Andy Woods<\/p>\n
Soteriology 46, 2 Peter 2:20<\/p>\n
January 29, 2017<\/p>\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for this morning and this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.\u00a0 Thank You Lord for the cool weather and we just ask for in this session and in the church service that follows the Holy Spirit would come and illuminate the Scriptures for us, particularly this morning as we continue to look at very difficult passages in Your Word that cause people a lot of anxiety related to their security, so I ask that You\u2019ll help us in that.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and let\u2019s go to 2 Peter, chapter 1, verses 10 and 11.\u00a0 As you all know during Sunday School hour we have been looking at the doctrine of eternal security, spending a lot of time on it because this is an area that causes a lot of confusion with Christians.\u00a0 A lot of Christians really don\u2019t know if they\u2019re Christians or not, even though they trusted in Christ they have these nagging doubts.\u00a0 So what we\u2019ve been trying to communicate is the grace of God that saves you is the grace of God that keeps you.\u00a0 So if all that\u2019s true salvation is not something that can be lost once you receive it as a gift.\n\nSo we\u2019ve gone through the eternal security arguments and the reason this series is going longer\u00a0 than a typical series you hear or eternal security is because I\u2019m actually trying to interact with the opposing arguments.\u00a0 There must be a reason this has been debated for centuries in the church; there must be verses that look like you can lose your salvation so those are the verses that we\u2019re going over now.\u00a0\u00a0 And here\u2019s sort of the categories that we\u2019ve been looking at and we spent a lot of time in the book of Hebrews, didn\u2019t we do that?\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 Because Hebrews has five passages that oh my gosh, if you don\u2019t understand them right it looks very much like you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 We finished the book of Hebrews, not the whole book, just the troubling passages.\n\nNow I think the series will go by faster (I\u2019ve been saying that for three months) but a lot of the heavy lifting is behind us so now we just have a few passages left to look at in the general letters so we\u2019re going to look this morning at a couple in 2 Peter and then if we have time we\u2019ll get into 1 John because 1 John, if you don\u2019t understand the background of the book it\u2019s like Hebrews, there\u2019s passages in it that make it look like at first glance you can\u00a0 lose your salvation.\n\nNotice, if you will, 2 Peter 1:10-11.\u00a0 Peter says, \u201cTherefore, brethren,\u201d so he\u2019s obviously talking to Christians, right?\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; [11] for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.\u201d\u00a0 Now you look at that at first glance and it says \u201cbe diligent to make certain His calling and choosing you,\u201d now that creates a problem, doesn\u2019t it, because it looks like at first glance that if I\u2019m not diligent in the Christian life maybe I can be uncertain about His calling and choosing of me.\u00a0 So the way this verse reads is it kind of opens the door in the minds of a lot of people if you aren\u2019t diligent in the Christian life, and we obviously exhort people to be diligent in the Christian life, but what if they\u2019re not?\u00a0 Then all of a sudden the door of uncertainty is opened to His calling and choosing of you.\u00a0 So how would we handle this passage?\u00a0 I have a few things to think about.\n\nNumber 1, diligence in the Christian life does not make the believer secure or more secure.\u00a0 So you can be as diligent as you want to be as a Christian, and we exhort that, but that has no bearing on whether you\u2019re secure in Christ, in the Father\u2019s hand or not because what put you in the Father\u2019s hand is a gift, right?\u00a0 So if it\u2019s a gift God\u2019s not going to say to me okay, well when are\u00a0 you going to start making payments on your gift.\u00a0 If I have to make payments on my gift then it\u2019s no longer a gift.\n\nSo then why be diligent in the Christian life?\u00a0 Diligence, going down to bullet point number 2, can though deepen inward assurance.\u00a0 In other words, the assurance that you already have, if you under\u00adstand your promises, becomes deeper, it becomes more of a heartfelt conviction as you pursue diligence in the Christian life.\u00a0 So diligence in the Christian life doesn\u2019t make me more secure or less secure but it can take the promises that God has already given you and I\u2019ll share with you a couple of those in just a second, which you know are objectively true, and it can take those promises and actually really deepen them to the point where it becomes a very strong heartfelt conviction.\n\nSo I stand before you today, I have no doubt that I\u2019m a Christian because of what God has promised me.\u00a0 I have no doubt that I\u2019m going to heaven because of what God has promised me.\u00a0 But when I actually see the Lord use my life to expand His purposes on the earth the assurance that I have through those promises becomes deeper; it take a confidence that I have and intensifies it.\u00a0 And I think that is really what Peter is talking about here.\u00a0 \u201cBe diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing of you,\u201d it\u2019s talking about assurances which you have which become deeper and deeper as you continue to walk with God.\n\nNow what if I\u2019m in disobedience?\u00a0 Well, it doesn\u2019t affect my assurance but God can\u2019t take His objectively true promises and deep them in my heart the way He wants to.\u00a0 So diligence doesn\u2019t make you saved as a Christian.\u00a0 First of all, it doesn\u2019t get you saved or else that would be salvation by works.\u00a0 And it doesn\u2019t keep you saved either, and this is what people do, they frontload the gospel.\u00a0 In other words, they put a bunch of works on the front end to get the gospel; that\u2019s called frontloading.\u00a0 Or what a lot of people like to do is they backload the gospel, they put a lot of works on the back end telling you what you have to keep doing to keep salvation.\u00a0 And both of those ideas here at Sugar Land Bible Church we reject.