Latest / Reformed Thinking / Grace Supplied, Holiness Pursued: Confirming Calling (2 Peter 1:2–10)

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Grace Supplied, Holiness Pursued: Confirming Calling (2 Peter 1:2–10) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking and this is the deep dive.
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Today we're opening up the 2nd letter of Peter, specifically
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chapter 1, verses 2 through 10. Now it's a short passage, but
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it's really densely packed and it offers something I think
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profoundly practical, gives a clear answer to a question that
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while we all face as believers, don't we, you know, in a world
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just saturated with information, sermons, books, articles, all
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instantly available, How do you know?
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How can you tell if the knowledge you have about Christ
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is genuinely alive and well effective?
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Or is it just sort of inert data sitting in your mind?
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That's right, Peter was writing to believers who were definitely
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facing pressure, false teaching too, and he saw clearly there's
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a difference between just affirming doctrine and having
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real spiritual vitality. So what he gives us here is, you
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could say, a powerful diagnostic tool for assessing that
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vitality. Our mission, then, in this deep
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dive, is to trace the logic of his argument.
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It's very precise. It's ironclad, really.
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We'll see how the Christian life starts with God's complete
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provision. Peter calls it the grant.
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Then we move to our necessary reaction, the diligent supply of
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specific character traits. And we'll finish by looking at
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the two possible verdicts Peter gives on our knowledge.
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This leads to the solid comfort of well confirmed calling and
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spiritual stability. It is a compelling structure
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because Peter, right away he confronts that gap, doesn't he?
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The gap between claiming you know Jesus or claiming you
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adhere to the knowledge of him and actually living a life that
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looks different, demonstrably different.
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He really insists that true life giving knowledge, well it has to
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yield visible results, increasing results that look
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like Christ. And if there's no fruit, Peter
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doesn't see that as just a minor thing.
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No, he views it as a crisis of siritual health.
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A serious one. OK, let's unpack this.
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Then we should start exactly where Peter starts, right?
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With the foundation. This feels critical because
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Peter makes sure the believer gets this.
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The Christian life is rooted entirely in God's provision, not
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our effort. It all begins with God.
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Look at his opening salutation there in verse 2.
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It's much more than just a polite hello.
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He writes that grace and peace are to be multiplied.
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That's the keyword multiplied to believers through the knowledge
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of God and of Jesus our Lord. Multiplied, not just given, but
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increase abundantly. Yes, Peter isn't just praying
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for, you know, a basic dose of these blessings.
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He's anticipating their abundant increase in the Christian's
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life. I think we often just skate over
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that idea of multiplication. Why does Peter link it so
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directly to knowledge? Why is knowledge, the specific
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mechanism for grace and peace, increasing?
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Why not say just intense prayer or maybe emotional experiences?
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That's a great question. It's because Peter lays down a
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theological rule right from the outset.
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Knowledge is the way God set it up.
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It's the channel along which grace and peace flow into our
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actual Christian experience. You could say the Christian life
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grows along the track of truth, truth about the Father and the
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Son and the kind of knowledge Peter's talking about here.
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It's not just nuisance like bear information or facts.
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He's the word of pygnesis. It signifies accurate, full
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orbed knowledge. It includes personal trust,
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allegiance. It's experiential understanding
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too. OK, so neesis might be knowing
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the facts about someone, maybe their biography, but apignesis
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that sounds like knowing the person themselves, which
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naturally affects your loyalty, your trust.
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Exactly. It's a deeper, more relational
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knowing. So if knowledge, this apignesis
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is the conduit, what's the practical danger if we neglect
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growing in it the specific allegiance fueling knowledge?
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Well, if you neglect growing in truth, you're essentially
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cutting off the water supply to that multiplying channel.
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It just won't happen. Peter's framing here, it acts
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like a guardrail, protecting us from two really common spiritual
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pitfalls. First, there's bare
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intellectualism. You know, having all the precise
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facts about Christ, but without the heart allegiance that marks
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true faith, that kind of knowledge, it won't multiply
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grace and peace. It just stays as cold data.
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Right facts without faith. And the second pitfall is, well,
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anti doctrinal piety. This is zeal, maybe lots of
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passion, but it's cut loose from objective, revealed truth.
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It often prioritizes subjective experience or emotion over
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actual doctrine. Now, that kind of devotion, it
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might produce warmth, maybe even excitement, but it lacks the
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structure, the guidance of truth.
