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verses of the very last chapter, 2 Peter, chapter 3, verses 17 and 18. You’ll find
that on page 1209 in your Pew Bible. I’m going to begin reading at verse 13 to fill
out the context a little bit, but again, please give your reverent attention to the reading
of God’s holy word. 2 Peter, chapter 3, beginning at verse 13.
But according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which
righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent
to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace. And count the patience of our
Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom
given to him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.
There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable
twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved,
knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless
people and lose your own stability. 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.
Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Please join
me in your hearts as we pray for the Lord’s blessing upon the preaching of His word.
Our Lord and Father in heaven, we recognize that we all need to grow. We recognize that
in this present life our sanctification, while progressive, is not complete in terms of progressive
sanctification. And so, Lord, we ask that you would give us grace as we consider this
portion of your word to see how it applies to our lives, to our situation. We pray, Heavenly
Father, that you would open our minds and our hearts to behold wondrous things from
your word. And we would ask that you would grant to me, your unworthy servant, the grace
to declare and speak forth your word with clarity and power for the edification of
your saints, the salvation of the lost, and most important of all, for the glory of your
holy name. Hear us, we pray, Heavenly Father, and bless our time in your word this evening,
we pray in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said. Amen. You may be seated.
As you can see, the title of my sermon tonight is Growing in Grace and Knowledge, and if
it helps you to keep track of key words, there are a number of key words listed on your sermon
outline that you can be listening for in my sermon tonight. Well friends, one of the activities
that Sharon and I enjoy doing on my day off and when the weather permits, of course, is
riding our bikes on one of the bike trails in the area. And speaking of riding bikes,
it has been said that the Christian life is like riding a bicycle. Unless you keep moving,
you fall off. So writes the biblical commentator Michael Green. Well dear friends, as the apostle
Peter brings his second epistle to a close, he’s essentially urging us to keep on peddling
and to stay on the trail. Remember friends that Peter had begun this epistle by exhorting
his readers to make every effort to grow in their faith. We read that back in chapter
one at the beginning from verse three through verse 15. Peter then reminded them that the
apostolic gospel that he preached was grounded not in clever mythology, but rather was grounded
in historical events and eyewitness apostolic testimony. We saw that at the end of chapter
one in verses 16 through 21. And then in chapter two, Peter warned his readers about a real
danger to their faith, namely the presence of lawless false teachers in the church, false
teachers that we would, the theologians would call antinomians. And the reason they were
called antinomians is because that word antinomian literally means against the law. And apparently
they were called, they were antinomians because they seem to have taught that God’s free grace
gives the believer a license to freely sin, which of course is what grace does not do.
Grace transforms us as well as it justifies us. It sanctifies us as well. At the beginning
of chapter three, Peter reminds us of the promise of Christ’s second advent. And that
promise was apparently either downplayed or downright denied by these lawless false teachers,
these antinomians. Our Lord’s future second coming is to be a great motivation in our
pursuit of holiness and godliness as we learn in this chapter in verse 11 and so forth.
And finally, in the closing verses of this passage, the apostle Peter brings his letter
full circle by once again warning us as believers to be on guard against false teaching and
also by urging us to grow in our Christian faith. I think Dr. Simon Kistermacher offers
a helpful summary of our passage for this evening with the following comments. He says,
With the dual exhortation, Peter encourages the believers first to be on guard against
lawless men and second to grow spiritually in Jesus Christ. The first exhortation relates
to external influences, influences coming from the outside through these false teachers
and the second to internal development. In other words, we need to be on guard from false
teaching on the outside and we need to, by the grace of God, strive to grow in the knowledge
and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And as we consider our passage for this evening,
I direct your attention first of all to verse 17. We notice in this verse that stability
in the faith requires being on guard against false teaching. Stability in the faith requires
being on guard against false teaching. In verse 17, Peter writes, You therefore beloved,
now let me pause. There’s two words to notice so far, the words therefore and the words
beloved. You therefore, in other words, Peter is saying based on what I’ve been saying up
to this point and probably based on what has been said in the immediately preceding context
in view of all of this, therefore beloved, notice how he addresses them. He addresses
them not as, hey, you people, he addresses them as beloved. Again, the pastoral tone
is pulsates throughout this epistle, this letter that Peter has penned to these believers.
