Book: 2 Peter

In this final sermon in 2 Peter, Pastor Joe Babij concludes examination of the last section of exhortation in 2 Peter 3:11-18. Pastor Babij explains the final two of the four eternal perspectives that people are to apply in light of Christ’s soon coming.

1. We should believe in Christ without delay (vv. 9, 15)
2. We should live holy and godly lives (vv. 11-14)
3. We should live guarded lives (vv. 15-17)
4. We should live growing lives (v. 18)

Full Transcript:

So today we’re looking at the last message in 2 Peter 3:11. First let’s go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Thank You, again for this opportunity to come together and look at Your Word. I pray that in light of Your coming, we as Christians would know what to do and would actually do it. You’ve given us everything to do it and we know that You want us to put the effort in to put these things into place. In our own lives, we should fairly examine where we are lacking and where we need to repent and what we need to change. Lord, we thank You for the Word of God that explains to us what we need to do. I pray in Christ’s Name, Amen.

So what we believe about what happens in the future should dictate how we live in the present. Our belief about eternity demands that we have an eternal perspective in life in which our reaction is practical, righteous living. I have already said that along with Christ’s righteousness, He gives the believer an ethical righteousness. That means that a believer’s nature is transformed so that it will manifest into the character of God in an increasing way as they grow in Christ. As we are exiting 2 Peter, there are several things we must not forget. We have everything we need in a life of godliness. Let’s look back at 2 Peter 1:3 which says:

Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

The source of divine power is from Jesus so if you don’t know Him, you don’t have the power. The power is also expressed in a godly life in which our desires are changed, and we have divine enablement to put into practice what God actually asks us to do. You do this in a way that you’re not alone, like it says in Philippians 2:13:

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

For we are to replace sinful habits with godly habits. That is not human effort alone but it’s grace motivated effort. It’s not effort apart from but in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. When Peter started out this epistle, we learned that Christians are to take the human side of salvation very seriously by putting strenuous effort into their spiritual development. It’s the goal of all Christians to grow. And God intends His children to be godly. God has given everything to the believer for godliness to actually develop.

A godly person leads a life that reflects God and is growing in their desire to please God in their being, thinking, speaking, and in their desires and feelings. A good way to think of the Christian life is by using a farm as a model as given by Martin Lloyd Jones. He says that we are given a farm by God’s grace and we are the implements and tools that are necessary. We are given seed and we are called to farm. There is no use telling a man to farm if he doesn’t have a farm, or seed, or land, or tools. Nothing can be done. But all of these are given to us and therefore having received them, we are asked to farm.

Everything we ned for a godly and holy life has been given to us and is available to us. So this Lord’s Day, let me continue to examine the eternal perspectives we are to apply in light of the Lord’s coming, and what believers are to do while waiting for the Coming of Christ. The first eternal perspective is that we should repent and believe in Christ without delay.

I remember watching The Dispatches from the Front, a great series on missions and one of the missionaries was asked what he does. He answered this way, “I pray, I meet people, and I tell them about Jesus.” It’s something we ought to be doing too! It may be that the only chance that people have to come to Christ and be saved is by your witness. We ought to do this right now according to Scripture while God’s mercy and patience is actually operative in the age in which we live and we have to take full advantage of its availability. Just like it says in 2 Peter 3:9:

Not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Then look in 2 Peter 3:15:

Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.

So that’s it: we are to evangelize. Along with that we are to examine ourselves for assurance of salvation. In 2 Peter 1:10 it says:

Be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you.

God wants to make sure we are saved and the difference between a Christian and a non Chrisitan is it shows that a Christian is a person who has undergone the most vital change in their life that affects their being, inner personality, and their affections, mind, and will. In other words, they know they are saved by Jesus and have a testimony in which they can give an answer of the hope that lies within them. They know they are right by God and receive that by faith.

So salvation is the first thing which leads to the second eternal perspective we are to apply in light of Christ’s Coming is that we are to live holy and godly lives. Let’s look at 2 Peter 3:11:

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.

We should be preparing for it by cooperating with the Spirit’s sanctifying process in our life through our conduct and behavior. So if we are looking for a place where righteousness dwells and our Holy Lord is present there, how can we continue to do that which belongs to the realm of sin and Satan in this world? We can’t! What kind of people ought to be which is the statement in the question. Well the first thing is holy conduct which is someone who is living a holy life so believers belong to God and are responsible to live differently from their former way of life.

We are to be holy in everything we do and we’re going to see it as it says in 1 Peter 1:15:

But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.

Holiness means to live apart from the world and to live for God. Saints are to abstain from the vices of their former lives and to place their trust in God rather than their own selves and the world. The bottom line is that saints are responsible to live right before God because they are to pursue holiness. Christians are no longer ignorant and should no longer be ignorant of world, sinful, carnal behavior. Look at what the Apostle Paul says to the church at Rome in Romans 13:13-14:

Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

That’s how we are to live and we are to do it right in the middle of a wicked world. A Christian’s participation in the divine nature gives believers new ability to resist sin through a union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in which the desire of the flesh is weakened and the voice of the flesh is dimmed.

The desire to obey the Holy Spirit and please Christ is strengthened and the volume of listening to the Spirit and the Word goes up and drowns out the old fleshly side of us. We desire to pursue a holy God and love of Him and a life that has a pattern of holiness in its lifestyle. So being ready for Christ’s return means as Christians that we are checking our attitude and our choices and behaviors and desires. Then we’re seeing where the allegiance lies and we make the appropriate adjustments by repenting and putting off sin.

So we pursue holiness but the second thing in our passage is that we are called to be godly. Practicing sound doctrine and the truth will lead to a godly life. There’s a certain truth coming from the Word of God that will lead a person to godliness. Paul writes in Titus 1:1:

For the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness.

And again in 1 Timothy 6:3-6 it says:

If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, e is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a sick craving for controversial questions and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

But real truth will lead someone to a godly life and a content life, trusting God with everything. So a godly person is not controlled or directed by trends, high profile people, popularity, cultural pressures, obtaining wealth as a goal for life, or by possessions. They are controlled and led by God’s Spirit and desire to do and know God’s will in their life. The growth in holiness and godliness as it increases our desires, it will increase our desire to want to be in God’s presence and it will increase our awareness to live in a manner pleasing to the Lord.

