29^{th message in a series on 1-2 Peter}

Pastor Ron W. Hammer

5-14-2000

^{Have You Forgotten Something?}

2 Peter 1:5-11

Introduction

Some aspects of life just creep up on you. You don’t see them coming and when they suddenly pounce on your, it’s a bit tough to deal with. That’s how it was with discovering about 15 years ago that I needed glasses. I don’t know why it came as a surprise, after all, both of my parents had worn glasses as long as I could remember. But, there I was sitting in the balcony of Covenant Presbyterian Church with a lovely young lady who had become my wife less than a month earlier, squinting to pick out a friend in the choir.

As we sat their at this Christmas Eve service, I knew that one of our good friends, Marla, was in the choir, but I for the life of me couldn't find her. Then, on a total whim, I asked my new bride if I could borrow her glasses. When I put them on, it was as if someone had pulled a veil from across my eyes. Everything became clear and I found Marla in about 2 seconds. As you can probably guess, later that week I made an appointment at an optometrist and was fitted with my first pair of glasses. These days I wear contact lenses a good bit of the time. But, I’ll never forget the way that first pair of glasses suddenly made everything so clear. I could see street signs before driving past them, I could see so many things so much more clearly that I was amazed that I didn’t realize how far my distance vision had slipped before that night in the balcony.

In many ways my balcony experience, unfortunately parallels the life of many believers in Jesus Christ. For some it happens shortly after they first believe. The newness wears off and they find themselves sliding back into their old ways of living. For others it may happen years later, but they begin to neglect the things that lead to the growth of spiritual virtue that we saw last week and they begin to fall into a spiritual malaise. But, whether it happens quickly or after many years, the results are the same. We can become shortsighted, forgetful and blind in our walk with Jesus. That is precisely what Peter addresses in our passage for today as we continue our study entitled, "Have you Forgotten Something?" from 2 Peter 1:1-11.

Last week we began to look at this great passage and worked our way through the first 7 verses and just briefly touched on verse 8. We saw that this passage asks us four discerning questions, of which we looked at the first two last week.

1. Have you forgotten WHAT YOU’VE RECEIVED?

(2 Peter 1:1-4)

Our "like precious faith"

Everything we need for life and Godliness

Great and precious promises

Partakers of the divine nature

Escaped the corruption of the world

 

2. Have you forgotten HOW TO LIVE? (2 Peter 1:5-8)

All diligence

Virtue: basic morality

Knowledge: So we don’t just know what is right, but why it is right!

Self-Control & Perseverance - Saying no to sin and yes to God when we face hardship. Self-control doesn’t give in and perseverance doesn’t give up!

Godliness: a reverence for God

Brotherly Kindness: Love for other believers

Love: love for all of people - and love is an action!

Before we move on to the third question, I want to take a bit longer look at verse eight. Last week we took a very brief look at it, but it is important enough for us to come back to it. In verse eight Peter tells us what happens if we have these virtues in our life. What happens if we do what Peter says and give all diligence to the development of these virtues in our life? The result is a life of productivity and fruitfulness for Jesus Christ!

By the way, notice that he says, in verse eight, and this would be a more literal rendering, "if you possess these qualities and they are abounding." Peter doesn’t just want us to arrive at some point where can stop growing - these are qualities that should be steadily increasing in the life of a believer! After all, when do we come to the point that we can not stand to love more, know more, persevere more, etc. By their very nature, these qualities are ongoing!

And when they have an ongoing presence and growth in your life you can count on two things:

You won’t be "barren"

You won’t be "unfruitful"

The word translated "barren" is more literally "inactive, idle or lazy!" It can also mean "useless." In reality a believer who does not grow in Christian character becomes useless for the Lord’s service in this life! They also become unfruitful, not bringing forth anything good from their lives.

