The essential additions to our faith

In the previous chapter, Peter briefly described the false teachers of that time.

The same principle exists in the present era. We are constantly warned about being led astray.

In this chapter of Peter’s letter, he points out the urgency and the importance of the truth that secures our Christian salvation doctrine and protects us from falling foul with false teachers.

It is more difficult to deal with false doctrine within than outside of the church.

Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. 32 "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified

2Pet 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:  2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

The only way we can recognise the cleverly disguised and camouflaged spiritual poison of the modern false teachers is when we respond to God’s offer of everything we need for life and godliness. 

8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Author of Peter’s Letter.

2Pet 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,. . . .

Peter identifies himself so that his readers will be confident of the origin and authenticity of the Word being what God had inspired him to write.

Peter was deeply concerned for the maturity of the flock of God.

Maturity is spiritual adulthood; the ability to use self-control concerning obedience to the leading by the Word of God.  

Heb 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,

2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

A Precious Faith

.. . . .To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

What Is Your Excuse For Lack Of Growth Into Maturity?

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Jesus, in His Gethsemane prayer, referred to the fact that we are in the world but we don’t have to be part of the world.  Paul wrote in Rom 12:1,2  that we must not conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.  He went on to say, “THEN you will know what is the will of God.”

We have heard how much God loves us and the gifts He still wants us to have.  However, in order to be capable of receiving all that God wants to impart, we have to prepare ourselves according to what God told Peter to write.

God Has Provided

Through these = everything we need that He has potentially given us.

What is God’s expectation of His creation?

(this is one of the many questions that we deal with in the “POWER Hours”)

Whatever we need, to live up to the expectations of our Holy, Awesome Creator, is provided by the grace of God.  

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

These seven virtues to be added to our faith is the responsibility of the Child of God, It is not a once-off experience, but a skilful constant cultivation, on a daily basis.  These qualities are essential components to our very salvation. 

Virtues Of The Highest Value (Note the Seven in number).

God will do nothing for you that you can do yourself. But whatever you cannot do God will do for you. Growth in grace is our personal responsibility.

1. GOODNESS;

Doing to others what you would have them do to you. Only, you do it better!

Being available to help others, especially your own spiritual brothers and sisters. Also defined as moral integrity.

Aim at righteousness (obedience leads to righteousness Rom 6:15)

Matt 6:1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

 …and to goodness,

2. KNOWLEDGE;

Get to know God as much as you can through the study of the Bible.

Develop your ability in spiritual and practical discernment and sensitivity.  

. . .and to knowledge,

3. SELF-CONTROL;

This component is featured in Gal 5;23 as part of the Fruit Of The Spirit.

The control of spirit over body. It amounts to personal disciplines to concentrate on that which is good and beneficial against self-gratification and evil desires.

. . . and to self-control,

4. PERSEVERANCE;

The brave and courageous acceptance of everything that life can do to us, and the transmitting of even the worst event into another step on the upward way (Barclay)

. . . and to perseverance,

5.GODLINESS;

Piety and devotion to be whatever God wants us to be. To visibly reflect the beauty of Jesus.

. . .v 7 and to godliness,

6. BROTHERLY KINDNESS;

Brothers and sisters will always look after each other even though they may differ on certain issues.

. . .and to brotherly kindness,

7.  LOVE.

This kind of love is what Jesus mentioned when He said, you must love your enemies, etc

Do you know someone whom you don’t like; someone who has hurt your feelings; someone who owes you something or other?  That’s the person who will test your spiritual strength. Can you love someone you don’t like?

 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

 10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall,

 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Easter – the greatest event in human history

Ecc 12:7 So at death, our spirits return to God who gave it

The most important and wonderful significance of Easter Sunday: Jesus rose from the dead.

Rom 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

“He’s alive!” These words came from every believer in the first months after Jesus risen from the dead. This became the way they greeted one another.

Now, in the modern era, since that first Pentecost, “He lives within my heart!”

Jn 14:19 Because I live, you also shall live.

Death – the separation of the soul from the body

The soul is that essential part of man that will never perish. Man, according to the Bible is “a living soul”. Man is nowhere mentioned to as a spirit. He has a spirit but he is a soul.

We inherit our spirit, soul and body from our parents. Our inheritance is passed onto our offspring in the same way that our parents and their parents, right down to Adam, received their natures.

Our eternal life begins from the moment of conception.

Sin is the cause of the death of our spirits even though we are alive and well in this world.

Only a miracle from God can revive that spirit in what the Bible refers to as being born again.

God said, “. . . . .You will surely die!”

Satan said “you will surely not die!” the deception, his weapon of Mass Destruction.

In 1Cor 2:14, the word of God through the Apostle Paul, “the man without the Spirit” as being incapable of comprehending spiritual things,

There is a death penalty for those who reject God’s offer of salvation. Rom 6:23

But by the wonderful grace of God, there is a free gift on offer, an offer of deliverance from sin and death (Jn 3:16) “Redemption”.

Redemption
Jesus became the only recognised sacrifice for sin. The OT rituals had served their purpose in pointing to the coming Messiah, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

After His resurrection from the grave. Jesus paid the price for every person; for every human being coming into this world as well as for those of the OT who believed in the prophetic future. They believed through the religious rituals and the prophetic announcements of God’s Word.

(Heb 11:39,40). “Only together with us will they be made perfect”

Rom 8:3-4 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

The same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is living in those who have received Jesus as their Saviour. 

“IF…” The spirit is living in you

He will also give life to your mortal body while you are waiting.

Does sin really matter?
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness

Conclusion

The whole purpose of Easter Sunday, is to draw our attention to the powerful Word of God regarding our salvation.

1. Out of His love for you and me, and every other sinner in this world, God gave us a way out though the death of His only begotten Son.