So when Christ does come, how should He find us? Peter addresses several things that He should find true of our lives. We need to be working in these as the Spirit is working on our lives. In 2 Peter 3:12 it says:

Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

We are to be found desiring and then we are to be found doing something. By living a holy and godly life, Christians hurry up the coming of Christ. Judgment is coming on this universe however that is not what we are desiring. We are looking beyond the catastrophe that is coming and are looking for a freshly created Heaven and earth where God’s will is paramount and God’s presence is enjoyed and honored and He is all in all. In 2 Peter 3:13 it says:

But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

We are looking for a glimpse of the other, real, holy world that is yet going to be. This old world can never be improved or reformed no matter what we do. Look at how far we’ve been in the world and how far we have to go. There are more wars, divisions, strife in the world than ever before. Just turn on the news or look at the media. We are going backwards not forwards! So God will throw the world out and the passions and desires and Satan will take over and we will be in chaos.

Believers should not be in chaos. The world we presently live in is a world with a war on truth, righteousness, and justice. God will set up a new world, a renovated cosmos and a perfect universe where glory is everywhere. That’s why when you read the book of Revelation you see all these jewels and streets of gold. The glory of God is shining through everything and it is everywhere you go! Everywhere in the new Jerusalem will be like that!

Some people have asked me if when it is all over, we will remember what happened in this life. According to Isaiah 65:17 the answer would be no! Isaiah is saying this beyond the millennial event that he describes in the previous chapters. Remember the millennial event will end in rebellion. Isaiah the prophet sees a new creation in Isaiah 65:17, which says:

For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.

Thank the Lord we are not going to worry about the past. Isaiah has this eternal perspective in his mind. Why are we to have that same perspective? Because our hope are not to be based on this world, because it is doomed. It will end and the gospel message is addressed not to the world system but to people. If you don’t want to be part of the world and it’s ungodly system of condemnation, then be diligent to keep looking for Christ and striving for the coming of the Lord. Remember it says in 2 Peter 3:12:

Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.

This term hastening can mean several things but I think both are meant as first an earnest desire for God to come, but secondly it means to cause the Day of the Lord to come sooner. In other words, believers have a part in bringing about the return of Christ. Now how does one speed the Day of Christ along? Well we are doing that already by preaching the gospel. It says in Matthew 24:14:

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

So gospel preaching, witnessing will bring it on. Secondly, prayer brings the Day of the Lord. In Matthew 6:10 we see the Lord’s prayer:

Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

We are to pray for the Lord’s Kingdom to come and we can also move it along by preparing ourselves and living godly and holy lives. All these things are to be destroyed in this way and people are to be in holy conduct. The more we have these qualities, the more we want to be with the Lord. There is a second thing that we’re to be found in 2 Peter 3:14:

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace.

Peace describes here he stated f being right with God and of having increasing joy in His presence. Peace is established in our salvation and expands in our sanctification. Peace is a state of reconciliation with God that restores sinners joy and we enjoy our relationship with the Lord. But we know that this is brought about by what Christ has done as it says in Colossians 1:20 which says:

Having made peace through the blood of His cross.

And Romans 5:1 says:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This also means that we must have peace with both God and man. We must not be living in rebellion against God or divided against our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must be living just like God says we ought to live so we are to live lives that are peaceful with peace of heart, peace with God, and peace with people. The notice what else it says in 2 Peter 3:14:

[We are] to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace.

Now remember if you go back to 2 Peter 2 you’ll found out that their false teachers were called blots and blemishes on society and the mission of Christ. Here, spotless is the goal of those cleansed from past sins and this means they have no dit, pollution, or condemnation of sin. The believer is to be confessing his sins always, which may have caught the eye or the ear and which may have caused unclean thoughts across his mind. While they are confessing and repenting, keep in mind that it is the power of Christ’s blood that cleans us and keeps us pure.

Now this is why the godlessness is such a great mystery, as Paul says in Timothy. By common confession great is the mystery of godliness, why? That means we can’t fully understand it because the Christian who still has remaining corruption in their heart livens in a world that is against them and now has the focus of demons to attack them and yet they are enabled to live a godly and holy life, a spotless and a blameless life. They are enabled to do that by God’s power! That’s not us alone.

That’s why the things I’m mentioning here are impossible to have without bing a believer. Also in verse 14, Christians are people who are found to be blameless. Blameless means free from fault and condemnation and to be above reproach or rebuke. It says in Philippians 2:15:

So that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.

In the wisdom book of Proverbs it says in Proverbs 11:5:

The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

See Christ is the reason for these descriptive words and Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the blemish of sin and makes us clean like He already mentions in 1 Peter 1:19, but with the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without spot. It’s all connected to Christ. In fact when we consider the doctrine of election, of God choosing us, in Ephesians 1:4 we realize that God not only chose us to be saved but also to be blameless. Look at what it says:

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

See the Lord chose us not only to be saved but to live this blameless, spotless, peaceful life because we know that we are right with God. Even the book that I’m going to next after 2 Peter, which is Jude, says in Jude 1:24:

Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy.

Why are we able to stand in the presence of God with joy? Because of what Christ has done. So then live like the Master. You and I are given everything to live like Kingdom children. You have no excuse. That leads me to the third eternal perspective that we are to apply in light of Christ’s coming and it is this: we are to live guarded lives. In 2 Peter 3:15-17 it says:

And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment.

We are to live guarded lives and aren’t you glad that this is written here that there is a level of difficulty in Scripture? I don’t know about you but when I go to Scripture, I don’t know what it says. Even after studying it for awhile, I still don’t get it. There’s a way to get to what it says even still. If you are reading the Apostle Paul, you know it’s hard to understand the old and the new nature, God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are difficult things. The olive tree and Israel’s future, marriage, some’s place in the church, the mystery of godliness, freedom from the law yet under the law of Christ, are all not easy when you come to Scripture.

It takes study to handle the Word of God accurately. The Bible has all kinds of different genres in it. Cut it straight by using a proper hermeneutic: a handling of Scripture that includes the grammatical words and the word that the Spirit wrote to us. And we are to look at the historical and cultural contexts: who it was wrote to and where. So whether we are reading parables or poetry or an apocalyptic passage or historical passage or an epistle, we use that method to get to the original intention of the writer.

That’s the job, not to put things in there that are not meant in Scripture. We don’t read the Bible and say what we think it means. It doesn’t matter what you think it means… what does it really mean? That’s what will produce true godliness. So we need to be guarded and what do we need to be guarded from? We need to guard ourselves from Scripture twisters.