\u00a0 Well, if that\u2019s true then why does a Christian be diligent?\u00a0 Because God takes our diligence as we\u2019re living under his power, He takes our convictions which are expressed in His promises and intensifies them, broadens them, deepens them.\u00a0 So diligence can deepen inward assurance.\n\nNow notice this expression, \u201cabundant entrance into the kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 Did you catch that?\u00a0 Verse 11 which comes after verse 10, do you all agree with that?\u00a0 Okay, just wanted to make sure you\u2019re awake there.\u00a0 Verse 11 says, \u201cfor in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be\u201d not just supplied to you but what? \u201cabundantly supplied to you.\u201d\u00a0 So this passage is not simply talking about entrance into His kingdom, which would be good enough.\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about entering His kingdom fully rewarded.\u00a0 That\u2019s where diligence matters.\u00a0 Diligence doesn\u2019t determine whether you\u2019re going to get into the kingdom or not; what diligence determines is the rewards, the position of authority that God wants to give to us once we arrive.\n\nAnd I\u2019ve got a few verses there on the screen, there under bullet point number 3, most of these we\u2019ve already gone over, but those three verses, 1 Corinthians 3:15, 2 John 8 and Revelation 3:11, all three of them teach the possibility that a Christian can enter the kingdom and have their fire insurance paid up but they\u2019re not fully rewarded.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, let me just read some of these verses to you.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 3:15 you probably already know which specifically says, \u201cIf any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be\u201d what? \u201csaved, yet so as through fire.\u201d\u00a0 So it\u2019s talking about at the judgment of rewards, which occurs in heaven after the rapture, our works are put through a fire and those things that we did as Christians out of really selfish, fleshly motives and means are consumed in the fire.\u00a0 And whatever remains after the fire finishes is part of our reward; the things we do under the Spirit\u2019s power are the gold, silver and costly stones which don\u2019t get consumed by the fire.\n\nBut you look at this verse here and it says, \u201cIf any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.\u201d\u00a0 So very clearly it talks about a guy that\u2019s in heaven and yet he can smell the smoke on his garments because he entered the kingdom, entered heaven but he wasn\u2019t, as Peter says here, abundantly supplied.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nOver in 2 John 8, if time permits we\u2019ll be trying to give you the background of 1 John but very quickly, 2 John 8 says, \u201cWatch yourselves that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.\u201d\u00a0 So that\u2019s where diligence in the Christian life matters, to receive or not receive a full reward.\u00a0 That\u2019s the context of 2 Peter 1:10.\u00a0 [2 Peter 1:10, \u201cTherefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;\u201d]\u00a0 And one more just for good measure, Revelation 3:11, Jesus here is speaking to the church at Philadelphia (not the one in Pennsylvania by the way), \u201c'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will\u201d what? \u201ctake your crown,\u201d so you can enter heaven without a crown.\n\nSo this is why diligence in the Christian life is significant because it determines rewards, it determines degrees of authority, but what it does not determine is whether you\u2019re getting into heaven in the first place.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t understand the context of this passage it looks at first glance like man, I\u2019d better keep working in the Christian life or maybe I\u2019m not a Christian, and people use this verse that way and that\u2019s not what it\u2019s saying at all.\n\nYour ultimate assurance, and I\u2019m starting to begin to think that this may be the most important doctrine today, that the evangelical church is confused on because when you go around and talk to people a very small percentage of Christians that I talk to, not in this church but just out and abroad, really have 100% certainty that they\u2019re going to heaven.\u00a0 I have 100% certainty that I\u2019m going to heaven.\u00a0 You say well, you must be really living a great spiritual life\u2014not necessarily, I have ups and downs like you do but I\u2019m not looking at myself.\u00a0 If I was looking at myself I would think I\u2019m saved one day and another day I would think I\u2019m not saved.\u00a0 But the more I stop looking at myself, which is a depressing subject, and start looking at Jesus and what He\u2019s promised that\u2019s where my assurance comes from.\u00a0 And that is your right as a child of God.\u00a0 God has given you those promises.\u00a0 One of them is in John 5:24, where Jesus says, \u201cTruly, truly,\u201d that\u2019s Amen, amen, in other words it is so twice, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has\u201d that\u2019s present tense, \u201ceternal life,\u201d so the promise is not gee, one of these days I\u2019ll die and have eternal life; the promises is you have it now.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He who \u201cbelieves in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.\u201d\u00a0 \u201c\u2026passed out of\u201d is in the perfect tense which basically means a one-time action in the past with ongoing results.\n\nSo you are not passing gradually from death unto life, it\u2019s already happened.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a matter of you\u2019re going to get eternal life, you have it right now on the authority of God\u2019s promises.\u00a0 The only condition is that you believe in Him, place your confidence for your eternity and the safe keeping of your soul in Him.\u00a0 And if you\u2019ve done that then the promises of God are you have eternal life and you have passed out of death unto life.\u00a0 So that\u2019s where\u00a0 your ultimate assurance comes from.\n\nJohn 6:47 Jesus again says, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me has\u201d a 99% chance of eternal life.