There was a penalty that had to be paid for God to allow the greatest of His creation, the offspring of Adam, into His holy presence. Jesus, the ultimate Lamb of God, paid the price that we could not pay.

2. Now, because He took our sins to the grave so that we can, through faith, know that we are forgiven when we acknowledge that our sins are taken away.

3. But not only can we believe in being pardoned but we can now receive the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit to live within us because Jesus rose from the dead and has given us His Spirit of holiness so that we can have intimate relationship with our Creator, our Holy Father in heaven.

4. Easter Sunday is Resurrection Day; the Day that brought about the potential for us to enjoy intimate relationship with our awesome, almighty Father in heaven; the Day when Jesus finally defeated death and made it possible for us to live without the fear of tomorrow or the guilt of the past

The Last Encounter

Calvary is the place where God dealt conclusively with the human problem of sin.

Jesus came into the world to usher in the New Dispensation of Grace. No longer would man be bound to the legal system of the OT. In fact, Jesus would prove that He was the fulfilment of everything portrayed in the OT and that He would ultimately take human sin to the grave. He would defeat death on the cross.

THE LAST WEEK OF HIS INCARNATION:

1. A Growing Storm

Jn 11:55,57 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.

They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, "What do you think? Isn't he coming to the Feast at all?"

But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.

A. The Passover

Springtime. About 2 million tourist-like pilgrims. Tents and camping sites all over the Mount of Olives. Homes and hotels were all fully booked.

Pontius Pilate, cruel and reckless Roman authority of Judea (AD 26-36) came up with a reinforced military guard from Caesarea in case of trouble.

Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee (4BC - AD 39), was there with his courtiers and mercenaries.


From the noisy Temple area there arose constant smoke of sacrifices, the noise of bartering of hawkers of animals for sacrifice.

Jesus’ greatest miracle had just been performed and the fame of Lazarus was spreading like wildfire, in fact

Jn 12: 9:

9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,

11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

The stage was being set for the greatest event in human history.
2. The Triumphal Entry

Jn 12:

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" {13 A Hebrew expression meaning "Save!" which became an exclamation of praise} "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" {13 Psalm 118:25, 26} "Blessed is the King of Israel!"


By this action of Jesus, He proclaimed in the very heart of Israel that He was the Messiah.

The enthusiasm of the crowd soon faded when their false expectations were not realised. Jesus had no intention to erect a throne in Jerusalem.
3. The Cleansing Of The Temple

After leaving the temple He headed again for Bethany where He spent the night (Matt 21;11).

Monday morning

He travelled the 2 miles back to the city from Bethany, the home of Mary, and Martha and their brother, Lazarus.

On the way, He cursed the fig tree which had no fruit (symbolic of fruitless Israel).

Upon His return to the Temple, He set about driving out the sellers and their animals and overturned the tables of the fraudulent money-changers. While doing so, He quoted portions of Isa 56:7 and Jer 7;11.

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations (Matt 11:17)

Tuesday morning.

The disciples remarked about the fig tree which had withered to the roots. On His arrival in Jerusalem, our Lord began immediately to teach the people. For the rest of the day, He discussed four leading questions.
a. Whose authority?

(Luk 20:1-8) by what authority are you doing these things?

Jesus responded by telling them the parable of the wicked tenants and they knew that He was directing the accusation at them and that He was that only son and heir.
b. The question about taxes

A clever trap coming from the Herodians and the Pharisees.
c. The question about Resurrection

(Luk 20:27-40)
d. The question about the greatest commandment

Jesus exposed their hypocrisy, corruption, their inattention to the Word and the will of God.

On His way out of Jerusalem (Matt 24:4-36) Jesus appealed to His disciples to be prepared and watch and pray for His return. 

4. The Last Supper

Jesus reminded His disciples that His death, symbolised in the broken bread and the poured-out wine was the divinely appointed means for establishing a new covenant between God and man. 

5. Gethsemane

Here was the place where Jesus faced the greatest soul-tormenting experience that any human being could ever face. He persevered through the valley of extreme agony and finally submitted to the will of God. 

6. The Saviour On Trial

Friday. (Luke 22:41-65)

The next 12 hours moved with incredible speed.

Judas. His idea of salvation was based on political freedom. His unrealised expectation resulted in disappointment and eventually his suicidal death.

Peter. .His rash personality reflected his weakness (lack of self-control)

The religious trial. (Luke 22:54-71)

Many irregularities in the procedure of the trial proved the prejudice of the entire trial. It was totally illegal according to the system.

The civil trial. (Luke 23:2-25)

Pilate could find no fault in Jesus who also freely admitted that He was the King of the Jews. Pilate passed the responsibility on to Herod. Jesus never answered any of the questions put to Him by Herod.

Jesus then had to suffer more torture and humiliation before being sent back to Pilate.

The crowds, motivated by the Pharisees, called out aloud, “Crucify Him . . . .”

Pilate was very confused, trying to find a way out of his dilemma. He was convinced of the innocence of Jesus. But he was overwhelmed by the persistence of the Pharisaically inspired mob. He even tried their ritual of washing of the hands to prove his own innocence in the murder of an innocent person. He ordered the soldiers to scourge Jesus once more and surrendered Jesus into the hands of the chief priests and scribes and the uncontrollable crowd.

Conclusion

The rest of that historical event is well known.

The questions about the purpose and the consequences of the event are answered in what the Gospels tell us.

Did it really happen the way the Bible tells us?

Why did Jesus allow Himself to be treated in this way?

Why did He not avoid that terrible cross? He could have called 10,000 angels

What purpose was there in Jesus being put to death? Or allowing the world to witness such a barbaric and viciously cruel way of punishing such a good Man.