1957
06/19/2016
Responsibility to Be Growing
II Peter 1:5-7
Gil Rugh

We are going to 2 Peter in your Bibles, 2 Peter chapter 1 as we have just begun a study of this letter of the Apostle Peter. We have remarked the amazing grace of God seen in the life of this man called from a life of being a fisherman along with other key men among the apostles. Yet used by God in great and powerful ways in part of the earthly ministry of Christ and then to be key in being used of Him in the establishing of that new entity, the church beginning in Acts chapter 2

Now Peter as he did in his first letter, even though he doesn’t mention it in the introduction as we noted in chapter 3, he connects this to his first letter. It indicates that he is writing to the same people. These are Jews who have become believers in Jesus Christ and are scattered in different places outside the land of Israel. Peter is particularly the apostle to the Jews. And having these letters of encouragement to these Jews from Peter would be a blessing to them.

He begins by talking about the doctrine of our salvation. There is nothing more important to anyone in the world than the Biblical truth of God’s salvation; how sadly many people don’t recognize that, don’t believe it. We as God’s children understand there is nothing so important as the message of the Gospel which is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes. It is the only way of salvation. Think of the importance of that and the uniqueness of it. It is the only way of salvation in all of the world. No matter where a person is, what is the situation in which they live, have been raised, no matter what religious ideas they have been taught, there is only one Savior. There is only one way of salvation right down to our day; in spite of that there is much confusion.

There is much confusion among those who call themselves Christians. Even limiting it just to our country that many people call themselves Christians are totally devoid of understanding of what is God’s plan of salvation. I am reminded of this as I read reports from those who go out sharing the Gospel through the neighborhoods and if you come to a person who has truly understood and believes the Gospel there is a positive response and joy and encouragement that people are out sharing the Gospel. You come to people who call themselves Christians, members of various denominations, protestant denominations, they are Catholics but there is an offense, an opposition to the Gospel that is presented. How can you call yourself Christians and yet be offended by the beauty of the truth of the Gospel that brings salvation so that we can be those who belong to Christ and follow Him?

The subject of faith and works becomes key in this and this is going to be in the context of where we are in 2 Peter, chapter 1. Being confused on the relationship of faith and works is a difference of being on your way to heaven and being on the road to an eternal hell. The person who thinks they are saved by believing in Jesus plus doing something else, living a good life, keeping the ten commandments, partaking in sacraments is lost just as much as the person who has never heard the Gospel. In fact they are in a worse condition.

The confusion over how works fits in and yet we have to be clear. Works do have a place in relationship to our salvation and this is where the confusion comes. If it is faith in Christ plus works of any kind, that equals condemnation, but faith alone in Christ alone results in salvation and that will lead to works, a life, conduct, that is pleasing to God. Master stroke of the devil to adjust the order of these things and it is the difference between heaven and hell.

Come back to Romans chapter 3, just a couple of passages as a reminder. Romans chapter 3 Paul concludes his demonstration and evidence that all people are sinners under condemnation, Jews and Gentiles. The Jews would have agreed the Gentiles were lost but they thought they were saved because they had the law and to a certain extent tried to keep the law but Paul concludes this section in chapter 3 of Romans, verse 20. The end of the verse, verse 19 has “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; Jews as well as Gentiles because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” All the law could do was make you aware that you were a sinner who failed to be acceptable in the sight of God. It could not enable you to be declared righteous before God.

When you come into chapter 4 of Romans, verse 5: “But to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly his faith is credited as righteousness.” That has always been God’s plan. This context as you are aware the foundational quote is from the book of Genesis, chapter 15, verse 6 regarding Abraham in verse 3. “He believed God. God credited it to him as righteousness.”

You have the official Catholic doctrine to use that as an example since that is stated clearly. Anyone who teaches that salvation is by faith alone is anathema, cursed to hell. That is no different than the average protestant today who believes they are being saved by some kind of good works. However, we as believers need to be clear also that genuine salvation when you were born again, when you become a partaker, come back to 2 Peter you become a partaker of the divine nature as he says in verse 3, “His divine power has worked in us so that we have become” (in verse 4) “partakers of the divine nature.” Your life will change. Can you be brought into a relationship with the living God, made new, share now in His very character and not have your life changed? Of course not but that is a result of being saved. That is not what causes you to be saved.

