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2 Peter1:5-21 "Growth is a Gift"
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Peter1:5-8)
Peter is talking about Christian growth here. Last week
we saw that this long list of areas in which we need to grow is not
idealism, it is not an impossible goal that we can never reach. Jesus
does not require of us anything that we cannot do. The "very reason"
why we can grow in these things is because Jesus has made the impossible
possible. He has given us the right to become children of God! And as
children of God we will naturally grow up to be like our Father. He
has set us free from the lusts of the flesh so that we can follow after
the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Peterﾕs basic teaching here is that we can grow because Jesus has already
done the hard work for us. Jesus has already done the miracle (kiseki)
in our hearts, now all we have to do is be diligent in following the
path that has been laid out in front of us.
Remember that growth is always a gift from God. There is nothing that
we can do to make a flower grow, or a plant grow, or a child grow. You
might say "But pastor, gardeners and farmers do it all the time."
But look closely, all these people are doing is providing the best conditions
they can. They give the plant water, sunlight, fertilizer(ひりょう), protect
it from diseases and pests. But no gardener can force a plant to grow
to his own schedule. No farmer can say to his rice field, "There
is a big typhoon coming next week, so you all have to be ripe (じゅくする)
by Friday." Likewise I try to raise my son the best possible way
but there is nothing I can do to add one centimeter to his heigth. Listen
to what Jesus taught, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should
scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day,
and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For
the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after
that the full grain in the head." (Mark 4:26)
And so it is for our own spiritual growth as well. All growth is a gift
from God. But diligence is required for growth because it is easy to
give up（あきらめる）. Peter says, "For he who lacks these things is shortsighted
(kinshigan), even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed
from his old sins." (2Peter 1:9) We often look at passages like
this in the bible that tell us what we ought to do in one of two ways.
We either look at it with despair, thinking that we will never be able
to do it, Or we look at it and say "Aha, that is what I am supposed
to do." and start running with all our might toward the goal. But
both of these are flawed. The first is false because Jesus has made
this goal possible for us. He has cleansed us from our old sin nature.
If you give up before you start then you have forgotten Jesus. Donﾕt
forget what He has done for you. We studied that last week. But the
second is also flawed, because it is short sighted. We think that if
we try with all our might we will attain godliness (keiken), or self-control
(jisei) or virtue (toku), but after a whole week of trying when we canﾕt
see any progress（きゅうしん） we give up. But the race that we are called
to is not a sprint, it is a long distance endurance race; a marathon.
Donﾕt despair, the goal is not impossible. Donﾕt despair even though
all your efforts seem not to do much good. Donﾕt be shortsighted, looking
at the goal and thinking that you will make it today or next week.
I am not much of a runner, but I do like to hike mountains. Someone
once told me that when you climb a mountain it is best not to look up.
If you keep looking at the goal you will get discouraged, because it
takes a very long time and many small steps to reach the top of a mountain.
And even though you are tired, the peak never seems to be that much
closer. Instead, the best thing to do is to keep looking at the feet
of the person in front of you.
Like the mountain climber, keep going, stay with it, one foot in front
of the other. Like the farmer, keep watering, keep watching and sure
enough, in time, the seeds will grow. This is diligence. Donﾕt expect
to be suddenly faithful, or instantly godly. Instead act faithful, act
godly as best you can, as often as you remember, and these things will
grow in you by the grace of God.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Peter1:10-11)
This is one of the passages of the Bible that deals with
how we know that we truly are saved. I must admit to you that this is
one of the hardest teachings of the Bible because Christians have disagreed
about this for a long time. Some Christians say that once you ask Jesus
into your heart you can never lose your salvation. Other Christians
say that we have to make sure that we donﾕt lose that salvation by rejecting
Christ. What makes this question very difficult is that we can all point
to someone who said they were a Christian but who does not act like
one anymore. And there is no test for us to give to tell if he was a
Christian who has gone bad, or never really was a true Christian to
begin with. Let me give you a few helpful tips. I am not going to say
that I have the answer. But I have a few thoughts on the matter.
