To my dear sisters and brothers of Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, Oregon,
The Covid-19 shutdown continues, now in day 59, but there is hope on the horizon! States around the country are starting to reopen cautiously, and this week I read through Polk County’s Reopening plan. That simply means that they are working on the problem. In the meantime, we are to keep our eyes on Jesus. After all, He is the “Pioneer and perfecter” of our faith, Heb. 12:2. All eyes on Him, because He is our new horizon that we are long awaiting. When that day dawns, behold all things will be new.
In the meantime, at our Church Facility, things continue getting done. I see some healthy looking strawberries, onions, and cabbage plants out my office window. LaVoy is in the garden again today—as usual. Barbara was in working on banking and bills. She provided me with a first quarter report that shows our giving is down, which was to be expected. (Thanks to everyone who have brought in their tithes and offerings!) But what wasn’t to be expected is that our giving wasn’t as far down as we expected and that there are still enough funds to cover our expenses. Praise the Lord! Peggy has been in working on the church library—Thank you Peggy! Others have been in borrowing books to read—which is why we have a library. You can get books and videos here, simply come and check them out. Charlotte is tending our garden and flowers and I so appreciate these nice touches. We missed our “Spring Cleaning” that we had scheduled prior to Easter and I think that is something we could do when we get closer to reopening. The church-house could use some elbow grease.
Speaking of reopening, we saw a crack in the door this past Sunday. A group of ladies, led by Dana Gilkison, gathered on the front lawn for an hour from 11 till noon. Dana led a study on some precious promises from God. We saw how God will “Direct our steps,” Pro. 3:5-6; He will “Give us rest,” Matt. 11:28-30; that with God “All things are possible,” Luke 18:27; that God “Will forgive you,” Romans 8:1. Being at the facility on Sunday I got to join in the discussion along with Ed Gilkison (guys were invited too.) It was nice to gather in a group of about 8-9 and discuss the Word of God. When it was over it was decided that we will do that again this coming Sunday from 11-12. Bring your Bible. We are allowed to gather up to 25 people and we should be careful to social distance properly, so a few more can join us. Dana also asked if I would be willing to lead the discussion next time and I told her I would. Now you can pray for me to hear from the Lord about what we should study and share.
Last week I shared with you about our Journey “with Christ” and our becoming “Christ-like.” We learned that God has given us at least 6 things to help us on our journey. They include: Scripture; The Spirit of Truth; The Saints; Structure; Service; and Suffering. This week I want to share with you some things that God “wants us to do” in assisting our transformation into Christ-likeness. They are found in 2 Peter 1:3-11. Listen to what Peter instructs a scattered church in isolation…
“3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” 2 Peter 1:3-11 (NIV2011).
Now then, verse 3 tells us that Jesus has given us something through His power. What is it? It is “everything we need for a godly life.” That’s beautiful. We don’t need to go out and get anything else in order to start living a Christ-like life. We have it. It is Christ in us, made real by His Holy Spirit. Spiritual living requires a spirit… and holy living requires The Holy Spirit. You cannot live a godly/holy life apart from the Holy Spirit. No amount of religious deeds, donations, or door-knocking will ever qualify you for godliness apart from the life of Christ in you. He’s the standard of holiness/godliness. And Peter points out that we didn’t call Him—rather He called us by His own glory and goodness. So we can’t take credit for anything—it’s all about Jesus.
Now Jesus’ own glory and goodness has given us something as well… they are “His very great and precious promises.” Last Sunday Dana taught on some of them and most of us have a good idea what those promises are. We simply forget about them, especially when we are dealing with other problems in our lives. We take our eyes off of Jesus and place them on the problem and we think, “Oh my goodness? How am I ever to deal with _____________?” It happens in the blink of an eye. A believer can go from walking in the Spirit to walking by sight. That is never a good thing in terms of eternity. We need to hold on to these very great and precious promises. Can you think of some of them? How about the promise that He will never leave you or forsake you? Or, He will give wisdom when we ask for it? Or how about, “My grace is sufficient for you,” 2 Cor. 12:9? There are many great and precious promises… but why do we need them? Peter says, “So that through them you may participate in the divine nature.” That’s important don’t you think? It’s akin to “Remaining in Christ, and Him in us,” John 15:5. Or as Paul puts it in Galatians 5:25 that we “Keep in step with the Spirit.” You see, it is when we are keeping in step with the Spirit that we are participating in the divine nature.
Once again, the gospel is highlighted here. Peter reminds us that we’ve “Escaped the corruption of the world caused by evil desires,” vs. 4b. Escaped makes it sound like we were once prisoners of the world. We were! But then Jesus rescued us. He did! That is how we escaped—which makes Him our “Savior.” He saved us from certain destruction.