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It leads to instability. So Peter binds the head and the
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heart together. He shows how right knowledge
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actually fuels real godliness, real stability.
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He does. He shows they belong together.
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That makes the difference between just having information
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and truly assimilating it very clear.
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And if that assimilation is happening, if it's successful,
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how does this multiplication of peace actually show up in a
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believer's daily life, especially when things get
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tough? Peace abounds because this
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accurate Christ centered knowledge, it trains the mind
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and it studies the conscience. We gain two kinds of peace
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through this knowledge. They're distinct but related.
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First, there's peace with God. That's the objective reality,
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reconciliation through justification by faith.
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It rests entirely on Christ's finished work.
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The war is over objectively. OK, peace with God.
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What's the second? The second is the peace of God.
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This is more subjective. It's that settled quietness, the
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one that surpasses understanding, right?
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It guards our hearts and minds against anxiety, against fear,
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even when circumstances are chaotic.
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So think about a believer facing a storm.
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Maybe it's accusations from others, maybe a spiritual
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attack, or just that internal battle with sin.
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The idea is that the conscience is taught repeatedly what Christ
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has actually done, and rehearsing that truth helps calm
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those internal storms. Precisely.
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The conscience, yeah, it can't be quieted by just, you know,
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self talk or trying to think positively.
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It needs truth, real objective truth.
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When we understand 3 appeasis, that our sin is forgiven, that
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God is actually for us, that theological certainty produces
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psychological stability, spiritual stability too.
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And Peter makes the practical pathway clear.
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This knowledge, the kind that multiplies grace and peace, it
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flows through the ordinary means of grace.
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Things like the Word read and studied, the Word preached
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faithfully, the truths we confess, the truths we actually
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believe and act on. Plus prayer of course, and
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fellowship within the church under Christ's Lordship.
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So you have to actively place yourself under that stream of
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truth to experience the multiplication you can't just
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wish for. It no.
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It's like wishing for a harvest without planting any seed.
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It doesn't work that way. OK, so knowledge is the channel.
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Now let's dig into the power source itself.
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Peter moves right from the channel to the source, God's
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divine power. He says this power has granted
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all things for life and godliness.
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That phrase has granted. It feels really significant.
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It seems to lock in both the past action and the present
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reality. It absolutely does that verb,
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the detriminus. It's in the perfect tense in
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Greek. This isn't talking about a
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partial provision, or maybe a promise of a future handout.
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No, it signals a completed act, Done, finished, but with an
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abiding, ongoing, perpetual effect.
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This is the sweeping grant of the New Covenant.
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It means, basically, that from the moment God called us, he has
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already stocked the cupboard, so to speak.
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Every spiritual necessity is already there.
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Wow, that's incredibly comprehensive.
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When Peter says all things that pertain to life and godliness,
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what exactly is he covering with those two terms?
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Life's you and godliness you, Sabaya.
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Good question. Life That refers to spiritual
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vitality, our regeneration, our ongoing union with Christ.
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It's the inner principle of our new spiritual existence.
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Then godliness, you spay. That's the outward expression of
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that inner spiritual life. It's reverent conduct
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characterized by a godward posture in everything we do.
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So the scope is total. Everything needed for inward
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spiritual life and outward reverent behavior has already
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been provided. Yes, and this completely rules
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out any idea of self reliant moralism.
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We aren't straining to somehow earn the tools we need for
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godliness. We're striving to use the tools
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we've already been given. Which underlines, again, that
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godliness comes from divine strength, not our own native
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human strength. You often hear that phrase grace
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isn't opposed to effort, it's opposed to earning.
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Peter seems to really embody that right here.
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He certainly does. Grace is often described as
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strength in the bones. It's the divine energy that
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makes our moral action possible in the first place.
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And notice the grant flows through the knowledge of him who
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called us. There's that knowledge channel
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again. It links the supply of power
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directly to the proper understanding of Christ.
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You see Christ's moral splendor, his glory and excellence.
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It's both the magnet that first drew us to faith, and it's the
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pattern into which this divine power is reshaping us.
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If we try to separate the power from the knowledge of Christ we
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end up in one of two ditches. Either lazy quietism doing
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nothing or we veer into self reliant moral achievement
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thinking we can do it ourselves. Right.
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You need both the power source and the correct understanding,
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the knowledge for it to work properly.
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Now I find the explanation of how this complete provision
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actually reaches us really fascinating.