In 2 Peter 3:16 it says that those who are untaught and unstable distort the Scriptures. The term distort means to twist or warp and that is what false teachers do. They twist, warp, and distort the Scriptures. Now false teachers do still use the Scriptures but they mishandle them to their own destruction so that cutting it straight is abandoned by the unlearned and unstable who tend to use Scripture to justify behavior that is not in line with sanctified holiness.

There are several examples in Scripture of people taking what Paul wrote and twisting it and he has to correct them on several occasions. One of the occasions was on Romans 3 where Paul was teaching on the justification by faith. The teaching some people said about this is that when a person believed in Christ, he was saved and it didn’t matter then how he lived. Paul uses the statement may it never be to respond and says this in Romans 3:8:

And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? Their condemnation is deserved.

Paul never said that, that we should do evil that good may come. But that’s where people twist the Scriptures. They think that God has given us liberty and freedom. If God set us free, then what are we free to do now? Not anything we want, but we are free to live for God. So what does Paul say in Galatians 5:13? It says:

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

People were saying that they were free so they could do whatever they want without restrictions. People justified their lifestyles with these twisted verses. The reason we are to be guarded and keep watch, so that we are not duped by the false teachers. The false teachers are skilled in communication. They are skilled to get people to listen to what they have to say and follow them. Many of them have a command of the language and are wordsmiths to understand things and how to get people to do things. They are often also good salesmen.

So if you are not on guard, then you’re being lazy and complacent. If you’re lazy and complacent, you are more likely to fall into sin and worldliness. Look at 2 Peter 3:17:

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment.

This is what Peter doesn’t want you to do. False teachers believe that falling your lust and showing no restraint were signs of maturity. Freedom for them in Christ was to follow their own sensuality, not truth. Freedom for them was to follow their own lusts, not the truth. So false teachers actually feed the strongest urges of the fallen nature of humanity, to be wealthy, healthy, and prosperous. Christians are not exempt from the duty of vigilance but are to be guarded and watchful in their lives.

So the subtle power of worldliness and all that it is, which is all they have to go by, with its lusts and desires are opposed to God. There is a regular influence upon us by the endless flow of books, films, and all the media that inroads into our lives. We have all the complex technologies of our day that come across our phones and computers that we’re not even looking for. They already figure out what you are searching and can get your attention by algorithms that map out your likes, wants, and desires. They formulate advertisements that entice you to further indulge yourself in endless gratification.

So we can be duped and we have to be careful because many times things are subtle. Let me give you an example of how easy it is to be swept into worldliness and idolatry. This past year, we had a very heated election cycle and the internet and social media made it more explosive and divisive. Many of us got swept up into talking about cultural issues such as critical race theory, government oversight in regard to COVID-19 regulations, homosexuality, LGBTQ community, abortion, and others.

Maybe what we didn’t realize at first is how much the cultural issues had become political issues and when these two things mix, it seems the political agenda distorts these issues and uses them as clubs to divide people, to cause hatred and division amongst people. And when it spilled over into the Church, it started to produce the same results of division, dislike, and hatred. All amongst believers! That is not living blameless or godly lives, but the exact opposite! We’re passionate about our country and issues and while I believe it is important for Christians to be knowledgable and involved to some extent, we have to be careful that we don’t make idols of our political parties and our cultural concerns.

I believe we should support those leaders and organizations that have committed themselves to stand for justice and righteousness but we need to remember that the first priority of the Church is the proclamation of the gospel. People need to be rescued from the power of Satan and brought into the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.

So if we lose sight of the Church’s primary calling then we are in danger of making an idol of our culture and political initiatives. Many of us are subtly drifting right into the hands of the onslaught of media coverage and we are picking sides. We can’t pick sides when it comes to what God wants us to do because the world is always going to have issues and trumpeting something that is not as important to what the Church ought to be.

And you know what? If you win someone to Christ, they are going to change. Their worldview is going to change and their view of people and race is going to change. Because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s what is important, to keep the unity and peace amongst us. We don’t deal with worldliness by determining that we will not be worldly, but by committing ourselves to be more godly. We need to grow in our relationship with Christ and begin to view all aspects of life through the lens of His glory. We really need an increase of an affection for God that will expel from our hearts the affection for things of the world and the flesh.

That leads me to the last thing and it is this. Look in 2 Peter 3:18. The fourth eternal perspective we are to apply in light of Christ’s coming is that we are to live growing lives. Look at what it says:

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

See, we ought to keep growing onward in our knowledge of Christ. Is there any greater defense of the faith than to see progress in our own personal growth in Christ likeness? And progress in our congregational growth in Christ likeness? No, growth is a priority for both things. God intends that all Christians should grow. Parents of newborns find great joy in them but imagine the distress they would feel if the months went by and their babies still remained a baby, smiling and kicking in the crib but never growing. That would be a tragedy!

We should not allow ourselves to forget that God must know comparable distress when we, His spiritually born children, fail to grow in Christ. God’s looking for growth in all of us. When we think about growth, the great idea here is change and development and enlarging and gaining strength. It’s showing energy and advancement and deepening our understanding of things and becoming mature in Christ.

Remember babes, young men, fathers. That’s the growth that we want to head for. But hopefully you are not in the crib still crying and kicking and not getting up on your own. Hopefully you’re taking things as you ought to and growing! See we Christians need to add to what God has given us and proceed to increase and grow in it. Add to your faith the seven qualities and virtues that are listed in chapter one. The ethical list of virtues are to be lived out by the Christian that constitutes a godly life. That is what Christians are to do.

This is what they are enabled to do and what we should discipline ourselves to do in light of Christ’s coming. These are the qualities that help to form the image of Christ in our Christian character. These qualities deserve our utmost effort so we come full circle in chapter one all the way to the last verse. It’s like a sandwich where Paul starts off saying grow in these things and he ends with growing in Christ.

So we are to add to our faith moral excellence. No one is born morally excellent but this word actually means to be good because God is good! If we are growing in Christ likeness, we are going to be actually genuinely good people because God is good. The only way we can get somewhat of a picture is by looking at the character of God as recorded in Scripture. The Word of God speaks often of the goodness of God as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:68:

You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes.

We ought to recognize that the drop of morning dew gleams of His glory and goodness and every speck of dust bears the impression of God’s goodness and glory. And yes our great God is within us, keeping our hearts in motion and around us giving us the air we need to breathe so we can sustain our life both physically and spiritually. You read Scripture and find that we are not only created for good works but it says in Titus 3:8:

Be careful to engage in good deeds.

Hebrews 10:24 tells us:

Let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds.

