"Be Effective & Fruitful" Sermon: II Peter 1:5-8

“Be Effective & Fruitful”
[II Peter 1:5-8]
June 15, 2008 Second Reformed Church

Peter was in prison, waiting to be crucified. He wrote this final letter to the Christians who were on the run from Nero and his army. And Peter told these Christians, scattered throughout the known world, that the most important thing – the thing he wanted them to do – was to live holy and godly lives. Peter said that what is most important for the Christian is that he be living a life that looked like Jesus – not just as a mask, but as one who is being changed into the image of Jesus.

Peter told them that as Christians, they had an intimate and passionate knowledge of Jesus, and Jesus had given them everything they needed via His Precious and Very Great Promises which are coming to pass. God, in fact, has called every Christian to live a life of holiness and godliness – and every Christian has been freed by Jesus’ Righteousness from moral depravity and the lust of the world.

Peter wanted the Christians to understand the Gospel – that God does all the work of salvation first, and then Christians respond to what God has done – the Gospel begins by receiving. He wanted them to keep from falling into two heresies – two errors – the first which says we are justified by our works. This is what the Roman Catholic Church teaches – that we are made right with God by our faith plus our works. That is not what the Bible teaches. The second, called antinomianism, says that we are made right with God by faith alone and we never have to obey God’s Law. That is not what the Bible teaches, either. What the Bible teaches us is that we are justified – we are made right with God – by faith alone. Thus, we are saved. In response to that salvation, then, we live out lives of good works, following after what God has said to do. Our works add nothing to our salvation, but they are the proper response to it.

In this morning’s Scripture, Peter explains what living lives of holiness and godliness look like. He tells them that this is the way they ought to be living. And if being hunted by the Roman army was no excuse against these things for them, nothing that happens to us qualifies as an excuse either. When we think we can’t follow after God, consider if it would be worse for you if someone was seeking to kill you. If that would make your life worse, remember, Peter said that is no excuse for not following after God’s Call.

“For this very reason” – since everything Peter said up to this point is true – “you must make every effort” – and the words that he uses here tell us that he is not telling us just to “try.” No, Peter is telling his fellow Christians – and us – that we ought to be seriously, urgently, zealously making every effort to live godly and holy lives. Have we put that much effort into it? Have we truly been seriously, urgently, zealously making every effort to live godly and holy lives? Peter said, since those things are true about God and Jesus and our salvation – we must be seriously, urgently, zealously making every effort to live godly and holy lives.

“To support.” When we read Peter saying that we are to support this list of things that follows, let us not understand him to be saying that we need to put supports or legs under them. Let us not understand him to mean that we must pile them one on top of another. No, what Peter is saying is that the Christian life is one of maturing and growing, and it seeks a balance – like a choir with a balanced set of Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Basses, singing in perfect harmony. Or a sound system that has been devised and set to sound as though the music was being played right before us. Understand “support” in that way here.

In a similar way, Paul puts forth this balance: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9, ESV).

So Peter tells these Christians to begin by supporting – abundantly supplying – perfectly balancing – their faith. Let you faith be alive and active. Remember, faith is a conduit – and this is why Peter names it first – it is through faith that everything else he says will be applied to each person. If you don’t have faith to begin with – a living, active, working faith – then nothing else that comes in this passage will work.

It’s important to say this is not moralism – Peter is not suggesting that we live a good and moral life, period. He is saying that the only way we can live a good and moral life and finally achieve being in the likeness of Jesus is through Jesus’ Righteousness – through all that He has already done for us. Jesus is the Foundation and the Power to be alive and to respond. This is nothing that anyone can do without Jesus and His Salvation.

This is the choir Peter says should be seen in Christians – through faith:

“To faith goodness.” The word Peter uses here means good deeds and moral uprightness. It is that which is the opposite of the moral depravity we were born with and are now delivered from through Jesus’ Righteousness. The first sign of a heathy faith, is that one has turned away from moral depravity and is living a life of moral uprightness, doing good deeds. If anyone is to believe that we have left the through of depravity behind, we must not be found persisting in them. In this life, we continue to sin, until the day of Christ Jesus, but we ought to be sinning less, and sin ought to upset us more, and we ought to find ourselves and be found less and less often at the trough of depravity.

“To goodness knowledge.” An intimate, persistent, zealous knowledge of God and self, and our outward carriage is necessary to temper our good deeds and lead them in knowledge. Without deep knowledge of Who God is and who we are and the way we ought to carry ourselves in the world, we have no guide to lead us in the good works and moral uprightness we ought to be about. We need help to keep from neglecting goodness, but we also need help in keeping from being impulsive – as Peter’s life is a prime example. Early on, Peter did not have this knowledge added to goodness, and we see him impulsive jumping out of boats, swearing he would never deny Jesus, and so forth.

We are all called to lives of holiness and godliness, but based on our gifts and the time we have spent plumbing the Scriptures, and praying to God, we have different areas we are to work in and work on. What good works ought you to be about? Begin by reading your Bible, regularly attending worship and the sacraments, and praying. Start with these and you will be led by God the Holy Spirit Who leads in you. And your brothers and sisters in the faith may also prove helpful in discerning the work you are called to. Don’t be embarrassed. Dive into God’s Word, and ask when you need help.

