Transcript

2 Peter, chapter 1, Let’s go there tonight and talk about the fact that assurance of salvation is through progressive sanctification.

There was a lady who was severely handicapped, a crippled lady, and she was deeply troubled about can she serve the Lord. Is there anything she can do for the Lord? And she wrote the song, “Just As I Am.” Here I am, I’m weak, I’m crippled, I limited. I’m disabled. But just here I come, Lord. Just as I am I want to serve You and honor You and be Yours.” That’s where you are when it comes to assurance. Assurance is just throwing yourself on the Lord and diligently seeking to serve Him with what you got where you are, what God’s enabled you to do.

We’re gonna look at it again, but this is, I’m actually, we’re gonna make this sermon tonight a part of the pretender series. It’s kind of a conclusion statement on those messages that we have seen where we saw from Hebrews 6:4-6. First of all, there were those who had been enlightened to spiritually speaking with their minds but still had unchanged hearts. So they were not truly converted. They were pretenders. Then we saw those who had tasted Christ but had not swallowed Him, so they were not true believers. They were pretenders. And then in part 3 we saw those who had experienced the work of the Spirit but not the regenerating power of the Spirit. So they were not truly converts. They were pretenders. And then in section 4, part 4, rather, we saw those who had tasted the goodness of the gospel but not the power of the gospel and so they were pretenders and not true converts. And then in the earlier message today, um, part 5 we saw that there are those who have some comforts of heaven yet their future is hell.

And now in summary conclusion of all that, I want to go to the flip side of the coin and let us all reexamine ourselves once again with what I believe will be an encouraging passage that it teaches us that assurance is gained through progressive sanctification. I’m not gonna apologize to you for using Bible words. Sanctification is a Bible word and we need to learn those so that we can teach them to our children and discuss them in our home. Sanctification is a, is a word that simply means set apart for special use. As your life is progressively set apart for God’s special use, I don’t mean called into the ministry. I mean away from the world’s values and principles and structures and behaviors. Your life becomes more and increasingly so, set apart for God’s use and to live like a citizen of God’s kingdom and living like a child of God. Then is when you will be more assured of your salvation.

Now let’s just look at it all together if we could. I, I don’t have the first four verses as a part of the outline, but I think we need to read it all. Second Peter chapter 1, let’s read verses 1 through 11. Simon Peter, a bondservant, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these 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 by lust.

Verse 5: Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence; and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control; and in your self-control, perseverance; and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness, love.
Now notice verse 8: For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent. Read verse 10 again. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you, for as long as you practice these things you will never stumble. For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

Now I want to go through, uh, verses 5 or verses rather 6 on down through the text all the way down to verse, I believe, 11, uh, yes, that’s what we’ll do. I think. Let me make sure. As a point, as a point of introduction and then get back to the meat of what we’re talking about here. So we’re talking about how he’s pointing out here that as you progress in the qualities and the qualities are outlined in verses 5 and 6 and 7, as you progress in the qualities he mentions there then you will make you calling and election sure. You’re not providing your calling and election. You’re not achieving or working or meriting your calling and election. You’re just assuring yourself that you are called and elected by God. That’s the point he makes in the text.

So this is going to be an excellent, not my message, but the truths of this passage will be an excellent study guide. We’re gonna make it into a pamphlet and a little booklet so that when you’re discipling your children, you’re counseling with someone who’s unsure of their salvation, you can go through this and say, “Are these the things you’re seeing in your life?” These are the things that assure us of our calling and election by God.

Now look at it if you will, there beginning in verse 8, and he says the beginning in verse 8, “For if these qualities are yours and increasing they render you neither useless nor unfruitful,” here’s the phrase I want to look at first, “in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now he’s implying by that there’s a false knowledge. There are those who claim to know Him, but if you truly know Him these are the things that should be in your life and indeed the things that give you assurance.

Now again, he says, “These qualities, if these qualities are in your life, uh, if they’re yours,” he says, “and if they are increasing they point out that you have true knowledge.” Uh, in other words, these things should be in you more than they are in unbelievers. You should begin to see a difference in the way you feel and think and act compared to those who do not know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. These qualities, and we’ll look at them in a moment, but these qualities outlined in verses 5, 6, and 7 are qualities that are not common marks of the unsaved. They are carmon, common, rather, marks of the saved.