This reflects a holy holy and godly life when we are considering people who are weak, feeble, sick, elderly, the widowed and orphaned, the young men and young men. We are doing this when we send packages and letters and emails to provide companionship and meet their needs and pray for them. We come alongside each other and sometimes mow lawns or shovel snow. We invite others into our home and bring them to church or the doctor if they need a ride. Anything we do we are reflecting the goodness of God. It says in Matthew 10:24:

And whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

So we’re to be people who are good. Secondly we are to be people who are knowledgeable. This knowledge is of the significant things of our lives like life and death, how to be right with God, eternity and how to get to the Kingdom. God doesn’t want us to check our brains at the door. Knowledge definitely includes the knowledge of Christ but also wisdom and discernment. All over 1 and 2 Peter you find these words, like in 2 Peter 1:2-3:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

In 2 Peter 1:8 it says:

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So if the Scripture is stressing an imperative for living life well, it is this. If we are going to finish this life well we must know God. To faith in Christ, let us add a praise worthy life and to that let us add knowledge. So get working on knowing God. Knowing Christ and God’s will enables us to live for Him. God places no premium on ignorance. A person can know about God and yet not know Him. This is a prayer for the saints, to have a true knowledge of God, one that is personable and intimate and where God is real to us and we are conscious of His presence.

To know a person means something beyond just a casual acquaintance. Knowledge means intimacy and personal information about it. It means a special knowledge of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit that comes right out of Scripture, which is the special revelation given to us. So we ought to be people that not only do good but are knowledgeable about what we believe. And we need to have control over ourselves which is one of the fruits of the Spirit. That means that we are able to hold ourselves in. With what power are you trying to put off hindrances and besetting sins to develop godly character and bear godly fruit.

Your own power will never do it. The fact is that sin is the greatest power in the world. No method or power from us or from our world can overcome it. Only the almighty power of God working in the lives of those who seek it from Him and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian participating in the divine nature is able to control their greatest feelings, desires, cravings, and passions with wise control.

Without giving in to its strongest urges and only the Spirit of God can accomplish that. Those things are impossible without Him. So when the direction of a believer’s life is in accord with practicing self-control, he or she will avoid falling prey to all kinds of temptations. Believe me, I am not talking about behavioral modifications. Anyone can modify their behavior in one place or another. Maybe they stop overeating, or stop spending or stop taking drugs. People do that all the time. The Bible is talking about transformation from inside out, not from outside in.

We are to be people that have patience and endurance or perseverance, meaning that we understand from Scripture that the Christian life has difficulties, troubles, valleys, and trials. But it will also have its victories. It won’t be a smooth road to enter the Kingdom of God and that’s what the Lord told us in Scripture. The assumption here is the walking on the path of perseverance will develop a strong faith that leads to godliness, perseverance. We’re to add to that godliness which I have already mentioned. And then we are to be kind to our brethren because we are cleansed and purified people that can live it out in our daily lives. In other words, we can genuinely love others because we have been cleansed from selfishness and hatred and prejudice along with other defilements of the sinful heart.

We can do this because we are already prepared for this. The last thing that we are to add is love. This is none other than agape love. It’s the Biblical love that has origins in God the Father. The Bible tells us 1 John 4:10:

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

And it’s a love that is demonstrated by God the Son, Jesus Christ. It says in Ephesians 5:1:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

And then we have the Spirit of God who is pouring out that love in our hearts. We don’t have it there and we cannot have this love without the Spirit of God. It says in Romans 5:5:

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.

So we are people who are continuing to learn to love God. We are continuing to learn to love like God. That will never end and we will never arrive there but we should we working our way there. So we should live this love because of the new birth. This love has a divine origin. Love is the badge of the character of Christianity. Those growing in Jesus’ kind of love will not only say loving words but also loving deeds just as He did. So the Christian faith is not limited to the initial conversion experience. It was intended to grow and mature from babes to young men to spiritual fathers.

I hope your’e not still that baby laying in the crib not maturing yet. If that is the case, you may not have been saved. God promises that you and I can live a useful and fruitful live in our Lord Jesus Christ. He promised that not only will we join Christ in the eternal Kingdom but the entry will be rich and rewarding. He says in 2 Peter 1 that if we are growing in that way, we will be more useful and productive. We will not be blind, forgetful and we will have assurance of salvation and an abundant entrance in the Kingdom of God. I love what it says in 2 Peter 1:11:

For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

That’s what we have to look forward to. That’s motivating to live for God. So Paul ends the book by saying this in 2 Peter 3:18:

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

If you do a study of the word grace, there is saving grace, sovereign grace, providential grace, sustaining grace, and sufficient grace. There’s grace to go around! There’s also growing in the knowledge of Chris, knowledge acquired by learning, diligence, and experience. The more we grow in Christlikeness, the more we will wan to go home and want Him to come back. That’s where Peter wants us to be. So then that is what believers are to do while waiting for the coming of Christ.

We shall believe in Christ without delay, we should live holy and godly lives, we should live guarded lives, and we should live growing lives. That’s who we are and I pray that you would put them into practice. Let’s pray. Lord, thank You again today for your kindness and patience to us. Make us people who are learning to love like You love and who are kind and self-controlled and patiently endure. Make us people who are knowledgeable and good. Make us people who are guarded and growing and that know we’re saved and know the areas in our lives that we actually need to work on.

I pray Lord, that as You expose those things to us, that we would take care of them. We do this all in the power of the Holy Spirit and we know that You desire for us to be transformed into the image of Chris. I pray that we would not buck against that but would cooperate with You. I pray in Christ’s Name, Amen.

In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij begins examining the final section of exhortation in 2 Peter. Pastor Babij explains that believers must remain ready for Christ’s return and continue to pursue spiritual growth and holiness. More specifically, Pastor Babij outlines two of the four eternal perspectives Christians are to apply in view of the day of the Lord and His coming:

1. We should believe in Christ without delay (vv, 9, 15)
2. We should live holy and godly lives (vv. 11-14)

Full Transcript:

This morning, let’s take our Bibles and turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. I’ll be reading from chapter 3:10-13:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for, and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Let me pray. Father, as we approach this passage of Scripture, I pray that You would use it to bring us to the place that we know who You are. We know where we stand. We know what we’re to do. And I pray that You would teach us, that we may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of Christ. And that we would be ready. We would be ready all the time. Lord, whenever You come, will you take us? I pray that You would bless us in this way today. In Christ’s name, amen.

