Sermon - Advent Midweek 1, 2023 - 2 Peter 1

The Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor, Kaspar Memberger, 1618

Living in God’s Promises

1. God has called and elected us to salvation, having rescued us from the corruptions of the world.

2. Let us stay strong in this salvation by supplementing our faith with virtue.

3.  And by being filled with the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ through the scriptures.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, faithfulness to God is not easy, especially as we are living in a nation among many unbelievers and there are fewer like-minded Christians to give us a sense of solidarity. St. Peter began his first epistle saying: “To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion.” Namely, he addressed the first letter and now this second one to those faithful Christians who are struggling to live in a culture hostile, and in many ways antithetical, to the faith. Just as the first letter was one of encouragement, so is this second epistle one of encouragement and guidance for Christians.

Thus, Peter admonishes us to continue living in God’s promises, so that we might not fall away through all of these hardships we’re facing. But before he instructs us, he reminds us of our hope and joy founded on God’s promises. Remember this: God has called and elected us to salvation, having rescued us from the corruptions of the world. “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.”

How incredible! God the Father uses His divine powers in order to give us all things that pertain to life and godliness! He has made precious and very great promises to us through His Son Jesus, assuring us that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. Through God’s promises we are made partakers of the divine nature, God’s Holy Spirit Himself enters into our hearts and dwells within us. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, rescues us from the corruptions of the world, from sinful desires, and makes us whole! 

Moreover, ponder this for a moment: God has elected you, His Godly and beloved children, to salvation. He has chosen you in Christ before the foundation of the world. He has called you to salvation and promises you rest in Him. That should really make you feel good to know that God wants you! Before you were even born, God knew you and chose you to be saved. Sure, maybe some people don’t like you, maybe some people think your faith is lame or stupid, but God loves you and He wants you to live with Him forever, so who cares what anyone else thinks.

The trouble is that we too often care what everyone else thinks about our faith, and they influence us. Additionally, we hear God’s promises to us and think that means we can do whatever we want and not lose our salvation. But this is not the case; salvation can be easily lost. God’s promises must always be strongly believed. “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.”

We are indeed saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, not the result of works so that no one may boast. We are saved because Jesus laid down His life upon the cross and died in order to forgive our sins. We receive Jesus’ sacrifice for us through faith in Him and His promises. Our works have no involvement in our salvation. 

That said, we are saved by faith alone, but faith is never alone. Our faith is supplemented with virtue and knowledge. “Whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” The christian life is never completed here on earth. This is a grave mistake so many people make! So many people think that once they’ve heard the teachings of the Bible enough to get confirmed, or they receive the sacrament once in a while, that’s enough and there’s nothing more to do as a christian. 

But that’s so far from the truth! The devil is always around us, our own flesh is constantly wearing down, I know I grow weaker and weaker by the day. Left to our own devices we rapidly revert to our sinful state. We are a constant work in progress. God’s word has more work to do on us, He’s not finished yet! Our justification is accomplished, but now we must continue in it and God’s word must keep changing us to be made in His image. We’re always to be followers of Jesus, and thus we are always to be working at growing in virtue, such as steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

On top of supplementing our faith with virtue, we also supplement our faith with knowledge, specifically the knowledge of the prophetic word of God. The scriptures are not merely “cleverly devised myths,” rather, “we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Indeed, the scriptures are the Word of God, they are the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Don’t put your faith in worldly knowledge or myth, for those are always changing and never certain. But God’s Word is true; it doesn’t change. God’s Word is a steadfast lamp shining in the darkness.

Let us not be tempted by Satan to think that once we’ve heard a little bit of the Bible or we’ve heard it once, that we know it all well enough. What foolishness and pride! We are God’s children, and we need to hear what God says repeatedly. Little children will ask the same question and receive the same answer what seems like hundreds of times a day, not because they necessarily forget the answer, but because they want to hear the answer many times and be encouraged in it. This is no less true with our Heavenly Father’s words! His word is a lamp shining in the darkness of the world. Do I know that Jesus died for me and loves me? Do I already know that I should live a virtuous life? Do I already know that God chose me to be His dear own dear child from eternity? Yeah, I do. But I need to hear because God’s promises are the lamp shining in the darkness of my life. Without his voice I’d be lost in the darkness of the cave, scared of my own shadow. But God’s word gives me strength, shows me what I should do from day to day, and gives me hope when everything seems so gloomy. So, “in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”