Assurance of Salvation in 2 Peter

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Christ-Centered Assurance and the Purpose of 2 Peter

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and it is one of those days today that I�m excited to know that the Lord Jesus will keep His promises, and He�ll come back and take care of every wrong.

I�m affirming that today, are you not?

I declare breakthroughs are coming for you, sudden burst of God�s goodness. Not a trickle, not a stream, but a flood of God�s power. I declare that you are a breakthrough person, and that you live breakthrough-minded, that you�re expecting God to overwhelm you with His goodness and amaze you with His favor.

I wonder if they have a copyright on that music. Boy, that is affirmation number 20. That�s maybe the best one I�ve heard yet. Not a trickle, not a little stream, but a tsunami, a tsunami of God�s love.

Okay, one year from now, February 2022, Israel�s trip with No Compromise Radio, Bethlehem Bible Church, Omaha Bible Church. Don�t forget, Pat Ebenroth�s got a new podcast once a week, The Pactum. First one was on Biblicism, second one was on Law Gospel, third one was on Christ-Centered Preaching, fourth one was on Justification of Jesus, I think.

I just listened to that the other day. So it�s fun to hear my brother talk. As we used to say in Nebraska, he�s one smart cookie. Cookie. I�d like to have a cookie. What�s your favorite cookie, Joel? Snickerdoodle.

That�s what I thought. Sounds like I got the smoker�s cough. Jesus sent an apostle named Peter, and he had him write two books. First Peter, any guesses on the second? You are right. Second Peter. That is an affirmation.

Actually, in my JoelCube, it says paused, paused, terminal pause. And last show, I tried to get you to realize that if you want to talk about assurance, how do you know if you�re a Christian? Do you have confidence that you�re a Christian?

Do you realize that you really are a Christian? How do you know? Can you know? Is it a sin to know? The sin of presumption that the Roman Catholic Church would talk about? I guess unless you�re Paul, who went to heaven, or Mary, who�s the fourth member of the Trinity, allegedly, functionally.

What do you do? Well, if you go to second Peter, what most people do is they�ll say, see, are these things yours and increasing? Things like virtue, knowledge, and self-control, and steadfastness, godliness.

If they�re increasing, that�s great, you�re not going to be ineffective or unfruitful. And if you lack these, you�re nearsighted and you�ve forgotten, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fail.

All those are true. Yes and amen. Verily, verily. Amen, amen. I�m there. Truly, truly. But there�s something that comes first, and that�s what we�re going to look at today on No Compromise Radio. Last time, I just gave the big introduction and then read the verses, and that�s about all I did.

And so today, we�re going to look at them a little bit more. Actually, it�s still today for me, because I just recorded the show a few minutes ago that you listened to yesterday. Does that make sense tomorrow?

Why do I keep doing this show? You know, my brother Pat�s like, �Oh man, once you start a weekly podcast, it just never ends. You�ve got to keep feeding the machine. And that�s the same thing with you and No Compromise Radio.

I just have to keep feeding this. I don�t know how many people listen to a show. I think it�s around 1 ,000, 1 ,000 downloads a show maybe on average. And so there�s 1 ,000 of you that listen, and I just have to keep feeding the machine.

You�ll miss me when I�m gone though. Regularly, I think, �Ah, we�ll just cash it in. I cashed in the social media stuff, Facebook and Twitter. You know, the world can live without the thoughts of Mike Abendroth.

That is for certain. But we still keep going. The 2 Peter mindset is simple, and you can go one of two ways. Jesus is going to come back and keep his promises, therefore we ought to live holy lives. Or Jesus isn�t going to come back, let�s live it up.

Let�s live sinful lives. And so you have the apostles obviously teaching the first way, and the false teachers come and they just do the opposite. Why do people deny theological truths? Because there are moral aspects to such denials.

You�ve got to create�Nietzsche had to create his worldview so he could live a sexually immoral life. He said that. At least he�s honest. Why do people believe in evolution? Well, so they can be sexually immoral, amongst other things.

Because who wants to have to realize that you�re going to stand before God on Judgment Day? Let�s just get rid of God and therefore let�s get rid of Judgment Day, and therefore these false teachers were basically, you know what, we just want to live sensual lives.

And by the way, it�s no fun if everybody else is living prim and proper because our consciences kill us when we see other people. So let�s get everybody involved in this. Let�s get them all on the sexual licentious train�sensual licentious train.

We�ll just live whatever way we want train, and then we�ll all feel better because we don�t have to have people that are pointing their fingers at us and maybe they don�t even say anything, but their life is light and salt and it exposes our darkness.

So let�s get everybody to believe it, and so let�s have the satanic messengers called these false teachers that deny the Master and deny His power and His promises. Therefore today on No Compromise Radio, you�re going to see in 2 Peter 1 verses 1 -4 the foundation of what God has done for you Christians so that you can survive this world that�s filled to the gills with false teachers and those that want to live sexually immoral lives and unholy lives in every realm, including the sexual realm.