And then he says, “they render you.” Render means or King James says “they make you,” “neither useless,” or King James says, “barren,” “or unfruitful.” Uh, useless or barren picture here is the fallow ground that has been unplowed and unworked. It just has weeds and various and sundry useless plants growing in it. You need these qualities in your life or your life, spiritually speaking, looks like an unplowed, unfruitful field. Obviously unfruitful in this verse means without fruit. His point being, if these qualities, we’ll look at them in a moment specifically, are increasingly in your life, you prove that you have the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I want to point this out, um, before I go any further. I am absolutely confident he is not talking about lost people in this text. He’s talking about saved brothers and sisters in Christ all the way through this text. And, uh, he is pointing out that you can be a truly saved brother or sister in Christ and live in such a sloppy way you can have no assurance of your salvation and others around you will not be assured of your salvation. But there is a way that you can live so that you can gain and walk in an encouraging spirit of assurance that you are truly saved.
Well, look at verse 9 if you will. HE gives the converse of this. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. He says if you are not striving to increase in these qualities then you’ve become blind in spiritual realities. You don’t see thing spiritually like you ought to. Then he says you’ve become short-sighted, which is an amplification or an explanation of the word blind. And, and, and, it’s a beautiful little analogy here. He says, ‘You’re short-sighted.” In other words, you can only see earth and earthly things and earthly values and from an earthly perspective. You’re not able to see the distant, true spiritual realities that are in heaven. Heaven’s farther away than the earth, you see. So he gives an analogy there. You’re short-sighted, near sighted, that is.

Uh, the Greek word here emphasizes that they are willingly closing their eyes and willingly rejecting the light. Again I’m convinced this is a believer here who has a season of time where he’s thinking carnally like an unsaved man, and he’s not seeing the true spirituality, realities of how we’re supposed to live and act and conduct ourselves.
Verse 9, he continues and says, “You have forgotten your, his purification from his former sins.” Lapsed into forgetting or into forgetfulness is what the phrase means. You just sort of have become lazy. You’re carnal. You’re walking in this state of mind as if the precious, glorious Lord Jesus Christ didn’t really suffer and bleed and die to cleanse you of all your defilement and wrongdoing and sin. The knowledge, this, the remembrance of your cleansing from sin is the primary motivation for living out the qualities of verses 5, 6, and 7 that we will look at specifically in a moment. And if this motivation is weakened, if you’re not living near the cross, remembering the cost and growing humble and full of gratitude for your Lord’s death for you on your behalf, then your motivation is weakened and the development of these qualities is diminished in your life. And when your motivation is weakened, you’re not diligently and increasingly living out these qualities, then assurance is weakened. And there’s no hoop I can jump you through to make you have a true assurance. Now you might trust your pastor or your parent or some spiritual leader to give you some little exercise and make you feel better again. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches you’ve got to get back with it, brother or sister. You’ve got to get back on track. You’ve got to get your walk going back again. You’ve got to start striving toward and with the Lord again and let the assurance come out of that. That’s the true assurance that you will gain and that God wants you to have and certainly that I want you to have.

Well, go to verse 10. He says, “Therefore,” based on all that he said so far, “brethren, be all the more diligent.” There is some real work involved if you’re gonna walk in true assurance of salvation. And I want to say something to you, sir, and I want to say something to you, ma’am, if you’re walking around thinking you’re okay and you don’t apply any diligence to your walk with Christ, you’re under a false delusion. You may be saved, but you’re not assured of it the proper way. He says, “Be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you.” Now therefore means, “since you can lose the most treasure known to humankind, that is that God’s forgiven you and you’re His child. It’s the greatest treasure you’ll every have. You can lose the assurance of that. Therefore, be diligent. Therefore give diligence.” Actually the word, the phrase, rather, “give diligence” is an aorist tense, which means finished action in past time with continuing results. It means make it your settled, lifetime conviction, commitment that you’re gonna be diligent in striving after these qualities. “Give diligence,” he says there in verse 10, “to make certain about His calling and choosing you.” To make certain there is, uh, a middle voice expression which means you, the, there’s action back on yourself. You do your part to make yourself walk in such a way and have such qualities you can be assured that you’re a child of God. You’ve got to work at this. You don’t work to save yourself, but you have to work to be assured of your salvation. You don’t work to procure your justification, but you must work to be assured that you’re one of His justified ones. Be all the more diligent.

