Series: 2 Peter
Title: Faith Is
Text: 2 Peter 1: 1
Date: October 20, 2011
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Sinners are not saved by anything we do. One who needs to be saved needs for another to do the saving. Salvation is God our Savior Jesus Christ doing the saving. Sinners are not saved by anything we do. Opposite to us doing something to save ourselves is faith.
Sinners are saved by faith. Faith hears God’s promise that God shall save me in Christ my Righteousness by God himself doing everything that is included and necessary to save me. And faith believes God. Faith believes God has, and is able, to perform everything God has promised. Faith believes God.
2 Peter 1: 1: Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
We will look at four words in verse 1 that the Spirit of God moved Peter to write concerning faith.
Title: Faith Is
Divisions: Faith is
1: Obtained—to them that have obtained…faith;
2: Like--to them that have obtained like…faith;
3: Precious--to them that have obtained like precious…faith;
4. Through--to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
I. FAITH IS OBTAINED—THE WORD MEANS “TO BE DIVINELY APPOINTED”—
Same word—
· Of Zaccahrias--Luke 1: 9: According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot [his appointment] was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
· Of Judas the Betrayer--Acts 1: 17: For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry—[God numbered Judas and Christ appointed Judas to be an apostle.]
Read our text again…1 Peter 2: 1:…to them that have obtained—to them that have been appointed, ordained and given faith to believe God.
A. When anything is “obtained” it means we do not start out with it.
1. No sinner is born into this world believing God.
· Faith is not obtained by strength in the sinner
· Not by the work of our will
· We were dead in trespasses and in sins
· Unwilling, undeserving, self-serving, self-righteous sinners.
Faith is comes by the gift and operation of God’s grace.
B. Faith is one of those good works which God ordained before the foundation of the world that his elect children shall all walk in (Eph 2: 1-10.)
2 Corinthians 5: 7: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Ephesians 2: 8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9: Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
2 Thessalonians 2:13: But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 13: 48: And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Illustration: When you give a gift, you choose who you will give it to. The one receiving the gift does not choose whom you will give the gift to. You choose. So it is with God. God chose to whom he will give life and faith in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Galatians 4: 6: And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
So first, faith is divinely appointed of God, the gift of the operation of God’s irresistible grace.
II. FAITH IS LIKE--FAITH IS ALIKE IN EVERY BELIEVER—to them that have obtained like--faith
A. Faith is not like—in degree—some are “strong in faith” some are “weak in faith”. But Paul called it “the common faith”.
B. Faith is “like faith”, in that there is but one faith.
Ephesians 4: 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
1. Every believer in this room has the same faith as was had by: Abel—Enoch—Noah—Abraham—Sara—Rahab--Peter—Paul—James—John—same with each other—same faith with every believer scattered across this planet.
Galatians 3: 7: Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
C. Faith is “like faith” in that every believer has it from the same source.
1. One Spirit, One Lord, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in you all
2. Called in one hope of your calling—Faith and hope are connected—
Hebrews 11: 1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
D. Faith is “like faith” in that all have the same object—same God and Savior—brethren believe the same gospel of Christ.
1. Every believer has entered into the rest we have in Christ Jesus. One gospel—saved by the God of all grace, by his grace, in his Son our Redeemer through faith in Christ the Son of God, apart from any works of righteousness which we have done
So we have seen that faith is obtained and faith is like.
III. FAITH IS PRECIOUS
A. Faith is Precious
Illustration: Bag of gold or faith?
1 Peter 1: 7: More precious than gold that perishes!
B. Faith is Precious because not all have faith.
2 Thessalonians 3: 2: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
Matthew 7: 14: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 24: 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
C. Faith is precious because it is through faith that Christ becomes precious to us.
1, When a sinner believes God we stop “butting”. We stop trying to put in our two cents and have our way.
· Gnashing on Christ with our teeth
· Gnashing on brethren who preach Christ
· Gnashing on brethren who rest in Christ
We begin hearing God’s testimony of his Son and Christ becomes precious!
1 Peter 2: 7: Unto you therefore which believe he is precious:…
1 Peter 1: 18: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
D. Faith is precious because of the precious promises given to us in Christ--Through the knowledge of Christ we have the promises of God given
2 Peter 1: 4: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
· God our Father and we his children
· Eternal redemption
· Everlasting love and protection
· Eternal inheritance
· Eternal glory
· Yea and Amen in Christ
· Made one with Christ—made a partaker of the divine nature
Faith is obtained. Faith is alike. Faith is precious.
IV. HOW ARE GOD’S ELECT GIVEN THIS FAITH? THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ANOTHER—through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
A. Christ is God our Savior
Not a God-the God. Christ is God. God the Son come in human flesh. Our Savior. Salvation is in no other.
B. What is righteousness? It is to be made right, justified with God.
Romans 3: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
C. Notice Peter says “faith comes through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ”
Romans 4: 1: What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3: For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
1. Question: How did Abraham believe?—“through the righteousness of God our Savior Jesus Christ”—
Note this: the reason an elect child of God is given faith is because he has a justifying righteousness provided for him and imputed to him in Christ. Faith was given by God to Abraham because in Christ Abraham was righteous—therefore Abraham believed God. And what was imputed to Abraham through faith?—“the righteousness of God our Savior Jesus Christ”—
· All of grace—
· Faith is opposite to works—
· Righteousness was ours before as yet Christ died,
· As Abraham was made the righteousness of God in Christ and through faith so every child of God is brought into this saving union and made the righteousness of God in Christ
Romans 4: 4: Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5: But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6: Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7: Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Review: FAITH IS: obtained (divinely appointed); like—one Lord, one faith; precious—to you who believe HE is precious, through the righteousness of God our Savior Jesus Christ.
Last question, how will I know that I have this faith.
1 John 5: 4: For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5: Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?...11: And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith in Christ is the proof of God’s call, proof of the new birth, “partakers of the divine nature.”
Amen!