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Colin Smith: If you come to faith in the Lord Jesus and then become entirely passive about your Christian life, you will not grow. You will not thrive. You will be ineffective. You will be unproductive. There is something that you are to do.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and Colin, I think that just begs the question, what do I need to do?

Colin Smith: Well, the first point is to get clear in our minds that there really is an active responsibility that's involved in Christian growth. I've heard a lot of times the phrase let go and let God. And anytime I hear that, I really want to say, now wait a minute, where did you get that from? Because that is not a good reflection of what the Bible says about the Christian life, that I've just got to leave God to do all of this.

That's like a farmer saying, well, God's the one who makes things grow, so I'm not going to go and plant my field. I mean, that's crazy, isn't it? If God makes things grow, you do go and plant the field for that reason. And so we're told constantly in the New Testament that as Christians we're not simply to let go and let God. We're to watch, we're to fight, we're to pray.

And today we're looking at a passage in scripture where we're told to add to our faith certain qualities, which means that we are able to proactively cultivate certain things by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. And to understand that and then to go after it is really the key to making progress in the Christian life.

Guest (Male): And that's really what we're looking at today is how do you add to it or go after it? So if you can, open your Bibles and join us in the book of 2 Peter, chapter one, as we begin our message, Everything You Need for Growth. Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: The message of this letter that we saw last week is really very simple. In knowing Jesus Christ, you have everything you need for life. That’s 2 Peter chapter one and verse three. Everything you need for life in knowing Jesus Christ. This is a letter about the sufficiency of Jesus Christ, not only for faith, but also for life. And we saw from the first four verses last week that we have everything we need for life in Jesus Christ because of the great promise of the gospel, which is twofold as Peter lays it out for us here.

First Peter says through the gospel and in knowing Jesus Christ by faith, you become a participant in the divine nature. If you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit lives within you. The risen Lord Jesus Christ is with you in every circumstance of life that you will ever face throughout your entire experience in this world. And because He is with you by the spirit, that is why you have everything you need for whatever you may face.

And second, in Christ, you not only participate in the divine nature, but in Christ, verse four, you escape the corruption in the world that is caused by evil desires. We saw that Peter is saying to us that through the gospel, you are no longer Satan's prisoner. When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, you are loosed by God from the kingdom of darkness. You've escaped.

The world, the flesh, and the devil will always hound you. Temptation and sin will always be breathing down your neck, and you may fall and fail in many ways. But please remember this, that when you are in Christ, sin is your enemy; it is not your master. Sin is your enemy; it is not your master. That's Romans chapter six and verse 14. And Peter expresses it this way: you have escaped from the corruption that is in the world that is caused by evil desires.

So this is the great promise of the gospel that Peter wants to focus for us. He's reminding us that in Jesus Christ, what we have received is more than forgiveness for past sins. It is even more than the promise of heaven for our eternal future. It is, along with forgiveness for the past and heaven for the future, the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in your life today. And because of that reality, Peter says you have everything that you need for a godly life in every circumstance that you can possibly face in your experience in this world.

Now that is the message of this letter. It took five minutes to review. It took a lot longer than that to say last week. Why is that? But that is what we learned last week. Now, the reason to take the first five minutes today to review it is very simple: everything that Peter says from verse five through 11 flows out from what he has taught us in verse one to four. So you really need to keep these two together, but it would have made a very long sermon last week if we had. Notice how he begins verse five: "For this very reason." You see the bridge? You see the connection? Because of the truth that we have learned and just reviewed of all that is ours in Jesus Christ, for this very reason, he's now going to tell us what flows out of the effect of the gospel in our lives.

Now what he will do in these verses we'll see this morning is he's going to call us to action. I want you to notice the bridge before we get to the action: that the call to action comes out of the promise of the gospel. For this very reason, because God has given you the Holy Spirit, because you have been loosed from Satan's power, because you are in a new position as a Christian believer, in the light of this, here is now what you must do. Verse five, for this very reason, you must make every effort.

