His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.—2 Peter 1:3–11

Introduction

These three weeks in July, we’re focusing on outreach. Last week, John Norris spoke about the cost of evangelism, reminding us that we should expect to be treated like Jesus when we seek to share the gospel. Today, I’m building on that somewhat as I seek to look more deeply at the motivation for evangelism as well as for obedience in general. I want to do what Peter says his plan is in verses 12–15: to “stir you up by way of reminder.”

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder,  since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.  And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.—2 Peter 1:12–15 

He’s taking stuff that’s in the back of their brains and moving it to the front, placing it in front of them and saying, “Remember?” This is stuff that might not be in the front of your mind, but this text brings it to the forefront.

I know this is a large portion of Scripture with some massive truths and some intricate logic. Why take this whole portion? It could be three sermons—it could be many more. But I think that when the text is divided up, we miss a glorious truth about our God and Savior and our relationship with him.

Now, as I say this, I realize that it’s clear that this message is for those who are Christians. But I realize that’s not all who might be here today. If you’re present today, and you don’t know Christ—if you are not one who follows him—this is for you too. I’m going to be walking through an aspect of the good news about Jesus Christ, and he offers this good news to everyone who believes in him. Hear the Word of God to you. Even though I’ll be mainly addressing those who are Christians, hear me: the most wonderful treasure in the universe is Jesus, and he offers himself to you this morning.

We’ll look at some of the details of this passage, and we’ll then loop back and zoom in on two things that Peter says. We can talk about this in three phases. Verses 3–4 are about the past—what has God done? Verses 5–9 are about what God called us to do presently. Verses 10–11 are in the future—where is God leading us? We’ll take them one at a time.

The Past: What Has God Done? (vv. 3–4)

God has granted us to be like him through knowing him. One way to look through these verses is to think in the categories of who is acting, what is he doing, and how is he doing it.

First, who is acting? Jesus Christ himself. The source of everything that’s happening in this chapter—in this book—is God’s own power, or more specifically God the Son, Jesus Christ, because he’s the immediately previous person mentioned in verse 2. Jesus’ power has granted us these things. When Jesus’ power is mentioned throughout the New Testament, it’s often in regards to the procuring of salvation for believers. This includes his life, death, and resurrection, which justify all who believe in him. This salvation is the direction Peter goes right away.

Second, what is he doing? He has “granted us life and godliness, called us to his glory and excellence, given promises for partaking in the divine nature” (vv. 3–4).He has granted us to be like him. Peter keeps weaving in what we’ve been called to through multiple words and phrases—to be like God, ultimately to be like Jesus.

Jesus has “granted us life and godliness” (v. 3). Life almost certainly refers not to the things needful for living, but to the eternal life that Jesus himself has and grants all who follow him. This is broadly the way the New Testament talks about life in general. However, while God gives what is necessary to live life, when the New Testament talks about what Jesus grants, it’s eternal life. And this life is not possible apart from the justifying death and resurrection of Jesus, where God’s power is most on display. In order to be like him, we must be brought into fellowship with him, and for that, we must stand justified and right before him before anything can be granted us. 

He has also granted us godliness, which enables us to live lives in accord with who he is, lives that reflect his own character. This is the same word used at the end of verse 6. To live a life that reflects God is a gracious gift given to his people, for our joy.

He’s granted us to be like him in both the life Jesus gives, which is eternal life because of his justifying work, and in the life Jesus lived, which perfectly reflected his Father’s holiness.

Jesus is also the one who has “called us to glory and excellence” (v. 3). This is the same word translated as virtue in verse 5. A very similar thing is being talked about here. He has called us to his glory and virtue.Part of his glory on display is who he is, his moral character. It is the goodness of who he is and what he does. This is not like a John 17 kind of calling to seeing him in his own physical glory. This is his character. This is not excellence in the sense of he’s good at what he does, like, “Oh that was an excellent job,”although he is good at what he does. Rather, it means that what he does is good, always. And we’re called to be like him in this by displaying this same goodness in what we do.