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Peter specifies it reaches believers through God's precious
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and very great promises. He calls them the appointed
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conduits. Yes, they are the specific
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authorized conduits. Think about God's promises in
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Scripture. Promises of forgiveness,
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promises of sanctification, eternal security, provision, all
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of them. These promises, when you believe
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in, when you hold on to them tightly, they quiet the
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accusations of conscience, they stiffen your spine and trials.
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They put steel into daily obedience.
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So they cover everything from justification all the way to
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future glory. They do, and they aren't just
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comforting words on a page. They are active mechanisms.
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They actually work what they announce when they're applied by
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faith. And the ultimate effect Peter
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mentions is that through these promises, believers become
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partakers of the divine nature. Now that's a phrase that often
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needs careful handling, doesn't it, To avoid serious
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misunderstanding. It requires great care.
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Yes, Peter is absolutely not teaching that we get absorbed
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into deity or become little gods.
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That would violate the creator creature distinction, which is
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central to, well, all sound theology, especially reformed
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theology. Instead what?
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He's talking about his communion fellowship with the life of God.
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How? By virtue of our spiritual union
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with the risen Lord Jesus, mediated by the Holy Spirit, and
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this fellowship, this communion, it yields A radical moral
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renewal. A moral renewal, meaning a
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change in what we actually want, what we pursue.
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Exactly. The believer is given new
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appetites, new moral capacities, new aims, a new direction for
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the heart. This is the mechanism that
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enables us to escape the world's corruption.
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The word is thora, which Peter says is rooted specifically in
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sinful desire epithelmia. So the promises act like an
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anchor, pulling us away from those fleeting, destructive
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desires of the world. That's a good way to put it.
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Deliverance, then, is fundamentally a change of love.
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God's promises seize the will re aiming it away from corruption
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and toward Christ's likeness. So the fact that God has already
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granted all things for life and godliness, it's not an excuse
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for kicking back and doing nothing spiritually.
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At all. Instead, it serves as the
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theological foundation, the bedrock for all the action that
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follows. We can pursue holiness because
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God has already given us everything we need to succeed.
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That is the essential theological flow Peter lays out.
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The grant is completed, It's perfect.
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It's comprehensive. But that prior grant doesn't
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make our effort needless. No.
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It makes our effort possible, it makes it logical, and ultimately
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it makes it effective. If you've been given strength in
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the bones, well, now you're commanded to run the race.
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And that powerful transition brings us right to Peter's
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command for our necessary response.
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He uses that strong connecting phrase for this very reason.
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Precisely because of God's complete grant, He tells us to
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make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue.
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Yes, that command, make every effort uses the Greek verb
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spudasate. It calls for zealous, sustained
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exertion. It's an aorist imperative,
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demanding decisive resolve. Peter is basically shouting get
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after it. This is why you can't accuse
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Peter of teaching some kind of passive quietism.
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He's demanding serious, sustained discipline from
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believers. OK, but that seems to be where
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people often get tripped up, doesn't it?
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If grace really supplies everything needed, why the need
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for such intense, zealous effort?
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Doesn't the intensity of Sputasete push us dangerously
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close to legalism? Oh, that tension.
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Yeah, that's exactly where the rubber meets the road and
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Christian living. But Peter maintains the grace
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effort balance perfectly. Look closely.
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The effort rises directly from the grace already given.
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We exert ourselves because the divine power has already worked
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within us, giving us new life and capacity.
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Our effort is the evidence that the internal change is real, not
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the cause of the change. Think of sanctification like the
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growth of a seed. God supplies the seed, the soil,
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the rain. That's the grant.
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But the seed still has to, you know, break the ground and
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stretch its roots down. Our effort is the sea breaking
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the ground. That helps.
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And what about the command to supplement or as some
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translations say, supply our faith?
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Right. The word translated supplement
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or supply is epicora gizasat. It's a fascinating word.
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It means to supply lavishly or even to provide a chorus.
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It comes from the civic practice back then, where a wealthy
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patron called the chorigos would generously fund a chorus for a
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big dramatic production. They provide everything needed,
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costumes, training, salaries, the whole works.
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So Peter's telling believers look, God the divine patron has
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supplied the capacity. That's the grant.
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Now you must lavishly fund the performance, meaning these
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graces with your full resources don't just dole out little
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teaspoons of obedience. Fund the whole choir, not just
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sing a solo of your favorite virtue.
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Exactly. Fund the whole spiritual choir,
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making sure all 8 virtues sing together in harmony.
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So the command isn't just to acquire these qualities, but to
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acquire them in abundance and with zeal.