So when Peter talks about effort in the Christian life—and that's going to be our focus today: what is it that we must do?—he wants to make it very clear that everything God calls us to do arises out of what he has already done through his great and precious promises in the gospel, by which you participate in the divine nature and through which you escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Now that's very important because when we talk about effort, there are some efforts that are very futile. I had the privilege this week of speaking at a missions conference in Minneapolis. And also there was Professor Craig Ott from this congregation, and he was also teaching in a number of the sessions. And he had a marvelous slide that just encapsulates, I think, futile effort. It's the picture of a Volkswagen Touareg dragging—I presume it's a jumbo jet, a 747, or something like that. Some of you will know exactly what plane that is.

This is an authentic picture, by the way. The Touareg can drag the plane along the runway. Isn't that amazing? It’s good advert for Volkswagen, I think. But it'll never make it fly, right? I mean, this thing is never going to take off being hauled along by a Volkswagen. Now you see, that's a great picture of some people's religious experience. That it feels like some great effort with my little engine to pull along this great ballast of a Christian life and that somehow I have to get this thing flying, but I know that I can't ever really do that.

So it's a kind of slow progress and never gets us very far. There is a kind of effort that is completely futile. And the Bible speaks about this. "There is a form of godliness," Paul says in his letter to Timothy, "that denies the power." Paul speaks about it in Romans chapter seven when he describes the experience of saying, "I want to do what's right, and I can't do it. I don't do it. And there are things I don't want to do and I end up doing them. Oh wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from this?"

Well, the Christian experiences the struggle, but he's not left questioning where deliverance will come from. He knows the answer: thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So what Peter wants to remind us is that when he calls us to effort, he's not calling us to a kind of futile effort in what is impossible for us. He is calling us to fire up the engines of the vast power resources that have been given to us because the Spirit of God is active and present in your life. For this very reason, here's the direction you go. Here's what you're to do. In the light of the new life, the new power that has been given to you in the light of the gospel: fire up the engines and fly.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called Everything You Need for Growth. It's part of our series Everything You Need for Life. And if you ever miss a broadcast in the series, you can listen online. Come to openthebible.org. There you can stream the program or you can download the MP3 for free. Or you can order a copy of the entire series on CD. Ask about Everything You Need for Life when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. Or you'll find ordering information online at openthebible.org. Back to the message. Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Our title this morning then is everything that you need for growth. And Peter's message to us here is that Jesus Christ is sufficient not only for everything that you face in life, but Jesus Christ is sufficient for all of your Christian life to thrive and to grow. Now before we get into Peter's teaching to us, let's just ask this question: why is it that if we've been given everything we need for life and everything we need for growth in Jesus Christ, why is it that some Christians just don't grow? Why is that?

Why is it that some people who seem to come to faith in Jesus Christ just get stuck? No great joy in their lives, no particular testimony in their lives. They don't seem to make much progress. Their lives don't seem to be particularly fruitful. In fact, verse eight seems to describe them: they seem ineffective and unproductive in their knowledge of Jesus Christ. They know Jesus, but nothing much seems to come of it in their lives.

Why is that? Well, you see, Peter is telling us the answer right here because he's saying if you would grow and thrive in the Christian life, there are certain things that you must do. There are certain things that you must pursue in the power of the Holy Spirit, but you must pursue them. You must act. And if you possess and pursue these qualities in increasing measure, verse eight, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, if you come to faith in the Lord Jesus and then become entirely passive about your Christian life, you will not grow. You will not thrive. You will be ineffective. You will be unproductive. There is something that you are to do. There is an effort—notice that word in verse five—that you must make. And it is not a futile effort; it is an effort that is made in the light of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So if you would be a fruitful, productive Christian, you have to get into an active frame of mind. It's no use walking through life saying let go and let God, as if somehow by you being passive, you will grow in the Christian life. Peter really nails that. He says no, if you're going to grow, there are certain things you must do. Make every effort to add to your faith certain things that we're going to look at this morning. You have to take responsibility for this and you must pursue it.

