The Word of God for this evening sermon is taken from 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1, found on page 903 in your pew Bible. We will read verses 1 through 11 and in the sermon take special focus on verses 3 through 5 through 8. As I started working in the text, I found myself moving further into the text. And so we will be dealing with this first section of Peter. Before we read it, let's ask the Lord to bless it for us. Our God and Father, apart from you, we cannot live. Apart from you, we cannot know. We cannot know the reason for living. And so, we ask that as we read your Word and hear it proclaimed this evening, that we might know the reason for living. for living the Christian life. Help us, dear Father, to understand the truths that You revealed here through Your servant Peter. We ask these things for Your glory and for our good as Your people. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Hear now the Word of God taken from 2 Peter 1, beginning with verse 1. Simon Peter, a servant, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours, grace to you and peace in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control, perseverance and to perseverance, godliness and to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love. 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. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 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. So is the reading of God's Word. Over the years, I've come to realize that one of the most frequent objections to a confessional, reformed understanding of the Gospel is the accusation that the doctrines of grace necessarily lead to lawless or licentious living. You may have heard the same accusation yourself. That you, reformed people, preach a gospel that will lead to licentious living, to debauchery, and all kinds of other evils. We should find a little bit of comfort that Paul himself was accused of the very same things. And so, the accusation must at least be tested. It wasn't true for Paul. Is it true for us? Does a Reformed understanding of the Gospel, do the doctrines of grace, lead to lawless living? Well, in the Word of God this morning, we have one of many texts that teach us how that accusation is false and unfounded. The gospel of God's sovereign grace does not lead to licentious living, but rather it leads necessarily to a life of fruitful living by faith in Christ. This morning we heard what we don't and mustn't do, which is to rest in our own righteousness and to seek to establish that foundation of life before God within ourselves. This evening, though, we now hear what we must do. We hear what our responsibility is as those who have been given new life in Christ. The distinction in mind is often described as the difference between the indicative and the imperative. For those of you studying English in school, you may wonder what use some of this grammar is. Well, when you study your Bible, there are some very helpful applications to what you study in English grammar. One of many examples that could be given are the indicative and the imperative. these forms of verbs. And what we find is that in our text, the imperative is built into the indicative. In fact, we find that in the Gospel itself, the indicative precedes and establishes the imperative. It's the difference between what God does, what God has done, and what God is doing, and what we are called and commanded to do. And they go together. They are intimately connected. You see, if we ever think and muse upon the imperative without resting in the indicative, we'll find ourselves facing a very similar dismay of Luther. Or if we're not dismayed, we may find ourselves tempted to pursue a life of self-righteousness and so we keep them together and thereby understand the truths of God's Word. And so this evening we hear what we must do, what God calls us to do in the new life that is ours in Christ. And to see this we'll consider in particular verses 5-7, but as we look at 5-7 we feel the need to move into the broader context of what Peter is saying And so we'll look at 5 through 7 along with its context and we see three things. We see, we hear three things in the Word tonight. First, the foundation of Christian living. Second, the focus. Third, the fruit of Christian living. At first read, when we go through these first verses of 2 Peter chapter 1, we might see in these words a kind of portrait that reminds us of Christ. Virtue. Knowledge. We're called to put on virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. And who, after all, has been such a perfect embodiment of these virtues, of these most remarkable qualities of character than our Lord Jesus Christ? Who has brought such perfect fulfillment to the law of God but Christ? And yet, in making this very true observation, We must be careful not to proceed too quickly. Jesus is our supreme model for Christian living. He has provided an example that we're to follow. That is true. Yet, if we are to follow His example, we must first understand the remarkable and most significant difference between His life and our life. We might think of the difference in this way, that His life rested in the integrity and righteousness of His own nature. Or more specifically, we should say that His living was founded upon the holiness and perfection of His divine and human natures. Jesus, perfectly righteous, perfectly holy, perfect in every way, both divine and human. And therefore, His life bore the natural, even though hard-earned, His life bore the natural fruit of His being. You and I, on the other hand, along with all of humanity, do not possess personal holiness or righteousness. Therefore, the natural fruit of our being can never resemble those most remarkable qualities of