RECIPE FOR SPIRITUAL SUCCESS

2 PETER 1:1-11

Adapted from a David Owens sermon

http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=155177

2 Peter 1:1 NET From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and

Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours. 2 May grace and

peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

3 I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life

and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and

excellence. 4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most

magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the

divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence,

knowledge; 6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance,

godliness; 7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. 8 For if these

things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of

knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.

9 But concerning the one who lacks such things — he is blind. That is to say, he is nearsighted,

since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters,

make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never

stumble into sin. 11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.

Shortly after the honeymoon, the newlywed called her mother in tears. “Oh, mom!” she

wailed. “I tried to make Grandma's meatloaf for tonight, and it's turned out awful!”

Patiently the concerned mother asked, “Did you follow the instructions exactly?”

“Oh, mom,” she continued, “I followed the recipe exactly, and I know it’s right because you gave it to me. But Bill isn’t going to eat it. I'm so upset. I wanted this to be so special for him; he loves meatloaf soooooooo much. What could have

gone wrong?”

“Calm down,” her mother replied soothingly. “Let's go through Grandma's recipe together.

You read it out loud and tell me exactly what you did at each step, we'll figure it out.”

“Okay,” the bride sniffled. “Well, the first line

begins, ‘Take fifty cents worth of ground beef...’”

As we open Peter’s 2nd letter we notice that Peter lays out a recipe for spiritual success. This recipe is not out-dated like Grandma’s

using the price of an ingredient instead of the quantity.

Like all good recipes, if you follow them carefully, you will be pleased with the results.

Peter gives us a guarantee.

8 For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more

intimately. Then in verse 10, he says, 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every

effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.

How’s that for a promise? Does that get your attention?

This is the Word of God and we can trust it! Praise the Lord He gave us a recipe to follow so

we can obtain that promise!

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Let’s back up and introduce Peter’s 2nd letter and

begin working through the text.

What we will notice about Peter’s 2nd letter is the emphasis on knowing the Lord. The word

“know” or “knowledge” is used at least 13 times in this short letter. This knowledge is not mere

intellectual understanding of some truth, though that is included.

This knowledge involves a living participation in the truth in the sense that our Lord used it in John 17:3 NET Now this is eternal life — that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus

Christ, whom you sent.For John this knowledge is not intellectual, but

relational. It involves being in relationship. (NETnotes)

In this first chapter, Peter began his letter with a description of the Christian life and how to live it well. Then in the following chapters, Peter goes on to describe the counterfeits to the true faith. The best way to detect falsehood is to first have a clear understanding of the characteristics of

what is real and true. Peter’s purpose is to remind us that the gospel transforms lives, that

discipleship involves discipline, and that spiritual growth and success are intentional, not

automatic.

1 From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the

righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as

precious as ours. 2 May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich

knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

Peter introduces himself as “Simeon Peter,” a reference to the fact that he was once Simeon.

Simeon is the Aramaic form of the apostle Peter's name Simon. This spelling of the

apostle's name occurs only here and in Acts 15:14. Jesus gave him a new name “Peter” a rock. Notice that Peter introduced himself first as a slave, then an apostle. He didn’t need to flaunt his authority or position of apostle. Peter

is happy to be known as a slave…of Jesus Christ, and so should we!

Then Peter identified those to whom he was writing – to those who through the

righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as

precious as ours.We notice several important things. First, Jesus

is identified as God and Savior – He is both. Second, we notice that it is through the

righteousness…of Christ, that we receive our faith and salvation. It is a gift of grace.

Third, we notice that the faith they have received is as precious as the faith Peter had

received. It is a precious faith we have received, and everyone receives that same precious faith,

whether a person is an apostle or not.

Finally, we notice in Peter’s introduction his prayer for them.

He prays that they may have grace and peace – who wouldn’t want that! But notice that the

grace and peace come through the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. This grace and peace can be ours in abundance as our knowledge and experience with the Lord

grows. Jesus said, …I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. John

10:10b NET

The Provision for Spiritual Success 3 I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life

and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and

excellence. 4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most

magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the

divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.

This is an amazing section – one of my favorites in the New Testament. It is a section just packed

full of amazing declarations and promises.First of all, we notice that Peter declares that

God has already given us everything necessary for life and godliness. Available to us is

everything we need for spiritual growth and success. Let that word “everything” sink in.