So, are you ready? Are you staying continually prepared? Are you practicing living each day in the presence of the Lord Jesus, before the eyes of God, because you know Jesus will return? Do your eyes and your heart have an eternal perspective? If you’re not there yet, but heading in that direction, may the truth found in these Scriptures push you along to spiritual maturity, stability, and 20/20 spiritual vision.

I’m going to give you a short story to illustrate what ready means. A man was visiting a school and offered a prize to the pupil whose desk he found to be in the best order when he returned. The question of one of the students was – when are you going to return? And when asked, he told them – I can’t answer that. A little girl who was noted for disorderly habits announced she meant to win the prize. You? Jeered her schoolmates. Your desk is always out of order. But I mean to clean it the 1st of every week. But suppose he comes at the end of the week? Then I will clean it every morning. But he may come at the end of the day? For a moment, the little girl was silent, but enthusiastically announced – I know what I’ll do. I will keep it clean all the time.

So it must be with all who will be ready for Christ at His appearing. It may be at midnight. It may be at the rooster crowing in the morning, or at noon. The exhortation is not get ready, but be ready.

This Lord’s day, this message will assist in staying ready – things to do while we are waiting for the Lord to return. It was the apostle Paul who said in Romans 13,

The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

So the night of this world’s rejection of Christ is far spent. God’s intervention is at hand. For the believer in Christ, the day means end of trouble, the beginning of our eternal reign with Christ. The day of the Lord will come when the heavens will be kindled and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire. And finally, the day of God will be followed by what the apostle Peter calls the day of eternity. In the last verse of this epistle, verse 18 of chapter 3, it says:

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

This teaching is presented with the object of encouraging spiritual growth and holiness in our lives. The apostle Peter desires us to look ahead to what will be and to live in light of the coming glory of God. So while we’re here on earth, we have no continuing city. Like Abraham, we are to look for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So let us heed the Scripture’s instructions concerning staying ready. And if you look at verse 11 of chapter 3, notice what it says there. It says,

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way,

and here is the statement question type of what Peter says,

what sort of people ought you to be…

Since this is going to happen, he is saying, yet you and I don’t know when. We know only that it will happen. In verse 10 of chapter 3, it says,

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

In other words, the world will end. And this close of human history will come unexpectedly. When this cataclysm arrives, it will be final. God’ll destroy the cosmos with fire as well as the ungodly. And He will create a new heaven and a new earth for His people. But because of this found in the word of God, we are armed with such foresight into what will happen in the future, foresight that is only available to the children of God. So this statement in our passage – since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be, is first about being what sort of people ought to be, and then about doing. Can’t reverse the two.

I often ask young people – what do you want to be? Immediately, they start telling me, I want to be a nurse, I want to be a physician, I want to be a musician, a doctor, a teacher, a student, a dental hygienist, a surgical medical tech, a carpenter, a plumber, electrician, truck driver stay at home wife and mom, an elder, a caretaker, business owner, scientist, a counselor, a youTuber – that’s a new one today, a receptionist, a hairstylist, a barber, whatever else you can add that. The list goes on. After they are done telling me, I say to them – I think you misunderstood my question. They usual reply with a question – what do you mean? Then I say to them – I did not ask you what you want to do. I asked a different question. I asked what you want to be. You see, it doesn’t matter what you are going to do as long as it is honest employment. What matters most is who you are, especially who you are before God, who you are in your character, who you are in your behavior.

If you notice again in our passage, it says what sort of people. It’s an interesting word in the original language. It means what kind of people. Literally, the usage of this term asked the question – from what country are you? In other words, who you are can explain where you come from, what you’re really about. In the case of our present Biblical passage, do you love this world that is passing away and under God’s judgment or do you have new desires that give you a new perspective on this life and the life to come. Or are you just people who say one thing and do another? A Christian should answer this question like this. Who are you? I’m a saint. I’m alive and free in Christ. Now you may not want to broadcast that to everyone. You may want to do that privately at first, because when you telling people, they’ll say – yeah, right, sure. I see you who you are. I see what you do. But it doesn’t matter in this sense. It doesn’t mean instant maturity. It doesn’t mean sinlessness. It means as a saint, I am provided a basis for hope and future growth. But the fact of the matter is believers in Christ are saints according to Scripture. All you have to do is look at the first couple verses of the epistles, like in Ephesians 1:1:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus…

Philippians chapter 1, verse 1:

Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,

Colossians 1 verse 2:

to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae.

And then may be the most amazing one of all is in 1 Corinthians 1:2, a book with multitude of problems, and yet this is what the apostle Paul says about them:

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Chris, Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

So being a Christian it’s not a matter of getting something. It is a matter of being someone. A Christian is not simply a person forgiven and goes to heaven. A Christian is a spiritually born child of God, a divine masterpiece, a child of light, a citizen of heaven. In other words, being born again into God’s kingdom transformed you into someone who didn’t exist before. That’s the newness that happens when one becomes a real believer. God wants us to know who we are so that we can start living accordingly. Being a child of God, who is alive and free in Christ, should then determine what we do. Then we are working out our salvation, not working for our salvation. So understanding your identity in Christ is essential for living the Christian life. It is not what you do as a Christian that the determines who you are. It is who you are that determines what you do.

So again, the passage of Scripture, verse 11:

Since all these things are going to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be…

A particular Greek construction here is indicating that because it is necessary that these things must take place, certain things are expected of the followers of God, of Christ. God saves people but He doesn’t take you right to heaven. He leaves you here. What are you to do now? Well, we’re Christian ambassadors. We’re representatives of Christ. We’re His spokesman. And while we wait, we are expected by God to live a certain way. It is about being. It is about conduct. We are kingdom kids. I once said, I guess I coined a word myself – we’re heavenlonians. We’re here on earth, but we’re citizens of heaven.

So consider with me today on this Lord’s day four eternal perspectives we are to apply in light of the day of the Lord and the coming of Christ. I’ll just deal with two this morning. So because Christians know these things, because we have a future hope these things will take place, what difference will it make in your life? You see, what we believe about what’s going to happen in the future should dictate how we live in the present. Our belief about eternity demands we have an eternal perspective on life, in which our action should be practical righteous living. Practical righteous living. So what do we do while waiting for Christ’s coming?