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that does it, \u201che who believes in me has eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 And a lot of people kind of look at this subject of the assurance of salvation like they look at the weather report, there\u2019s going to be a 30 percent chance of rain.\u00a0\u00a0 If you ask people \u201care you saved?\u201d and they say well, I\u2019m pretty sure.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re saying to yourself I\u2019m kind of sure, I\u2019m pretty sure, then you\u2019re living beneath your privileges; you\u2019re living beneath the promises God has given you.\u00a0 And then you say to yourself, well I don\u2019t deserve this. Well welcome to the club, that\u2019s the whole point, you receive this as a gift.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why you know\u00a0 it\u2019s yours because it\u2019s not based on what you did prior to salvation or after salvation.\n\nSo 2 Peter 1:10-11 is not dealing with these types of promises; it\u2019s talking about a deepening conviction, a further conviction and diligence in the Christian life so that you can be fully rewarded, not partially rewarded, but fully rewarded once you enter.\n\nOne of my theological heroes is Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer who probably understood these issues better than any man that\u2019s ever lived, in my opinion, other than the apostles.\u00a0 He was just a uniquely gifted man and he writes this: he says, \u201cThere is a normal Christian experience. There are new and blessed emotions and desires.\u201d\u00a0 Have you experienced those as a Christian?\u00a0 I\u2019ve experienced things like that.\u00a0 When I was going through high school I don\u2019t even know how I graduated frankly, because I majored in basketball.\u00a0 I really, to be honest with you I don\u2019t even remember reading a book in high school; that\u2019s pretty scary, huh?\u00a0 And yet I passed, and I just didn\u2019t like to read. Well then I got saved and all of a sudden I had this appetite for reading the Bible or Christian books and it\u2019s like where in the world did this come from.\u00a0 My mom was like who are you and what have you done with my son kind of thing.\u00a0 But that\u2019s a new desire that God put in me.\n\nSo we have these experiences where we change and things like that; those are part of the Christian life.\u00a0 He says, \u201cold things have passed away, behold all things become new,\u201d but look at what he says here, \u201cbut all such experiences are\u201d what? \u201c secondary evidences, as to the fact of salvation, in that they grow out of that positive repose of faith which is the primary evidence.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0How do you know you\u2019re saved?\u00a0 The primary evidence. What\u2019s the primary evidence?\u00a0 The objective truths of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Now as you walk with God what you discover is you start getting secondary evidences, but the problem is when you base\u00a0 your assurance on secondary evidences your assurance will be there one day and other days it will not be there.\u00a0 So I remember when I received Christ, that night was like an emotional euphoria.\u00a0 And then the next couple of days start to pass and you wonder what happened to the euphoria.\u00a0 You haven\u2019t learned as a new Christian your resources in Christ, you discover the sin nature is alive and well\u2026 Amen! You haven\u2019t had enough doctrine yet to understand that it\u2019s been disabled but not annihilated.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t understand the assurance of salvation what you start thinking is well, I must not be saved today.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s how a lot of people are, saved today, I\u2019m not saved today, like picking the petals off the flower, she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not.\n\nAnd this is where people are confused because they\u2019re taking secondary evidences which God can give and they\u2019re making that their primary evidence.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is you don\u2019t fly your life as a Christian on secondary evidences.\u00a0 You fly it on the basis of objective reality which is promised in God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 That\u2019s why learning your promises that God has made you is so significant for the new Christian.\n\nWe have several pilots, Jim is a pilot, and Charlie is a pilot, Rick Miller I think is a pilot and that means if I\u2019ve got to fly anywhere I\u2019ve got three people to help me.\u00a0 But a pilot does not fly a plane based on how they feel.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019ve talked to several pilots and they will tell you that we feel all kinds of things when we\u2019re flying.\u00a0 One pilot told me it feels sometimes like the plane is upside down.\u00a0 If you\u2019re in a storm or at night or something like that.\u00a0 What gives the plane direction is the what?\u00a0 The compass which doesn\u2019t lie to you.\u00a0 Numbers don\u2019t lie (other than your bathroom scale, that satanic device that lies to you constantly).\u00a0 Other than that numbers are a reality, right?\u00a0 So a pilot is not flying based on how he feels or how she feels; you look at the compass and\u00a0 you\u2019re going to have emotional ups in the Christian life and you\u2019re going to have emotional downs in the Christian life and it really doesn\u2019t matter as blessed as these secondary experiences are God cannot lie, He\u2019s made you a promise.\u00a0 See that?\n\nSo I\u2019m not bashing secondary experiences, I\u2019ve had my own secondary experiences.\u00a0 If I told you some of my secondary experiences you probably wouldn\u2019t even want me to be the pastor of this church, some of the things that have happened to me, which I believe are wrought in God, but they\u2019re just that, they\u2019re experiences that never negate what God has promised.\u00a0 Are you guys with me on that?\n\nAnd can I be so bold as to say this: this is one of the deficiencies and I say this gently because I teach, when I was teaching at the College of Biblical Studies I had many, many students, in fact, the majority came from what we would call charismatic or Pentecostal backgrounds, where the emphasis is experience.\u00a0 And I started to wonder well why is experience and the latest vision, the latest euphoria, whatever it is, I started to wonder why this is so significant to them.