Grace and peace be multiplied to you

Lighthouse Bible Church

Sunday March 22, 2020

Grace and peace be multiplied to you

 

Isa 41:10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

 

Mat 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

 

 

Php 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.


Grace and peace be multiplied to you

2 Peter 1-3

 

Peter goes on to tell these believers that Grace and peace will be multiplied to them and that they have everything they need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ

 

For by these, meaning Gods knowledge and power, as revealed in Scripture we(believers) can claim the precious and magnificent promises of God and become partakers of the divine nature escaping the corruption of the world’s lust



 

Applying diligence in faith to supply moral excellence requires knowledge of God’s word.

Self-control is obtaining and applying that knowledge and we have the promise of the Holy Spirit to help with that which we will see in a minute.

 

Perseverance is sticking with it even when it’s difficult, getting back up when you fall.

 

This results in Godliness which is respect and obedience to Our Lord.

 

Kindness comes from godliness as the word commands.

 

Col 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience

 

 

So even though we know that none of us ae truly good by God’s standards I think kindness comes more easily to some than others. That’s why we need the Holy Spirt to guide us along on this as He surely will if we let Him.

 

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 

 

Love is the highest command of God and is also the fruit of the Spirit in the Christian’s life.

 

Mat 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"

 

 

Mat 22:37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

Mat 22:38 "This is the great and foremost commandment.

 

 

Mat 22:39 "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'

Mat 22:40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

 

 

Peter is exhorting believers to use diligence to apply the knowledge we learn from Gods word and exercise self control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love in our lives. If we practice these qualities we will not be useless or unfruitful in our Christian walk.

 

 

Fortunately we don’t have to do all of this by our own power but we have the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us.

 

Rom 5:3-5 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 

 

This is what we were created for according to Eph 2:10

 

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

 

 

Continuing in verses 10-11 it is said if we are diligent about Christ’s calling we will be kept from stumbling along as in the old fleshly way and will have abundant rewards when we enter the Kingdom of God.

 

 

How can we be diligent in these things? Since we know from eph 2:10 that God created us for these good works we can be sure He would provide a way for us to do that and that way is to learn and study His word and let the Spirit guide us in our Christian walk.

 

Will we be perfect? No way there is only One who is perfect, Our Lord. We will still be in our fleshly bodies. We just need to be diligent to continue to take in the Word and apply it to our daily life.

 

We know as believers in Christ that we have eternal security so we can be sure that even if we don’t obey this completely we will still have eternal life and enter the kingdom of God. So we understand this is about living according to His commands and receiving great or small rewards at the Judgement seat of Christ.

 

 

Jesus received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

 

Mat 17:1 Six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

Mat 17:2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.

Mat 17:3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

 

 

Mat 17:4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

Mat 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!"

 

 

So here it is explained that in addition to Peter being an eyewitness to the transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect resurrection body we also have the prophetic word which is as a lamp shining in a dark place.

 

This prophesy guides believers until the actual prophesy is fulfilled and was not made by human will or interpretation but by prophets inspired by the Holy Spirit.

 

In chapter 2 the message brings a warning against being deceived by false prophets and against the heresies that some will espouse. Judgement is proclaimed for these bad actors and we are assured that God will be able to rescue the righteous from these temptations while reserving the unrighteous for judgement.

 

Verses 1-19 explain and describe some of the types of false teachers and unrighteous men and acts that will occur and that judgement will certainly come for them. Matthew mentions the fate of the devil and his fallen angels in Mat 25:41

 

Mat 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels

 

Peter gives examples of the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah where God separated the righteous for deliverance and the unrighteous for judgement.

 

These last 3 verses in Chapter 2 are fairly difficult to resolve. Peter is obviously talking about false teachers here who had heard about Christ and the gospel but who never really believed and accepted it as the truth. Therefore they turned to a false gospel and rejected the true faith to their great peril.

 

The judgements and return of Christ foretold in the scriptures are real regardless of any scoffers claims to the contrary just as the great flood happened even though most people scoffed at Noah when he was building the ark.

 

 

Peter is reminding us that even though the world seems stable as it has been for thousands of years the Lord’s timing is longer than human timing, as He wishes all to come to repentance (faith in Christ).

 

 

 

Note: Being found in peace, spotless, and blameless refers to salvation which believers receive forever at the moment they place their faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord is patient in delaying judgement wishing for all to come to faith in Christ.

 

What we can take away from the last part of chapter 3 is that sometimes things can be hard to understand but be skeptical of teaching on these things especially if they seem to contradict the basic doctrines we have learned.

 

Better to have a question on these than to accept false teaching that is inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example anyone who teaches that Christ is not God or that God only chose certain ones for salvation can be immediately rejected.

 

The best way to avoid these false teachings is to remember and apply second Peter’s last verse “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

 

Summary:

Peter is addressing believers in this book

Grace and peace are multiplied through His power by knowledge of God and Christ

Use diligence to learn and apply God’s Word

 

Use diligence in moral excellence, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness kindness, love, knowing that you have the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

This will render us useful and fruitful in our Christian walk

 

We were created for good works in Eph 2:10

Beware false teachers and false teaching

God will deliver the righteous and will judge the unrighteous

 

Be skeptical of any teaching that seems to go against the main points of the gospel

“grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

 

Examine the scripturesyourself and always check up on what your being taught

 

 

 


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