“To knowledge self-control.” Knowledge, itself, can go to extremes, especially in the physical realm. We are to use self-control to guard against our impulses and desires. We are to strive for modesty in all things and for moderation in all things. Now, that doesn’t mean we are only to do the exact average or middle of everything. What it means is that we ought not to go to sinful extremes: for example, physical relations within marriage are good and worthwhile – the knowledge that a husband and wife have of each other is good and right. But lust is a sin. And, as we find the Corinthians engaged in – physical relations with anyone or anything outside of marriage is a sin. Paul tells the Colossians to use self-control, saying, “Put to death therefore what is earthy in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another...” (Colossians 3:5-9a, ESV).

“To self-control patience.” Or endurance. The patience Peter says to add here refers to patience with ourselves, others, and with God. The author of Hebrews wrote, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36, ESV). We are to be patient and endure with ourselves as we build this choir of virtues, not that we should think lightly of our sins and failings, but we need to be realistic about where we each are in our conforming to the image of Jesus. Different ones of us will be at different rates and in different areas. And that’s why we need patience and endurance with each other – again, not to let someone off the hook when they sin, but to understand that we are all maturing at differing rates and in different areas. We ought not condemn each other for not being as mature as we are or think we are – if the person in question in sincerely striving after godliness and holiness and maturing in the faith.

And the patience we need extends to God, as we have probably all asked God, “When?” As the armies of Nero were beating down the doors, hauling Christians away, and crucifying them on the road, surely, some cried out to God to know when He would return, when this trial would come to an end. But Peter tells them to be patient, to trust in God, to wait on His perfect timing. We need to understand – and Peter talks about this – that God’s timetable is not our timetable. God’s time is perfect, and He will accomplish what He intends, but, sometimes, it is not clear to us. We ought to find ourselves growing in humility towards ourself, others, and God.

“To patience godliness.” Here, when Peter talks about godliness, he is referring to what he just said about “partaking the divine nature” – that we would become like God in His Holiness. This patience and humility precedes the godliness we are called to embody. Godliness comes, in part, as we live out the understanding of who we are and who God is – as we humbly submit to God’s Plan and Time and see all of us as God sees all of us..

“To godliness mutual affection.” If we are able to see each other the way that God sees us, then we can have mutual affection – and Peter means this to be among Christians. The word Peter uses is philadelphia, which many of us will know, means “brotherly love.” This is not a love among all people, but between people who are of the same conviction. You and I and all Christians are “brothers in the faith” or “brothers and sisters in the faith.” And because we are joined together in that way, we must love each other in the faith. We’ve seen this before – we don’t have to be best friends with every Christian. We don’t have to invite them over for tea every day. But we absolutely must love them in Jesus and for the sake of His Salvation. Think of the Christian you find most annoying – what this means is that you must love that person in Christ and be able to worship – truly worship – with that person. Why? Because the Same Jesus gives the Same Salvation to all Christians. He has united us for His Sake.

“To mutual affection love.” Peter uses a different word for love here – agape. This word refers to a sacrificial love. It is the love for all human beings for the sake of the Gospel. It is the love that extends to those soldiers hunting us down to kill us, as they hunted down the Christians of the first century. It is a love that includes our enemies and tells them that the worst they can do to us is kill our bodies, so we are compelled to let them know the Gospel – that there is Only Salvation through Jesus Alone. That the Only Hope of escaping from the Wrath of God is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ – that His Life, Death, and Resurrection would cleanse you from sin and credit you with Jesus’ Righteousness that you may stand before God, no longer condemned, but as a child of the Father.

The Christian musician, Larry Norman, was asked if he had any goals, and he said, “Yes, I want to die.” And we can understand that in the context of Peter’s letter – once we have died, we will be with Jesus, we will be glorified, perfected, unable to sin, and we will be before Him in worship for all of eternity.

Yes, we are to live this life, Peter says that Christians who build this choir of graces through faith, will be effective and fruitful Christians. That’s what we are called to be – effective and fruitful. Yet, our ultimate goal, is to be with Jesus.

So, the Romans are banging at the door. They’re crucifying our fellow Christians. And they’re coming for us next. But, if we have Jesus’ Salvation, if we’re growing in these things, if we’re becoming more like Him, then we can be joyful, knowing that the worst they can do is bring us closer to Jesus.

So, let us build this choir of virtues that grows us in godliness and holiness, and let us prepare ourselves to tell the Gospel in love to every man, woman, and child, because every one of them needs Jesus. Let us be effective and fruitful, to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray:
Lord, we want to be fruitful and effective Christians. Convict us with the truth that You have already done the Work of Salvation, and now You have given us the power and everything we need to accomplish these things. Cause our heart’s desire to be seriously, urgently, zealously making every effort to live godly and holy lives, because You are our God and Savior and in response to all that You have done for us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.