He says this same thing back up in verse 5, “Applying all diligence.” Then he uses the phrase moral excellence in verse 5. That means a, a commitment, a manly, uh, willful commitment to do something. So three different times he talks about this work, work, work needed in your life if you’re gonna have true biblical assurance. Does it come into your mind that a lot of folks who feel assured of their salvation are assuring themselves on false and unbiblical premises? You better believe they do. You better believe they do.

Now he says to make your calling and election sure. Actually in time and space history they go in the other order. You’re elected by God, chosen’s another word, and then you’re called to that salvation He chose you for. Uh, election simply means choosing some sinners based on grace and not on their merits to be saved. That’s all it means. That’s what it means. And don’t try to make it mean anything else. All it’s ever meant and all it ever will mean. God sovereignly choosing some sinners to save not based on their merit or their worthiness. That’s election or choosing. That’s all he says here, so that all I’m gonna say.

And then he uses the word calling. Calling means God’s efficacious work in salvation. He calls those whom He has chosen to actually come to and experience the salvation He elected for them to receive. That’s all this text says. Don’t do any monkey things with it to make it say something else. That’s what it says. Now calling is mentioned first because in our experience we experience calling before we understand election. Isn’t that true? I was saved, what? Twenty-five, six years ago, and God called me to Himself. I, I experienced that. I knew God had spoken to me. I knew He had convicted me and regenerated me and I knew He had changed my heart and life. And then as I studied and learned, later on I learned about election. I learned, guess what, God did it all. You didn’t do anything. God gets all the glory. “No man can boast,” the Bible says. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 says, “He who began a good work in you will perform it or protect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” He began the work, and He’ll continue it until the day of Christ Jesus. So this is the work of God.

Now he says, “You need to do something. You need to be diligent to make sure you are one that God’s called to Himself because you are one He elected or chose before you were ever on the earth.” Now how, how you gonna do that? Hum. It’s an interesting truth here behind the word “to make your calling and election, or His calling and choosing you, um, certain.” You could use the word sure. I think the King James uses sure.

How do you make sure? How to you make certain? Well, this is a word that in ancient Greek literature was used to mean a warranty deed. Just like you and I today have a warranty or a warranty deed to a refrigerator or a washer or an automobile. It’s a warranty. It, in another place, in chapter 6 verse 19, this same word certain or sure is translated secure. In Romans chapter 4 verse 16, this same Greek word is translated guaranteed. Now here’s what he’s saying. Your behavior, that is as you are growing in the characteristics, the qualities outlined in verses 5 through 7, as those are growing in your life, those are the warranty of your salvation. The guarantee, the security that you truly are His. They do not save you, but it’s like giving you a warranty in your hand, “I’m truly God’s.”

Now go on down to the other part there in verse 10. He says, “If you’re diligent in applying and growing in those qualities, you are making yourself sure and certain that you are one He’s chosen and called.” And then he says, “As long as you practice these things, you’ll never stumble.” Now the King James Version uses fall, and I don’t think that’s a good translation at all because there’s a huge difference between stumbling and falling. I can stumble and never fall. But the idea generally, not absolutely, but the idea generally when referring to spiritual truth is that if you fall you’re down for the count. But if you stumble, you were weakened, you were slowed. You bumbled or stumbled or whatever you want to say, but you didn’t fall. And that’s the word here. The word here is not fall. The word here is stumble. You stumbled, you tripped, but didn’t fall finally.

Uh, Romans 11:11, I think it’ll be on your screen, but in Romans 11:11 notice how the two different words are used here. Paul says to the church at Rome, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous.” Here’s what God’s saying. Here’s the Jews, and the Jews stumbled over Christ. They wouldn’t trust Him. They wouldn’t receive Him. They didn’t believe He was their promised Messiah. But they didn’t fall headlong so that they can’t be saved. NO. He says, “God forbid! They stumbled, but they didn’t fall.” Well, that’s the word here for Christians. If Christians, a true child of God is not progressing in applying and building the qualities he’s gonna tell us in these preceding verses, verses 5 through 7, then he’ll stumble, he’ll mess up, he’ll rob himself of assurance, he’ll make his family miserable because they won’t know if he’s really saved. But he won’t fall headlong. He don’t lose his salvation. He just stumbles. And then in an interesting way of phrasing there he has in verse 11, “For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” The entrance into eternity will be therefore abundantly supplied to you. Again if we strive and increase the qualities revealed in verses 5 through 7, then God will abundantly, not barely or not scarcely, but abundantly welcome us into heaven.