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Yes, abundantly and zealously. This active response confirms
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that we haven't been sedated by grace, but actually energized
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by. It it's energized motion.
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It is if a Christian's faith is real, genuine, saving faith, it
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will immediately begin the work of supplying these qualities.
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If the heart has truly been changed by grace, the hands must
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now be put to work practicing holiness.
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And the object of this zealous supply is that specific 8 link
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chain of qualities the soul bites as it's sometimes called.
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Peter lays them out in a clear progression.
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And like you said, it's not a cafeteria line where you just
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pick your favorite. It sounds like a cohesive
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climbing chain. They have to mature together.
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That cohesion is absolutely key. If you're missing even one link,
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the entire chain is compromised. Peter is forcing us to see that
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the Christian life has to be holistic.
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It's not compartmentalized. So let's walk through it.
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It starts with the root. Faith.
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OK, that's the foundation, the initial reliance on Christ.
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Without that root, none of the rest is possible.
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Correct. Now to that faith.
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Peter says we are commanded to add to virtue.
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The word is art, key. This means moral excellence, but
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it's coupled with courageous action.
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Remember, Christ called us by his own glory and virtue are to
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key. So this quality of moral
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excellence must mark those who belong to Him.
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Faith has to be active. It has to be brave.
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A faith that just remains passive and private.
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That's not the kind of faith Peter is describing here.
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OK, faith then active virtue. But virtue needs guidance,
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right? Which leads to three knowledge.
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Now it's interesting he uses neusis here, not the epignesis
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from earlier. How should we understand the
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function of this neusis in the chain?
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That distinction seems intentional.
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The epignesis back in verse 3, that's the perfect complete
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knowledge of Christ that saves us and gives us everything.
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Foundational knowledge. The news is here in the chain.
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That's more like the practical doctrinal clarity combined with
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skill and godly living that we gain and apply day by day.
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It's practical wisdom, you could say.
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So it guides the courage of virtue, keeps it from being
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reckless. Yes, exactly.
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It guides courage and it curbs the naivete that simple zeal
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might bring. Virtue without knowledge can
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easily become reckless enthusiasm or just misplace good
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intentions. Makes sense, but knowledge
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itself needs to be managed, doesn't it?
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Which brings us to 4. self-control.
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The Greek is in Kratia. Why does that come right after
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knowledge? Because without self-control,
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meaning our desires are bridled into the rule of God's word,
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knowledge itself can just puff you up.
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It can lead to pride. A person might acquire vast
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doctrinal knowledge, but then only use it to fuel their
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arrogance or maybe find intellectual loopholes for sin.
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self-control prevents knowledge from staying merely theoretical.
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It's objects, your will, your body, your passions to the
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knowledge you possess. It ensures discipline.
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Think about fasting, for instance.
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That's a concrete practice of self-control.
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It demonstrates our freedom from the tyranny of just wanting
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immediate gratification, right? And that flows directly into 5
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steadfastness hypomony. This is staying power under
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trial, endurance, maybe just plain grit.
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I can see the flow now. Yeah.
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Steadfastness is what keeps self-control from just
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collapsing the moment the pressure hits hard, when
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temptation is strong or difficulties pile up.
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Precisely. Hypomony is the ability to bear
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up under pressure, to stay the course even when everything
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outside is pushing against you. If self-control is the internal
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discipline, steadfastness is the external endurance that proves
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it. But endurance just for its own
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sake? That can become a kind of grim
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stoicism. If it doesn't have the next
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link, which is 6 godliness, use Baea again.
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Godliness, which we already defined as that reverent Godward
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posture, treating every moment as lived right before his face.
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Exactly. Our steadfastness has to be
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sanctified by godliness. We endure not just because we're
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tough, but because we are looking to the face of God.
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We know He is worthy of our submission, our worship, even
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right in the middle of suffering.
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If steadfastness lacks that God orientation, it can just harden
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into grim determination, lacking any spiritual sweetness or joy.
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OK, so far it's faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control,
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control, steadfastness, godliness.
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Now the focus seems to shift more outwardly, relationally,
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starting with 7 brotherly affection Philadelphia.
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This is that warm family care specifically for fellow
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believers. Why is this link necessary here
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in the progression? Peter understood the human
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tendency, even among Christians, maybe especially among
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Christians, the tendency to use high doctrine or intense
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personal godliness as a way to isolate ourselves or maybe
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foster a kind of spiritual elitism.