Everything means EVERYTHING!

It comes from God through His own glory and excellence. It also comes through our

knowledge of God – and let me emphasize again that this knowledge is not just intellectual

knowledge, but is a relationship and experienced knowledge that comes from

walking with God and depending on His Spirit.

In verse 4, we notice that God has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises.

God’s promises are precious and most magnificent. Precious – as of great price,

precious, held in honour, esteemed, especially dear (Thayer)

most magnificent - greatest, very great (Thayer)

John Bunyan, who spent much of his life in prison for his faith, wrote: “The pathway of life is strewn so thickly with the promises of God that it is impossible to take one step without treading

upon one of them.”

Aren’t you glad that God keeps all His promises? The Bible makes that abundantly

clear.Psalms 18:30 NET The one true God acts in a faithful manner; the LORD's promise is reliable;

he is a shield to all who take shelter in him. One final thing we notice about the provision for

spiritual success in verse 4 is the declaration that we become partakers of the divine nature.

As Christians we are given the deposit of the Holy Spirit, and our bodies are the temple of the

Spirit. A part of God somehow lives in us and enables us to escape the corruption of the

world. We have the power of God living in us that enables us to be transformed into the

likeness of Christ. One of the early Christians declared: “He became what we are to make us

what He is.”

So every provision for spiritual success is ours. Everything we need is available. We have God’s

precious and most magnificent promises. We participate, so we become partakers of the

divine nature.

The Plan for Spiritual Success 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add

to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; 6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-

control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; 7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to

brotherly affection, unselfish love.

Any plan for accomplishing something includes three Ds:

Dream, Decision, and Discipline.

Dreaming is the easy part, right? Dreaming doesn’t require anything.

As we dream, we think about where we would like to be or what we would like to be.

We can dream all we want about going to the Olympics or learning to play an instrument,

learning to speak a new language, or starting a business,, getting a college degree. Dreams are

great, and we must start with a dream, but if that’s as far as we get, then we have not gotten

very far.

Once we have a dream, then we must make the decision to pursue the dream. The decision

phase includes making decisions about how to achieve the dream. We must decide what steps to take to get to our dream. We must decide to start training, sign up for lessons, or courses. Making these decisions moves us toward our

dream, and is certainly harder than just dreaming, but it is still not the hardest part.

The hardest part is the discipline. Discipline is the hard work of following through with the

decisions that lead to our dream. It is sticking with the course and finishing it. It is the daily

grind of practice, exercise, study and exertion.

Peter gives us this amazing recipe for spiritual success. He began by clarifying that it was

going to require a lot of effort – he tells us to make every effort. Not just a little effort. Not just

some effort. But make every effort. Then he gave a progression of qualities and

characteristics that we need to be adding – things we need to be building into our lives.

Let’s pause here for a minute and realize that spiritual growth and success is a partnership

with God. Paul captured this idea in Philippians 2:12 NET So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence

but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, 13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire

and the effort — for the sake of his good pleasure — is God.

We work it out as God works in us!Paul described how he cooperated with God in his ministry, when he wrote in Colossians 1:28

NET We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. 29

Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in

me.

It is a little like the power steering and power brakes on your car. Have you ever been driving

along and the engine dies which causes the power steering and brakes to no longer have the

power assistance? When the power steering and brakes are working it is a whole lot easier to steer and stop. But will the power steering and

brakes work all by themselves?

The power is there and is available, but it requires us to do something – we have to take

hold of the wheel and turn it, we have to put our foot on the brake and push it.

God’s power is available and it does most of the work, but it is not engaged without us doing

something to employ the power. So when we put forth every effort, God is right there to supply the

power assistance.

Let’s notice the progression of characteristics. We can’t pass on the ones we don’t like or find too difficult. The qualities build on to each other,

and overlap each other. Back to the opening illustration of cooking – when you are making a cake you need to have all the right ingredients and then they need to be added in the correct

order or you can have a mess.