In 2 Peter 1 verses 1 -4, it�s to protect you when there�s a spiritual earthquake, when trials come and rock your world and there�s the swaying back and forth. The foundation here in verses 1, 2, 3, and 4 can undergird and support and actually motivate you to live the Christian life.

When there was a big earthquake, I think in �89, �90, something like that, �93, �94. I mean, I don�t even remember when in Los Angeles, the Northridge earthquake. Haley was, let�s see, five, six months old.

So when was that, �92, yeah, �92, I guess maybe into �93. Kim got out of the house quickly with Haley and she�s kind of standing away from the house because you want to get away from this thing that�s shaking.

And by the time I figured everything out and woke up and got outside, we�re now standing kind of in the street looking toward the house and the aftershock and you can just see the house sway back and forth.

It reminded me of if you ever built a house of cards and then you�re like, �Oops, didn�t put that on right. And you�ve got the triple-decker house of cards and it just all kind of caves in on itself.

I thought, �That�s what my house is going to do in North Hollywood. I wish I would have kept that house, by the way. I would be a millionaire right now. I took a bath on it, all to become a pastor. For what reason?

To move out here to Massachusetts to do that? Yikes! Second Peter chapter 1, verses 1 to 4, if I were going to outline this, here�s how I would do it. I would give you three truths, right? You just give three truths, three non-negotiables, three points, three questions, three, I don�t know.

We�re going to do three truths today that you should repeat to yourself every day. Three truths that when you�re in a trial or trouble or conflict and there�s issues and false teachers and we�re in the end days, will we make it out alive?

Three foundational, undergirding principles are truths that you need to know that will help you with assurance and motivation to guard against false teachers and guard against living a lifestyle that is unholy and sensual with all the senses, not just sexual.

The Christ-Centered Framework of 2 Peter

Before we look at those three truths, it�s good to be reminded that chapter 1 and chapter 3, as chapter 1 starts and chapter 3 ends, it�s about who Jesus is. It�s for Him, it�s because of Him, and it�s unto Him.

God and Savior Jesus Christ. That�s chapter 1. Chapter 3, grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. This is a neglected topic when we�re teaching 2 Peter, and it should never be.

And that topic is Jesus. It is a Christ-centered epistle, even though it�s warning about false teachers. And what we�re going to do is look at that first truth, that first gift that God has given to every Christian to undergird you and your life with a trial, with false teachers and everything in between.

And that�s number 1, God gives. We�re going to do God gives, God graces, God grants. That�s the three-part outline. That kind of sounds baptistic and a little alliteration, and you would be right. But that�s okay.

We do that once in a while. If it�s easy to do for me, I do it. I don�t try to spend a lot of time on it. I remember when I used to preach, I would then read like 5 illustration books, trying to find cool illustrations that would make the message good.

What was I doing? I look back at some of my old messages, because I have them all on computer. Some of those. How did anybody ever stay here? I guess many of them didn�t. If everybody who visited this church and became a member stayed, we would be a mega-church.

God Gives Faith of Equal Standing

God gives. Okay, here�s the foundation for Christian living. God gives you faith. Do you see it there in verse 1? �To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. I think it�s �received� in the New American Standard.

Received a faith. But maybe �obtained�, that might be a good translation, that�s the ESV. It means to be appointed, or it could be chosen by lot. The point that Peter is doing is, this faith that God gives you doesn�t come from you.

It comes from outside of you. It�s a gift from God. It�s according to His will. When you stand before God on that day, why will you be in heaven and your friend not? Our family member not? Is the difference found in you?

Is the difference found in your friend? Or is the difference found in God? This faith that every Christian has is sovereignly given. It�s the language here, �According to the custom of the priestly office, Luke 1, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

That�s the idea here. The faith is a gift from God, and it is something that is received or obtained by mercy and by favor alone. In John 19, �Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.

This was to fulfill the scripture which says, �They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things. By a divine lot, by divine casting, sovereignly bestowed, God gives every Christian faith.

It is a favor. It is a gift. It is God-given. Now let�s think about this for a minute. Why would Peter start off like that? Because in the midst of all the troubles and trials and false teachers and craziness going on, what if I came up with my faith and I�m going to lose my faith?

What if somebody can talk me out of my faith? What if these false teachers are persuasive and nice and convincing? So if Peter�s going to write a book, and of course he did, two books, he�s going to want to make sure that the people realize there�s this stability, there�s this well, while Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus never denied Peter, right?

What�s the difference between Peter and Judas? Well the answer�s not found in Peter and the answer�s not found in Judas. I�m going to write that down right now so I don�t forget that. The answer�s found in God Himself, right?

This is the faith that�s given. Some people think this is the body of faith, a creed, a confession, a faith as systematic theology, an objective body of truth, and I think that�s what Judas is talking about, contend earnestly for the faith, but this is more subjective, we would call it.

This is the person�s faith. This is what God gives you, your faith that you yourself believe. You rest, you rely, you respond with, �Okay, I trust God. What He says is true and I make assent to that and I have this trust where I�m going to believe Him no matter what.

What God gives, faith and everything else, cannot be taken away. I want you to know, Christian, that false teachers can�t take your faith away. Cancer can�t take your faith away. The new president can�t take your faith away.