Jesus does all this so that we might “become partakers of the divine nature,” which is his very holiness (v. 4). We’re called to his glory and virtue through promises, and those promises are given that we might partake of his divine nature.

This is being like God—not like him in his essence, but in his holiness. When Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, he said they would be like God, knowing good from evil. In essence, he told them that they would stand in God’s place, making judgment. They thought they would be God. That is not what this passage is about. Again, this is another way at getting at the truth that followers of Jesus reflect God’s nature—his character—back onto the world. We become like God in his holiness, and this is confirmed by the very next phrase: “having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (v. 4).We move from the sphere of corruption to holiness.

Third, how will this happen? Through knowing Jesus, the one who by his power gives us everything we need to be like him. Indeed, this is how Peter opens his letter in verse 2; knowing Jesus is the means by which grace and peace is multiplied to the believer. How will you receive grace and peace? How will you pursue godliness? How will you be brought into God’s glory and excellence and virtue? How will you become a partaker of the divine nature? By knowing him.

This isn’t just downloadable, Wikipedia information, but knowing Jesus(cf. Philippians 3). This isn’t like scooping down and grabbing info out of your Bible. It’s not about taking propositional truth or facts and analyzing them. It’s knowing a person.

My son doesn’t know me as an acquaintance—he knows me as a father. He knows things about me, and he sees what I’m like, but he also hears my heart when I plead with him to be kind. He sees me when I open the Word up in the morning, he runs to me when I’ve been gone, he calls me when he misses me, and he imitates me. He has a relationship with me.

Jesus’ power grabs hold of us and gives us everything we need to be like him. He justifies us so that all that he is can be ours. And he comes into relationship with us, where we become like him. Think on this: we can really be like Jesus.Indeed, for those who are in Christ, this has already started. He calls us to follow him in sanctification, something he gives grace for through knowing him.

If you don’t know him, he can be yours today. There is no one else like our Christ. And he grants us to know him—the incomparable, all-awesome one—by walking in obedience.

The Present: What Does God Call Us To? (vv. 5–9) 

He calls us to know him through obeying him and through being like him.

First, let’s look at the action of obedience. Peter packs in phrases as he makes the turn to what I think is his main point I think in 2 Peter. He’ll return to it again and again. He’s going to warn against false teachers and encourage his audience to not be like them, and these verses will be the benchmark. He says it this way: “for this very reason” (v. 5).Because of everything that’s true in verses 3–4, because of God calling us to himself and pouring out promises and granting us to know him, we should make every effort. This is a very strong way of phrasing this: to strive, strain, move toward with vigor and zeal a list of qualities in verses 5–7. 

Lists. We don’t like lists. Lists are for legalistic people, right? You could take this list that way, but I don’t think it’s meant to be. This is really clear when you keep verses 3–4. To be granted to follow Jesus through pursuit of these qualities is immense grace. We don’t deserve this at all.

What about this list?

First in the list is faith. Faith can mean belief, but the word can also be used for the faithfulness that arises from belief. Next is virtue, which is the same word translated excellence in verse 3. It is goodness that overflows to others in good deeds. Then there’s knowledge. This is the kind of knowledge of God’s will that comes with familiarity with his Word. It’s different in kind from the knowledge above. Next is self-control, orthe ability through grace-soaked discipline to control one’s passions.

Then there’s steadfastness, the quality of persevering in faith and faithfulness through hardship and difficulty. Next is goodness, which is the same word in verse 3. It refers to God’s own character on display, or God-pleasing-ness. Then there’s brotherly love. This is the love that extends to the family of faith, embracing each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Last is love, the one overarching quality that exemplifies Christians. This means love for God and love for neighbor—the two great commandments.

Some have thought that these list items build on top of each other—like you start with faith, then add virtue, then knowledge, and then you eventually get to the point where you love. And since you have “add to” in verse 5, this appears to be the case at first. But since Peter seems to think that all these qualities can be “yours and increasing”at the same time (v. 8), it seems better to think of each of these as things Christians have already and that they are called to pursue at the same time.