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not necessarily against those things per se, as long as they\u2019re in conformity to the Word of God,\u00a0 and it was J. Dwight Pentecost who said something that I remember back in seminary that really helped me.\u00a0 He said in most, not all, in most Pentecostal charismatic environments they do not teach the assurance of salvation. \u00a0That\u2019s a doctrine that for whatever reason they don\u2019t have, so if you don\u2019t have that what do you have to have to prove you\u2019re a Christian?\u00a0 Perpetual experiences.\n\nSo a lot of this hunger for experiences with God, which again I\u2019m not necessarily against, are used many times as substitutes for the primary evidence of the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 So it\u2019s always the next prophecy, the next vision, the next this, the next that, God speak to me, God do this.\u00a0 And people are living for whatever experience they think God is giving them, they\u2019re becoming emotionally excited and then it dissipates and they want another one, because they need these things to prove that they\u2019re Christians.\u00a0 And my attitude toward those things is I look at those things as just icing on the cake; that\u2019s all they are.\u00a0 You have the cake already through the primary evidence which is the objective truth of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why this statement here by Chafer where he\u2019s talking about secondary evidence versus primary evidence, you know, to me it\u2019s such a big deal to understand as a Christian.\n\nSo does 2 Peter 1:10-11 teach that you can lose your salvation?\u00a0 No it does not, it\u2019s talking about a conviction that deepens and it\u2019s talking about rewards.\u00a0 It\u2019s not dealing in context with the issue of whether a person is saved or not.\n\nLet\u2019s go from the frying pan into the fire.\u00a0 Take a look at 2 Peter 2:20-22; this is a difficult one, they\u2019re all difficult.\u00a0 But Peter, in the same book, says, \u201cFor if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. [21] For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. [22] It has happened to them according to the true proverb, \u2018A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,\u2019\u201d and we had this dog growing up\u2026 well maybe I shouldn\u2019t go into that, I don\u2019t know what it was with this dog, it was my childhood dog so there\u2019s pictures of me as a newborn with this big dog, it was a boxer, and he would just throw up and start licking his vomit, and I don\u2019t know how this dog did it, it was always he did this right when we were getting ready for a family meal; it\u2019s like he timed it.\u00a0 That\u2019s more information than what you\u2019re looking for probably.\u00a0 Anyway, that\u2019s what I always think of when I see this, \u201cA DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,\u2019 and, \u2018A sow, after washing, returns<\/em> to wallowing in the mire.\u201d\u2019\n\nSo you\u2019ve got this pig, you wash the pig and then you enter the pig in the county fair, the pig wins first prize, and then you get the pig off the truck on the way home from the country fair, it\u2019s got the big blue ribbon around the pig and what\u2019s the first thing the pig does?\u00a0 Goes right back into the mud.\u00a0 And so this is the kind of imagery that Peter is using here.\n\nNow you look at this at first glance and my gosh, doesn\u2019t it look like you can lose your salvation, because it talks about \u201cthey have escaped the defilements of the world through\u00a0 the knowledge of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,\u201d and then they \u201cagain get entangled\u201d and then they\u2019re \u201covercome,\u201d and this has to be a loss of salvation people say because \u201cthe last state\u201d is \u201cworse \u2026 than the first.\u201d\u00a0 So they were saved and lost salvation.\u00a0 And Peter says, \u201cFor it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,\u201d at all, \u201cthan having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment\u201d so people that are like this it would be better for them if they\u2019d never heard the gospel because the more light you have the greater your what?\u00a0 Accountability, to whom much is given much is expected.\n\nAnd then these images that he uses here, about a dog returning to its vomit, a pig returning to the mud or the mire, and so that at first glance pretty much looks like you can lose your salvation. But like with all of these passages that are troubling I\u2019m giving you an interpretation of them that harmonizes with the crystal clear ones that we\u2019ve already gone over, which indicate you can never lose your salvation.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I\u2019m doing with every problem passage we\u2019ve looked at.\u00a0 So let\u2019s see if we can try our hand here at 2 Peter 2:20-22.\n\nAt the top of the screen, top bullet point, I don\u2019t believe that these verses teach a loss of salvation.\u00a0 I think what they\u2019re talking about is new believers becoming entangled again by the corruption of unbelieving false teachers.\u00a0 So you\u2019re dealing with new believers and then all of a sudden into your life comes a false teacher who begins to\u2026 and in many cases these false teachers are not saved, I\u2019ll show you in just a minute why I don\u2019t think these false teachers are saved at all, but they begin to put onto the new believers all kind of strange doctrines and if you go to a Billy Graham crusade, a Greg Laurie harvest crusade, a Luis Palau evangelistic crusade the most interesting thing to me about those crusades is not so much the crusade it\u2019s the spiritual warfare that\u2019s going on in the parking lot on the way out of the crusade because what you\u2019ll see as you go out in the parking lot is the kingdom of the cults will be out there, whether it\u2019s Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, Mormonism, whatever cult you want to come up with they\u2019re right there in the parking lot disseminating their literature.\n\nAnd does not their literature have Bible verses in it?\u00a0 Now how is someone that just got regenerated at a crusade by faith alone in Christ, how are they going to weave their way through that literature.\u00a0 They don\u2019t know the difference.