In fact, if the truth be told, a barren and unfruitful believer can actually be worse than useless, they can be a big problem. In fact, even a believer that becomes stunted at the earliest stages of morality and knowledge, and does not go on to self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love, can be big trouble. As Paul points out - "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."

But, Peter is saying that a person who has these qualities need not worry about becoming such a problem. They will not experience that uselessness and unfruitfulness in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But, the sad thing is that many will proceed down the other path. And to them Peter asks:

 

3. Have you forgotten YOUR SALVATION?

(2 Peter 1:9)

For he who lacks these things is blind, shortsighted, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his past sins.

 

Peter says that a non-growing, non-maturing, believer is characterized by three things: spiritual blindness, spiritual shortsightedness, and spiritual forgetfulness! Now many have wrestled endlessly with the seeming contradiction of a person being both blind and nearsighted - but this is an example of where we demand that metaphors be consistent. The reality like many teachers, Peter was not afraid to mix his metaphors if the message was clear in the end. And, it is very clear when we allow the text to speak for itself.

While the NKJV and the NIV both needlessly change the word order to try and harmonize these two concepts, the Greek is emphatic about these three qualities: blind, shortsighted and forgetful.

Spiritual blindness is a dangerous thing, indeed. Peter is saying that the person who fails to grow in spiritual maturity is blind to the real nature of spiritual truth. He is blind to the necessity of spiritual knowledge to result in spiritual action and growth. As James puts it, it is not enough to be a mere "hearer of the word," one must become a "doer of the word!"

But a spiritually blind person fails to see this important necessity and so he or she stumbles along in this present world, never able to see what God desires for their life. He is blind to the most basic spiritual principle of spiritual growth.

But that is not all, not only are they blind to the present needs for spiritual growth, they also a shortsighted concerning what lies ahead for the believer. As Peter continues this letter he will spend a great deal of time speaking of the certainty and reality of the Lord’s coming. So, when he speaks of shortsightedness it is likely that he has in mind a failure to be able to see the certainty of this event. A shortsighted person is one who is living in the light of Jesus’ imminent return! In fact Peter is one of the authors who does more than any other to advance this idea that Jesus could return at any moment and that this belief should have a dramatic impact on the way that we live!

But, a shortsighted person fails to see this reality and fails to allow the certainty of Jesus’ imminent return to alter their behavior today.

So, the non-growing believer is blind and shortsighted, but he is also forgetful. Now this is a bad combination. If you don’t know where you are or where you are going, you had sure better remember where you have been! But that is exactly what this person fails to do. And Peter is very specific about what he has forgotten: "that he was cleansed from his old sins."

By the way, this certainly makes it difficult for the person who wants to use this passage to say that these persons were never really saved at all! Peter is emphatic that this person has received forgiveness, but they have forgotten it.

But what does this mean? Does it mean that he or she has literally forgotten what has happened in their past? Well, I would have to say that this is part of it. In fact this clearly does happen to some people. Some people who have believed in Jesus Christ can live such a stagnant and ungodly life that that event begins to pale to where it is no longer remembered.

But, probably a better understanding is the idea of "neglect." The word rendered "forget" can have the meaning of neglecting to do something. In this context the idea seems to be neglecting that past experience of forgiveness. I think this can result in two problems. The first is an ungrateful attitude towards God for what He has done! The second may be a neglectful attitude towards present and ongoing sins. One of the things that spurs us on to go to God and seek his forgiveness is the reality that he has done if before.

If I have someone in my life who holds grudges and is slow to forgive, I tend to hesitate to seek their forgiveness. On the other hand, a person who is quick to forgive is someone to whom I will quickly confess and share the concerns of my heart.

I am often amazed at how some believers will treat God like that second person and not like the first! God forgives instantly and without a begrudging attitude. He loves to do it! He loves to forgive! Have you forgotten?

When we fail to grow we become blind to the present spiritual realities of God’s desire that we be doers of the Word.

When we fail to mature we become shortsighted concerning the future and fail to let its message challenge us to grow.