That being said, it is significant that Peter begins with faith and ends with love. This list climaxes with love, which encompasses the whole Christian life. Compare this to Colossians 3:12–14, where there’s a list of virtue to “put on,” with love as the last one. Love is the glue that holds all the qualities of the Christian life together.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.—Colossians 3:12–14 

It’s not like fishing with a rod; it’s like fishing with a net. You don’t go out and cast a reel expecting to onlyget virtue or self–control. Instead, you cast with a net, pursuing all of those things at once.

Second, let’s look at the result of obedience. 

Where is Peter headed with this list?His purpose is clearly seen in verse 8. If these qualities are in you and increasing, you won’t be ineffective or unfruitful in knowing Jesus. This is the result of being given everything for life and godliness (v. 3), or being called to his excellence (v. 4), or, in a small way, partaking of his divine nature (v. 4). Verses 5–7 is the actual working out of the promises of God in verses 3–4. It’s the same word used in verse 2 and 3: “full knowledge.”

Not only does Paul give us a positive picture of what it looks like—if these qualities are yours and increasing, you’ll know Jesus—but he also gives us a negative picture of what it looks like when people don’t make every effort to be like Jesus. These people are nearsighted—so nearsighted that they’re blind. They can’t see far enough ahead to see that knowing Jesus is worth it, and they can’t remember about his sacrifice that cleanses and compels us to go out in obedience. This is the distinction Peter keeps returning to throughout his letter: those who are stirred up by way of reminder and persevere, and those that forget and don’t persevere.

At this point, we can stop and assess what we’ve seen so far. God grants us all things that belong to godly living through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and those promises are embraced by obedience for the sake of knowing Jesus. Or, to phrase it another way, he has granted us to know him in order that we would be like him. Therefore, go and be like him that you might know him.

Don’t think you’ll be treated differently than your master was and realize that in walking in obedience, you are being drawn into deeper fellowship with your master because in walking in such obedience, you’re continuing to know him.

This is a great truth: that knowing Jesus is for obeying Jesus, and vice versa. When I first saw this, it made sense out of so much. Why is it important that, in the Great Commission in Matthew 28, the disciples are taught to obey all that Jesus teaches? It’s for the sake of knowing him. It makes sense out of John 14, and the truth of abiding in the vine that we might bear fruit. Or the truth of Philippians 3, that we can know him in a fellowship of suffering and in his resurrection, and that we can obtain the resurrection of the dead. And that’s where Peter goes next: the future.

The Future: Where Will God Lead Us? (vv. 10–11)

God will lead us home to “His eternal kingdom.” Verse 10 is somewhat of a restatement. “Be all the more diligent” is the same word as “make every effort” in verse 5. The phrase “confirm your calling and election” places the above list firmly in the realm of God’s sovereign, gracious gift in saving you (v. 10). Salvation is a package. When God justifies and declares someone righteous, he ensures that in real life that person will continue in sanctification. He makes it so that we want to obey him, and we actually will (Philippians 2:12–13). This will lead all the way to glory, to glorification. Justified, sanctified, glorified—they are all part of the deal.

And how does he do it? He grants us to know him, gives us grace to obey him, and makes sure that we might keep knowing him. And this ensures that we will be with him in the end.

Imagine a job where you’re ill equipped to do it and no one will help you. Then imagine a job where you’re well equipped and surrounded by help. This passage describes the latter. We are equipped and in relationship with the one who has equipped us, so every measure of help and aid is ours as we go about pursuing Christ through obedience.

Application

What Do Brotherly Love and Love Look Like?

What does it mean to pursue these qualities? What does it look like to be like Jesus? How can we be effective and fruitful in knowing him? We’ll just double click on the last two things in the list in verse 7: brotherly love and love. This is where reaching out comes back into focus. Here’s a question I had as I went through this passage: Why does Peter mention both brotherly love and love? The latter encompasses the former for sure, and I do think part of it is complementary (brotherly love is part of love), but it’s also contrastive. There’s a love that’s in the family, and there’s a love that spills outside the family.