The first eternal perspective we are to apply in light of Christ’s coming is this – we should believe in Christ without delay. We should believe in Christ without delay. Now first for the church, this is evangelization. It may be the only chance your relative, your coworker, someone in your family may come to Christ by your witness in that family. It may be the only chance they have. So while God’s mercy and patience is operative in this age, we must take full advantage of their availability. Now if you notice in verse 9 of chapter 3, it says:

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

And then in verse 15 it says this:

and regard the patience of the Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul,

And then in verse 14 it says:

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace,

Now being found by Him in peace is being in the state of being right with God. So we’re to evangelize the lost. We’re to bring the gospel to those who don’t know the Lord. In fact, Matthew 24:14 says:

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

So it is God’s plan while He’s patiently waiting for bringing the next plan to light, He wants us as the church to not get away from the priority that He’s given the church. So He’s waiting for all that will come to Christ in repentance and obedience, and He’s also waiting and moving the church to do that job. So the church must not move from its first priority as a whole, and that is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ so people will hear and people will believe. That is the main priority of the church. If a church gets away from that, they no longer are a church, at least a biblical church.

At the same time, part of the gospel message is telling them if they don’t believe what will take place. Those who disbelieve Christ and find Christ useless to them, Christ doesn’t just go away. You can’t avoid Christ, ignore Christ, reinterpret Christ, or go around Christ. Christ is an unavoidable obstacle. If anyone tries to follow any other path to heaven, Jesus Christ instead will be a large immovable stone lying in their path to which they must deal. And they will deal with Christ, either now, or He will deal with them in eternity.

Now I’d like you to take your Bibles and turn it over to 1 Peter chapter 2, the passage that we read this morning. Because according to 1 Peter, Christ is either going to be an honored cornerstone, that’s the language he uses, or He is an obstruction, something to stumble over. Now notice in verse 7 of chapter 2, he says:

This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;

See, the cornerstone anchors the building. From it, all the lines and measurements radiate. The cornerstone is the key stone of the building. And if this cornerstone, Jesus Christ, is rejected, or one turns their back on Him, there’s nothing left but ruin. The rejected stone has become at that point the head of the cornerstone. And, of course as the passage says, a stumbling stone – a stone indicated as an object against which a person can strike their foot and cause injury. He also is a rock of offense. Christ instead of being a clear way to salvation and being made right with God, to those unbelieving, Christ becomes a scandal. That is the word used here – an offense, a snare, a cause of ruin to them, and an occasion for falling over, Christ to their ruin and judgment.

So if we put all these terms together, it expresses in the strongest way the seriousness of ignoring or forgetting or rejecting Christ. In the end, God abandons such a person to the error of their ways, to the emptiness of their systems of unbelief, and there are many systems of religious unbelief. And what’s the chief reason for their unbelief and stumbling? If you look in 1 Peter 2:8, the second part of that verse says:

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word,

They’re disobedient to the word of God. Stumbling at the word is the penalty for not believing it.

And so what’s the inevitable consequences of rejecting christ? Well, believing a lie. That’s what the false teachers do. The false teachers, unprincipled men as Peter says, they spin, they teach things that are actually lies, but they use them as truth. And they don’t produce the same results. So when someone believes a lie, it’s usually is something like this. They think there’s many ways to get to God besides Christ. Or there’s no hell because God is a God of love. Or I’ve been a good person, so I guess I’m okay. Or nobody really knows the right way, so I’m not alone. Or somebody might say – I professed Jesus, I believe Jesus, but the church stuff is not for me. And the Bible, I think the Bible is corrupt. I worship in my own way. Or somebody will say, well I had a religious experience so I’m resting on that. Or I had a dream and I’m resting on that. Or, you know, somebody told me if I speak in tongues that’s proof of my salvation. Or someone says, I’ve been confident that because I was baptized that I’m saved. I received the sacraments. And they think like this, but all believing a lie if they are without Christ. Somebody may say – I take my chances with the man upstairs because I think I’ve been a fairly decent person.

Now, why do they come up with those things? Because spiritually dead people are characterized by unbelief and rebellion. And they don’t follow the word of God. They don’t even believe the word of God, and they don’t even give a chance for the word of God to be the truth of God. So when people get Jesus wrong, it is because of the greatest wickedness that exist among humanity, which is the sin of unbelief. And isn’t it a sad commentary, and repeated so often today, that people hear the message of how God provides deliverance by his greatest demonstration of love, dying in the place of sinners, and they dismiss it. They set it aside as if it doesn’t apply to them. What they’re really doing is just expressing their unbelief, expressing their deadness to spiritual things, that they know better than God when they really don’t.

It was Grant Osborne, a teacher in a seminary, who says – no one can dare assume to be able to reject Christ repeatedly with impunity. There are consequences and they are eternal. So those who do not believe have examined the stone, and have determined that there is no value in the stone Jesus Christ. So both believers and unbelievers examine the stone and come to different conclusions and different outcomes. Christ is the only way of salvation. He cannot be avoided. So then to the person who rejects Him, for whatever reason they reject Him, that person remains in a state of ruin and destruction under God’s condemnation and judgment. And if you look with me in chapter 2 of 1 Peter, look at verse 8. The last part of the verse says:

and to this doom they were also appointed.

So this phrase is teaching the stated consequences of rejecting Christ, God’s appointed stone, that God punishes those who reject His Son.

So the church is to be about evangelism, telling people they need to trust in Christ and the consequences if they don’t. But also there is another thing from our passages in 2 Peter. It is that of examination. That means that applies to us for the assurance of our salvation, that a confessing Christian is someone who is sure that they are safe. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian, it shows that a Christian is a person who has undergone the most vital change that affects their being, the seat of their personality, the inner person including their affections and their mind, and their will. It is like what 1 Peter 2:9 says:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

So if you are a born-again believer, you are light. You never had any light in you, and without Jesus you never could or would have acquired any ever. And why is that? Because Ephesians tells us – you were formerly darkness. Before conversion, before we came to Christ, we were full of darkness. We were ignorant of God, ignorant of salvation, ignorant of our eternal destiny. And like the gospel of John chapter 3 says, we loved to live in darkness. We loved our sin. We also hid away from the light, lest our evil deeds would be exposed. So all of us used to live that way, follow the passionate desires and inclinations of our own sinful nature. But by our very nature, we were subject to God’s anger and wrath just like everyone else is, and under the deception of the devil.

But after conversion, what happens? When we are converted to Christ, we’re no longer in darkness. We’re now in the light. We’re no longer dead in trespasses and sins. We’re no longer ignorant of God, no longer ignorant of ourselves, no longer ignorant of the purpose of life, no longer ignorant of our need of salvation, no longer ignorant of our eternal destiny. Our lives were brought into the light of the gospel, and we saw things like they really were and are. We saw things like we never saw them before. Our whole walk of life is different, and now we actually desire to walk as children of light.