\u00a0 And so they grab the literature unsuspecting and they start to consume it because they don\u2019t have any discernment yet any more than a child crawling around on a carpet has any discernment, anything that the child sees they\u2019ll just put in their mouth; that\u2019s what newborns and children that are just learning to crawl, that\u2019s what they do.\u00a0 Now as they mature they start to discern, I can\u2019t put everything in my mouth, this is good for me, this is bad for me.\u00a0 But that comes with maturity.\u00a0 So it\u2019s the same with the new Christian, they don\u2019t know any difference, so they start to consume all this false doctrine unsuspectingly and before they know it they\u2019re right back in a works based system.\u00a0 They themselves are saved but they\u2019re trying to achieve holiness through manmade power.\n\nAnd so the false teachers are coming in, they\u2019re unbelievers, and they\u2019re preying on these unsus\u00adpecting new believers that have just escaped damnation.\u00a0 And this is to the detriment of the new believers, not justification but progressive sanctification.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Peter closes the book the way he does in 2 Peter 3:17-18, which you don\u2019t have to turn there because I\u2019m going to go over that in just a minute, but it\u2019s a very strong exhortation to continue to grow.\u00a0 And he\u2019s acknowledging with that exhortation is there are things that you can do as a Christian that will short-circuit your growth.\u00a0 [2 Peter 3:17, \u201cYou therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, [18] but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.\u201d]\n\nSo the way to understand 2 Peter 2:20-22 is you\u2019ve got two groups of people here.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve got first of all unbelieving false teachers, who are probably not regenerated the way they\u2019re described, and then the second thing that you have are believers, baby Christians, who have now become victimized by false teachers.\u00a0 [2 Peter 2:20, \u201cFor if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.\u00a0 [21] For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.\u00a0 [22] It has happened to them according to the true proverb, \u2018A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,\u2019 and, \u2018A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.\u2019\u201d\n\nSo why would I think that these folks here, first of all, group A, why would I think you\u2019ve got unbelieving false teachers in the mix.\u00a0 Well, you go back to verse 1 he calls them false prophets.\u00a0 If you go to verse 9, same chapter, he says \u201cthen the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under\u201d what? \u201cpunishment for the day of judgment,\u201d so that is talking about how these false teachers are being kept for the day of judgment.\u00a0 That is a description of an unbeliever, not a believer.\u00a0 Verse 12 indicates\u2026 \u201cBut these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,\u201d so he\u2019s talking about how they\u2019re going to be destroyed.\u00a0 Verse 14, they\u2019re called accursed children.\u00a0 Verse 17 they\u2019re called mists with no water. \u00a0\u00a0[2 Peter 2:14, \u201chaving eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children.\u201d Peter 2:17, \u201cThese are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.]\n\nI mean, it\u2019s like at the amusement park, it\u2019s really hot outside and they have those things where you can stand in line, after they charge you $2.50 for a glass of water\u00a0 you can stand in line and get refreshed, it\u2019s mist that comes down, but it quickly dissipates on a hot day because your position in the line moves and the refreshment that you had was but for a moment.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how these false teachers are described here; they can offer a little bit of refreshment but nothing that really satisfies the soul.\u00a0 Verse 17 says they are reserved for black darkness.\u00a0 And verse 19 says they promise freedom but have nothing to offer but slavery so they talk a good game but the end result is they enslave.\u00a0 [2 Peter 2:17, \u201cThese are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 19, \u201cpromising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.\u201d]\n\nSo group A is unbelieving false teachers targeting new Christians.\u00a0 Group B, the victims, I believe are brand new Christians because it says in verse 20 \u201cthey have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.\u201d They just escaped it; they heard the gospel, they came out, they sensed the power of the Spirit, they began to perhaps grow under the power of the Spirit before they were cut in on by unbelieving false teachers.\u00a0\u00a0 [2 Peter 2:20, \u201cFor if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.\u201d]\n\nNow look at chapter 1 just for a minute.\u00a0 2 Peter 1:1-4, \u00a0and I want you to compare the audience of verses 1-4 to the audience of chapter 2, verses 20-22 and I want to show you it\u2019s the exact same audience.\u00a0 There\u2019s very little doubt that the audience in verses 1-4 is saved, and so since they\u2019re described the exact same way as the audience in verses 20-22 both groups are the same group, new Christians.\u00a0 So he says in 2 Peter 1:1-4, \u201cSimon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours,\u201d does it sound like they\u2019re saved, \u201cby the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:\u201d\u00a0 So you have a faith, it\u2019s the same as my faith, Peter says.\n\nHe says, [2] \u201cGrace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; [3] seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.\u201d So they have the promises of God, they have the new nature, they have the Holy Spirit inside of them, he says God has given you everything you need to mature.\u00a0 Verse 4, \u201cFor by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the<\/em> divine nature, having\u201d what?\u00a0 look at this word, \u201cescaped\u201d sound familiar, \u201cthe corruption that is in the world by lust.\u201d\n\nSo 2 Peter 1:4 he says to his believing audience you\u2019ve just escaped.\u00a0 What did he say in 2 Peter 2:20, \u201cFor if, after they have escaped\u201d same group.