First, we’re called to pursue the quality of familial love in the family of faith.This is fuel for evangelism and outreach.Let’s talk about an abstract application (something to think) and a concrete application (something to do).

The thing to think about is this: Do you think of those around you this morning as family? Do you think about yourself as a member of a family? Perhaps you don’t even know them, but they are your family. A real, tight-knit family. Locking arms with brothers and sisters in Christ is one of the best ways—one of the most joyful ways—to go about evangelizing your neighbors.

The thing to do is this: we’re doing Meetups through the month of August (August 5^th, 12^th, 19^th) at various locations throughout the Twin Cities. Here’s the chance to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. The Commons is for love, Antlers Park get-togethers are for love, and that love should look outward.

Second, we’re called to pursue the quality of love for God and others, especially overflowing into love for the lost.

Here’s the thing to think about: I want to challenge you, when you see us commissioning short-term mission trips and praying for Global Partners, do you think of yourself as a missionary and your community as your mission field? Do you see yourself as having been sovereignly placed in Lakeville, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Farmington, Bloomington, Northfield, or wherever you’re from by God for the sake of sharing Christ with others? That’s what you are.

Here’s something to do: the National Night Out is coming up on August 4^th. This is an opportunity to host your neighbors or to go out and meet them, all under the umbrella of neighborhood connections and crime prevention. Maybe you’re new to the South Campus—I know of 3–4 families who have just moved here. Neighborhood Night Out is a great way to get introduced to your neighborhood and make connections for the sake of the Kingdom. Maybe you’ve lived South of the river for a decade. Here’s an opportunity to jumpstart relationships that have gone fallow or haven’t had a chance to start. Restart these relationships for the sake of sharing the love of Christ. You could go to a block party, host one, or have other Christians help you co-host.

In my life, God has greatly convicted me that I spend entirely too much time focused on my own stuff in my own place, with all my material needs met. Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you I’m a raging extrovert, but I still default to focusing on what’s going on in my house or at Bethlehem where I get to work—but not really on my neighborhood. Here’s what happened: I bought a grill. I put it on my front porch. And I went to town grilling, because you know, I got a new grill, which I’ve greatly come to love. And you know what? In about two weeks, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to talk to my four closest neighbors and even to share the gospel with one of them.

Sometimes the suburbs to me look less like subdivisions filled with houses and more like never-ending fields of silos, where the default is I spend time in my silo with my people, and the others near me have what they need. I spent a long time in the suburbs growing up and just doing my own thing. My prayer is that you would break open your silos because your neighbors need the riches that are yours in Christ—and that’s probably not material needs. It’s the good news about Jesus.

If you’re not a Christian and you’re here today, or you’re just visiting, or you’re coming because your parents bring you, or you’re not coming because you tag along with your spouse, first, we’re glad you’re here. Glad you’re coming. And hear me now… Christians have the best news imaginable about Jesus, about his death and resurrection. Death isn’t death to those who are in him. It’s just another step in life everlasting.

It’s not popular to say we have the answer in a pluralistic, postmodern culture, but ultimately what we’re saying is not “oh, it’s about us.” Instead, we’re saying, “Look to Jesus; he is the answer.” He will grant you eternal life, you will pass from judgment to mercy and from death to life if you will believe and turn from your sin.

Conclusion 

So in the past we have been justified and pardoned by his blood. Presently, we’ve been granted to be sanctified, which you have been called to walk in, and will lead you all the way to glory with him in his Kingdom. This makes us glorified like Jesus is. His grace will conquer our will that we might be like him, and we will finally be like him, complete in him. How will all this happen? Through knowing Jesus.

Complete in him. This isn’t a work of ours. It’s his work, from front end to back end. We are justified and given great and precious promises to know him; we are sanctified through continuing to know him in obedience; and we are glorified together with him, fully knowing him, finally complete in him. So, go and obey for your joy in knowing Jesus.