Back up to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, verses that many of you have memorized and very profitably so. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not as the result of works so that no one can boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus” (now note the order) “for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” So the course, pattern and characteristics of our life now have been changed forever. We have been born into God’s family. Now we manifest the character of God in our conduct, in our walk. We are made new.

One other passage on this over to the book of James and that is just before the letters to Peter so if you are in II Peter just before I Peter is the book of James and chapter 2. James also is writing to Jewish believers because it was difficult for Jews coming out of their background to see that their efforts in trying to keep the law weren’t necessary for salvation and James wants to make clear while the law is not necessary for the accomplishing of salvation a changed life that is lived consistent with the character of God is a result. So verse 14 of James 2: “What use it is my brethren if someone says he has faith but has no works. Can that faith save him, a faith that has done nothing to change the life to make him new?” Verse 17: “Even so faith, if it has no works is dead if it is just by itself.” It doesn’t produce anything. Now this passage, be careful in the context of Scripture. Some try to front load the Gospel and say, “See works is necessary for salvation.” No. Works are necessary as a result of salvation but not even to keep us saved.

An example in Roman Catholic theology to use that, they are clear. Most Protestants are just fuzzy. Roman Catholics at least set it out. You need to continue to partake of the sacrifice and receive the grace that comes through the ministry of the priest when you go to confession and do those things, partake of the mass and so on that maintains your salvation. Works don’t maintain your salvation either for then salvation would be the result of God has done plus your works. Works are a result of being made new in Christ.

Verse 19: “You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder.” So great, you believe in the one God as the Jews did! You understand the demons believed that but the demons still serve the devil and live their lives in opposition to the living God. They have never been saved. “Are you willing to recognize you foolish fellow that faith without works is useless?” Again you see you have to keep the order for clarity.

Verse 24: “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” And he gave Abraham as an example who was justified by works, verse 21 but we saw he was the example in Romans chapter 4, “Abraham believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness.” Now you are saying Abraham was justified by works. Which is it? Well part of it is go back and read the order of events. Abraham believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness. That is in Genesis 15. Years later in Genesis 22 Abraham offered up Isaac. That demonstrated the reality of his faith and the righteousness that he had been credited with.

So our life that follows is a demonstration of the reality of our justification. So in that sense you could say he was justified by works because saving faith always results in works and if it doesn’t it is a dead faith, it is a useless faith. People get confused but the Scripture is not confusing.

Come over to 2 Peter, chapter 1. We are doing this because Peter has set out our salvation in the opening 4 verses where we have been. He is talking to those who have faith just like Peter did the apostles did that brought them salvation. Verse 1, he is writing “to those who have received the faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Verse 3: “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” Verse 4: “He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts.” That is when you come to faith in Christ that you are set free from the power and control and bondage of your sin. That is why we talked about the futility of trying to get people to reform their lives. The corruption is in the heart and it is when you are made a partaker of the divine nature that you are set free from the controlling power of indwelling sin.

Now where Peter is going and why we did this as a background picking up with verse 5 he is going to talk about the responsibility these believers have in being diligent to grow and mature in Christ. They have responsibility. They have things they are to do. These are things that are enabled and empowered, verse 3 “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness,” our spiritual life, our godly life or a life of godliness gives you the same idea.

So it is His divine power at work but we are going to be demonstrated to be responsible now to be growing. So he picks up in verse 5: “Now for this very reason,” (what he has just talked about) “we have become partakers of the divine nature, we have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts.” That is why as we talked earlier today the world if tracking one way. We are tracking another.

“Now for this very reason, applying all diligence.” And the first word here in this sentence, remember in Greek you can rearrange your word order is the word ‘diligence.’ ‘Diligence’ because it emphasizes that. It is a word that means zeal, earnestness, being zealous. He is talking about there is to be nothing half- hearted, lackadaisical, dragging along now in the new life we have in Christ. There is to be a passion, a zeal, a fire in us to become all that God made us new to become. The new life now is a life in which we are to grow to maturity. It is not like well now I don’t have to be concerned about going to hell and everything else is rather irrelevant. God says now He has saved us for a purpose.

We are to be applying all diligence. That word ‘applying’ means you bring something in alongside of. We are being now, God has by His grace saved us, made us new so we are partakers of His character and now we bring to that the passion and zeal to pursue what He says should be characteristic of us.