First, I believe that God does not give us more information than we
need to know. He does not give us the right tools to do His job for
Him. Jesus is very clear in teaching us that we have no right in judging
one another, because that is Godﾕs job. Only God can see fairly into
to the hearts of men and tell if they truly believe in Jesus Christ.
The reason I think that we do not get a clear answer on this question
from the Bible is because this is Godﾕs area, not ours. So right off,
when I run across this question, I assume a position of humility. I
donﾕt know. I most assuredly donﾕt know the condition of anybody else
before God! The most I can do is examine myself, and even there I am
not very accurate. Therefore the best way to proceed is to rely on the
grace of God.
Second, I know that Satan, our enemy is an accuser. His favorite attack
is to tell us that God does not love us, that we are not good enough
for God, that we are not really saved. So I know that this is the doubt
that is most common in Christianﾕs minds. I think it is probably more
common than doubting if God is real or if Jesus is alive. We doubt ourselves
much more than we doubt God. So this is why I preach Godﾕs faithfulness
to us much more than I preach our sinfulness and faithlessness before
God. You see Satan reminds us of our worthlessness all the time. I try
to remind you of the grace of God to counteract Satanﾕs lies.
Third, I know that our God is a god of second and third and fourth chances,
a god of forgiveness, a god of grace. We see this in Jesus, who forgave
Peter after Peter had denied Him not once, but three times. We see it
in the story of the prodigal son. Our God does not want any to perish
and is always ready to receive even the most wayward child with arms
open wide. So if you have doubts about your salvation, go to God and
ask Him to show you afresh His grace, to remind you in the Spirit that
you are His child. Maybe you have not been to church in a while. Maybe
you have been backsliding. Maybe you feel a bit ashamed. It is alright,
His arms are open waiting to receive you back.
Finally, as Peter teaches us here, if you would be sure of your salvation.
If you would like to be free from doubts. If you would like a protection
against the lies of the enemy. Then keep walking forward in the faith,
be diligent to grow, and as these things increase you will be able to
see more and more clearly the difference that knowing Christ has made
in your life. You will be able to point to self-control or knowledge
that you never had before and see that you really are a new creation
in Jesus. You will be able to use faith and love as a shield against
the doubts that Satan would put into your mind.
For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. (2 Peter 1:12-15)
Peter, nearing the end of his life, knowing that he was to die a martyrs death, as Jesus had told him at the end of the gospel of John, wanted to be sure that they always had a reminder of Godﾕs grace. And he knew that as long as he was alive, he should "stir them up". This is part of my job too. I am part cheerleader, part coach, and like Peter I cannot allow you to despair. My job is to remind you that your natural outcome is to become like your Lord, Jesus Christ. You cannot sit down, you cannot give up, you must continue to walk by faith, step by step, growing day by day, imperceptably at times but growing. I must remind you that God has not given up on you, will not give up on you, and will be faithful to complete the good work that He has begun in you. I must also remind you not to sprint. Donﾕt burnout by thinking that you can do it all, learn it all, grow and minister and evangelise and serve all at once. Know that this process of growth and learning will continue for the rest of your life and probably into the next. Donﾕt get discouraged by lack of growth, it will come.
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2Peter 1:16-21)
Peter finishes off this chapter by giving us that reminder one more time, Jesus really is God, He really is alive. He says this as an eyewitness. Peter says "Hey, We are not just making this up! I saw Him glorified. I heard God say, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And you do well to believe it, as you would head towards a light that shines in a dark place when you are lost, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Peter knows that now we are in the realm of faith. None of us has seen God. We are only grasping for Him in the darkness. None of us are beyond doubt. All it takes is for us to turn our heads away from Jesus to be utterly surrounded by the dark once again. But Jesus is that light, and we do have the witness of the apostles and the prophecies of scripture, and in this God has given us all the information that we need. It is 100% clear about Jesus, that He is Lord, the Son of God and that He is alive, risen from the dead, and that He loved us enough to die for us on the cross so that all who believe on Him should have eternal life. We might disagree about the timing of His return, or about who is righteous or who is not, but we can all place our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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