He says, you therefore beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried
away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. Knowing this beforehand,
take care. Knowing what beforehand? What’s Peter getting at here? Well, here Peter may
be pointing to the experience that his original readers had already had with false teachers.
If that is the case, then these false teachers that Peter is speaking of in his epistle had
already come onto the scene. They had already infiltrated the Christian community that Peter
has been writing to with their scripture-twisting agenda. However, this wording here is not
here may also suggest that this advice was given before the advent, before the arrival
of these false teachers, or more likely it refers to the fact that Peter’s readers are
being alerted before this teaching has actually reached them, as pointed out by commentator
David Wheaton. Whether the threat of the false teachers had already arrived onto the scene
or whether it was a threat that was on the way, God’s people are called to be on the
alert against false teaching lest they lose their own stability. And he says this, take
care that you are not carried away with what? With the error of lawless people. The antinomians,
these false teachers, were teaching error, error that would have the effect of carrying
God’s people away from their grounding in Christ and their grounding in the gospel.
The lawless people that Peter had in mind clearly must be the antinomian false teachers
whom he had described in the second chapter, described quite extensively as we saw. Brothers
and sisters in Christ, we are all prone in our fallenness, in our sinfulness, we are
prone to being carried away into error, and sometimes error can be very subtle. And so
we need to be careful, we need to be on the alert, we need to take heart, we need to take
warning. We are all capable of being deceived. And so therefore, brothers and sisters, Peter
is urging us, or I should rather say the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter is urging
us as followers of Jesus Christ to be aware, to take care, to be alert. Beware of false
teaching and of false teachers, especially those who would lead you away from trusting
in Christ and Christ alone for your salvation. Oh, beware of any teacher, Bible teacher,
professor, theologian who would say, yes, of course we’re saved by faith in Christ alone,
but you know, maybe they redefine faith a little bit to kind of sneak in some works.
Beware of that and beware also of antinomian false teaching that would lead you away from
submission to Christ’s lordship and thus away from your pursuit of a godly life of obedience
out of gratitude for God’s gift of salvation to you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Take care,
lest you be led astray. And what would be the effect of being led astray? Well, Peter
writes, you therefore beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried
away with the error of lawless people and what? Lose your stability, lose your stability.
The New King James Version translates it as steadfastness. This is not talking about falling
away from salvation or falling away from the faith, beloved. After all, the Bible clearly
teaches that true believers cannot fully nor finally fall away from their faith. Rather,
it would seem that Peter is warning his readers against falling from a secure faith and a
holy life under the influence of these lawless false teachers. Now, of course, while it is
true, the genuine born again believers in Christ cannot lose their salvation. After
all, God, our gracious heavenly father, he keeps us secure in Christ. He keeps us secure
in our faith. At the same time, the scriptures reveal to us, brothers and sisters, that God
uses means to preserve his people in their faith. One of the means that God uses to preserve
us in our faith is the warnings of scripture, warnings such as what we have in this passage.
Divine preservation does not in any way negate or nullify our responsibility as believers
to continue clinging to Christ and Christ alone for our salvation and persevering by
the grace of God in seeking to live under his lordship. On the contrary, it is God’s
sovereign preservation that guarantees our perseverance in faith and holiness. Brothers,
and sisters in Christ, by the grace of God, let us not allow ourselves to fall from our
secure position. Let us take care and be on guard lest we lose our own stability in the
faith. We also notice next, not only are we to take care and be on guard against false
teaching, we see here in this closing verse of 2 Peter, the call to grow in the grace
and knowledge of Jesus Christ. We have here, beloved, the call to grow in the grace and
knowledge of Jesus Christ, verse 18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and
savior Jesus Christ. Notice how he describes our savior. He is our lord and savior Jesus
Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. So again, notice
the call to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. I think David Wheaton, the commentator,
hits the nail on the head when he writes this. He says, the best precaution against being
infected by the false teachers and carried away by them is to be making spiritual progress.
He says, but grow. Now, negatively speaking, be on the alert against false teaching, but
positively speaking, we’re to do something, we’re to do something against falling from
our stability. That is to say, we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and
savior Jesus Christ. Now, this exhortation to grow in the knowledge and love of our lord
and savior Jesus Christ raises the issue of sanctification. Do you sanctify yourself?