Back up to Philippians 2, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, just before Colossians, chapter 2, verse 12 of Philippians 2. “So then my beloved just as you have now always obeyed not in my presence only but now much more in my absence” (note this last part, you should have it underlined or marked in your Bible) “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Why? “For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” So God working in me doesn’t mean I just become passive, let go, let God.

You know there used to be a kind of Keswick theology and that higher life. You just learn to let go and let God do it. That is not what God says. Now you bring all your energy, all, that zeal of the new life you have in Christ and you pour yourself into carrying out and growing in the new life we have with fear and trembling because it is God working in me and I must be pleasing to Him. I must honor Him. He is at work in my life and I am resisting His work when I am just lackadaisical, indifferent. If I have truly been saved, I have to understand now I have a new reason to live.

So you come back to 2 Peter. “Now for this reason applying all diligence in your faith.” Supply and what we are doing it is in our faith, the faith we have going back to verse 1, “Those who have received a faith of the same king as ours.” So this is foundational. There can be no growth, new life if you know, you haven’t been changed on the inside. This is not moral reform. This is new life. We are not creating. You know, some things like we can do today that seem to be human and function to do somethings human do. No matter what you do, they are not human. We are not trying to tell people get your life so you can reform the external like Jesus said of the religious leaders of His day, “You are like whitewashed tombs but on the inside you are full of dead men’s bones.” We are not out trying to whitewash tombs. We have faith. So this is for those who have their faith in Christ and have been transformed. You are applying all diligence in your faith so now you supply. The word means to supply, to provide for something, to equip it but one Greek commentator said, “But always at the back of this word there is the idea of a willing and lavish generosity in the equipment.” So we are to supply abundantly those things that God says He wants to characterize our lives.

Now they are not done in our own strength. We are working out our salvation because it is God who works in us. Without His power it can’t be done but He doesn’t do it without us exercising our will to be passionately in pursuit of it. Now when I fail to accomplish these things it is not because God failed. Well if He had wanted me to be more conformed He would have done it. You see the responsibility. God’s sovereign power and our, if you will, human responsibility. Human responsibility in the sense of those who have been made new and are now divinely empowered but we are exercising our will. So we are supplying in abundance in our faith. And if you don’t have faith, you are not going anywhere.

He is going to have seven qualities here. Some commentators will talk about the eight qualities but they are including faith and I am taking faith as that which is the foundation out of which these other qualities come. These are not instructions for those who have not been transformed by faith in Christ. What they need to hear is the Gospel which can make them new and enable them to become partakers of the divine nature which will enable them to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Until you are set free from the control of sin you can never do anything pleasing to God. You can never do anything pleasing to God as a fallen being. A relationship with Him is foundational.

So what are we going to supply in abundance? And these seven qualities, character traits – we as believers have a responsibility to see that our lives are growing and developing in these things. These, each one are intertwined in the text here. Each one has the preposition ‘in’ in Greek with in. “In this” then you supply this. In this you supply this. In this you supply this and each of these again the Greek text has the definite article, each one is specific in and of itself but they are intertwined together, not necessary building on one another although the relationship can be and to be deficient in one will have an impact in the other because they are connected to one another. So we can’t be satisfied, “Well, I’m doing well in four of the seven so that’s pretty good.” This has to be an abundance in each of these. Similar to this list, there are others, the most familiar to us would be the fruit of the Spirit that Galatians talks about in Galatians chapter 5; these quality character traits. That’s why I John says, “Remember by this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Those who practice righteousness are of God, those who practice sin are of the devil;” a general way of recognizing the believer and the unbeliever.

The first of these qualities that are to be ours in abundance, moral excellence, “supply moral excellence.” Literally the excellence, same word that was used up in verse 3 of God “who called us by His own glory and excellence.” So that general word, a virtue, moral excellence. Some would see it here in the context of us supplying, this carrying the idea of moral courage or energy. One Greek commentator, moral power, moral energy, vigor of soul but that very character that is to be developed, that excellence that we talked about was characteristic of God is to be characteristic of us. But it is just not automatic and obviously not. That is not the way God intended it. There is the process of growth and maturing. So we supply moral excellence and again it carries the idea of moral energy in this context of our responsibility would be connected to that zealousness, the pursuit of the character of God in us.

