The Blessing of Assurance: 2 Peter 1:8-11
In his second letter to the brothers and sisters living in the first century, in the Roman Empire, Peter is well aware of the false teachers who are hard at work trying to persuade Jesus’ followers to follow another path. Peter will take on the false teachers in the second chapter of his letter. He is also aware of the surrounding pagan Roman culture and its enticements to follow yet another path, a path that is far different than the path of following in Jesus’ steps.
Those of us who are here this morning and are followers of Jesus are living in a very similar situation. There are many false teachers among us whose ideas of the spiritual life are far different than what we are learning from God’s Word. And then there is this American culture that is so pervasive, so all consuming that it is inescapable. We are like fish who are swimming in the waters of the ideology of our culture. It is only when Jesus opens our eyes that we can see, truly see, that what is held out to us as the pursuit of the goal of the American dream is nothing more than a castle made of sand.
I was listening to an interview with Russell Brand this past week that grabbed my attention. For those who are unfamiliar with Russell Brand, he is a British actor and comedian who was hugely popular some years ago, not just for his acting and comedy, but for his marriage to Katy Perry. Russell said he was given access to the cathedral of excess, everything a person could ever want, and he found it empty after he almost destroyed his own life. The host of the podcast asked Russell, “Tell us your story of how you came to Christ?” Russell said,
Only after I had come to everything else. That’s how. Only after I had come to everything else did I come to Christ.. Only after I had tried drugs and addiction and approval and fame and prestige and privilege and money and indulgence and hedonism and epicureanism and rationalism. After the false idols lay broken, a fallen temple of themselves, as I stood among the shards and ashes. There is in the miasma, coagulating miraculously was the crucifix, there He was. …I came to Christ in crisis. I came to Christ in pain. I came to Christ in brokenness. It is not that I didn’t believe Christ was real, but somehow I wasn’t willing to be dislodged from the altar of myself. I wanted it to still be about me. The idea that the goal of one’s life is one’s self and even the idea that it is your life, why would you think that it is your life? Where did you get that idea, the idea that it is your life? (Apologetics Canada podcast with Russell Brand)
The hidden truth that was desperately needed in Peter’s day, and is just as desperately needed in our day is this: That yearning in our hearts for what will finally satisfy, for what will deliver the joy and happiness that seems to slip between our fingers every time we think we have found it, it can only be found in dying to ourselves, to our wants, goals, and aspirations, and living for Jesus. Jesus told His disciples,
24 …"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:24-26 NLT)
Last week Peter urged us to “make every effort” to supplement the wonderful gift of faith, given to us by the Lord, with seven character qualities or virtues. We talked about how each and every one of them find their most perfect expression in Jesus. Do you remember? I told you that they are not skills to master, but a Person to emulate. That Person is Jesus. Jesus is the fullest, most perfect expression of each and every virtue we studied last week. To grow in goodness, draw near to Jesus. To grow in self-control, draw near to Jesus. To grow in the ability to persevere, keep your eyes on Him who “for the joy set before Him endured the cross…” To grow in love, agape love, draw near to Jesus and love the unlovable, those everyone else labels as unforgivable, and those who are sinners…just like you and me. In our Scripture for this morning, Peter will show us the benefits and blessing of growing in these Christlike qualities. Let’s read our Scripture found in 2 Peter 1:8-11.
8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8-11 NIV)
This morning we will learn about the blessing of increasing in these seven qualities throughout our life. Peter also will show us the negative impact of not growing in these same seven Christlike qualities.
First, I want us to notice the word “increasing” in verse 8. The Greek word used here means to “bring forth in abundance.” This word is in the present tense in Greek which tells us we are to be continually increasing in goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Jesus said,
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5 NIV)
We remain in Jesus by spending time with Jesus in the pages of God’s Word, in prayer, and in doing the things we learn Jesus did. All of this is present tense, it should never stop at any point in our life. We have this mindset of graduation and retirement which gives us a date and time when we will no longer have to study any longer or work anymore, but that’s not the mindset of the followers of Jesus. We are to grow, learn, and follow until we breath our last breath.
Peter tells us that if we do this, if we will increasingly become more Christlike in our character and behavior, this will keep us from being “ineffective” and “unproductive.” The Greek word translated “ineffective” is “ἀργός” (argos) and it means “idle, lazy, or useless.” In biblical times this word was used to describe money that wasn’t yielding any interest or a field that was fallow. It gives us the picture, not of someone who is unavoidably unemployed, but of someone who avoids working. Paul used this same word to describe the Cretans to Titus, in Titus 1:12, when he wrote,
12 One of Crete's own prophets has said it: "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." (Titus 1:12 NIV)
Not only will the pursuit of these Christlike qualities in our daily lives keep us from being ineffective, but it will also keep us from being unproductive, or “unfruitful” which is the translation in some of your Bibles. This is literally what the word means. Jesus used this same word when He told the parable of the Sower. Are you familiar with the parable? Jesus said a sower went out to sow seed. Some of the seed fell on rocky soil, some seed fell among the thorny soil, and other seed fell on good soil. Only the seed that fell on good soil was productive. Jesus described the people whose hearts are like the thorny soil in Mark 4:18-19.