There’s some mystery in this verse, but I think generally it means this. You remember the Bible says some will be saved though as through fire? They, they get into heaven, but I think the imagery here is that there are gonna be some that stumble and bumble along in their Christian walk and they barely stumble into the door of heaven. And I know some of you are thinking, “That, that’d be good enough for me.” That’s a wicked heart. That’s a wicked concept in your heart to think that because salvation is not being saved from hell. Salvation is being saved from sin and lust and lying and dirty talk and immoral practices and immodest dress and we could go on and on. It’s saved from a worldly, man-centered godless life. It’s saved to a life of seeking God in holiness and righteousness. But I believe the text is pointing out that a person can get in such a state that their life is so weak in the qualities that mark a true child of God that you can’t really know, and it’s as if when you die you barely stumble into the door of heaven. I don’t know about you. I don’t want to go home to heaven like that. But it said if you’re striving and making diligent that these qualities are yours, then it’s just like you stroll into heaven, doors wide open. And there’s good evidence, based on the authority of the Word of God in your own heart and from your brothers and sisters in Christ, your sons and daughters or grandsons or granddaughters or great grandsons or great granddaughters that you leave behind, they have a confident assurance, “He’s home in glory.” Why? “Because of the life he lived.” “Now, Pastor, don’t you believe once saved always saved?” I absolutely do. “Don’t you believe at the moment of belief, at the moment one truly trusts Christ, justification is settled? It lasts for eternity. There’s been a formal, judicial declaration from the barroom, the jurisprudence of heaven that you’re not guilty and it’s settled forever.” Yes! But assurance of that comes through a diligent work and walk with God. That’s the difference.

Well, let’s look at this together if you will. We’ll jump down into verse 5 and look at the specifics of these qualities that gain assurance, that give us assurance. He says in verse 5, “Now for this very reason also applying all diligence,” there’s that word again. Now, now we’ve got to stop there because it says, “For this very reason.” For what very reason? Well, you’ve got to look at the preceding verses. And you look up in verse 3 and he says, excuse me, “that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” “Since divine power has been granted to you as a child of God, for that reason be diligent to do some things with that divine power that’s in you.”
And then if you would, look at verse 4. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature. You haven’t partaken of the divine nature in the full, but in a way the Bible says the Spirit’s been given to us as a down payment of what’s coming later. “So since the divine power and the divine nature has been granted to you, now do something with it,” is what he’s saying. “Be diligent about something since that’s been put into your life.” He says, “all diligence,” that means your part. You do your part. Brothers and sisters in Christ, there is an essential component of Christianity where you decide as an act of your will, “I will diligently serve and follow my God. My church meets on Sunday night. I will be there. My church meets on Wednesday night. Count on me. I have received divine power. I’m the partaker of the divine nature. I’ll be diligent to do something with that.” It’s a choice you make. It’s a decision you make. And when you make that choice and make that decision, you gain assurance of your salvation. All diligence.

Now he says here, here’s what he says, “In all diligence in your faith,” now he’s gonna tell you all the specific things to be diligent about. The first one is, “supply moral excellence.” Supply means to build upon or build to your faith. You’ve trusted in Christ. Your faith says, “Though I don’t see Him with my human eyes, hear Him with my human ears, touch Him with my human hands, yet I believe in Him and all that the scriptures say concerning Him. By faith I embrace Him as Savior and Lord.” That’s my faith. Now particularly, practically, I add to that moral excellence. That’s number one. If you’re keeping an outline, put a number one and put the phrase “moral excellence.” The King James uses the word virtue. But it has the idea of a manly, strenuous energy. Put an energy in this thing. A, a, a determined energy that you’re gonna live out the excellence of God’s divine power and divine nature He’s put into you.

All right, then number two. He says, “Add to your, and in your moral excellence add knowledge.” That’s the Bible. That’s understanding the Word of God. Gonna put some manly, strenuous energy into seeking God’s will, seeking God’s Word. Let me ask you. How you doing so far? Has there been a diligence about having a real energy in your learning, studying, listening to the preaching of God’s Word? Because, by the way, brothers and sisters, God’s Word is God’s will. “Well, what’s God’s will?” Well, how diligent are you in the scriptures? What are you memorizing? Do you study your Sunday School lesson? Do you study and pray and get prepared for the preaching of the Word on Sunday? Brothers and sisters, the preaching of the Word of God from the pulpit is not window dressing in the church. It’s foundational to everything we are and everything we’re about. It’s foundational for your home. Men, it’s foundational for your, your marriage and the way you raise your children. It’s foundational for your work relationship. Young people, it’s foundational to your, your witness at school. Are you diligent, are you applying manly energy in learning the Word of God so that you might know the will of God?