The second thing that is to be produced is knowledge. You supply the excellence and in moral excellence the knowledge. Again we saw this word in verse 2 and 3. Verse 2: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ seeing that His divine power is granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us.” There we had the compound word, the basic Greek word for knowledge. Here it is gnosis. We talk about the Gnostics that appeared on the scene after New Testament time; comes from the Greek word for knowledge. In Greek they don’t have silent consonants so it is gnosis. We usually drop the ‘G’ sound. The earlier word was ‘epi-gnosis’ which is sometimes a full knowledge but here we are to be supplying in abundance knowledge and this would be obviously that practical knowledge, that growing knowledge, that ability to discern would go with that moral excellence, that knowledge in knowing, not only knowing Christ but knowing now how we should function. You can see in this why there are analogies in this with growing in the human realm. We can see that and as a baby born into your family grows, what? You want them to understand as they are learning and knowing things to know how to function so when they get older, more mature, they can apply that knowledge to situations and they become discerning.

Back up to Romans chapter 15, Romans chapter 15, verse 14. Paul writes to the Romans: “And concerning you my brethren I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness” (note this) “filled with all knowledge, enabled also to admonish one another.” It is not just facts that have been gained but how to apply these facts to admonish one another, encourage one another. That “filled with knowledge” means they have grown and matured. They know what to do and sometimes when their older children and younger children the older child has a responsibility for the younger child. Perhaps they are going someplace and you trust the younger child will have the knowledge of what they should do and not do. Be careful of this and that. That is what we are talking about with believers.

Come back to 2 Peter chapter 1 that growth in knowledge, maturing. We are never done. No matter how long we have been believers we are still growing in knowledge, learning. God takes us through certain situations, different circumstances and it is a lifelong process of growing, learning how and refining our knowledge. The process goes on. We can’t be satisfied.

Sometimes Christians seem to stall and think well I know, I have a pretty good, general knowledge of most of the Scripture. I think I am in good shape. We think we have taken in enough but that’s not. Every situation challenges us in a little different way so we are to be growing in knowledge.

Third area, self-control. One Greek commentator said the word means the ability to get a grip of one’s self. Now keep this is context. This is not as the world would talk about it, taking control of your life. We are already talking about this comes from the enabling power of God, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to a life of godliness.” We have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust because we have become partakers of the divine nature. The power and the authority and control of sin over us is broken. Now it is growing as a believer with the responsibility I have to be in control of my desires, my passions and so on.

It is important that we keep it in context. This is one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:23. It is not the self-emphasis that characterizes the unbelieving world but it is an essential in the life of the believer.

Come back to I Corinthians chapter 9. Paul writes about his own situation. He uses the comparison of athletes. Verse 24 of I Corinthians 9: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run but only one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who complete in the games” (here is what we are talking about) “exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath but we, an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way.” I am going to exercise discipline. Somehow we have a break down. We become tied to the psycho-babble of the day. You know this is an addiction. This is something I can’t help. It’s just like the athlete Paul said and you may have a gifted athlete but he just doesn’t have the self-discipline to do what he should do to excel at what he could excel at. But if he is going to, anyone who will excel in athletics has to discipline himself, apply himself. It takes work. He has to do the exercise to develop his body, to eat and what all takes place. Paul said that’s what I do. These are just doing it to receive perishable things, to get a medal to get a wreath but we are working and striving for imperishable that is why we discipline self.

So “I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way so as not beating the air. I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I preach to others I myself would not be disqualified.” You note here there is something encouraging, something definitely challenging. There is no consideration here for the possibility that a true believer cannot bring the desires of the flesh and the body under control. All those excuses are wiped out but that is encouraging. His divine power is at work in us so that we, by drawing on that power, can have self-control. That is why we talked on other occasions, I never have to sin if I am a believer. The power and authority of sin over me has been broken. That doesn’t mean, well then it is just going to be easy. I float along. No, the flesh is still there. It would like to reassert its control. The devil is at work and then you have the appeal and the appeal of the world and things that have pleasure for a short time and sometimes we don’t want to exercise self-control. I must understand. There is no discussion here.

In I Corinthians 9 that well there, you know, some things I just can’t control and Peter doesn’t allow for that as well. Come back to 2 Peter. What are we to supply in abundance, self-control. You know I just can’t help it. There is something wrong. Yes, I don’t want to that badly enough. We find this all the time. People say well I can’t stop this, I can’t stop that and then they go to the doctor and he says if you don’t stop you will be dead in 2 weeks. All of a sudden I stopped. Well in the Christian life that is similar. Sometimes we just don’t want to badly enough. There are things that we desire, that we enjoy, we get satisfaction out of and I know it’s not the best thing. I know God probably doesn’t want me to do it but I just can’t help myself.

