Be Resolved
I wonder what was the most precious gift you received this Christmas? Of all the gifts I was given, I think this is the one that I value the most. It mightn't look like much, but it's a key part of the best wedding present, possibly the most precious gift I've ever been given. I guess I should say we, but the truth is I use it a lot more than Sarah!
2 Peter begins with a reminder that as Christians, we've received a gift far more precious than a coffee machine. In fact, it's the most precious gift there is. It's the gift of faith, faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in God's Son, whose birth we've just celebrated and remembered at Christmas. It's a gift that we didn't deserve or earn. It was given to us through, and on account of, the righteousness of God and of his Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. It's through this that our sins are forgiven. It's through this we receive the promise of life, eternal life and of being part of the new heavens and the new earth. If you're not a Christian, it's great that you're here with us this morning. I hope that as we look at 2 Peter together, you'll see just how precious this gift is, and you'll want to receive it for yourself. If that's the case, please speak to me, or Ivy, or anyone here that you know is a Christian and we'd be happy to help you understand how we receive this great gift from God.
We tend to look after gifts that are precious or valuable. I've diligently cared for that coffee machine, far more than some of the other gifts I've received. That hasn't prevented it from needing some repairs and a few replacement parts. But when we think something is precious, we'll care for it. We'll do all that we can to preserve, or nurture them. The last thing we want to do is loose them. The author of 2 Peter is just as concerned about our faith as we'll see throughout the letter. He doesn't want us to undervalue it, to neglect it or worse still to loose it. Instead he wants us to guard it and grow it. Peter wants us to experience and enjoy this gift more, and more fully. Which is why, even when we have already received grace and peace from God, he prays that they might be ours in even more abundance.
We'll see that growing in faith, and faithful living, is something we have to strive for. It takes resolution and hard work. But, so that we mightn't loose heart, we're immediately reminded that God is with us and for us. Not only has he given us the gift of faith in Christ, but also
His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3
God has already given us everything we need to live a godly life. There's no excuse then, for not living one. We've already received everything necessary to do so.
Through his glory and goodness God has given us the gift of faith. Through his glory and goodness God has called us. Through his glory and grace God has used his power to give us everything we need to live a godly life. And through his glory and goodness God has given us precious and very great promises. 2 Peter doesn't state explicitly what the content of those promise are. We might speculate they're the promises Christ made, that through faith in him we'll receive eternal life. 2 Peter does speak of the promise of the new heavens and the new earth later on. It might be though that here he has in mind the promise of the Holy Spirit and the promises God makes to us when we come to faith. That certainly fits with what comes next. The result of these promises, the result of God's power working in us, is twofold. Through them we can escape the corruption that is in the present world. That corruption has come about through lust, not just sexual lust, but all desires run amok. The corruption in mind in 2 Peter is moral and ethical. God has promised that through knowledge of his Son we can escape that corruption and we can instead participate in the divine nature. We can participate in the holiness, purity and goodness of God. We can share his character and nature, which leads to immortality. All this is possible through the working of God's divine power, through his precious and very great promises, through the gift of faith in the knowledge of his Son.
But did you notice that even with all that, we can't just sit back? It's not simply the case that God's given us all these things and that's it. In verse 6, we're urged to make every effort to support our faith, to live a virtuous life. We're to strive hard, to expend all our energy on this. A similar word is used in verse 11, when we're told to be all the more eager. We're to be resolved and determined. We're to work at gaining and growing in these virtues no matter what the cost. It's of the utmost importance and thus deserves the utmost effort. God has given us everything we need, but he doesn't automatically make us virtuous. Instead we need to make plans, to expend every effort in order to grow in them so that our faith might be supported. If you were around last year, we spent some time looking at this together in our series on Virtue Reborn. If you weren't around I encourage you to jump on the website and listen to those sermons. What 2 Peter says in this passage resonates a lot with what we had to say then. The list of virtues in verses 5-7 are very similar to other lists we find in the New Testament. They're straightforward and easy to understand. Though of course we need to remember that it's a particular expression of these virtues that we're to grow in. Growing in knowledge of theoretical physics, or love for plants, or faith in anything won't do. If we're to participate in God's divine nature, it's the expression of those virtues as we find in him. It's faith in God, it's love of God and love for one another as we find in Christ. By mutual affection, Peter doesn't mean having warm fuzzy feelings towards others. It's familial love, the kind that brothers and sisters have for one another. As the church we're made members of God's family and so we're to love each other as family. We're to live and love like God loves, to strive for goodness as God defines it, and so on.
Just in case that seems like a lot of hard work, verses 8-11 tell us why it's so important. It's only if we resolve to have and grow in these things that our faith will be effective and fruitful. If we've come to know just how great a gift God has given us, it would be a huge slap in his face if we didn't strive with all we had to live the way he calls us to. We would be short-sighted and blind! It's only by being resolved to live a virtuous life, to grow in our faith, that we can be sure we'll never stumble and miss out on the richness that awaits us in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Knowing this, as we start this New Year, will you join me in being resolved to live a virtuous life? To support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.
And as you think of that list, which do you need to most work on this year? You should've received a piece of paper that looks like this when you came in this morning. Can you please find it? On it you'll find the list of virtues from 2 Peter 5-8. I want you to take some time now to fill it out. Think about which of those things you most need to, or want to, grow in. You can circle it or tick it. Then, take some time to think about what it would look like for you to develop in that way? For now, just jot down at least one idea, one next step. Research has shown that you're much more likely to achieve something if you come up with a definite resolution, a clear next step. Knowing just how important it is that we grow our faith, that we develop these virtues, will you join me in writing down one resolution for the year?
You might like to keep that piece of paper. You can come back to it, to remind yourself of what you've resolved to do. But if you like you can also put it in the collection plate. Don't worry, I'm not going to publish the results in next week's pew sheet! It's so that I, and the other leaders here can encourage and support you. It's so that we can do what Peter's committed to do in verses 12-15. He makes it clear that he's going to keep on reminding them of these things, again and again. He's going to constantly refresh their memory, so that they don't forget. As long as he's with them, as long as we're with you, we'll strive to help you grow in your faith. If you place those pieces of paper in the collection plate, we'll write back. We'll remind you of what you want to grow in. We'll encourage you. We might suggest the next step you might take. We can point you to parts of God's word that would be helpful. We'll do this so that you can. Actually, even if you don't return those slips, we're resolved to keep doing those things, so that you might be resolved to continue to grow in your faith and in godly living. Let's pray that God will continue to equip and empower us to be so resolved.