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I can see that. If our godliness and our grasp
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of truth aren't accompanied by real warmth, active affection
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for the family of faith, well that godliness turns cold.
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It can become brittle or aloof. Brotherly affection ensures that
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the truth we hold gets expressed in relational grace, in active,
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tangible care for other Saints. It keeps truth warm.
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And finally, the whole chain is crowned with eight love, agape,
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self giving love for another's good.
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It sits last, you said, because it perfects the whole sequence.
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Yes, Agape is the capstone. It takes the specific affection
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shown to the brothers Philadelphia and expands it.
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It includes all people, those outside the church, even our
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enemies. Love gathers up perfects and
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gives direction to all the rest of the chain.
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You could say faith is the root, but agape is the fully ripe and
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visible fruit that proves the root is alive.
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It shows the Christians focus has ultimately moved from
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self-discipline which is necessary, to self giving which
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is the ultimate mark of being like Christ.
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Wow, the practical challenge here is pretty significant,
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isn't it? We're commanded not just to sort
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of vaguely admire these qualities, but to actively
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supply them lavishly through concrete daily actions and
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choices. We have to prove our knowledge
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is actually functional. We absolutely must put our hands
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to the labor. That's the command.
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So you read scripture not just for interesting facts, but for
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the knowledge that actually guides your life.
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You skip a pleasure or maybe delay gratification to train
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self-control. You endure a set back at work or
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maybe a personal slight without lashing out.
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To build steadfastness. You intentionally go out of your
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way to serve a struggling member of your church practicing
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brotherly affection. These deeds aren't earning
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anything. Not at all.
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They aren't payment. They are the evidence, the proof
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that the life God planted within you is energized by His grace
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and is producing its proper intended fruit.
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OK, this diligent exertion, the supplying of the graces, leads
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directly into Peter's next point, his clear test for the
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productivity of a believer's knowledge.
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He gives 2 contrasting verdicts, don't you think?
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And they depend entirely on whether these 8 graces we just
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walked through are present and, crucially, increasing.
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Yes, that phrase are yours and are increasing is absolutely
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vital. It establishes that Peter's
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looking for direction, not flawless static perfection.
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The Christian life isn't a photo finish moment, it's a marathon
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of growth overtime. So if these qualities are
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present and if they are growing, the believer receives the
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positive verdict. Right.
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And if they are yours and are increasing, the result, Peter
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states, is clear stability. They keep you from being
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ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. Peter is directly censuring lazy
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quietism here, and intellectual stagnation too.
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He says true knowledge is prevented from being two things.
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First, Argos that means idle, inactive, just sitting still.
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Second, a carpos, which means without fruit Baron.
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That language is very descriptive Argos.
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You can picture a really capable tool just sitting unused in the
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corner. What does Argos knowledge look
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like in, say, contemporary Christian life?
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Oh, you see it. Argos knowledge is often
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academic theology that's used only for maybe internal
21:27
intellectual satisfaction, or worse, just for external
21:30
critique and winning debates online.
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It's knowing the history of the covenants perfectly, yeah,
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maybe, but never using that knowledge to actually comfort a
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suffering sister in Christ. It's having really tidy
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doctrinal statements, but never translating that creed into
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conduct. Things like generous giving or
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forgiving someone who genuinely wronged you.
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The knowledge is just sitting still in the mind.
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It's failing to move the hands or the feet into action.
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So the presence and importantly the increase of these graces,
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virtue, knowledge, self-control and so on.
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They ensure that true knowledge that a pygmy of Christ is
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actually doing its proper work. It yields fruit.
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It turns learning into likeness. It makes our learning
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functional, active. If you can look at your life and
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honestly observe a steady increase, maybe slow but steady
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in patients, in discipline, in warmth towards others, in costly
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self giving, Peter says your knowledge of Christ is alive and
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well. This is why Peter focuses on
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increase. We are never perfect in these
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areas this side of glory, are we?
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But the direction of our growth that provides real comfort.
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The knowledge of Christ is meant to produce Christ likeness.
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Fruitfulness confirms that process is actually happening.
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OK, that's the positive verdict. But then there's the -1 the
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absence of these qualities. Or maybe there's stagnation.
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Whoever lacks these qualities receives the negative verdict.
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And frankly, it sounds terrifying.
