Gospel

Y(our) Spiritual Growth

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Scripture:  2 Peter 1:5-9  NLT

5In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

8The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

Observations:

“For this reason (ESV)  “In view of all this (NLT)” — Going back to verses 3-4 — because of God’s power and promises made available to us through Jesus Christ.

“make every effort”  — exert yourself

“to supplement your faith with…”

Application:

Who are you doing this with?  Who are you “responding to the Gospel with? Who are meeting with, praying with, serving with, wrestling with, and sharing life with?  So often we read these verse in the West through the self-improvement lens and we think its all up to “me.”

Yes you can seek to grow by yourself — and often you must respond to Jesus — just you!  But the fellowship of Jesus is one where we together “make every effort to supplement our faith with…”

I need a spiritual buddy, a circle of hope (or a Life Group), and a church who together are seeking to grow with Jesus.  At different times in my life I’ve been blessed with many variations of this theme!  The Gospel-shaped life is one in which we receive salvation and communion with God as a treasured grace gift.  And the Gospel-shaped life is one in which we respond to Jesus with enthusiasm and the hopeful expectation that we can and must participate in the transformation of us all into people who love well.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I’m predisposed to go it alone.  But the hope of Jesus is drawing me into a life that is shared.  Help.  AMEN.

PS:  If you are hanging around Origin, we encourage you to be a “spiritual buddy” by getting into a 2+ group to Read the Scripture, Pray for the Lost, and Share your life (10-10-10 minutes each/ once or twice weekly.)  Contact me for the Origin 2+ app.

Self-Righteousness always exceeds our grasp of grace.

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Scripture:  2 Peter 1:1-2

1Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Observations:

Peter builds up those receiving his letter by addressing them as equals in the faith:  they have “obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

He blesses them in his greeting, praying that grace and peace would be theirs through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

Application:

Peter did not treat those who came to faith after him as “seconds” in the faith.  Rather, those who came to faith in Christ after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus have obtained it the same way:  through the grace and peace of God abundantly poured out on them.  This faith comes not by any righteousness of their own but only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  So becoming an insider in the Kingdom of God comes not by being good, or by race, or by gender, or by status, or by education, or by proximity to the time and sites of Jesus’ ministry.  Rather this faith and “position” comes by God’s grace.  This righteousness in Christ demands equality.

There is level ground at the foot of the cross.  All come to Jesus by grace.  All are elevated into His kingdom through the righteousness of Jesus, not by their own “goodness. “ You can be sure, that self-righteousness always exceeds our grasp of grace.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I pray again with Peter.  Would you please multiply grace and peace in my life and in the life of your church through the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord.  AMEN.

The kiss of love

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Scripture:  1 Peter 5:12-14

12By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Observations:

Peter encourages them to greet one another “with the kiss of love.”

Application:

I have a friend who regularly greets me with a slap on the back or a chest bump!  Its all about the affection and the happiness of seeing each other.  In general Canadian culture is not predisposed to greetings with kisses… or even hugs!  However, the spirit of this command remains for us.

I think Peter must have remembered how Jesus was betrayed by a kiss from Judas.  (Luke 22:47-48)  The contrast is striking.  The followers of Jesus as beneficiaries of His death and resurrection now greet each other with a kiss that recalls the great expense paid for their fellowship.  And thus our kin-ship in the church is based not just on affinity and blood-line, but on the grace of our Lord.

Because of Jesus, may our greetings of other brothers and sisters in Christ be infused with real affection for each other.  So… let’s warm it up and let the love and brotherhood we feel with Jesus into our relationships with others in His church.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for moving toward us and expressing your love for us in real ways.  Help us build the kind of friendships and relationships together in your churches that honour Jesus.  AMEN.

The fear of offence never wins.

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Scripture:  1 Peter 4:14-19

14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”  19Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Observations:

We are blessed when insulted because of Jesus’ name.
Avoid suffering as a murderer, thief, evildoer, or meddler.
Glorify God when you suffer as a Christian.
There is an urgency about life:  God rightfully judges all people.
Keep entrusting your soul to our faithful Creator even while doing good.

Application:

Several times a week here at UBC I am having to evaluate the statement “I don’t want to offend or shame another person.”  I do believe it can be a sincere desire motivated by love.  However, when self-preservation and the fear of people inform our reluctance to move forward in love, service, and witness we are living without the urgency of God’s big-time and righteous view of our lives.

Love is our best motive.  This is how the Spirit of glory and of God works in our lives.  The presence of God is bigger than the face of our neighbour and our fearful imaginations.  The fear of offense creates defensive positions and never wins.

The standup and improv comedian is taught in his or her craft “to move into the fear.”  I wonder if that’s what we must do as well as followers of Jesus when it comes to proclaiming the Gospel and identifying ourselves as His disciples.  We move into the fear; we serve; we speak up of God’s wonderful love in Christ Jesus.

To lean into this fear we must entrust our lives to God:  “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I entrust my soul to you.  Empower me today to do good.  By your Holy Spirit pour your love into my life and give me courage to serve and to speak up in ways that are consistent with your will, your Son, and your Gospel.  AMEN.

Baptism and life with Jesus

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Scripture:  1 Peter 3:18-22

18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Observations:

For — Peter is connecting how we may suffer in this world according to God’s will even as we “do good” (See vs 17).  In our sufferings we may consider our Lord Jesus who:
suffered…once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,

that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

Jesus’ ministry continued in the spirit and with proclamation of God’s freedom in Christ. vs. 20

Baptism corresponds to the story of Jesus… and indicates our participation in His mission.  vs. 21-22

Application:

Peter is not making baptism the agent of God’s salvation.  Rather he is connecting the act of baptism with the immersion of our decision-making capacities (conscience) in the grace of God in the Gospel.  In verse 18 Peter captures the movement of Jesus born into this world: suffering for sins on the cross, put to death, raised again, and then vs. 22 ascended to the Father.

Baptism “corresponds” to the story of Jesus.  The appeal of baptism as we make the confession that “Jesus is Lord,” is for God to grant us the grace to live by the Spirit of Jesus in this world of relationships infected with brokenness and darkness.  By joining with Jesus’ ministry by the same Spirit that raised him from the dead we may see people delivered from captivity of sin and into God’s forgiveness and His Kingdom (just as God delivered Noah and his family of eight.)  Now we look forward to the end of suffering with Jesus in heaven where all things and powers are being brought under Him.

This Gospel approach to life is “salvation.”  Baptism is part of our redemptive process because of how the act aligns us with the work and community of Jesus in the world by the Spirit of God.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Today I am remembering the day of my baptism and our celebration of your grace toward me.  Thank you for the hope that pulls me forward and gives perspective to the troubles of this world.  Even this day fill me with your Spirit that I may live aware of the company of Jesus and join you in loving people.   AMEN.