Well, then he says something else. He says, number three, uh, we’re, we’re not in verse 6, “And in your knowledge, self-control.” There should be a diligent, manly energy, conviction and commitment that you will begin to grow in controlling your lust and your passions after the things of the flesh. Wouldn’t it be nice to say to you one day you’ll get over that? You will, but you’ll have to die first. But you can have a determined energy about it. You can have a diligence to strive after… By the way, these are two sides of the same coin. As you’re learning God’s Word, therefore God’s will, you are also learning to have the self-control against the lusts and passions of the flesh. They always go together if you’re properly receiving the Word.

And then he says, “Add to your self-control,” number four, “perseverance.” King James uses the word temperance. Same basic idea. It means to, uh, keep seeking and serving God in the midst of suffering and persecution. You’re to have a determined, diligent commitment that when suffering and persecution comes, I will keep serving God. Perseverance is not, “I’ll sit on the sideline and see how things work out.” No! Go on for God when the heat is on and when the pressure’s on and when your friends leave you and when your family members laugh at you and when the guys or the ladies at work ridicule you. You keep serving God! Don’t get discouraged and say, “I won’t go on visitation this week. It’s just been tough.” No! Go on and go. Have your quiet time. Be faithful to church. Witness for the Lord. Be serving in your small group. Keep doing it. Persevere. I don’t know about you, but there are times when that takes a direct, concerted, specific diligence to go on and do that. Perseverance, enduring persecution or suffering.

Then number five is also in verse 6, “add to your perseverance godliness, or in your perseverance godliness.” Now the godliness mentioned here is not some sterile, cold, emotionless thing. But it means as you’re enduring, as you are steadfastly persevering, cultivate a heart that’s God-centered and God treasuring, God adoring, God loving, God treasuring, cherishing. That’s godliness. I love God. God is precious and He is more special and He is more valuable and He is more beautiful to me. Diligently cultivate that. You see, we, we, we think because God’s sovereign we just kind of just sort of coast along, and God builds His kingdom. Oh, no. three times, “diligence, diligence, moral excellence, manly energy, get after it.” Why do you think we spent all those hours knocking on all those doors before the Spring Outreach? Because God’s sovereignty includes man’s responsibility. Don’t ever forget that. There’s a wicked, aberrant, abhorrent, better word, teaching that’s called hyper-Calvinism. It goes too far. It takes God’s sovereignty into fatalism. And you must guard yourself from that and run from that and, and fight against that. We are responsible to diligently seek our God and serve our God. Isn’t it interesting, did you notice in the same chapter Peter talks about God’s choosing or electing, about God’s calling, and then our responsibility to be diligent, diligent, and have moral excellence or manly energy? Isn’t that just like God? See you and I would camp out on one end or the other and fight about it. God just gives both and says, “Get over it.” Don’t you like God? Don’t you love God? That’s why He becomes beautiful to us, wondrous to us, and astonishing to us. He’s bigger than we are, and wiser than we are, and greater than we are.