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A state of spiritual neglect that leads to spiritual myopia
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or blindness. Peter's wording here is
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deliberately stark. It's meant to shock anyone who
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might be complacent. He says the person is so
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nearsighted that he's blind. He uses a rare verb here,
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bhajan. It pictures someone squinting
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hard at objects right under their nose, but they've
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completely lost sight of what's distant, was truly weighty,
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what's eternal? So it's not a lack of factual
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information. They might still know doctrine.
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Possibly the issue isn't necessarily a lack of facts,
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it's a moral fog that has descended, inverting their
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spiritual priorities. Sounds like the danger of
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fruitless orthodoxy having a perfectly correct doctrinal
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statement. Maybe you can ace a theology
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exam, but remaining spiritually barren in practice.
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If they have the knowledge, why the blindness?
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Because the deficiency is moral, Peter says, not primarily
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intellectual. And he names the specific
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insidious, 'cause right here, this is the heart of his
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challenge. The person is blind because they
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are having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
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Gospel amnesia? Wow, that's a powerful charge.
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It is the root cause according to Peter, the phrase having
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forgotten left in the laboon. It literally suggests the person
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has taken hold of forgetfulness, like they've actively grabbed
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onto amnesia rather than holding fast to the gospel.
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The cleansing as the active, purifying truth for their daily
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life. OK, but why does forgetting the
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cleansing specifically lead to this moral blindness and
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spiritual barrenness? What's the connection?
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Well, think about it. When the cleansing mercy of
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Christ fades from view, when the gospel becomes just assumed
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background noise, maybe something you believed years ago
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rather than the active necessary oxygen for your soul today, the
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whole mechanism of godliness starts to break down.
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You forget the immense cost of your pardon, right?
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And that dulls your sense of gratitude.
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And when gratitude fades, duty starts to feel like a heavy
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burden. And our own desires, those
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epithelmiae, they swell up again because they aren't being
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actively confronted and displaced by the greatness of
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Christ's cross and his mercy. So spiritual priorities get
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inverted, duties witter away, desires expand, and the
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knowledge we possess, it just becomes a sterile shell.
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It can't motivate true love or genuine self-control anymore.
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So the blindness is really a loss of perspective.
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It's caused by failing to continually draw strength and
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motivation from the source, our forgiveness, our cleansing in
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Christ. The spiritual vision gets fuzzy
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because the main object we should be focused on, Christ's
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completed cleansing work, has sort of receded into the
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background of our minds. Precisely.
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They might have excellent vision for what's temporal and near,
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You know, the latest cultural controversy of the tiny details
25:30
of their hobby, or maybe the slate they received from someone
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yesterday. They see that clearly, but
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they've become blind to the eternal perspective, the true
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way of their sin, the absolute wonder of their justification,
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the reality of coming glory. They are spiritually nearsighted
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because they've allowed the old, old news, Christ crucified and
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risen for sinners, to become stale, inactive in their memory
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and, crucially, in their conscience.
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But Peter doesn't just leave us stranded with that diagnosis of
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spiritual myopia, does he? The cure seems clearly implied
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in his command for diligence, and in identifying the cause is
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forgetting the cleansing. It sounds like the remedy
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involves 2 necessary things happening at once.
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Yes, 2 simultaneous movements are needed.
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First, fixing the gospel amnesia.
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Second, pursuing diligent practice.
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The cure is always found in the old news, held fast.
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So remedy one is gospel rehearsal.
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We have to actively, intentionally, daily recall and
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apply the truth that Christ's blood provides complete
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cleansing and purification right now.
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So when your conscience accuses you, or when you feel tempted to
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just settle into spiritual laziness, you need to go to the
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Word, read the parts detailing Christ's finished work, speak
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that truth to your own soul, and actively rest your weight on one
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of those precious and very great promises we talked about
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earlier. OK, so if I find myself, say,
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being really impatient with my family again, the cure isn't
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just gritting my teeth and trying harder to be patient.
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It's first looking back to the cross, reminding myself of the
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infinite patients God has shown me, receiving that cleansing
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afresh, and then, motivated by that specific grace, actually
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practicing patients. That is the necessary link.
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The motivation must come from the mercy received.
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If you focus only on the virtue you're supposed to produce, I
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must be more patient. You just fall into moralism and
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eventually despair. But if you focus only on the
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mercy, I'm forgiven anyway without any subsequent action.
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Well, you fall into Anthonymianism, treating grace
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cheaply. The two have to flow together.
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Grace received fuels effort given.
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Right. And since the myopia, the
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blindness results from a lack of these qualities, the second
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remedy has to be action oriented, doesn't it?
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Yes, remedy, too, is diligent practice.
