Acquired Thru Faith-9(:4a)

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

Attention:

Filling out an application for employment at my first job.

•When I turned 15, I was legally allowed to work. I had been anxiously waiting for that day!

•There was a new grocery store chain—‘Food World’—that was opening in the larger nearby town of Salisbury, NC. The big competitor for them was the locally owned & well-established ‘Food Town’(now Food Lion) which began in Salisbury.

•But, Food World started out paying its bag boys(courtesy clerks) $2.10/hr. Whereas Food Town only paid $1.80/hr.

•I quickly filled out an application for employment with Food World with dollar signs dancing in my head & a degree of snide arrogance toward those ‘poor saps’ at my Junior High School currently working for Food Town!

•With that regular paycheck, I was soon able to afford a used 1969 VW Beetle. I saved up enough money so that I put ‘mag wheels’, fat tires & air shocks on it. I also got a new ‘Pioneer’ 8-Track tape player, with a new pair of ‘Jensen Triaxial’ speakers!

*Long story short, my filling out & turning in that application opened up a whole new world for me.

•Likewise, my/your faith in Jesus Christ acquired everything that you could possibly need to open up a whole new world to you!

Need:

We live in a secularized world that actively seeks to indoctrinate everything it touches, with priorities that are born of the flesh & that are therefore, seductively satanic. Christianity is continually surrounded by & bombarded by those flesh-driven priorities.

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

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

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

•You are truly complete in Christ Jesus!

BUT, ?What does saving faith in Christ actually 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)

3. The SINGULAR, PERFECT SAVIOR(:1c)

4. MULTIPLIED GRACE & PEACE(:2a)

5. KNOWLEDGE Of GOD(:2b, :3b)

6. EVERYTHING NEEDFUL For FULFILLING LIFE(:3a)

7. The CALL Of GOD’s GLORY & VIRTUE(:3c)

Today we’ll find that...

8—Another provision acquired thru faith is...

GOD’s FLAWLESS PROMISES(:4a)

Explanation:(:4a)God’s Promises

:4—“by which have been given to us exceedingly great & precious promises,...”

“by which”(‘thru’ or ‘by means of’)—God’s divine power, everything pertaining to life & godliness, our knowledge of Him, & our calling by His glory & virtue(:3)—God’s people—the saved—have also become the recipients of God’s “exceedingly great & precious promises.”

Because of your faith in Christ Jesus, you, in turn “have been given”, & have ‘at your disposal’, God’s “exceedingly great & precious promises.”

But what makes God’s promises THE Most “Precious” or ‘superiorly’ ‘valuable’, when compared to the “promises” that anyone else &/or this world offers?

Heb. 11:1, 3, 6, 13-16—“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”.....“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”.....“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, & that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”.....“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them & confessed that they were strangers & pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

Argumentation:

2Cor. 1:18-22—“But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes & No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us--by me, Silvanus, & Timothy--was not Yes & No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him[Christ] are Yes, & in Him Amen[firm], to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ & has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us & given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

•God’s promise of salvation by grace thru faith in Christ Jesus IS clear, decisive, & unambiguous! His promise of salvation is NOT a system & series of vacillating yes’s & no’s produced thru & for empty religion.