Now notice then how Peter is bringing together God's work and our work and he's joining them together in a very remarkable way. Perhaps many of us have thought and will think throughout our lives about this great question: how does God's work and our work, how do these two things fit together? It's a great question. But notice how Peter brings the two of them together so very wonderfully here. God has given us these great promises, given us the Spirit, God has acted to save us, and for this very reason, now we must make a great effort. That's what he's saying in verse five.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones has a very helpful illustration here. I'll just give it to you and because it might stay with you and be helpful on this important point: how does what God does for us and what we're called to do for Him, how do these two fit together? How are we to think about them? Lloyd-Jones says think of the picture of a farm. Now imagine that you are given a farm. You are given the tools, you're given a John Deere tractor and a combine harvester and all the rest of it. And you are given seed. You are given all of these things.

Now what you are called to do is to farm. And he makes this point: there is no use telling a man to farm if he doesn't have a farm, right? If you don't have a farm and you don't have tools and you don't have seed, there's no way in the world you can farm. You can't farm without a farm. Are you with me? But having been given a farm, suppose you are given a farm and you're given the tractor and you're given the seed. What your calling is, is to farm.

Even then, he says, your farming will not in itself bring the harvest because it is God who makes things grow. So think of how these things come together: God gives the farm, God gives the tools, God gives the seed, God makes things grow. But the farmer is still involved. There is something for the farmer to do, and if the farmer does not do what is entrusted to him, there will not be a harvest.

Now this is a helpful way of thinking about how God's great gifts to us and God's great calling to us come together in the gospel. And the question that Peter has come to now, having told us all that God has given to us in the gift of the spirit and in the life that comes from above and our great salvation and his great and precious promises in Christ, he's now got to the question: now what then are we to do? We've been given the farm, what does it mean for us to farm?

What are we to do? Well, let's look at it in verses five through seven. For this very reason, in the light of what God has done for you in verses one to four, make every effort—active mode, take responsibility, some things for you proactively to go after—make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control perseverance and to perseverance godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love.

Now here then are seven virtues that Peter says we are to vigorously pursue. Make every effort to go after these things in the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice that the list is similar—at least it overlaps—with the fruit of the spirit that Paul lists for us in Galatians chapter five and verse 22 and 23. You have a number of lists of character qualities that describe the areas in which God calls us to grow as a Christian and they sort of overlap. They describe a field of growth for us in the Christian life.

Notice that what is distinct about Peter's teaching here that is added to Paul's teaching about the fruit of the spirit is that Peter wants us to know that these are things we actively pursue. These are things to go after. These are things that you must put yourself into, make every effort for, stretch yourself out in the pursuit of them because God has given you power to do so. Now I found it helpful to use this as a simple grid for self-evaluation. You might like to do that personally. You might like to use it with a friend for accountability, for setting some goals for growth, which would be a very good way to respond to what we're learning from the word of God today. Seven pursuits then throughout a Christian's life.

Number one: goodness. In the light of all that God has done for you in Christ, pursue this. Make every effort to pursue goodness. Moral excellence is really what that means. And Peter is saying if you want to be a really fruitful Christian, you've got to grow in goodness because the evidence of your faith will be seen in your life. Peter has already told us that we were called through Christ's own glory and goodness, verse three.

In other words, we were compelled, we were drawn by what we saw in Jesus Christ, and now other people will be drawn as they see a reflection of that same goodness of Jesus in you. Therefore, if you want to be fruitful in your life for the Lord Jesus Christ, here is where to begin: pursue with all the energy you can muster a goodness that reflects the excellence of the life of Jesus. I want in each case here to give a simple question and you might find this question helpful: where then can I do good for another person this week? How can I do good to another person in these next days? Because this is something I'm to go after in the light of all that God has done for me in Jesus Christ.