Peter starts with faith – everything starts with faith. To faith, we are to add excellence – a

virtuous course of thought, feeling and action; virtue, moral goodness (Thayer) To excellence, we are to add knowledge – moral wisdom, such

as is seen in right living (Thayer) – especially the knowledge of God and His Word. To

knowledge, we are to add self-control –the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites

(Thayer)

To self-control, we are to add perseverance – steadfastness, patience, endurance. (Thayer) To

perseverance, we are to add godliness – reverence, respect, piety towards God (Thayer)

– it is a love for God and the things of God, it includes being godly and reverent toward God.

To godliness, we are to add brotherly kindness – this is the Greek word philadelphia – we are to have nothing but love for fellow lovers of God. Finally, to brotherly kindness, we are to add

unselfish love – this is agape love- unconditional love in action for all people.

Will we make it our dream to embrace and embody all these qualities? Will we make a decision to make every effort to add these

qualities to our lives? Will we discipline ourselves to stick with it until we reach the goal?

Most of us want instant spiritual growth and success, but it doesn’t come instantly.

It comes after years of practicing spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer, fellowship, worship, witnessing and serving. It comes

through remaining faithful through a lifetime of struggles and trials. It comes through being in relationships where we sharpen each other as

iron sharpens iron. Are we willing to put forth the effort? Are we willing to pay the price?

Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography tells of his goal of obtaining 13 virtues, the 13th being

humility. About humility he writes, “I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of

this virtue. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be

proud of my humility.”

The virtues Peter lists are obtainable, but we must put in the effort.

The Promise of Spiritual Success8 For if these things are really yours and are

continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. 9 But concerning the one who lacks

such things — he is blind.

That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 10

Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin. 11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly

provided for you.

There are some amazing promises in these verses, but they are conditional. If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you… If you do these things, then you will never fall… But if we do not add these things

and do these things, then the opposite will happen. We will be nearsighted and blind,

causing us to forget the value and importance of salvation. We will fall and then fail to receive the

rich welcome into the eternal kingdom.

But if we do these things, then we can make our calling and election sure. If we do these things,

then we will have a productive and effective spiritual life. If we do these things, then we will have a clear vision of the value and importance

of our salvation.

Peter strongly urges his people to keep climbing up this ladder of virtues which he has set before

them. The more we know of any subject the more we are fit to know. It is always true that "to him that hath it shall be given." (Matthew 13:12) Progress is the way to more progress. To keep climbing up the ladder of the virtues is to come ever nearer to knowing Jesus Christ; and the

further we climb, the further we are able to climb.

Further, to fail to climb the ladder of virtue is to forget that the sins of the old way of life have

been cleansed away. Peter is thinking of baptism. It is a deliberate act of decision to

leave the old way and to enter upon the new. The man who, after baptism, does not begin

upon the upward climb has forgotten, or never realized, the meaning of the experience through

which he has passed.

The parallel to baptism in this sense is entry into the membership of the Christian Church. To make our commitment and then to remain

exactly the same, is to fail to understand what church membership means, for our entry into it

should be the beginning of a climb upon the upward way.

In view of all this, Peter urges his people to make every effort to confirm their calling by God.

Here is a most significant demand.

In one way all is of God; it is God's call which gives us entry into the fellowship of his people; without his grace and his mercy we could do

nothing and could expect nothing. But that does not absolve us from every possible effort. (DSB)

Let me end with a story – The story is told about a man who was born with an awful facial

deformity. He grew up alone, rejected, sad and depressed because of his deformity. When reaching adulthood, he decided to move to

another town to begin a new life. On his way to the new town, he discovered a mask that would

make him look handsome.

At first the mask was uncomfortable and he was afraid that people would find out who he really was, but he continued to wear the mask every

day. In his new hometown, he made many friends and fell in love. But one day, an evil

woman from his old town came and discovered his true identity. In front of his friends and fiancé, the evil woman forced him to remove his mask.

When the mask was removed, it revealed a very handsome face. The man’s face had perfectly

conformed to the mask he had worn.Becoming like Christ is similar to this. We are to put on Christ and attempt to live like Christ and look like Christ. At first it may feel unnatural or uncomfortable, and it may be very difficult. But

every day, we must put on Christ, and keep striving to be like Christ. Over time, we will grow

to look and act more and more like Jesus.

May God enable us to understand and follow the recipe for spiritual growth and success. May

God help us to put forth the effort required to grow and stay on track. May the promises and

power of God be ours in abundance.