18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19 NIV)
What is the cause of our ineffectiveness and lack of productivity in growing in our “knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?” Is there anyone here who can’t identify with at least one of these three areas of concern that Jesus mentions? The worries of this life distract, cause me to take my eyes off of Jesus and the mission He has given me. If I allow them, my worries will consume me. I know this from experience. The deceitfulness of wealth can lead me to believe that if I will only devote my time, all of time to making money, more money, then I will be able to live the good life I’ve dreamed of living. The deceitfulness of wealth can also convince me that I don’t really need God because I’ve got money to meet my every need. And last of all, the desire for other things, anything or anyone that is more important than loving, knowing, serving, and sharing Jesus’ love with others will absolutely make me ineffective and unproductive in my pursuit of knowing Jesus more and more.
I think it is safe to say that most people would say that the worries of this life, the drive to gain greater financial wealth and all that goes along with it, and the desire for what we think will make us happy are woven right into the fabric of what most people call life. There is another path. Let me show you what I’m talking about.
Through the years I’ve met with lots of men who wanted to learn more about God’s Word. I’ve always started by having them read Psalm 1. In the first Psalm there are two paths: The path of the righteous and the path of the wicked. Look at what is written about the path of the righteous person.
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. (Psalm 1:1-3 NLT)
Those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, sinners, or mockers, but instead focus their whole lives on following the counsel gained through meditating on God’s Word, they will be like a tree planted by the riverbank, they will bear fruit, they will never wither, and they will prosper, flourish, in all they do. This is the way to an ever increasingly knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote about the vast treasure that is awaiting those who understand what I am talking about, in his letter to the church in Colossae.
2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3 NIV)
Let’s move on to verse 9 where Peter describes those who are not increasing, not growing in Christlikeness. He writes,
9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Peter describes those in the church in the first century who are not growing in Christlikeness as “nearsighted and blind.” You would think he would reverse those since blindness is worse than being nearsighted, but I believe there is a reason Peter has written as he has. First, let’s understand the word, “μυωπάζω”, (myōpazō) which means, “to be unable to see distant things clearly.” This is the word from which we get our English word, “myopia,” which is a condition of the eye which prevents people from seeing what is in the distance. Nearsighted people can only clearly see what is right in front of them. Peter is thinking about people who suffer from spiritual myopia. Robert Mounce has written,
Some writers take the nearsightedness to mean seeing what is close at hand more clearly than what lies at a distance. In this case the emphasis would be upon seeing those things which have immediate personal satisfaction while losing sight of that which lies in God’s future. This, too, is a tendency of many Christians. The glories of Heaven fade because the present world absorbs all our attention. Those things are more real which we think about the most. The world presses in and makes us forget that we belong primarily to an age yet to come. We are sojourners who merely pass through this life. (Mounce, Robert. A Living Hope: Commentary on 1 and 2 Peter. pg. 111)
It is important to be reminded that just because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and expressed a desire to take up our cross and follow Him, growth will not come automatically. We must pursue Jesus with all of our hearts. Evidently there were those in Peter’s churches who had begun to drift, their attention had turned to others things, and they had forgotten the great gift of having been forgiven for their sins. They had, through their forgetfulness, become blind to what Jesus had done for them in cleansing them from their sins and reconciling them to God.
Being mindful, having our minds full of the thoughts of what Jesus has done for us, is a great motivator in our pursuit of living for Him. I’m afraid that far too often we are like the nine lepers who were healed by Jesus in Luke 17 who, after having been healed, they went on their way and returned to their life. The incident happened as Jesus was on the border of the Galilee and Samaria, a land that no good Jew would ever visit. There were ten lepers total, who had been healed, but only one came back to see Jesus after he had shown himself to the priest at the temple. Let me show you what happened.
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, "Praise God!" 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus' feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" (Luke 17:11-18 NLT)
It is so easy to forget when we have so much on our minds. No matter what is happening in our life this morning I want to urge you, plead with you, to stop for a moment and consider, really think about what Jesus has done for you in forgiving you of your sin and promising to never bring it up again, of filling you with His Holy Spirit to lead you, correct you, encourage you, and intercede for you all the days of your life, and to go and make a place for you with the promise to come back for you one day. If we will be mindful of these truths we will not become nearsighted and blind. Let’s take a look at our last two verses for this morning found in 2 Peter 1:10-11.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11 NIV)
Peter, back in verse 3, told us to “make every effort to add to our faith” the seven Christlike character qualities we studied last week. Now, in verse 10, Peter says to “make every effort to confirm your calling and election.” He used the same Greek word, “σπουδάζω” (spoudazō), which means “to do something in a hurry with intense effort and motivation.” Peter says that we are to be highly motivated and diligently working to confirm our calling and election. Those words, “calling” and “election” are troublesome for many people, but if you are a student of God’s Word there is no escaping this teaching. God calls us, we don’t call Him.