Christ. Virtue, goodness, knowledge, self-control. We cannot of ourselves produce these things or add these things, as Peter says. And so if we are to bear the fruit of godliness, brotherly affection and love, it must come from outside of us. It's not naturally within us and therefore it must come from outside of us. From one who has the power to recreate us and to make us a godly people. We start here. We start with that understanding of who Christ is and who we are. That, Peter says, is exactly what has happened to all of us. To all of us who have faith, in Jesus Christ, he writes in verse 1, those who have received a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of God of our God and Savior Jesus Christ may grace and peace be multiplied you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. He goes on to say that His divine, it's His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and to godliness. I read from the NIV and it provides a very helpful translation with the word received in verse 1. If you have the ESV or the RSV or the King James Version, somehow they came to the translation obtained. That we have obtained a faith. And to me, that seems to communicate that somehow we achieved a faith. And if that would be possible with the Greek, then we would have to deal with that proclamation. But it's not even an option in the Greek to translate that obtained. And so, if your Bible says obtained, look to the NIV for a better translation. Received. We have received a faith. God gives faith and we receive it. God gives power and we receive it. And so therefore, what we have is a foundation that rests in God. He is the one who takes initiative. He is the one who brings about new life. He is the one who sustains that new life. It's become rather vogue to say this, but it's true. It's all about God when it comes to the work of salvation. His divine power has granted to us all things necessary for life and godliness. The Muslim convert to Christianity, Sam Solomon, you may have heard him a couple of weeks ago when he spoke at Westminster. At one of the events he was speaking at while fielding questions, he was asked this question, Mr. Solomon, how did you come to faith in Christ? And Mr. Solomon, being a rather knowledgeable and zealous fellow for the Reformed faith answered with remarkable seal, I did not come to the Reformed faith. I was brought to the Reformed faith. The Sovereign Lord in His Sovereign Grace brought me to faith, He said. It's crucial to understand the foundation of our lives as Christian, as resting and being grounded in the grace of God. That sovereign grace of God that takes us who are natural sinners and works within us faith and the fruits of faith we read of in our text. This faith is emphasized in verse 1 and notice how in verse 3 it is again referred to. He says that His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us. Of course, faith and knowledge are not the same thing. Yet, faith is not possible apart from knowledge. Faith is not faith without true knowledge. And so, when he refers to this knowledge that we've received something through knowledge to Peter, what he's speaking of is something that is so akin to faith that he can refer to either one. We receive something through faith. We receive something through knowledge. and so as our knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ increases, so is our faith strengthened and so are we strengthened to live the Christian life. In summary then, we see in this first point how the foundation and strength for living the Christian life is not natural to us. Rather, it is the power and grace of God which we receive through faith. Second, we hear in our text the focus of Christian faith which is the promises of God. God's promises. Peter explains in verse 4 that He, that is God, has given to us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. We find here that faith finds its focus in the promises that God has given. We might think here of the promises of the Messiah. The promised Holy Spirit. The promise of forgiveness and righteousness. The promise of new life. The promise of the life to come. For Peter, it is very likely that these great and very promises would have been understood to be given by God in baptism. But I won't go into all the reasons why this evening. I think what is happening in the text is that Peter is referring to the baptism that those believers had received. The congregations of Peter's day didn't have the Bible. They didn't have their own minister. They had baptism. They had the Word of God that was signified and sealed unto them in their baptism. They had with their baptism the Gospel and the very great and precious promises that preserved them through remarkable persecution that they faced. As believers in Jesus, they had baptism and the promises of God signified in it. And there is power. There is strength for the people of God to become, as Peter says, partakers of the divine nature. Maybe you, like myself, were surprised at reading those words. Partakers in the divine nature. Peter's assertion, however, shouldn't be made more than what it is. If we think that we might somehow be taking part in the divine nature in some sort of literal spiritual sense, then maybe we would also be led to conclude that we are partakers literally joined to the body of the glorified Christ when the Scripture says that we have been joined to Christ. You see, we don't have to conclude that there is a literal meaning of partaking in the divine nature. How much more surprising would it have been if he said that through these great and precious promises you may become partakers of the human nature? We might say, no, thank you, Peter. I've had quite enough of sharing in that human nature. I'm looking for something more. And he gives