That is why I always start with the discussion. Let’s settle the matter. Do you know for sure you are a believer because you are saying you can’t help yourself, but I just can’t do it. Well that would tell me you are not a believer. Oh no, I know I am a believer. Then you are sitting here telling a lie because the real issue is you don’t want to. That’s why I say I don’t need to meet with you for the next ten weeks because if you don’t want to do what God says you have to do what is the point of meeting? Just so you can pacify yourself to say I am doing something and feel better about not doing the right thing because I have become complacent implying I understand you really are having a hard time, you really can’t do it. I am not saying we don’t encourage one another. We don’t come along side of but this whole nonsense that has become acceptable that well, you know, certain things you just… The world calls it addiction and it is. It is a slavery that gets ahold of them. They don’t have the power to break. The unbeliever cannot live for the Lord. Oh he can make adjustments. He can quit drinking or do this or that but ultimately he is controlled by his sin. He quits drinking then he’s controlled by the pride of what he has accomplished but God intends us to supply in abundance self-control and that what we are calling self-control here I draw upon His power and don’t tell me God is not able. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” His divine power has granted us everything necessary for life and godliness. Sometimes I don’t want to avail myself of that power. You know maybe I just want to get that word out of my mouth that should be kept in. If I don’t tell them off I will regret it but then after I do it I wish I hadn’t done it. Sin works that way. It will be worth it; probably not. So keep that in mind. You apply and supply in abundance out of the power which God supplies self-control.

Fourth characteristic back in 2 Peter chapter 1, “perseverance; in your self-control,” the perseverance; again, the connection of each of these and the emphasis on each of those; perseverance. One noted that perseverance is simply persistent self-control. Now you do that you develop endurance. I mean what does the athlete do, builds up his endurance by exercising that self-controlling discipline to continue to do what he needs to do so he can endure more. That is what is happening to us spiritually. In temptation and all those things we persevere. It develops endurance. The word is a compound word, humo-meno. It means you remain under. You know you can endure through it. It’s not I have escaped out of it but I develop that ability to stay with it and he referred to the precious and magnificent promises. Verse 4: “He has granted to us precious and magnificent promises.” Over in chapter 3 verse 13 of 2 Peter: “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore beloved since you look for these things be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.” Verse 11: “Since all these you are to be destroyed in this way what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?”

You know the promises He has given give us a hope to focus on that strengthen us to endure. The world is looking at the transitory, momentary passing pleasures. Remember like Moses who was willing to endure the sufferings of the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. That is why it is fixed on the hope. This is what my life is about. This is what I am here for. This is where I am going. I am living for Him.

We have what I Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 3 talks about as the steadfastness, same word, “the steadfastness of hope,” the endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Come back to Hebrews chapter 12. That is just before Peter and James; Hebrews chapter 12. The examples of what we call the heroes of the faith from the Old Testament in Hebrews chapter 11 “Who endured, who endured, who endured.” You come to chapter 12: “Having this great cloud of witnesses to encourage us.” The end of verse 1 of chapter 12 of Hebrews: “Let us run with endurance, perseverance” (that’s the word) “the race that is set before us and we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith who for the joy set before Him” (here’s our word) “endured the cross, despising the shame. He sat down at the right hand of God. Consider Him who has endured,” persevered. And what? “God had glory for him at the end.” What does He have for us at the end of our race? Glory. I want to be encouraged. Those Old Testament saints are an example but the greatest example for us is Christ who had endured the sufferings of the cross and the shame associated with it and now He has been exalted to the right hand of God.

Some day we will be brought into the very presence of almighty God and the glory of heaven. That gives us perseverance. Whatever comes, I am not losing anything by the suffering that may come here because it is what is prepared for me at the end of this race that will endure for eternity.

Back to 2 Peter, chapter 1. We keep building here and adding. Verse 6: “And in your perseverance the godliness.” It is that attitude of heart and mind that gives us that intense desire to be pleasing to God in all of life. It is that characteristic of our life. 2 Peter 1:3 said what, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness;” a godly life that enables us to function in a godly way with ungodly people because they don’t shape our character. The God that we love and serve does and well, you know I couldn’t help it. They did this, they did that, this. I have to be godly. We are to be supplying in abundance, godliness, that commitment in my attitude and in my conduct. To what? Manifest God’s character that I am a partaker of divine nature. We just read what did Jesus do? He despised the shame. What did Peter tell us in his first letter when he was being persecuted that he reviled against them? No. Well we ought to know. Godliness is to characterize us.

