Make Your Calling and Election Sure

2 Peter 1:10

The promises of God for those He has called are great and precious... - 2 Pe 1:4 "by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."; 3:13 "But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." Incumbent upon us is the duty to make our calling and election sure... - 2 Pe 1:10 "Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall." Implied is that one's calling and election is conditional. Implied is that those who have been called need to make their election sure. Are you making your calling and election sure?

A good place to start is with your initial call and election. God calls us through the gospel - 2 Th 2:14 "To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." God calls us through the gospel of Christ concerning His death, burial and resurrection - 1 Co 15:1-4 "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,". This gospel contains commands that must be obeyed - 2 Th 1:8 "in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus."; 1 Pe 4:17 "For 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?" The command to believe in Jesus - Jn 8:24 "I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins."' The command to repent of sins - Ac 17:30-31 "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."' The command to confess Jesus as Lord - Ro 10:9-10 "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." The command to be baptized - Mt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"; Mk 16:15-16 "And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."; Ac 2:38 "And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."; 22:16 "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'" -- Have you responded to the gospel with the obedience of faith? - Ro 1:5 "through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,"; He 5:9 "And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,".

You can make your calling and election sure by your response to the call. By obeying all the commands of the gospel. Not just the command to believe, but the command to repent. Not just the command to confess, but the command to be baptized. By obeying the commands in a Biblical manner; have you been:

1.) Baptized in the proper mode (immersion, not pouring or sprinkling)?

2.) Baptized for the right purpose (for the remission of sins, not as a public profession)?

3.) Baptized as a suitable subject (a penitent believer, not as an infant incapable of faith)?

If your response was different in any way, what should you do? Those baptized improperly were re-baptized - Ac 19:1-5 "And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

If your baptism was in any way different, you should be concerned - Ep 4:5 "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," A Biblical baptism (mode, purpose, subject) can remove all doubt -- Make your calling and election sure with a Biblical response to the gospel!

But you should not stop with reflection on your initial call and election, for Peter's admonition in our text (2 Pe 1:10) was given to Christians. You should also consider your ultimate call and election. We will consider this in the second part of our lesson.

"Rejoice Always" - Part Two

1 Thessalonians 5:16

There may be another reason why some Christians are not joyful. One reason is overreacting to emotionalism. There is certainly a danger in emotionalism. Emotionalism is where emotions rule instead of the Word of God. It is often a “better felt than told” kind of religion. Where people depend more on what they feel in their heart rather than basing their beliefs and actions on what the Bible says. Such emotionalism often manifests itself in worship that is characterized by disorderly outbreaks of emotion contrary to what is ordained in 1 Co 14:40 “But all things should be done decently and in order.” Where such displays are often totally unrelated to what is being said.

But there is also a danger in the other extreme of resorting to “dead formalism” in which little or no emotion is shown or whether it be in our singing, or in offering an “amen” to our prayers. -- Worship which does not involve the heart is just as wrong! - Mt 15:7-18 “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person." Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." But Peter said to him, "Explain the parable to us." And he said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.” The extreme to which one can go can be quite absurd, as illustrated in this story:

“A man walks into a worship assembly. The preacher is eloquently expressing God’s love for us, and the man says ‘Amen!’ That draws a few stares and whispers of ‘Who is that?’ The preacher goes on to state that Jesus died for our sins so that we can go to heaven and the man says ‘Alleluia.’ Again more stares and questions. Finally, the preacher states that through Jesus we may have eternal life, and the man says ‘Praise the Lord.’ Everyone is looking now, and one fellow goes over to the newcomer to inform him, ‘We don’t praise the Lord here.’”

There can be both Joy and orderly worship…! There is room for “Amen’s” and “Praise the Lord!” when offered with sincerity and in keeping with what is said. In reacting to one extreme, let’s not go to the other and take away the joy of being a Christian! “Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God.” - Joel 2:23. “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’” - Psa 122:1. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” - Ph 4:4. “...singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” - Ep 5:19

Oh, but many Christians enter the worship of our Creator and Savior with the enthusiasm and vigor of those filling their income tax returns on April 14th! Brethren, this should not be! And if it is...? We need to pray the prayer of David: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation...” - Psa 51:12. We need to allow the Word of God to do its work: “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.” - Jer 15:16. If we would spend time with the Word of God, we would learn we also have been called of God.... Called out of sin and its consequences. Called into a wonderful relationship with God and Jesus Christ, where all can be made new! With such a knowledge of God’s great gift, joy is a natural reaction and also a wonderful blessing:

“Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted.” (Psa 89:15-16)

Don’t you want that joy? Then understand and accept the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord!