When we fail to develop Christlike character we can become forgetful of what God has already done for us, and forget what kind of God He has proved Himself to be!

Finally, Peter asks…

4. Have you forgotten WHAT LIES AHEAD?

(2 Peter 1:10-11)

 

READ

(2 Peter 1:10-11 NKJV) Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and [CHOOSING] sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

The key to understanding these two verses comes from a word that is easy to overlook. It is the word "sure" in the middle of verse ten (also rendered "certain" in the NAS). This little word is actually a legal term that was used for offering "valid confirmation or certification" to others! As the old questions goes, "If you were arrested for being a believer in Jesus Christ would their be enough evidence to convict you?" In essence that is what this verse is speaking of.

What is far from its meaning is the idea that some have suggested that we need to prove the reality of our faith to ourselves! Not only does this not do justice to this word, it totally ignores the context of this passage. These were people who had received a "like precious faith" with the apostles. People who had been forgiven, who had faith.

The point is that a life of growing Christian virtue gives evidence to others of your faith. As James makes clear in chapter 2 of his epistle it is much easier to convince others of your faith through works than through words. Jesus said, "by this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

Jesus also said, ""Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (John 5:16)

"calling and [choosing]" - The primary point of these two verses is to make it obvious to others that you are a believer through the character of your life. Peter says that your life should give evidence that you are one who has been called and chosen by God. I imagine that Peter heard Jesus use these words many time during his three years with Him. "Many are called, but few are chosen." That seems to be the object of Peter’s reference here. He is not likely to be referring to the calling and choosing that are associated with predestination that occurs before the foundation of the Earth.

Rather, it is the calling and choosing to reign with Christ! In both of the contexts in Matthew where Jesus uses the phrase "many are called, but few are chosen," the best understanding of the passage is to see it as a reference to rewards. The true question in mind is not whether the person is a believer, but whether they are living like a believer. Such a life will result in the believer not only being called into God’s service, but to be chosen to be rewarded for faithfully fulfilling that call.

Many have chosen to ignore this part of the call of God! They have answered the call for salvation, but when it comes to living a godly life and serving Christ, they aren’t interested. They don’t want to disrupt their life. They will enter the kingdom like one who rushes out of their burning house and escapes with nothing but his life. They will experience the joys of living in the Kingdom, but will forfeit their reward.

Such a person is the blind man of verse nine and finds himself tripping over the demands of discipleship. In contrast, the person who is diligent about their growth in Christian character has the promise that they will "never stumble." Does this mean that they will never make a mistake, never sin? Of course not. The point is that this person will experience the confidence that can only come from walking daily with Christ! And such a person is assured of something in the future:

Verse 11: "In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be supplied richly."

Again, Peter is not speaking about merely entering the kindgom, but the kind of welcome that awaits the faithful believer.

I heard the story once of a missionary couple who were coming home on an ocean liner after year’s of missionary service in Africa. It just so happened that they were on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from a hunting expedition in Africa. As they arrived in NYC, huge crowds awaited Roosevelt. As they couple quietly slipped off the ship, the wife was feeling a bit bitter. "Here we are after a lifetime of service to God and we have no welcome, he goes for a few weeks of hunting and the whole world is here to welcome him home."

Her husband very wisely said to her, "Dear, we aren’t home yet!" The believer in Jesus Christ who lives a faithful life, a life of growing character and virtue, can expect an abundant welcome when his ship arrives home at his heavenly kindgom!

So what will you choose? Will you life the life of the blind, shortsighted and forgetful believer?

Or will you live for God, growing in the likeness of Christ and living the kind of life that will receive an abundant entrance into Christ’s kingdom.

Don’t forget! Don’t forget what you’ve already received! Don’t forget how to live! Don’t forget your salvation and don’t forget what lies ahead. Allow that belief about what lies ahead to motivate you to live godly lives today!