Verse 11 of chapter 3 we just read: “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and” (there’s our word) “godliness.” The desire is to be like our God. To have His character seen through us, manifest in us and in our behavior.

Back in chapter 1, the sixth characteristic is brotherly kindness, brotherly kindness. It is the word ‘Philadelphia.’ In fact you might say if you are from Philadelphia you are a Philadelphian and that is the exact Greek word here, Philadelphian, a form of the word, brotherly love. The word for love and the word for brother. Brotherly kindness, brotherly love. This is love directed toward other believers. We have been brought into God’s family. We are in that bond with one another.

Come back to I Peter chapter 1, verse 22: “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere, a genuine, unhypocritical love of the brethren.” There is our word. God saved us so that we would love one another. That is why I John says if you don’t love your brother you don’t belong to God. That is what He did. That doesn’t mean we never have a disagreement, we never have a conflict but we never stop loving one another. We were purified by the power of God’s salvation for a love of the brethren. Therefore the command is “fervently love one another from the heart;” that burning passionate, zealous love. You know we are familiar with the verb form agapao. Phileo love is the family love, reciprocal love. Agapao, is more that sacrificial love. This is where Peter is going and it is not good enough to love fellow believers. Yes, you know, that’s fine I love them. We ought to fervently love one another.

Come back to Peter and see where he is going. The sixth quality that we are to have in abundance was brotherly love. The seventh is love. In your brotherly kindness or brotherly love you “supply love.” This is that self-sacrificing love that acts for the benefit on the one who is loved. There is no escaping this. See the persecution, the difficulties, the trials these believers, Jewish believers go through shouldn’t have the impact of dividing them. You know sometimes that happens in the physical realm. We will see or hear about it in a program on TV and say well, you know certain pressures came into the family at that time and it just fractured the family and divided them and they grew apart. That shouldn’t be happening in God’s family here. There is persecution, there is suffering. They had it from without as Peter writes in the first letter. As we will see they have it from within from among even professing believers here that have infiltrated among them. They have to be clear as believers. And you know the only person that you can control in this is you. The only person I can control in this is me. That’s why he started out in verse 5 saying, “In your faith you must be supplying in abundance” this. I mean this is something we are individually responsible for. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to help one another in this but primarily my responsibility is me. And am I producing these qualities in my life? It is easier for me to be an expert in your life. For us to be that and then that creates brotherly love and then you add to that love. That is the overarching principle that governs everything, that agape or agapao love, self-sacrificing. It’s the love of my mind if you will.

I am not driven by my feelings. I will do what is right and best for them at all times and in every situation. That brotherly love, that phileo love is you know, more of a reciprocal love as we think of it and both our quality love, both are true of Christ, both are true of us and that’s why we say these qualities are intertwined. When we begin to have a breakdown in one, you know it is just hard to keep sin confined. That’s why I say we can’t say well I am doing well in most of them. Well I want to be careful if there is a weak spot to get it. It is like a chain all linked together but if you are going to pull something with it we always talk about it. It is the weak link that will be destructive. I don’t want to tolerate weak links. These are all intertwined. In this you add an abundance of this, they are individual qualities but they are all intertwined.

That is why we have the fruit, singular, of the Spirit and then we have this list. I can decide well the Spirit, I submit to Him here, I don’t submit it to Him here but I submit to Him here, I don’t submit to Him here. You just can’t control it and you can’t control sin in that way. This is God’s provision. The exciting thing is we have it all. Every believer here has the same provision. His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to a godly life. We have escaped the corruption of the world by having become partakers of the divine nature.

We have truly been set free. Now we are passionately devoted with a consuming zeal to have the character of God, His divine nature produced in us in each of these key areas.

Let’s pray together. Lord our desire as Your family in this place is to be passionate about our relationship with You. Lord, zealous to grow together, to mature together, to face trials and difficulties, blessings and good times that we might continue to mature. Lord we realize the starting point is each of us individually having that zealous commitment to be faithful to You. Lord if each of us share that commitment together, our testimony for You will be strong. Our bond as a church will be strong and our testimony before the world will be clear. We pray that You will use us to that end in Christ’s name amen.