Well, then he adds brotherly kindness, and this is number six in the list of the qualities that we need to have in our life and be increasing if we’re gonna be assured that we’re really His children. Uh, let’s just go through all of them. “In all diligence supply moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge; in knowledge, self-control, and self-control, perseverance, in your perseverance, godliness; in your godliness, brotherly kindness.” In other words, you’re to be cultivating and diligently growing in a tender, generous, affectionate life toward your brothers and sisters in Christ. Has that been growing in your life? You know what? That has really grown in my heart. It really has. And it’s just a neat thing, where the cherishing and the desirability of being around and being with Christians just ought to be growing. Let me ask you something, do you have to work at being committed to love your wife like Christ loves the church? Do you have to be committed and work at submitting to your husbands like the church is to submit to Christ? That’s spiritual too. So also you’ll have to be committed to learn to have a warm, cherishing affection in loving your brothers and sisters in Christ. Cultivate that. That’s one of the qualities that assures you of your salvation.
And then number seven, which is also in verse 7. “And in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness,” number seven is, “love.” Here love is the crescendo, the climactic conclusion of this assembly of beautiful virtues, grace, if you will, virtues. Grace meaning that ultimately they’re God’s giftedness to us. We don’t ultimately do any of it, even though we’re to add the responsible diligence and discipline and commitment to grow in them. But the crescendo of all these beautiful grace virtues is love. And love here means, King James translates it charity, and that’s not a word we use anymore, at least not in this context. It means a general, heartfelt goodwill for all. You know what I think really comes to play here? All the sudden as you’re growing and maturing in Christ and you’re adding these qualities into your life that give assurance that you’re truly one of His chosen and called ones, humility grows in your life. And when humility grows in your life, all the sudden you have a little more patience, a little more sympathy, a little more understanding to the people or persons that used to drive you crazy. Just more of a general love for the world around you. And the Bible says, “As far as is possible, keep peace with all men.” Sometimes it’s not possible. But you go out of your way with a new heart of love. I’m just nicer to the lady at the restaurant that messes up my order. By the way, my mamma used to wait tables to send me through school. Don’t be mean to waitresses. Tip them good. But there’s just something in me that loves a little better. I’m a little more charitable, I’m a little more generous, I’m a little more kind-hearted because as I’ve grown and I’ve learned God’s will and I’ve persevered through strife and trials and persecutions and suffering, I began to learn more and more and more that my Lord has loved me and saved me, and I’m so unworthy. So why can’t I be more loving to everybody else?

Well, those are the seven characteristics. Now he says these seven characteristics, you’re to be diligently, with manly energy, mature determination building these in your life. And then he gives you verse 8 again. “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It means these things are increasing in you. You should be able to tell. Now if you’ve only been saved a few weeks or a few months, it’s hard to tell. If you’ve been saved for years, you should be able to tell that, “You know what? These things are in my life and I’m beginning to notice it makes me different than my unsaved acquaintances. I don’t think like they think. My values for my children are not like the values they have for their children. The priorities of my life are not like the priorities of their life.” And by the way, in, in families it makes fellowship more difficult because Jesus said, “There will be times when to be a follower of Mine you’ll have enemies in your own household.” That’s what it means. They’re yours and increasing. They, they start to mark you out because these things are not the common mark of the unsaved.

In verse 8, he says, “They render you,” these qualities if they’re yours and increasing they render you, they make you, they confirm that you are, generally speaking, God’s true child.” Neither barren nor unfruitful. You start proving that I am a fruitful field. I am bearing fruit. God saved me so that I would produce fruit that would be of Him and by Him and for Him and bring glory to Him. And I see that and it gives me assurance. And these traits, these graces bring into us and prove that we know Him and that as we truly know Him and we walk in them then we know Him even more. And by doing His will and becoming more like Him, growing in these graces, we know Him better. There’s a reciprocal truth going on here. As you diligently apply these virtues, Christ becomes more real to you. AS you love and cherish Christ because He’s becoming more real to you, you keep growing in these characteristics or these virtues. And the reciprocal growth continues.

So you begin with faith the moment you believe, the faith that, how did he word it in verse 1? Look up at verse 1 again. Sovereignty all over this chapter. In verse 1 he says, “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours.” If Peter was your pastor, when someone got saved, he’d say, “Look, they’ve received the faith. God did that. they received the faith. They received that capacity to believe on Christ.” Then he says, “Now you, with diligence, twice, have a determination, a moral excellence about this.” Then he says, “knowledge,” that means to know God’s Word and God’s will. Be diligent about that. And then “self-control.” That means to be purposing an striving to be controlled in those areas of lust and passion in your life. “Perseverance,” keep on faithfully serving God though persecution and suffering comes your way. “Godliness,” which means a heart that’s God-centered and values God and cherishes God and becomes more in love with God. Affections for your brothers and sisters in Christ and a general love for all those who are around. He said, “These are yours and increasing, you are indeed making your calling and election sure.” You ought to have assurance of salvation.
I want to say to you, young person, mom or dad, if this isn’t the track you’re on, you cannot be assured of your salvation. You may have it, but you can’t have any assurance about it and joy in it. You know, as I’ve studied this, I cried out to God and I said, “OH, Lord, I want to live for You and obey You and immolate You and not just study this stuff. Lord, help me to increasingly have the qualities that increasingly give me assurance of my salvation.” Let’s stand together in prayer.