The corruption of our souls is caused by our “Evil desires.” Let’s face it. The Devil didn’t make us do it. Yes, he surely had a hand in it. He tempted and seduced no doubt? But in the final analysis we chose to do what we did that ultimately alienated us from God. The Serpent in Genesis 3 didn’t force the apple down Adam and Eve’s throat. No, they ate it voluntarily. They did it because of their “evil desire” to become like God. And then perhaps… they wouldn’t need God? They could live their lives without God. But this is contrary to God’s design for us since He made us for Himself. God’s holy desire that He has put in us through His Spirit is that we could experience God’s love for us and in turn truly love God and others as a result. We are told in Romans 5:5 “ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” We have been saved. Why? To love. Love is what we “Do” on this journey with Christ. Faith is “How” we do it. And hope? Without hope, there would be no journey. We would never venture out to grasp anything other than what we already have. Because of the resurrection we DO HAVE hope.
Now then, the fact that we have already escaped the corruption of the world, or rescued by Jesus, means we ought to do something. Peter says in verse 5 we are to add something to our faith. It’s good to have faith, but now we are to add something to it. What is it? Goodness! This is the character quality of being good, acting virtuously and with generosity. This is the same character quality of God. He is like that. God is good! And goodness is a fruit of His Spirit now residing in you; fruit which you will bear when you “Remain in Him,” John 15:5. By faith, we add goodness.
Next, we are to add something else. The Apostle says add some knowledge. We shouldn’t be ignorant followers of Christ. We are to know Him and make Him known. We can’t remain in the dark about this wonderful Savior. We have to keep adding knowledge like the old Hymn says: “More about Jesus would I know, More of His grace to others show; More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me. More, more about Jesus, More, more about Jesus; More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me.” Eliza E. Hewitt.
But we can’t stop there, we have more to add. Next God says, add self-control. This is possible, though in the flesh it is very hard. You see, God expects us to begin living in conformity with His Son. We have to start saying “No” to the flesh and saying “Yes” to Jesus. Self-control is a self-disciplined life following Christ’s example of being in the world but not of the world. It doesn’t happen overnight. But it is a fruit of the Spirit that God has put in us to make Christ real in us. If you think self-control is an easy thing—then read Romans 7 and ask: “How come Paul does the things he doesn’t want to do and vice versa?” Self-control is dying to self so that Christ might be Lord in all areas of your life. I have a hard time dying to self. Everyone else I know does too. Peter learned how impossible it is the night he denied Jesus, having said he would die with Him first.
Then comes perseverance. Jesus didn’t say that following Him would be a “Walk in the Park.” Rather He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it,” Mark 8:34-35. This sounds like a lifelong thing that requires real stamina and determination. That’s perseverance. It means, “Persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” (Oxford dictionary) That’s what following Christ is like. It is difficult, and it is delayed in its coming. But we have been given new birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3) and so we are on this journey with Jesus.
And there is more! Peter says we’re now to add godliness. We are to grow up into Christlikeness. Keep going—we haven’t arrived at that yet. I believe we are godlier than last year or last decade. We’ve grown a lot—but there is a whole lot more godliness out there to be had. We can’t stop now or think that we have arrived.
Keep adding Peter says! To godliness we are to add mutual affection. What’s that? The KJV renders it, “Brotherly kindness.” But brotherly doesn’t sound inclusive enough so that is now rendered mutual affection. This has to do with loving our brothers and sisters in the Lord better. It is one thing to tolerate them a bit; and another to be kind to them. But what God wants is for us to really love each other like He loves us. We have a long way to go in that. We have to persevere at that and we need self-control. Jesus made this clear on the night that He was betrayed when He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,” John 13:34-35.
Now we come to the last thing to add: Love! Mutual affection is not enough. Why? Because we can love our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially when they are loving in return. But the really hard one is for us to Love those who are un-loving toward us. You see, in Christ, we don’t get a pass on who we should or shouldn’t love. Jesus said we are to “Love our enemies and those who persecute us,” Matt. 5:44. It is here where we really take on Christlikeness and only in Christ can we do this. God’s love has been shed abroad in our heart for this: to love. God is love. The fruit of His Spirit is love. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Rom. 5:8. And because He did… so should we, by His power within us of course.
The promise in vs. 8 says that “If we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from becoming ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But if we don’t, we’re basically blind and have forgotten what God has done for us in Christ, vs. 9.
Verse10 urges us to “Make every effort to confirm your calling and election.” To confirm something means that you make sure that it is there. You can’t confirm something you don’t have. But if you have it—make it real! Don’t forget it. Why? Two things: 1. You won’t stumble if you do. 2. You will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Both excellent reasons and motivators for us! Amen.
“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love,” Ephesians 6:24.
Pastor Russ Hilsinger
Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, OR
