Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 2 Peter 1:1-11

We all obtain salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. Some grow in grace and knowledge; they become strong, vibrant, and victorious in their faith. Others stumble and stagger, slip and fall.

These are dangerous days in which our enemy has inspired confusion to divide God’s people and cause them to question their faith. But God wants us to be strong, stable, and steadfast.

2 Peter 1:1-11 shows us how to build stability into our lives.

First, we must have a faith that knows.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord…” (2 Peter 1:2).

Assurance is not a feeling; it does not come from intellectual knowledge about God. Assurance is the experiential knowledge that comes from being with God.

Adrian Rogers says, “In the Christian life, there is nothing to earn but there is a lot to learn.”

Through the knowledge of Jesus, we receive pardon for our sins. After our pardon comes peace with God, and after peace comes power.

But we must remember, God has already given these things to us; we are not limited by facts, only our own minds. If we know God’s promises, we can hold onto them in times of deliverance.

Second, we must have a faith that grows.

“...giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge…” (2 Peter 1:5).

If we have this precious faith, we will be diligent about our growth (see 2 Peter 3:18). If we are not growing, we will fall.

The characteristics listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7 expand on one another. The first described is virtue, or moral excellence. This leads to practical knowledge, which leads to temperance (or self-control). Self-control will become patience, first in daily trials, then in persecution. And that will lead to God-likeness, which enables us to love one another.

Finally, we must have a faith that shows.

“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful…” (2 Peter 1:8).

As we begin to grow, we will no longer be barren, blind, or bewildered; instead, we’ll bear the fruit and have deep assurance that we are saved. This assurance is the key to stability in our faith

Apply it to your life

Do you have a knowledge of God and a growing faith? Do you bear the fruit of the Spirit for the world to see?