Second: knowledge. Make every effort to go after knowledge, which really means practical wisdom. If you're going to live a fruitful Christian life, you need wisdom, depth, stability, and maturity. And where are you going to get wisdom and depth and stability and maturity to live a fruitful Christian life? You'll get it through the word of God, learned, believed, applied, and obeyed. The Bible is much more than information.

The Psalmist says God's word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path. In other words, the scriptures, when my thinking is shaped by them, will give me the wisdom and maturity to be able to make good decisions and to live in a way that is honoring to Jesus Christ. So one of the questions that we might live with here is: how am I learning God's word? What opportunities am I really grasping daily and weekly to get the truth of the scriptures into my mind so that I'm growing, not just in knowing a lot of things, but in the kind of wisdom and maturity and stability that comes from a life that is lighted by the lamp of the word of God?

How am I learning God's word? Remember, one opportunity is right now. It's right now. Am I seizing Sunday by Sunday the opportunity to learn from God's word in such a way that it's shaping my thinking and therefore my living? Or am I just letting these things pass me by?

Number three: go after self-control. Make every effort in this area. Self-control is simply you controlling your passions instead of letting your passions control you. That's what self-control is. Now remember who's writing this: Peter, the most impulsive man in the New Testament. At least that's what he was once. But here's Christian growth and as you see it in Peter, think about what it could mean for you.

The man who was once the blundering disciple in the gospels is now the trusted apostle and leader in the early church. Praise God for that. That's growth. And if the Holy Spirit can bring that kind of growth in self-control in Peter's life, then he can bring that kind of growth and stability in your life as well.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called Everything You Need for Growth. And I don't know about you, but I'm so encouraged to think about Peter, to think about how he failed, but then to think about how God was still able to redeem that and to use Peter and Peter did grow. Well, for those of us who feel like we've messed up in the past, I hope that today's reminder that God gives you everything you need for growth has been an encouragement to you.

You may want to go back and listen to this again. You can do that at our website. Come to openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. Again, that's at openthebible.org. You can also listen through the Open the Bible app, which you'll find for free at your app store. It's a great way to listen to Pastor Colin's teaching on demand as it fits your schedule.

Well, Open the Bible is able to be on this station, make the podcast, the app, and all the ministry tools available because of your financial generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we'd love to say thank you for your gift by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin's brand new 30-day devotional book called Grow in Love. And Colin, why did you write this book?

Colin Smith: Well, this is the third in a series on faith, hope, and love. And of course, the Bible says that these are the three things that are going to remain. It's very striking: Paul says everything else is going to pass away, but faith, hope, and love, they're going to abide. And the greatest of these is love. So I'm absolutely convinced that the greatest need of the Christian church today is a fresh outpouring of faith and of hope and of love.

I mean, think about it: everybody is looking for love, everybody wants to find hope, everyone needs someone to believe in, and God has given us these things in Jesus Christ. And the more we grow in faith, the more we grow in hope, and the more we grow in love, the more effective we're going to be in the world and the more we're going to be like our Savior.

Guest (Male): Well, we'd love to send you, as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month, a copy of Colin's new book, Grow in Love. If you want to find out more or give a gift right now, you can visit our website. Just come to openthebible.org or call 1-877-673-6365. That might be easier to remember as 1-877-OPEN-365. And again, the website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: This is Pastor Colin and I want you to know about a resource that will help you in your devotional life. It's called Open the Bible Daily. My colleague, Pastor Tim Augustyn, takes what you hear on Open the Bible and he edits it into daily bite-sized chunks that you can read in your devotional time in less than three minutes.

Every day you'll find a verse of scripture, a short teaching from God's word, and an application that you can carry with you through the day. People who use this tell us that they read it every day and I think that if you try it, you'll love it too. For more information, visit openthebible.org/daily. That's openthebible.org/daily.