\u00a0 He goes on in 2 Peter 2:20 and he says you \u201chave escaped the defilements of the world\u2026\u201d what does he say in 2 Peter 1:1-4, the very last clause at the end of verse 4, \u201cthey have escaped the corruption that is\u201d what? \u201cin the world by lust.\u201d\u00a0 So the group at the beginning of the book has escaped the defilements of the world; the group in chapter 2 has \u201cescaped the defilements of the world,\u201d it must be the same group.\n\n\u201c\u2026they have escaped the defilements of the world by\u201d a self-help course?\u00a0 No, they haven\u2019t, by what, \u201cby the knowledge\u201d 2 Peter 2:20, \u201cof the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Peter 2:20, \u201cFor if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.\u201d]\u00a0 So only through a knowledge of Christ and His gospel have they escaped the defilements of the world.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s exactly what Peter said to the group at the beginning of the book.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 2 Peter 1:1, \u201cSimon Peter, a bondservant\u2026. by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: [2] Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the\u201d what? \u201cknowledge of God and of Jesus \u00a0\u00a0our Lord;\u201d\u00a0 He goes on he says, [3] \u201cpertaining to life and godliness, through the true\u201d what? \u201cknowledge of Him [who called us by His own glory and excellence].\u201d\u00a0 So group A, you\u2019ve escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of Christian, chapter 1, everybody acknowledges that these people are Christians.\n\nThat\u2019s exactly how the group is described in verses 20-22 of chapter 2, the emphasis on escaped, world, and only through a knowledge of Jesus Christ..\u201d\u00a0 So there\u2019s almost\u2026 let me put it this way, there\u2019s NO doubt in my mind that the folks that are addressed at the end of chapter 2 are saved.\u00a0 And this is important because the Reformed teaching comes along and says these were just professors but not true possessors. To argue that you have to interpret chapter 1 one way and chapter 2 a different way.\u00a0 So you\u2019re dealing with Christians newly saved, in other words, and yet what happened to them?\u00a0 They heard the gospel and they began to experience victory, they escaped the defilements of the world but just like a dog returning to its own vomit they got entangled again in what\u2026 who threw the roadblock into their lives?\u00a0 It was these unsaved false teachers that are described in chapter 2, those that are marked for destruction.\n\nWell if all of this is true then how in the world I interpret verse 21, \u201cFor it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, [than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.]\u201d\u00a0 I mean certainly it\u2019s better to be a saved carnal Christian than an unsaved person.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 It\u2019s a misunderstanding about this point, \u201cthe way of righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 People see \u201cthe way of righteousness\u201d and they think that\u2019s the initial gospel people heard.\u00a0 As you know in this class, from this class, there are three tenses of salvation: justification, the past tense of salvation, that\u2019s where I\u2019m saved initially from sin\u2019s penalty at the point of personal faith in Christ.\u00a0 And then the Lord moves me into progressive sanctification, which is the present tense of my salvation, not where I\u2019m becoming more justified.\u00a0 Justification has already been accomplished.\u00a0 I\u2019m gradually learning to live, based on the Holy Spirit\u2019s power, and I have to be in an environment where I\u2019m learning God\u2019s promises, where I am being gradually delivered from sin\u2019s power.\u00a0 And then glorification is the future tense of my salvation and what do I have to do to become glorified?\u00a0 I just have to die or get raptured.\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice that justification is the past tense of salvation, freedom from sin\u2019s penalty at the point of faith.\u00a0 Sanctification is the present tense of salvation where we\u2019re being gradually delivered from sin\u2019s power, not where I\u2019m sinless but if I\u2019m making progress in this area I\u2019m sinning less.\u00a0 And glorification is the future tense of my salvation and all I have to do there is die or be raptured, when I\u2019m out of this body and I\u2019ll be delivered from sin\u2019s very presence.\n\nSo what you discover in the Bible is the word \u201csaved\u201d is used in the past tense, the present tense, and in the future tense.\u00a0 So when people ask you, are you saved?\u00a0 The right answer is I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved.\u00a0 And they\u2019ll probably look at you like you\u2019re some kind of spiritual giant saying something like that because most people don\u2019t think in these terms yet they are biblical.\n\nJustification is a done deal at the point of faith; glorification is a done deal at the point of death or the rapture.\u00a0 The middle tense is more complicated; that requires a greater volition on the part of the believer.\u00a0 They have to be, first of all, in an environment where they\u2019re correctly instructed and they have to begin to yield to the Spirit moment by moment under His power.\u00a0 And you start to engage in what we would call the walk of faith. That middle tense of salvation is really what determines, not whether you\u2019re going to get into heaven but your state of reward or authority once you\u2019re in heaven.\u00a0 And in fact, most people don\u2019t know this, the Bible says a lot more about the middle tense of salvation than it does the first tense of salvation.\u00a0 Most of the Bible is written not to unsaved people, some of the Bible is, I would argue most of the Gospel of John is, but most of the Bible is written to very real Christians who are struggling in their faith and it\u2019s written to help people to grow in their faith.\n\nSo when people look at this expression \u201cthe way of righteousness\u201d they automatically assume it\u2019s talking about what?\u00a0 Justification.\u00a0 And I would say to you simply this, that that expression, \u201cthe way of righteousness\u201d is not talking about justification, it\u2019s talking about sanctification.