"Rejoice Always"

1 Thessalonians 5:16

In 1 Th 5:16, we have a command which is just as binding upon Christians as any you can find in the Word of God: “Rejoice always”. It has been my observation that many Christians fall far short in carrying out this command in their lives.... It is often apparent as we go about our daily living. It frequently carries over into our worship (for example, lack of enthusiasm in singing, boredom in singing and listening to preaching). Why is it that many Christians don’t seem to have joy in their lives...? There may be many different reasons. In this lesson, I wish to touch on several.

As we begin, let me make sure that we understand what “joy” really is by defining and understanding it’s meaning. In the Greek, the most common word is “chara”. It means “joy, delight, gladness” (Vines). It is closely related to charis (grace) and charisma (gift). “We might like to think of charis and charisma as that which produces joy; and chara as the response to a gift which is given.” (Denny Diehl). This is in agreement with the definition found in the Zondervan Topical Bible for joy: “the emotion excited by expectation or acquisition of good”.

Let’s now look at the relationship between joy and gift. Understanding the close relationship between joy and gift allows us to appreciate a very important principle. We have or show joy in direct response to the value of the gift received! The greater the value we place on some gift, the greater our joy when received. To illustrate, imagine your reaction to three different gifts:

1) The gift of a penny (ho hum)

2) The gift of a hundred dollars (now that’s really nice)

3) The gift of a new house (wow! that’s fantastic! whoopee!)

Can you see how the response or emotion of joy is in direct proportion to our evaluation of the gift received?

Now let’s apply this principle to the joy Christians should have. What has God given to us? It may be easier to list those things God hasn’t given us! For everything good in this life is from God - Ja 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” The most valuable gift God has given us is eternal life! - Ro 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This involves freedom from the condemnation for sin, through Jesus’ blood! Also, fellowship with God as we go through this life! With the hope of everlasting life with God after this life! -- Should not the great value of this gift produce great joy? It did for the Ethiopian eunuch! – see Ac 8:38-39.

But as mentioned in the introduction of this lesson, many Christians who possess this great gift are not as joyful as they should be. Again I ask, why? Perhaps one reason is this that we don’t appreciate the magnitude of our sin! We don’t appreciate what sin does. We don’t recognize how it separates us from God - Isa 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” How it can condemn us to spiritual death and hell - Ro 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”; Re 21:8 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."’

Why might this be the case…? Perhaps we look at sin from the world’s point of view:

“Sin is not all that bad”, “It is only a violation of human relationships, which we can easily correct by saying ‘I’m sorry’”. Instead, we should be looking at it from God’s point of view.... Just one sin makes a person guilty of all! - Ja 2:10-11 “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” Sin has affected everyone! - Ro 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”. Sin is so terrible, God had to send His Only Begotten Son to die for our sins! Until we realize the terribleness of sin, we won’t appreciate the salvation from sin which God offers.

And that leads us to perhaps the main reason why most Christians lack joy. We don’t appreciate the magnitude of our gift! We don’t appreciate what Jesus has done…! We don’t appreciate how He has reconciled us back to a loving fellowship with God! - 2 Co 5:18-19 “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” We don’t appreciate how in Christ, all things have become new! - 2 Co 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Why might this be the case...? Here are some hints:

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” - Jn 15:11

“And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” - 1 Jn 1:4 -- John wrote, and Jesus spoke, concerning things designed to give us fullness of joy! Many Christians never take the time to contemplate and understand what Jesus taught nor what His apostles wrote. If we did, I believe we would appreciate the terribleness of our sin and The magnitude of the gift of salvation in Christ! Instead, we allow ourselves to more influenced by the world and its standards such that we value material things over spiritual things. Such that we have and show more joy over receiving things like:

1) A new job, promotion, raise

2) A new house, car

3) A husband, wife, or children

...than we do over receiving the gift of salvation from sin!