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We have to, as Peter implies, put your hands to the labor of
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holiness, the specific labor named in that eight link soar
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rights. The myopia is the direct result
27:46
of idleness and neglect. So the path forward is
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repentance for that laziness and then starting, starting with a
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concrete deed tied to one of those 8 graces today, this
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zealous application which is really grace and act of motion.
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This improves your spiritual vision.
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Why? Because you begin to actually
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experience the reality of Christ's power working in your
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life. Again, a disciplined, growing,
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fruit bearing life is the clearest sign that the gospel is
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active in you and is overcome that spiritual fog.
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This is so practical. Now we come to the culmination
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of the passage, verse 10. This is where Peter ties the
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diligence he just commanded directly to the believer.
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Spiritual certainty, their assurance, and their safety.
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This is where theology really hits personal experience, isn't
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it? It really is.
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Peter issues this solemn yet incredibly encouraging charge.
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Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your
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calling and election sure. Notice once again he uses that
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command for earnest, sustained effort.
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The same word, spudasopath. Be diligent, be zealous.
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This is the pastoral climax of the section.
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It shows that assurance isn't just something that happens to
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you accidentally, it's something you actively pursue through
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diligence. Now, we need to be careful here,
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especially within a Reformed understanding of election.
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The effort we make this diligence doesn't cause God's
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eternal choice of us, does it? So what exactly is the purpose
29:04
of the diligence in relation to calling an election?
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You're absolutely right to raise that.
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The effort is entirely about confirmation, not causation.
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Let's be clear on that. God's election is immutable,
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unchangeable. It rests solely on His sovereign
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will in Christ from before the foundation of the world.
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Nothing we do changes that eternal decree.
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The purpose of our diligence, then, is to confirm.
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The Greek is Babayan, to make firm or establish God's choice
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to 1's own conscience, to your own heart and mind.
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We are looking for the evidence, the fruit that demonstrates that
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the life of God has genuinely been planted within us by the
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Spirit. I sometimes think of it like
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this. Imagine a legal document, a
29:43
letter of adoption that has already been signed, sealed and
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delivered by the father. It's done.
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But we look for the family resemblance, the likeness to the
29:50
sun developing in our own character, as the external
29:53
corroborating evidence that the adoption letter is indeed ours.
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Does that fit? That analogy is very helpful.
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Yes, the life pattern Peter described in the sword rights
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those increasing tangible graces like virtues, self-control, love
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that functions as the evidence, the family resemblance.
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It shows God has indeed called and chosen you.
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Assurance, therefore, isn't just a bare emotional high, and it's
30:15
not merely remembering a prayer you pray years ago.
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Peter defines it here as a settled persuasion that is
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actively fed by present obedience and obedience that
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flows naturally from genuine faith.
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And this settled persuasion, this assurance, it's entirely
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dependent on the Holy Spirit's work within us, isn't it?
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Oh, absolutely. The Holy Spirit is the primary
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agent. He's the one who ultimately
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bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God, as
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Paul says in Romans 8. But Peter shows us here that the
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Spirit often uses the visible fruit, the steady growth, the
30:45
change in our desires and habits, as his corroborating
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witness. If you were walking diligently
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in the way of holiness enabled by grace, you have concrete,
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visible reasons to believe that you belong to Christ.
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When you see the root faith energized by God's grace
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producing the fruit listed in Peter's chain, you draw comfort
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from that stability, too. Assurance grows precisely as
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these graces take root and expand in your life.
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And this confirmation of assurance, this growing
31:13
confidence, leads directly to a powerful promise Peter gives
31:16
about security stability, he says.
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For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.
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That sounds like a very strong promise.
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It is a foundational promise for the believer.
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Security. Now, what kind of fall is
31:27
prevented here? It's protection from ruinous
31:29
collapse, from apostasy drift, the kind of fatal error and
31:33
turning away from Christ that ultimately demonstrates a person
31:35
never truly possessed saving faith to begin with.
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So it's not promising we'll never stumble or sin in smaller
31:41
ways. No, sadly, we still stumble.
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But Peter is reassuring those who are genuinely clinging to
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Christ, evidenced by their active use of the means of grace
31:50
in pursuit of these qualities, that they will be preserved by
31:53
God right to the very end. They won't fall away, finally
31:56
and fatally. This really clarifies how God
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preserves his people, doesn't it?
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We know from Scripture that God is the keeper.