\u00a0 And what you have to understand is at the Bema Seat you are evaluated by your progress in this area, as will I be evaluated. And if you\u2019ve already made a decision you\u2019re not going to cooperate with God in that, \u201cto whom much is given much is\u201d what? \u201crequired,\u201d it would actually be better for you if you didn\u2019t know anything about sanctification if you\u2019re not serious about it.\u00a0 See that?\n\nLuke 12:48, \u201c\u2026From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.\u201d]\n\nWhen he makes this statement \u201cFor it would be better for them not to know the way of righteousness\u201d it\u2019s not talking about justification, it\u2019s talking about the principles of spiritual growth.\u00a0 Now, \u201cFor it would be better for them having not known it to turn away from the holy commandment handed to them,\u201d people look at the word \u201choly commandment\u201d and they think it\u2019s what?\u00a0 The gospel; \u201choly commandment\u201d here is not talking about the gospel because Peter wrote another book, didn\u2019t he, called 1 Peter. Do you guys agree with me on that?\u00a0 All right, just making sure you\u2019re awake; maybe you guys need to increase the size of your coffee cups, like mine.\n\nAnd if you go back to 1 Peter, the prequel in the two volume set, Peter tells you what the \u201choly commandment\u201d is.\u00a0 1 Peter 1:13-16, he says, \u201cTherefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit,<\/em> fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14] As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours<\/em> in your ignorance,\u201d obviously he\u2019s talking to saved people, [15] \u201cbut like the Holy One who called you, be\u201d what? \u201choly\u201d doesn\u2019t that sound like a holy commandment, that he referenced in 2 Peter?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026be holy yourselves also in all your<\/em> behavior; [16] because it is written,\u201d this is a commandment, it comes from the Old Testament, \u201cYOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.\u201d\n\nSo when Peter talks about people who have turned away from the holy commandment people read into that the gospel.\u00a0 And yet if you just let the Bible interpret itself, and that\u2019s how you start with interpretation, you let the own writer interpret his own words rather than rushing off to some other book of the Bible.\u00a0 So look in the immediate context, if that doesn\u2019t help you then look in the book itself, if that doesn\u2019t help you then go to everything this particular writer said or wrote.\n\nSo I\u2019ve expanded the range a little bit and if you just go back to 1 Peter 1:13-16 he tells you what the holy commandment is.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with receiving Christ and being justified by faith alone.\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about growing as a Christian and it\u2019s a command because Peter is writing to what kind of audience?\u00a0\u00a0 A Jewish audience, Jewish Hebrew Christian audience because Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, Peter is the apostle to the Jews. \u00a0Galatians 2:7-8,and they would know this commandment; they would know the Old Testament and they would understand the premium that their God places on holiness in daily life. [Galatians 2:7-8, \u201cBut on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been<\/em> to the circumcised [8] (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his<\/em> apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),\u201d]\n\nAnd they would know this commandment.\u00a0 They would know the Old Testament and they would understand the premium that their God places on holiness in daily life.\u00a0 So this whole statement that Peter is making here, \u201cit would be better for them not to know the way of righteousness\u201d which is the principle of growth. [1 Peter 2:21, \u201cFor it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.\u201d]\u00a0 And he makes a statement here about \u201cthe holy commandment,\u201d it\u2019s not the initial gospel that you heard,\u00a0 what it is is the commandment to grow as a Christian.\n\nSo what is happening here is these people are stumbling, not in the first tense of salvation, not in the third tense of salvation, but in the what?\u00a0 The middle tense of salvation.\u00a0 And he makes this statement, \u201ctheir last state has become worse than the first.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Peter 2:20, \u201cFor if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.\u201d]\n\nAnd people look at that and say that\u2019s someone that lost their salvation and went to hell.\u00a0 NO!\u00a0 Their last state in their current spiritual growth is worse than where they started.\u00a0 Now why would he say that?\u00a0 Because these people had already escaped (didn\u2019t they) the defilements of the world.\u00a0 So they heard the gospel, they started to grow and all of a sudden, as the devil does, he sent all these decoys and distractions and he began to trip them up with false teaching and it short-circuited their growth in Christ.\u00a0 And because it short-circuited their growth in Christ their last state has become worse than their first, the first being how they started to grow when they got saved.\u00a0 That\u2019s the first state, not unsaved, how they started to grow when they were saved.\u00a0 Their last state now is worse than how they started.\u00a0 \u00a0Do you follow me on this?\n\nSo he\u2019s not making a statement here of insecurity, the whole context is dealing with their development as Christians.\u00a0 This is all middle tense salvation stuff that he\u2019s giving and the confusion is people want to read into this first tense salvation, which has already been settled.\u00a0 This is all middle tense salvation stuff and consequently he gives a couple of examples of what they\u2019re now like.\u00a0 Because you escaped the defilements of the world by hearing the gospel and yet you went back into the flesh you\u2019re like a dog returning to its own vomit. You\u2019re like \u201c\u2018A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire, or the mud.\u00a0 [2 Peter 2:22, \u201cIt has happened to them according to the true proverb, \u2018A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,\u2019 and, \u2018A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.