Get with the program! This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our RENEW series with a message about our PROGRAM FOR GROWTH.
2 Peter 1:5-7
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
Peter began his letter by reminding us that God’s power has given us everything we need for a godly life. How do we put that power into operation in our lives?
1) The Christian identity is not ACHIEVED, it is RECEIVED.
We are not better or stronger, we have simply received a new identity by grace alone. That means we shift from deciding who we are to discovering who God has purposed us to be in Christ.
2) You are given the POWER, but you choose the PROGRAM.
God has given us power to be like him in our character and behavior, but Peter reminds us that we must MAKE EVERY EFFORT to cooperate with his program for growth. How? By adding each of the qualities he lists above.
3) God is working IN you, now you work it OUT.
If we fail to follow the program, we short-circuit our growth and lose sight of the aim of God’s saving work in our lives.
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
When we choose to lean into this program, we see the results of God’s power at work, not only to rescue us, but to transform us!