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He preserves us. But Peter shows that God keeps
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us by means. Our diligence isn't somehow
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opposed to his preservation work.
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It's actually the appointed mechanism through which he
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preserves us. Absolutely correct.
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God preserves his people, yes, but He does it by enabling them
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to embrace truth, by empowering them to put sin to death, and by
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causing them to cultivate these graces.
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The protection comes from maintaining what you might call
32:26
a Pilgrim stride, a forward motion powered by grace.
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The shepherd keeps his own sheep by enabling them, empowering
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them to follow his path of holiness and obedience.
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So neglecting diligence is actually the path toward
32:38
falling. Pursuing diligence empowered by
32:40
grace is the God ordained path towards security and
32:42
perseverance. And the stability of the results
32:45
from this assurance, it's experienced powerfully right
32:48
back where we started in the conscience.
32:50
It completes the circuit that began with the multiplication of
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peace through knowledge. Yes.
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When faith bears visible fruit, the conscience tends to grow
32:59
quiet under the gospel. Why?
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Because you have evidence that the life within you is real, not
33:04
counterfeit. When you're walking according to
33:07
the truth, empowered by the Spirit, your feet find
33:10
steadiness. You're less likely to be tossed
33:12
about by every wind of false teaching or crippled by internal
33:15
doubt. The assurance gained by seeing
33:17
God work producing growth in you strengthens your confidence in
33:20
God's keeping hand. You see His work in you.
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By practicing these qualities, you actively prevent the
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spiritual blindness and the resulting forgetfulness that so
33:29
often precedes A fatal moral collapse.
33:32
Diligence, guards assurance and assurance.
33:34
Guard stability. OK, to bring this really
33:36
comprehensive deep dive into Peter's logic to a close, let's
33:39
just restate that clear three-part flow one more time.
33:43
It's a sequence that roots Christian living entirely in
33:45
God's prior action, ensuring there's no room for legalism on
33:49
one side or quietism on the other.
33:51
That's right. Is the movement from God's gift
33:53
to our effort resulting in our steadiness?
33:55
So one divine grace, the root. It all starts with God's prior
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grand of all things, everything necessary for life and
34:03
godliness. This makes our zealous effort
34:05
possible and it rules out all self-reliance or any kind of
34:08
merit based striving. Then two personal effort, the
34:11
fruit, because of that grace, diligent, zealous supply of the
34:14
8 graces is the necessary and energized response.
34:18
This rules out lazy quietism or any drift towards antinomianism.
34:22
Our works, flowing from faith, prove the life within Israel.
34:25
And finally, 3 Spiritual assurance.
34:28
The confirmation. The steady, increasing fruit
34:32
provides comfort and confirmation to your conscience.
34:35
It confirms the root is alive, that you are truly called by God
34:38
and that He will keep you from a fatal fall.
34:40
It rests your peace objectively on Christ, but proves the
34:44
reality of that life through obedience.
34:47
Peter really teaches us then that the quality of our
34:49
knowledge isn't tested by how philosophically refined it is,
34:52
or maybe its ability to win arguments online.
34:55
No, it's tested by the quantity and crucially the increase of
34:58
our Christ like character. Right doctrine must ripen into
35:02
right living. That's the heart of it.
35:03
And we've seen that the cure for spiritual inertia for that Argo
35:07
state isn't found in self help slogans or just trying harder in
35:10
our own strength. It's diligent gospel rehearsal,
35:13
remembering the cleansing paired with strenuous exertion and
35:16
holiness, all fueled by grace. It's about letting the life
35:19
Christ planted within you actually bear its proper,
35:21
visible fruit. So if Peter's logic holds, and
35:24
we believe it does, the diligence confirms calling and
35:27
prevents falling. We really have to wrestle with
35:30
this personally. If fruitlessness that our
35:33
carprostate is caused by forgetfulness of cleansing, then
35:36
what practical, concrete steps can you take today, right now,
35:39
to ensure the cleansing mercy of Christ remains brightly before
35:43
your eyes? Will you actively rehearse a
35:45
gospel promise loud when temptation hits or when laziness
35:48
whispers? Or will you allow yourself to
35:50
drift to sort of take hold of amnesia?
35:53
Which specific promise from God's Word can you consciously
35:56
act upon before this day is over, demonstrating the reality
35:59
of the life that His grace enables?
36:01
Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into second Peter
36:03
1.2 to talk one, we genuinely pray that grace and peace are
36:07
multiplied to you in the knowledge of our God and of
36:09
Jesus our Lord.