The Work of the Christian

For Week 26 of our ‘Stand Firm’ Series we took a diver into 2 Peter 1:5-11:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplementyour faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, andself-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness withbrotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours andare increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of ourLord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind,having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be allthe more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualitiesyou will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance intothe eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There is so much gospel-saturated goodness in just the first four verses of 2 Peter. While there is much theology contained within them, a simple, plain reading is enough to overwhelm us with the truth, grace, and love of Christ. But Peter doesn’t stop there. He continues on teaching that because of our new birth and the precious promises and the divine power offered us in Christ we cannot sit back and rest content with ‘faith.’ He contends that human effort is indispensable even though it is inadequate. The work of the Christian, by the power of the Spirit, provides the evidence of our election and our increasing knowledge of Jesus. There’s a lot to chew on here, but it’s all so vital to the Christian life.

Give the sermon text a read and a listen and we hope to see you this week at a Family Meal and/or a DNA group to dive even deeper.