My sermon notes for Sunday morning, March 15th. Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided to help you follow the sermon as we walk through the Word each week. To see the sermon each week or subscribe to the weekly sermon podcast please visit http://www.fbcap.net
CONFIRMING YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION – 2 Peter 1:3–11
INTRO
Do we individually have real assurance that we are BORN AGAIN?
Do we corporately have real assurance that everyone that is part of this church family is BORN AGAIN? (do we love them enough to care)
- SS Lesson this week “Doing responsible Evangelism
- The obvious decline of biblical morality
- So goes the church, so goes society
- Doing what we have always done, will yield the same results
- To get the heart right, we need to get the message right.
2 Peter 1:3–11
[3] His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, [4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. [5] For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, [6] and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, [7] and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. [8] 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. [9] For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. [10] Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. [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.
Can we be sure we are saved? Can we be sure of someone else’s salvation? Can we be sure that the ministries we are doing and the Gospel we are sharing will produce real conversion?
What should one base their assurance of salvation on?
- It should not be based on what we have done alone. (a prayer, a baptism, a membership)
- It should not be based on our morality alone. (good person, not as bad as others)
- It should not be based on what we believe alone. (historical information about Jesus, Heaven, facts of the Gospel)
Is should be based on the transformation of our life that has been brought forth by the finished work of Jesus Christ.
- WE SHOULD AND MUST… Believe the information
- But we must believe in how it applies to us and the difference it can and will make.
- Repent – Turn from sin and self.
- Faith – Turn to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
To turn from Sin and turn to Christ… WE ARE TRANSFORMED. A transformed life is a different life…. A SET APART LIFE. A HOLY LIFE.
1 Peter 1:16 – “You shall be holy, for I am holy.
WE NEED TO CONSIDER OUR LIFE. LOOK IN THE MIRROR. Ask yourself. “AM I SET APART” “AM I DIFFERENT”
Is my life a holy life? Is our church producing holy lives? Is the message we preach and the Gospel we share producing Holy Lives? WHAT DOES THIS LIFE LOOK LIKE!
LOVE FOR GOD
My love is demonstrated by my life unto God
- Our Worship. (walking worthy of God)
- Our Obedience. Our Devotion
1 Thessalonians 2:11–13 – [11] For you know how, like a father with his children, [12] we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. [13] And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
- Our Fruit (we produce who we are)
Galatians 5:19–24 – [19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21] envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
LOVE OF OTHERS
1 John 4:7–12 – [7] Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (ESV)
CONTINUES TO LIVE IN THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL
Galatians 1:6–9 – [6] I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—[7] not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. [9] As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (ESV)
CONCLUSION
- It is crucial to have assurance
- Individually and as a congregation. Are our ministries yielding the fruit of repentance?
- WE MUST GET THE GOSPEL RIGHT
- Preach it, Teach it, Share it, Trust it.
- Love people enough to encourage them to be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election
The only thing we can see (we cannot see someones heart) is their life.
- Is is holy?
- Do they love God, others, the Gospel?
- Maybe they have never truly heard the Gospel.
- Do I love them enough to share it with them?