us something more. He says that you are empowered to be partakers of the divine nature. Not a literal joining with the spiritual being of God. Rather, what Peter has in mind is that when living the Christian life by faith, we will begin to bear the remarkable qualities of Christ's character. That which is so foreign to us by nature and so natural to Him will be made part of our lives. Our sinful natures will be progressively sanctified into the likeness of His nature. Into the likeness of His nature. We will begin to resemble our Lord Jesus Christ by the power of God. And the fruit of our lives will begin to take on those godly qualities Peter lists for us in verse 5 and following. We might think of it this way, that much like an acorn that falls from the tree, it dies, it is given new life within the ground, and if it has the power and nutrients it needs, it will begin to grow and take on the qualities of the tree it came from. it's very much the same for us who have died in sins and trespasses, who've been brought to new life in Christ. Isn't it very natural for us to expect that we too then would begin to bear the qualities of the One who has given us life? Peter says that we must make every effort to bear the fruits of faith in Christ. Every effort. We must do this because we too have been baptized. We too share in the righteousness of Christ. We too have received those very great and precious promises of God, including the promise that we would be sanctified. Not just set free from the power of sin, but progressively sanctified of the power of sin. It's a promise. It's a promise that God makes to us. We read of this responsibility we have in verse 5, for this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. There are many who believe that confessional Reformed Christianity leads to licentious living. We should wonder why. Why would it be that those who believe in such a most remarkable gospel and such a powerful God and such a fullness of new life, why would they accuse us of teaching a doctrine which leads to licentious living. As Reformed believers, aren't we deeply concerned about fidelity to God's law? About godliness? Aren't we deeply concerned as those who've been brought into the family of God? Aren't we concerned to bear fruit that will bring glory to our Father. Surely we are zealous or we should be zealous to see all the promises of God fulfilled in us, including the promise to be sanctified. And yet, of course, we remain weak. We are weak. We act far more like children than the adults we are. We find ourselves losing sight of what the Father has said, forgetting what the Father has said. Oh, how often as a father I find myself humbled when I say to our children, Heaven, I told you this before. We are weak. We're like lambs so easily led astray. And while the glorious promises of God are placarded before us again and again and again, we pursue pleasures of other kinds. We seek hope in other places. We seek satisfaction in places that will more easily be gained. You see, that's real basic to our nature, isn't it? And the Christian life is hard work. It's hard work, and so we are not so inclined to make every effort, like Peter says. And that's why Paul, too, repeatedly calls the church, reminds us, presses upon us, encourages us to fruitfulness. In 2 Corinthians 7.1, listen to how parallel his exhortation is to Peter's when he writes, Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. And maybe your minds are thinking forward to Philippians 2.12. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, Paul says. For it is God who is at work within you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Once again in these verses we see, as in 2 Peter, the significance of the indicative and the imperative. Because of what God has done and is doing in us, we must make every effort to work out our salvation and bear the fruits of faith. Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. as those who are part of the family of God, isn't this the quality and the character that we would want to have be part of our lives? Isn't this a holding out of hope and of joy and of satisfaction that is so far beyond what the world can offer to us? Isn't it deeper and richer and more enduring than anything else? let us then make every effort we get to we get to make every effort because that which was alien to us has been given to us a new life in Christ let's then pray that God would give us the strength to do it not to secure salvation not to earn our way into His family, but because we are saved, but because we are part of His family. And this call, brothers and sisters, is a call we must underline. It comes from good news. It is a call that comes with the declaration that you have been saved and the great promises that you will be sanctified and one day glorified. It comes with the hope that the hard work will one day be done in an eternal rest with the glory of Christ in heaven. Our promise is that He who calls you is faithful and He will do it. Amen. our father in heaven as your children we feel so deeply dependent upon you for all things we need you to continue your reminders to us your instruction to us your chastisement of us that we might more readily be those faithful children you've called us to be and the new life we share in Christ. Keep us from sloth and keep us from the pursuits of more easily attained pleasures which are here today and gone tomorrow. And rather, dear Father, might we seek these things that you want for us as your children, these qualities of character that make much of you and are so good for us. We pray, dear Father, that you might do this for us for the sake of Jesus. For the glory of your name. For the good of us, your people. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.