So 2 Peter started off exhorting us to make sure that were saved. Look at 2 Peter 1:10. It says,

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His call and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.

The phrase here to make certain means to be sure that you’re the real thing, that you’re genuinely saved, that there there’s no room for uncertainty as to whether you are genuinely saved and are in the company of God’s elect. And then verse ten says be certain of His calling you. Again, no room for uncertainty to as to whether He called you or not. Romans 8 gives us that golden chain of God’s full and complete work towards the believer in salvation, where he says, all He foreknew He predestined, and all He predestined He called, and all He called He justified, and all He justified He glorified. And the operative word of course is called. Now why? Because the text says for whom He called he also justified, and if they’re called, they will be glorified. So God gathers His children by calling them with the gospel.

But how are we to understand call? I think there’s two distinctions to a call of the gospel. The first one is an outward call of the gospel. I remember I received the outward call of the gospel probably four times before I actually became Christian. While heard by the ears, it can be rejected many times. Matthew 22:14 says,

For many are called, but few are chosen.

So all who hear the gospel are always invited to come. Come to me, you who are burdened, weary by your sin. I’ll no wise cast you out. There’s always that invitation. But this call is ineffective by itself because all men are totally depraved and hate God, even though they may say they don’t. They resist this call and this work of the Spirit. So we’re not saved by anything that we have said, thought, or done because we’re in the condition of deadness. By our experience, we all know that not everyone who received the call of the gospel were justified, because not all who received the call of the gospel and heard it believed it. Remember, because of man’s fall into sin, people are spiritually dead. Unregenerate people can no more choose Christ or spiritual truth than a rotting corpse can play football or debate philosophy. There’s no middle ground between being alive and being dead. Unregenerate people are not just sick. They’re not just handicapped. They’re not just impaired. They’re dead spiritually to God.

W.E. Best, writing on regeneration and conversion, wrote – you may use all human persuasion possible, but you cannot give spiritual life where death reigns. God alone, by creative act, can bring life out of death. Spiritual arguments to an unregenerate person are only warm clothes to a corpse.

So there is the outward call. And that call goes out, and we ought to be giving that call as a church. But there’s the inward call. The inward call usually takes place when the outward call of the gospel is made, where by God the Holy Spirit at that point calls His people to Himself. We call it the effectual call. It’s the effectual working of a miracle in a person’s heart, bringing them to see their need of salvation, to bring them to a place to see that they’re sinners under God’s condemnation. And the only way to be rescued from that is to believe in Christ. And they’re rescued from spiritual death at that point. So this is who Christians are, Christians are people who receive the inward call of the gospel, knowing that they have been called by God. And now knowing because of Scripture, they have been chosen by God. And now they’re saints. Now they’re set apart. And that’s why 2 Peter 1:10, he says there,

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you;

And that is the Greek word eklektos, which means to select, to pick, to choose out. It doesn’t say you are choosing Him. It says He is choosing you. So when the gospel goes out, and God makes you alive to now see what you need to do, then you call out at that point and you ask Jesus to save you.

But what happens at that point? Well, the church is called to evangelize. God wants us to have assurance of salvation so we know who we are. And then it always leads to this next one. Always. If it doesn’t lead to this next one, there’s no salvation. And what’s that? That’s sanctification. That means the second eternal perspective we are to apply in light of Christ’s coming is this – you should live holy and godly lives. Look at verse 11 of chapter 3 again,

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

That is sanctification. That is something we do because of who we are. So we should be preparing with it, agreeing with God, cooperating with the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying process. And where is He going to do that? He’s going to do that on our conduct and behavior. That means He’s changing our heart. How do you know somebody is really a born again Christian? It’s not because they say they are. It’s because of the way they live. It’s because of the way they treat people. It’s because of the way they talk and behave and conduct themselves.

So what’s the first thing he mentions here? That there will be holy conduct that the Spirit of God creates and helps us to live in. Someone wrote that holiness entails separation from evil and dedication to God, and godliness relates the devotion in worship. That’s probably true. So believers belong to God therefore are responsible to live differently from their former way of life. We are to be holy in everything we do. Like Peter said in chapter 1 verse 15 of 1 Peter,

but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;

So holiness means both to live apart from the world, apart from your old manner of life, and live for God. So the saints are to abstain from all vices of their former life, and they want to, and place all their trust in God rather than what they think is right, which usually is always wrong, and what the world says is right. The bottom line is that saints are to be responsible to live right for God and before God. They are to pursue holiness. And a real big reason for that – because holiness is required for our well-being. God has not called us to uncleanness or impurity, says the apostle Paul. So holiness means that we are different. We’re set apart now to God. We weren’t before. Now we are. God’s nature actually demands holiness in the life of the Christian.

So we are called to and must earnestly strive for personal and practical holiness in our life. That means that the believers are to be set apart from evil and separated unto God, consecrated and entirely given over to His service. So that’s important for our well-being to know that, to know who we are. And then holiness is necessary for effective service also. This is what Paul told his church, young Timothy. He says,

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel of honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

He has now effective service. Holiness will bring you into effective service. And then of course it will give you assurance of salvation. It was Jerry Bridges who said – the only safe evidence that we are in Christ is a holy life. If you know nothing of holiness, you shouldn’t flatter yourself that you’re a Christian. There is a bottom line. It’s not those who profess Christ who will enter heaven, but those who live holy lives because they’re in Christ, and because their behavior is being changed, salvation to living a holy life, not a perfect life, a holy life. See we used to be ignorant of who God is and what He has done and what He requires, but no longer. You can no longer claim ignorance or excuse. And by the way, even in the secular life, ignorance is not accepted as an excuse for bad behavior. Christians can no longer be ignorant of being worldly or sinful or have carnal behavior.

The apostle Peter taught on this in his first letter, where he did say to us – listen, be holy yourselves in all your behavior. And where are you going to grow different in your life? Your increasing holiness is going to be seen in your behavior. And this is not really ritual correctness, but it’s genuine holiness. See the old testament, the law did not impart the power to fulfill the man to be wholly. However, the cross of Calvary in which Jesus died and shed His blood and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of pentecost changed all that by providing to God’s children an enablement to carry out God’s command to be holy. He’s given us everything, as Peter says, for life and godliness.

So being ready for Christ’s return means Christians are checking everything – all their attitudes. And they’re doing it everyday, all their choices, all their behaviors, all their desires, to see whether allegiance lies in light of God’s word and then making an appropriate adjustment by repenting of sin, putting off sin, putting on righteousness.