I am not suggesting we should not rejoice over material gifts; indeed, we should be thankful. But if we are not as joyful over our spiritual gifts, we need to retrain our thinking through the Word of God!

The Excellence of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ

Philippians 3:8

Prior to his conversion to Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul was on the “fast track”, a “rising star,” in the religion of Judaism - Ga 1:13-14 “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.”; Ph 3:4-6 “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless.” But once he came to know who Jesus Christ really was, all the power, all the prestige, all the position of influence that he once had, meant nothing - Ph 3:7-8 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”. What mattered now was for him to “know Jesus Christ”:

“...I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord...” (Ph 3:8)

What is there about the knowledge of Jesus Christ that makes it so desirable for people like Paul and countless others? And should we desire this “knowledge”, how do we gain it? To answer these questions, let’s first make some observations about the knowledge of Jesus Christ that is “excellent”. Note that it must be a “personal” knowledge. We cannot come to know Jesus solely through another person’s acquaintance with Him. While we may initially learn about Jesus from others, especially the authors of the New Testament, we must come to know Him for ourselves. Like Paul, we must speak in the first person: “that I may know Him” (Ph 3:10). The “faith of our fathers” must become our faith, for God does not have any “grandchildren”.

It must be an “intelligent” knowledge. Jesus does not expect us to commit “intellectual suicide” to know Him, He desires us to use our minds as well - Mt 22:37 “And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Thus we should desire to know all the Word reveals about Him; His natures, both divine and human; His offices, both as king and priest, savior and shepherd; His works, both then and now; His past shame and suffering, his present and future glory and exaltation’.

It must be an “affectionate” knowledge. If I know Him at all, I must love Him. Indeed, I am accursed if I do not! - 1 Co 16:22 “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” As with our minds, so we must love the Lord with all our hearts - Mt 22:37 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…”

It will be a “satisfying” knowledge. It will satisfy where other things do not – as in Paul’s willingness to forego the advantages he had in Judaism. It will be “bread” that fills our hunger, and “water” that quenches our thirst - Jn 6:35 “Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

It must be an “exciting” knowledge. The more we know of the “Beloved”, the more we will want to know. We will come to realize that in Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” - Co 2:3. We will realize that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” - Co 2:9. And that we are “complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” - Co 2:10

It will be a “happy” knowledge. For in Him is the key to joy despite all our circumstances - Ph 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” We may have tribulation, but in Christ we can have joy! - Jn 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."’

Such is the “excellence” of this knowledge of Jesus Christ! Is it not worth having? More than anything in the world, (see Ph 3:8)! But how do we get it...? We get it by “growing” in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. To grow the word of God is essential. The only accurate source for learning about Jesus is the Word of God.... Movies, books, magazines, etc., written by men can be entertaining and sometimes instructive; but such are often filled with erroneous concepts. The only reliable source is the inspired Word that we call the “Bible”. And we should not limit our search for knowledge about Jesus to the four gospels.... The Old Testament contain Messianic prophecies that reveal much about the nature of Christ – for example, Isa 9:6-7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”; Mic 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”

The book of Acts describes the only history we have of the beginning and early years of

His church. The epistles reveal much about His present work as our King and High Priest - note, He 2:17-18 “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”; 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”; 1 Pe 3:22 “who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”; Re 1:5-6 “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

So if you wish to truly learn of Jesus, commit yourself to a study of the Word of God!

But also obedience is required to grow. It is not enough to just have “head knowledge” concerning Jesus Christ. For the “true knowledge” of Jesus comes only as we obey Him - 1 Jn 2:1-6 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” Especially as we develop the qualities of character He displayed, which is the goal of all His commandments - 2 Pe 1:5-8 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Note that it is only when these Christ-like qualities are “yours and abound” can it be said we are “neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is what it really means to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” - 2 Pe 3:18 “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.”

Have you come to “know” Jesus Christ our Lord? Have you begun to experience what Paul called “the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”? If not, why not start today? The Savior’s tender invitation is still open to all who heed it:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and LEARN FROM ME, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”

- Mt 11:28-30

You can come to Jesus by heeding the gospel message He wanted the whole world to hear (Mk 16:15-16), and then continue to learn from Him as you heed all the things He commanded His apostles (Mt 28:19-20)!