No. Do you contribute to your own sanctification? Ultimately, no. It is the Holy Spirit who
sanctifies us. We don’t sanctify ourselves. So how can Peter say, grow in the grace and
knowledge of our lord and savior Jesus Christ? While the sovereign Holy Spirit of God is
the one who alone sanctifies us, he does so by his grace alone. He does so in union with
Christ alone. At the same time, the Spirit’s work does not negate our responsibility to
get growing, if you will. But instead, in a mysterious, indeed in an inscrutable way,
that work of the Holy Spirit, that union with Christ actually guarantees and enables our
responsibility and actually enables us to do what Peter is here exhorting us to do,
namely to grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.
In the words of Dr. Kistermacher, Kistermacher raises an important question here. And the
question is basically, look, is Peter saying that we believers ought to grow in the grace
and knowledge that Jesus grants to us or that believers should grow in the grace and the
knowledge that they already have about Jesus Christ? He says, because grace and knowledge
originate with God and through Christ are given to the believer, commentators admit
that both interpretations are possible. They generally prefer the first explanation. Peter
urges the believers to appropriate, that is to take to themselves, the spiritual qualities
of grace and knowledge that Jesus grants to them. And so we are to grow in the grace
and knowledge of the lord Jesus Christ. The grace and knowledge that we have already in
union with Christ, we are to grow in that grace and knowledge that the Holy Spirit through
union with Christ has worked within us by his sovereign grace. And notice the order
here. We are to grow in grace and knowledge. Notice the close connection between the grace
of Christ and the knowledge of Christ. We are not connected to God’s grace unless we
know something about Jesus Christ. And the kind of knowledge that’s being spoken of here,
I believe, is the saving knowledge of Christ. It is quite likely that Peter’s exhortation
to grow in the true knowledge of Christ is meant as a contrast to the false teachers
who in Gnostic-like fashion seem to claim to have a special secret knowledge. Instead
of the false so-called knowledge promoted by the false teachers, we believers are to
grow in true knowledge. And where do we get that true knowledge? Well, that true knowledge
is grounded in the person of the lord Jesus Christ and his work. It is grounded in his
word and in his gospel. And he is described here, it’s interesting, Peter uses this description
of Jesus, our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Why does he describe Jesus as our lord and
savior? Well, the false teachers denied Christ’s lordship, or at least they denied the ethical
implications of his lordship. Back in chapter two, verse one, Peter describes these false
teachers as even denying the master who bought them, who’s, and that probably is a reference
to Christ, although some have suggested it’s a reference to God in general who bought them
in the sense of provided for them, but that’s an exegetical issue that we’re not going to
deal with tonight. But the point is that they were not willing to live under the lordship
of Jesus Christ. To counter the false teachers denial of Christ’s lordship, Peter underscores
the truth that our savior Jesus Christ is our lord. And throughout this epistle, you’ll
notice if you read second Peter carefully throughout this epistle, Peter repeatedly
emphasizes Christ’s lordship. And let’s just take a very brief tour through this epistle
once again. Go back to chapter one, verse two, and notice how in the beginning, uh,
uh, salutation, uh, Peter describes Jesus. Notice how he describes Jesus in chapter one,
verse two. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus
our what? Jesus our lord. And then skip down to verse nine. For whoever lacks these
qualities, the qualities that he’s been mentioning in the previous context, whoever lacks these
qualities are, is so near sighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed
from his former sins. I’m sorry, verse eight. I meant to point us to verse eight. For if
these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful
in the knowledge of who? Our lord, Jesus Christ. And then skip down to verse 11. For in this
way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our
lord and savior, Jesus Christ. And then again, I would point you to, uh, verse 16. For we
did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of who? Our
lord, Jesus Christ. But we’re eyewitnesses of his majesty. And then again, I already mentioned
it, but chapter two, verse one, but false prophets also arose among the people, just as there
will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the
master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And then chapter two, verse
20, it says this in verse 20. Let me just find it here. For if after they have escaped the
defilements of the world through the knowledge of whom? The knowledge of our lord and savior,
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome the last state has become worse for
them than the first. And then of course, chapter three, verse 15, which we considered last Lord’s
day, but it says in verse 15 and count the patients of who? Of our lord. That’s a reference to
Jesus. Count the patients of our lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to
you. And then finally, the very last verse of this epistle, but grow in the grace and knowledge of