Can God lose a Christian? That�s the real question, not, �Can I lose my salvation False teachers, they might destroy your confidence, they might mess around with your assurance, but they cannot take your faith away.

Faith is a gift. It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for His sake. That�s Philippians 1 .29. Faith is a gift. Ephesians 2 .8 and 9, �For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this, this entire salvation, including faith, is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. And then there�s a verse in Acts 18 that sometimes people forget about.

And when you think about faith, you don�t come up with it, it�s something given to you by grace. Listen to what Acts 18 .27 says, �And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him.

When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed. I like that, don�t you? There�s a foundation, there�s a stability here. When the world is rocking and reeling back and forth, God gives you this faith.

And by the way, you say, �Well, it�s just a little faith, and I don�t know, it�s not a very strong faith, it�s not like a Peter kind of faith. Well, what�s the text say? It�s of equal standing. Every Christian has a like kind of faith.

It�s of equal standing. What�s he trying to say here? Well, the apostles, they believed, �Am I like a second-class citizen, because I just have kind of a little faith, and Peter�s better than I am But since the object�s the same, and the giver�s the same, then we have of equal standing, of the same kind, the text says.

It�s where we get the word �iso� is at the front of this word. �Iso� just means equal. Like if I said �isotope it�s of equal place on the periodic table. This is equal price, equal worth, equal merit.

It�s used of value and honor, equally precious, the same kind, the same value. When you think of equality of value and honor, does this faith that the apostles have supersede my faith? Do they get more Christian privileges?

Do they get more than I get? Is their faith precious? Yes. But is my faith precious and valuable? Yes. William Barclay says this word is particularly used in connection with foreigners who are given equal citizenship in a city with the natives.

And of course, maybe the backdrop here is Peter�s writing to these Gentiles, and do they have equal rights and equal citizenship along with the Jews and even the apostles? And the answer is yes. You didn�t earn any of this.

It�s all of grace, and it�s of like value. Spurgeon said, �There is indeed a blessed equality here, for the poorest little faith, whoever crept into heaven on its hands and knees, has a like-precious faith with a mighty apostle Peter.

You have received a faith that�s as precious as Peter�s faith, as equally valuable as Paul�s faith, honorable like James� faith. That�s amazing. Peter is writing on his deathbed, as it were, impending eternal�I was going to say death, but that�s not true.

He�s going to die, and then it�s going to be eternity. Then what? Then what�s going to happen? I am glad that my faith, while it�s a struggling faith at times and a weak faith at times, it�s of equal value.

We�re not second-class citizens to the apostles. This is a common faith. It�s honorable, and everything about it is exactly opposite of what the false teachers have. 2 Peter 2 .1,. �But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

And that is dishonorable. Everything about them is dishonorable, but we have this great faith that the Lord Jesus has given us, and we�re not going to be duped by these false teachers. We might be influenced, but our faith isn�t going to fail, because Jesus won�t lose one.

The faith that God gives lasts. Why? Because, if you go on to read the rest of the verse, it�s based on not your goodness, not my righteousness, but on the Lord�s, �to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of God and Savior, of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

So, it�s not by my efforts. It�s in contrast to the unrighteousness of the false teachers, and here we have a faith that�s by or through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The false teachers, they don�t know the way of righteousness.

Let�s see, I think that�s in chapter 2, verse 21,. �For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

What the true proverb says has happened to them. The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire. This faith is granted through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Righteousness of Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ

Now, some people think, well, this righteous discussion here is fair when it comes to Jews or Gentiles or all different kinds of people, but this is the righteousness of Jesus that he has earned by law-keeping, vicarious righteousness.

This is the language that we have for justification, right? That we are justified because Jesus lived a right life and then he paid for our wrongs, our unrighteousness. This is divine righteousness. We have a standing that can withstand false teachers because we have the righteousness of our God and Savior's perfect life imputed to us, and of course, our unrighteousness was imputed to the Lord Jesus, and he paid for those.

This is the act where God puts a sinner into a righteous-right relationship before him. This is Jesus keeping the law, keeping every part of the law, and then giving us his law-keeping righteousness.

He didn't have to keep the law for himself. He was already inherently righteous. But here we have Jesus obeying, doing the right thing. He's underneath the Adamic and Mosaic law, and he perfectly obeys, and we get that credit because it's do this and live, and Jesus is under the covenant of works principle, and he does it, and he gives it to us, and we live.

That's why our faith is so valuable, is because it's based not on our own righteousness or false teachers, unrighteousness, or anything in between. It's based on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. My name is Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio.

You can order the book, Sexual Fidelity, and get the free copy, Things to Go Bump in the Church. That's found at NoCompromiseRadio .com. You can also email me, Mike at NoCompromiseRadio .com. And if you're in central Massachusetts, bbcchurch .org.

We'd love to have you, 830 and 1030 services, with some Sunday night services here and there. God bless you.

No Compromise Radio, with Pastor Mike Abendroth, is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church, firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word, through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015, and in the evening at 6. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org, or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.