Acquired Thru Faith-4(:1c)

ACQUIRED Thru FAITH-IV—2Peter 1:1c(:1-4)

Attention:

33 miners were working underground at the San Jose Mine. The San Jose is a gold & copper mine owned by Codelco copper company in Copiapo, Chile.

On Aug. 5, 2010, an estimated 700,000 tons of rock collapsed around the miners, who were working some 2300 ft. below the surface of the spirally shaped mine.

The mine’s design included ‘emergency refuge’ areas, each stocked with a 2-3 day supply of food, water & other supplies.

For 17 days, no one knew whether the miners were even alive!

On Aug. 22, a narrow search bore hole broke through the ceiling of the ‘emergency refuge’ where the miners had retreated. The world was stunned when the drill returned to the surface with a note scrawled in red ink, disclosed that all 33 miners were alive!

A one-of-a-kind capsule, less than 28-inches in diameter, was constructed & lowered & raised for 22 hours, picking up one miner at a time, until all miners were safely rescued.

The combined expertise of local & international crews accomplished the task.

They had been trapped for 69 days & ~ 8 hours.

The miners trusted that the company, would do their utmost to rescue them. The vast resources of the company & their international contacts brought about their complete rescue.

*The FAITH of God’s people taps into the vast resources that are only available to them by God’s hand.

*Personal SAVING faith, that is centered in Jesus Christ as Savior & Lord, gains/acquires everything that is essential for living empowered as God has always intended!

Need:

We live in a world that surrounds itself with & seeks to indoctrinate everyone with priorities born of the flesh. Christianity is continually surrounded by & bombarded by those flesh-driven priorities.

Christianity supernaturally opposes the worldview of the world at large. And lets others know that there is a settled hope that is in Jesus Christ alone!

Only God’s people have everything of REAL importance at their disposal by faith! And thru what Christian faith acquires, the Christian’s work & influence presents to a world lost to sin, the ONLY EFFECTIVE opposition to local & global ungodliness!

The apostle Peter informs those who are faithful to Jesus Christ, that they are completely/amply/fully supplied for godly living.

God’s people are completely/amply/fully supplied for godly living thru their faith in Jesus Christ.

?What does saving faith in Christ attain/acquire for God’s people?

So far in this series, we have found that,

Some provisions acquired thru faith in Jesus Christ, are...

1. TRUSTWORTHY APOSTLES(:1a)[parts-1 & 2]

2. CHRISTIAN FAMILY(:1b)

Today we’ll find that...

3—A provision acquired thru faith is...

The SINGULAR, PERFECT SAVIOR(:1c)

Explanation:(:1c)

:1c—...“by the righteousness of our God & Savior Jesus Christ:”

Saving “faith” is “obtained” only by means of “the righteousness” of “Jesus Christ.”

?What is “Peter” telling us when he says that God’s people have “obtained” their Christian “faith” “by” “Jesus’ ” “righteousness”?

•FIRST of all, we must understand the meaning of *“Righteousness”—“Righteous” or “Just”, in Hebrew means, that which is ‘straight’ or ‘right.’

•The corresponding Greek word means in a secular sense, “that which is in accordance with law or social norm.”—D.W. Diehl in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology(1984).

•SO, in regard to Christian “righteousness”, it refers to what is ‘straight’ or ‘right’ in accordance with GOD’s desire....“Righteousness” is that which is lived out in accordance with what GOD says is correct, or pleasing, or right, or straight, by the perfections of HIS unchanging determination!

“Righteousness”—dikaiosunh—Noun Dative Sing. Fem.—1) in a broad sense:--State of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God—1a) The doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God, 1b) Integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, & acting; 2) in a narrower sense--Justice or the virtue which gives each his due. Strong—Equity(of character or act); specially(Christian)--Justification.?

•SECONDLY, we must understand that “our God & Savior Jesus Christ” lived perfectly in & perfectly modeled absolute “righteousness.”

?But what does that mean, that “Jesus” lived within the perfections of God’s desire or “righteousness” for Him?

•The “righteousness” that characterized “Jesus’ ” life entails much more than yours or mine would. God’s people, You & I, can live in “righteous-ly”, BUT only by God’s gracious declaration to forgive us our sins by Jesus’ shed blood!

Jesus willingly shed His blood on the Cross, so that God’s people CAN, & WILL desire to live, within the God-ordained capacity of humanity’s ability to live “righteously.”

•So the ‘declaration’ that God’s people are “righteous” only comes to them because of Christ’s “righteousness.”...Because no one but Jesus can fulfill God’s will perfectly.

Php. 2:5-11—“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, & coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself & became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him & given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, & of those on earth, & of those under the earth, & that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”