our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Do you see how Peter over and over and over and over again
emphasizes that Jesus is curious. He is Lord, not only in the sense of being God. He is that he is
the God man, the word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, but he is master. He is sovereign. He is
our lord. So how do we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ? We do so by the grace
of God through faith in Christ, by seeking to add to our faith the virtues that Peter mentioned
back in chapter one. If you go back to chapter one, let me just read quickly verses five through
11. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with
knowledge and knowledge with self control and self control with steadfastness and steadfastness with
godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if these
qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the
knowledge of our lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is
blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the
more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will
never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal
kingdom of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. That is how you grow in the grace and knowledge of the
lord Jesus Christ. So brothers and sisters, let us keep clinging to Christ and Christ alone as our lord
and savior and let us continue to diligently use the means of grace, the word, the sacraments and
prayer. As the Holy Spirit blesses these means of grace to our use, they will help to give us the
strength to add Christian virtues to our faith, all out of gratitude for God’s amazing gift of
salvation in Jesus our lord. And that brings us full circle. That brings us to the conclusion of
this marvelous epistle as we find here at the end of verse 18, a closing ascription of glory to
Christ the lord. This is the final point in your sermon outline. We have a closing ascription of
glory to Christ the lord. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Now that
should raise the question. A good Bible reading requires that you ask good questions of what you
are reading. So who is the question that should come to your mind as you read this very last
sentence here? It says to him be the glory. Well, who is the him in this to him? Well, is he talking
about God the father? Is he talking about God triune? Or is he talking about Jesus? Well, to answer
that question we have to look at what? The context. You know the saying, I know maybe it’s a
cliche but it’s a true cliche. A text without a context is a what? A pretext, right? In the context
of this passage to him is a clear reference to our lord and savior Jesus Christ who was just
mentioned in the previous sentence. This religious ascription of glory to Jesus Christ is an
unmistakable assertion of his deity. This glory is to be ascribed to Christ we are told to the day
of eternity, literally the day of the age. In other words, forever. The day when Christ returns in glory
at the end of this age will be the day which will usher in eternity. And glory is to be ascribed to
Christ throughout eternity. Again, this language clearly implies the full eternal deity of our lord’s
divine nature. Beloved, we serve a savior who is not only fully truly human, though he is indeed true
man, but we serve a savior who is also fully truly divine. He is true man, both body and soul. He has a
human body and a human soul and truly divine in one divine person. He is the god man, the theanthropos as
the theologians put it, the god man, the word made flesh, Immanuel, god with us. This is the savior that
we serve and this is the savior whom we worship. You know, you sometimes hear skeptics out there in our
culture saying, well, the earliest Christians didn’t believe that Jesus was god. That came later at the
Council of Nicaea, to which I would say Bologna. That’s about as crass as I will get here behind the
pulpit. I could say it a little more emphatically, but that’s just simply nonsense. All you have to do is read
the New Testament. The New Testament repeatedly and emphatically proclaims Christ’s lordship. It ascribes
religious devotion to him. That’s what this closing ascription of praise does. To him, that’s to the lord Jesus
Christ, be glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Let us worship and serve and praise him both now
and forevermore, for he is god. He is our lord and savior. He is worthy of all worship and praise and
adoration. Dear listener, have you confessed and trusted Jesus Christ as your lord and savior? The word of
God says that if you confess with your lips Jesus is lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him
from the dead, you shall be saved. And all of God’s people said amen. Let’s pray. Heavenly father, we do indeed
praise you and thank you, Lord God, for your goodness and mercy to us in Christ. We thank you for Jesus, our
lord and savior. We ask that you would give us the grace to indeed to take care lest we are carried away with
the error of lawless people and lose our own stability, but instead give us the grace to grow in the grace and
knowledge of our lord and savior Jesus Christ and lord. With Peter, with the Holy Spirit who speaks through
Peter, we say to him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. And all of God’s people said amen.
Well friends, let’s close our time of worship this evening by rising and we’ll sing together number 488,
May the mind of Christ my savior, 488.