It was R.C. Wolensky, who said, don’t think you can remain among the children of obedience while still fashioning your conduct in line with old habits and lusts. So why are we to live a holy life? Because we are in a new family, in which our heavenly Father’s character guides how we are to responsibly live. God loves all that is pure and good and hates all that is evil and sinful, and so should we. He is holy and calls us, His children, to be holy. That is clear.

So a Christian participation in the divine nature gives believers this new ability to resist sin through union with Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, in which the desire of the flesh is weakened and the desire to obey the Holy Spirit and please Christ is strengthened. The voice of the Spirit of God becomes louder than any other voice in our soul. We become sensitive to the word of God and what God says in the word of God. And it results in our desire, in our heart, to love God. The pursuit of our will is for holiness as a pattern of our lifestyle. That’s what we want and that’s what God producing in us.

But if you noticed in our text, in verse 11 it says – what kind of people are going to be in holy conduct? And then he says and godliness. He uses another word very closely related to each other, but nonetheless godliness is a bit different to holiness. Godliness really does focus on the worship of God, the everyday interaction with God. And if you’re following in practicing sound doctrine, the truth will lead to a godly life. All true healthy doctrine will always lead to a godly life and a holy conduct. That’s why the false teachers, what they were teaching never led there, never went there. And if somebody is hearing the truth and not practicing it, it’s because they’re not getting what the Bible’s actually saying to have change in their behavior, because that’s a cooperation with the Holy Spirit of God. It’s like what was written in Titus 1:1,

Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

So there are several attitudes and actions recorded in Scripture to help us understand godliness. Godliness is not something that we can’t grasp. It’s something we can actually grasp. It means to walk with God. It means to have a particular manner of life that is characterized by reverence towards God and respect really for the beliefs and practices related to Him. Godliness is also obedience towards God. Lord, I want to obey You in my behavior. I want to direct my behavior in such a way I’m dutiful towards You in what I think, say, and do. Also a godly person trained himself diligently to pursue godliness. It doesn’t just happen to you and you’re zapped with it at salvation. It’s now the Spirit of God puts in your heart desire to be that, but God says you got to put the work in too. You got to work out what I’m working in, right? He begins to illuminate in your mind the areas of sin that you need to take care of, that you need to put to death. He begins to show you the words you’re speaking to people maybe are not the words you ought to be using with that other person and change the way you speak. And then the behavior that you have towards individuals. He’s going to change our whole mindset, in other words, but it takes practice. It takes practice, Timothy uses the word and so did 1 Peter, that we’re to discipline ourselves. It’s an athletic word, gymnazo, where we are to get into the gym, the spiritual gym, and train ourselves in order to discipline yourself it says for the purpose of godliness. Train to participate in the divine nature. So you can’t just lay in your pillow and do nothing. You have to be involved with what the Spirit of God is doing.

And then also a godly person seeks wisely proper gain. It’s not riches that they’re looking for, because the godly person understands the temporary and fleeting nature of focusing one’s desires and time on uncertain riches. And why is that? Because they know in a moment, it could spread its metaphorical wings and fly away. Like Proverbs 23:4-5 says,

Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies towards the heaven.

Easy come, easy go, right? You can’t set your heart on uncertain riches. You going to send it on ahead. Eternal things you’re spending your time. Believe me, holy conduct and godliness are eternal things.

Also, a godly person doesn’t just have a form of godliness, but they are the real deal. A truly godly person is not to be avoided in Scripture. They are to be followed and imitated. But what does Paul tell Timothy?

holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

Especially the false teachers are to be avoided because they have been, the word there is morph, they have been shaped by false teaching. And as a result of this shaping, they only have an outward form or an appearance of godliness. But their heart’s unchanged and they have no desire for holy life or conduct before God. They could act religious but they will reject the power that could actually make them godly. The Bible says then stay away from people like that. That’s why there’s such an emphasis in 2 Peter about false teaching. What are you listening to? What are you reading?

So a godly person is not controlled or directed by trends, or high-profile people, or popularity, or money, or the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes with the pride of life. He and she is controlled by God’s word and a desire for God’s will. So godliness always has two directions. The first direction is duty towards God. Godliness is always worships God and gives Him His due. That’s always first. But secondly, it’s duty towards man. Godliness always correctly serves his fellow man and gives them their due. See, when you are godly in your heart towards God, and you are growing in deadness to self and being alive to God, at that point you take notice and pay attention to people and others. It’s not about you anymore. It’s about others. And so you develop a brotherly affection towards people.

That’s why the two greatest commandments in the word of God is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. You can never get away from that in the Christian life, ever at all. In fact, all the Scripture, no matter when you lived, you can never get away from that. That is with God’s producing in our heart. He’s producing people who are different, who He leaves here to be testimonies for Him and preaching the word of God and showing that God changed my life. I’m not the person I used to be anymore. God works mightily in me and He can also work mightily in you, but you need to trust Christ. It starts with Jesus Christ.

Now next time we meet in this passage we’re going to find out from verse number 12 that living a holy and godly life actually speeds up the second coming of Christ. And we’re involved in that. How that all works out I’m not really that sure, but I know it does because it’s in Scripture. I will look at that next time.

So we should believe without delay, evangelizing those who are lost, making sure we ourselves are saved. And then secondly, genuinely saved people will live a holy godly life. They will. Different levels, different measures, different times we get saved. We’re saved out of different things, but there will be fruit of holiness and godliness in our life. That’s what you ought to be looking for, and that’s what we’re to do while we wait. While we wait, being made ready for the presence of God.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank You again today. The goodness that You have towards us in showing us from Scripture who we’re to be, who we are as Christians, and what we’re to do, let us take it seriously, Lord. And if there’s someone here today that has not trusted You as Lord and Savior, please Lord, don’t let them walk out of this building without talk to someone about how can I know that I’m right with God. How can I believe in Jesus christ? Lord, if there has been believers here that have not shown fruit of salvation, allow them to examine themselves to see where they’re truly at, that they may come to You and believe. And then those who are growing, continue to push them and allow them to desire to grow more and more in Christ. So every month, every year, every decade we’re different because the Holy Spirit of God is making us different, and using the word of God to bring about that process. Thank you Lord for what You’ll do. We’ll give You the praise and the glory and the honor, for not only what You have done already, but what you will do and continue to do in our life. And I asked this in Christ’s name. Amen.