Grace & Peace Be Multiplied To You
2Pet 1:1-4
Grow in grace & knowledge of Jesus Christ… an antidote to false teaching.
False teachers were shaking & unsettling their faith leading to unbelief. (2Pet 3:4)
The church is bearer of the message of salvation… if the church is lifeless or uncertain or unhappy, how can we do our work of making disciples? (Mt 28:19-20)
Make sure of your beginning & foundation… then go on adding to it. (Christian life)
Grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. (2Pet 3:18)
Do you know for certain that Christ is your personal Savior & Lord?
Lord Jesus Christ cannot be your Savior without being your Lord. (Acts 2:36)
Have you received the gift of Holy Spirit… new life & heart of Christ? (Acts 2:38)
God’s children are all being transformed & reflect character of Christ. (Gal 5:22)
How can we stand firm against myriad of false religious claims?
Salvation is the work of God from start to finish. (2Pet 1:3-4)
Genuine salvation is a supernatural act… the work of God from start to finish.
Genuine salvation involves a divine call, implanting the divine nature, & imparting divine power for Christian living.
As a sinner, natural man is spiritually blind & hostile to God… none understand, none seek after God. (Rm 3:11)
Those He predestined, He called, those He called, He justified… (Rm 8:30)
When someone hears & believes the Gospel… he has been called by God.
God loves everyone & invites them to Christ. Most of us are running away from Him as fast as we can… He must find us & save us.
Call: “come & see”; “follow me”; “sell everything, give to poor, & then follow me”; “deny yourself, take up your cross daily, then follow me”
Then, as now, some responded to the call, & some did not.
Today, Christ is extending His call to the lost & hurting via the church… by your life, love, & witness. Is that “call” clear & winsome?
We are partakers of the divine nature at same time we escape corruption of world.
Salvation is in 3 stages: You have been saved from penalty of sin, member of God’s family, new birth, declared righteous, citizens of heaven; you are being saved from sins power, growing in grace & knowledge & becoming more Christ-like; You will be saved from presence of sin, perfectly holy in heaven.
Partakers… we are brought into union (one) with Christ. (Jn 15)
H Spirit indwells you & your body is the temple of H Spirit. (1Cor 6:19)
We may not feel His supernatural character, & we may have failures, but we must focus on & believe Truth of God’s Word… we have Christ’s life & heart within.
We have divine power to live joyful & victorious lives… all we need for life & godliness.
Faithfully read God’s Word; pray daily; obey His Word, & rest in His strength.
Do you know Christ? Are you convinced He is able to keep you until He returns for you? (2Tim 1:12)
What is a Christian?
A Christian is one who is a partaker in the Divine nature.
One who knows God & who is becoming like Him.
One in whom the traits, characteristics, & life of God are increasingly evident.
The Scriptural standard for a Christian is holiness… a Christian is one who is being molded into image of Christ. (Rm 8:28)
This divine nature (like Christ) is demanded of all who claim to be Christians… the standard can’t be changed, anything less is not a Christian.
Everything we need for life & godliness has already been given to us… you can’t add to it
It is given to us in, by, & thru increasing knowledge of God that we have in Christ Jesus.
May grace & peace be multiplied to you. (2Pet 1:2)
We grow & increase in grace & peace thru knowledge of God & of Jesus our Lord.
The very essence of Christian faith is the person of Jesus Christ Himself.
In Christ Jesus, God has dealt with sin… Christ paid the penalty.
Put your faith in what Jesus Christ has done, submit yourself to Jesus Christ as Savior & Lord, & accept the righteousness that God gives you in Christ.
We can never make ourselves right with God by obeying His commands.
God has made a new way of righteousness… righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ. (Eph 2:8-9)
God has offered us a new way back to Himself in & thru Jesus Christ & Him crucified.
Our faith is in Jesus Christ… without Him we are lost, but in Him we are complete.
By faith we know we are forgiven, & we will spend eternity with God.
But our nature is still corrupt… what can we do about that?
Our sin nature was crucified with Christ… He now lives His life in us. (Gal 2:20)
We can be born again, receive a new nature & character. (2Cor 5:17)
We are God’s workmanship (Eph 2:10)… initiated by God & worked out by Spirit. Given our weak & sinful nature, the goal of knowing Christ & being conformed to His likeness is impossible. But Christ in me & thru me is God’s perfect plan. (Col 1:27)
Do you know Christ? Are you like Him? Can you say that you are increasingly a partaker of His divine nature? That is what makes one a Christian.
To extent that your life manifests Christ’s love & life, to that extent your life will convict world of its sin & corruption, & will draw others to Jesus Christ our Lord.
03-22-09