Let me give you a couple of examples from God’s Word. First, and the greatest example of this teaching for me, is the Apostle Paul. Paul was not looking for Jesus at all when he was called into His service. Paul, known as Saul from Tarsus, was out looking for Christians to arrest when he met Jesus. He was blinded by the encounter and taken into Damascus. There, in Damascus, the Lord called a man named Ananias to go and pray for Saul so that his sight would be restored. Ananias complained because he knew all about Saul, but Luke tells us what happened next, in Acts 9:15-16.
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (Acts 9:15-16 NIV)
God chose Saul, changed his name to Paul, and set him on a totally different path than the one he had been walking. Paul became the greatest missionary who has ever lived, he wrote most of the New Testament, 13 of the 27 books, and the once adversary of Jesus became His most bold spokesman. Let me give you one more example. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NIV)
And if you are a follower of Jesus, God has chosen you. He has called you, set your life on a different path, and now, as we pursue Jesus and desire to become more and more like Him, we are confirming our calling and election. We do not save ourselves. Our good works do not save us. Our increasing in Christlike character qualities does not save us. God saves us! Our desire and commitment to live out the life God calls us to live is merely confirmation of the work God has done in us. A benefit we gain from living a Christlike, surrendered life, is what preachers from long ago called the “assurance of salvation.” If you are in Christ, then you can be sure of your salvation and what a wonderful thing His assurance is for His people. John wrote,
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13 NIV)
It is not odd or presumptuous or arrogant to know that we are saved, if we have in fact truly been saved by the Lord. He wants His children to know they are secure in Him. Thomas Brooks, in his sermon, “Holiness, the Only Way to Happiness,” wrote,
Genuine assurance will be a spring of joy and comfort in you. It will make heavy afflictions light, long afflictions short, and bitter afflictions sweet. It will make you frequent, fervent, constant, and abundant in the work of the Lord. It will strengthen your faith, raise your hope, inflame your love, increase your patience, and brighten your zeal. It will make every mercy sweet, every duty sweet, every ordinance sweet, and every providence sweet. It will rid you of all your sinful fears and cares. It will give you ease under every burden, and make death more desirable than life. It will make you more strong to resist temptation, more victorious over opposition, and more silent in every difficult condition…Genuine assurance will be… a sword to defend you, a staff to support you, a cordial to strengthen you, a medicine to heal you, and a star to lead you. (Thomas Brooks)
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!” You can know the assurance that Thomas Brooks wrote about and that Fanny Crosby sang in her hymn, “Blessed Assurance,” this very morning if you will but turn to Jesus. There is one more thing we must pause to think about for just one moment. Peter wrote,
11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11 NIV)
After a life-long pursuit of surrender, a life of obedience to the Holy Spirit whose desire is to mold us and shape us into the image of Jesus, we will receive a “rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” You and I cannot even imagine what that day will be like, but I can guarantee you this…it will be unlike any day you have ever experienced before! For those who truly understand, those who truly surrender their hearts, minds, and wills to Jesus, they begin to see that this world has nothing for us. Let me share with you a story before we go.
The morning of May 20, 2000 a group of 40,000 college students had gathered in Memphis, Tennessee for the fourth Passion Conference. A 54 year old preacher that none of them had ever heard of stood before the crowd of young people to speak. One of the college kids whose life was changed that day, said he remembered thinking “Who is this old guy coming up on stage?” He said, “His hair was crazy in the wind and he looked like a dad.” John Piper urged the college students that day to not waste their life. Towards the end of his sermon, he said,
Three weeks ago, we got word at our church that Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards had both been killed in Cameroon. Ruby was over eighty. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: to make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing eighty years old, and serving at Ruby’s side in Cameroon. The brakes gave way, over the cliff they go, and they’re gone — killed instantly. And I asked my people: was that a tragedy? Two lives, driven by one great vision, spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Jesus Christ — two decades after almost all their American counterparts have retired to throw their lives away on trifles in Florida or New Mexico. No. That is not a tragedy. That is a glory.
I tell you what a tragedy is. I’ll read to you from Reader’s Digest what a tragedy is. ‘Bob and Penny took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Fla., where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.’ That’s a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. And I get forty minutes to plead with you: don’t buy it. With all my heart I plead with you: don’t buy that dream. The American Dream: a nice house, a nice car, a nice job, a nice family, a nice retirement, collecting shells as the last chapter before you stand before the Creator of the universe to give an account of what you did: ‘Here it is Lord — my shell collection! And I’ve got a nice swing, and look at my boat!’ Don’t waste your life; don’t waste it. (John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life.)
Which path will you choose this morning? Will you do what you will with your life and continue to call the shots on your way to the American Dream or will you choose this day to die to self, to toss your dreams and aspirations out with the garbage so that you might surrender to Jesus, the One, the only One who is the way, the truth, and the life?
Mike Hays
Britton Christian Church
March 2, 2026