\u2019\u201d]\n\nHe\u2019s not talking about what they were like before they were saved; obviously what they were like before they were saved is now eternally different than what they\u2019re like after they\u2019re saved. That\u2019s not the discussion point at all, it\u2019s their growth.\u00a0 And this is how God looks at us when we retreat and we go backwards.\u00a0 What happens is our growth in Christ has been short-circuited. That\u2019s what the whole point of this is about.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why he concludes this letter the way he does.\u00a0 How does he conclude the letter?\u00a0 You all betted make sure you\u2019re Christians?\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say that, he\u2019s assuming they are Christians.\u00a0 He says, \u201cyou therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard that you are not\u2026\u201d now when he says \u201cbeloved\u201d is he talking about believers or unbelievers?\u00a0 Believers.\u00a0 \u201cyou therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard that you are not carried away by the\u201d what? \u201cerror of unprincipled men\u201d that would be the false teachers that he\u2019s described, the unbelieving false teachers that have come in and taught them some wrong things, \u201cand fall from your own steadfastness,\u201d their steadfastness is not their security in Christ, it\u2019s their growth in Christ.\n\nHow do I know that?\u00a0 Because he says what? \u201cbut.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s the next word? \u201cgrow,\u201d that\u2019s not get saved, if you\u2019re an unbeliever here you need to get saved, that\u2019s not what he\u2019s talking about at all, if you\u2019re a believer here\u00a0 you need to keep working to keep saved, he\u2019s not dealing with that subject even though everybody reads that into this.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about middle tense of salvation, their growth.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026but grow in the\u201d what? \u201cgrace\u201d in other words, the grace of God that saved me is the same grace that\u2019s going to what? help me to grow.\u00a0 How do I grow as a Christian?\u00a0 I don\u2019t do it through will power and white knuckling it.\u00a0 If you want a description of someone trying to do that read Romans 7.\u00a0 [Romans 7:15, \u201cFor what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.\u201d]\u00a0 Paul, as a new Christian, was trying to do that and he was frustrated out of his mind because he says the very thing I want to do I don\u2019t do and what I\u2019m not supposed to do I end up doing and he says what a wretched man am I.\n\nAnd in Romans 7 he doesn\u2019t mention the Holy Spirit (to my knowledge) a single time, because he\u2019s trying to do it through human power.\u00a0 But fortunately Paul didn\u2019t stay a Romans 7 man, he became a Romans 8 man where he mentions the Holy Spirit over and over and over again.\u00a0 He graduated from Romans\u00a0 7 into Romans 8 when he began to access the Spirit of God that brought him to faith.\u00a0 The same spirit that convicted him by grace is the same spirit that wanted to help Paul grow.\u00a0 It\u2019s just Paul didn\u2019t understand that and most Christians today, because they\u2019re not in a good environment that\u2019s teaching these things, they don\u2019t understand that either.\n\nOne of my favorite verses in the Bible is Galatians 3:3, \u201cAre you so foolish ? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what the Holy Spirit is saying to the body of Christ today, \u201cAre you so foolish?\u201d\u00a0 You got into this deal by the grace of God through the power of God and now you\u2019re trying to work out your own walk with God through your own power rather than God\u2019s power.\u00a0 So he says, \u201cBut grow in the grace and\u201d what? \u201cknowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You can\u2019t apply what you don\u2019t know.\u00a0 The more you understand these basic principles of the spiritual life the more you have a reservoir through which to apply them as you walk through daily life.\u00a0 But if your knowledge of the Bible is a John 3:16 level (and I love John 3:16, I could teach a ten month series on John 3:16 and don\u2019t tempt me to do that, I might end up doing that at some point).\u00a0 I think I already did, it\u2019s been so long I can\u2019t remember.\u00a0 [John 3:16, \u201cFor God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.\u201d]\n\nBut if you have a John 3:16 knowledge of the Bible in the struggles of life the only thing you\u2019re going to have in your reservoir is John 3:16, which is good but it\u2019s very miniscule compared to what God has for us as New Testament saints.\u00a0 So \u201cgrow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d [2 Peter 3:18, \u201cbut grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.\u201d]\n\nLook at this, \u201cto Him be the glory,\u201d well why does God get the glory?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s through His power that I got justified and it\u2019s through His power that I\u2019m growing.\u00a0 I\u2019m not doing this through my own efforts, although it does require volition and cooperation on my part.\u00a0 So at the end of the day who gets the credit?\u00a0 I don\u2019t get any credit.\u00a0 And this is why the doctrine of grace is so difficult for people because we want a little credit, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 I mean, I did a little bit, didn\u2019t I.\u00a0 I mean, my father-in-law did buy lunch but I threw in the tip, doesn\u2019t that count for anything?\u00a0 And God has set up the whole thing where no one votes but Him.\u00a0 Nobody struts into heaven proud as a peacock because it\u2019s through his resources you were justified, first tense, it\u2019s through his resources you grew, middle tense, and all you did to get third tense is die which doesn\u2019t require a lot of talent other than eat too many Big Macs and clog your arteries.\n\nSo that\u2019s why this whole be on your guard, the whole tenure as you move away from this, don\u2019t fall from your steadfastness, your growth, but \u201cgrow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 So hopefully I\u2019ve helped you with 1 Peter 1:10-11, 2 Peter 2:20-22.\u00a0 These are not loss of salvation verses.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t