Peter and the Great Eight:
Progressive and Active Christianity
2 Peter 1:5-9
By Alan Walker

Peter wants us to grasp the basics - to get a firm grip on the basics. He's calling us today to Progressive and Active Christianity. But then when you think about that for a moment - what other kind of Christianity is there?

History was my subject in school. I loved it! I was going to teach it! Now Math on the other hand was not exactly my favorite subject. You might wonder about that with me having been with the bank for so long.

Well that may not be quite true. I hated subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, decimal stuff, and then of course the big words like algebra, trigonometry and calculus.

Adding wasn't so bad. You didn't have to borrow from the number in from of it like in subtraction; you didn't have to determine how to make a decimal point from a fraction or have letters and numbers mixed together like in algebra.

All you have to do is add. Give me a column of numbers and I'm fine. Ask me to subtract or divide and… yikes! Give me a calculator!

Well adding is a pretty good thing to know not just in numbers but in Christianity as well.

From the time we come to know Jesus as our Personal Lord and Savior, the bible is always sharing with us things we need to add to our lives, our character, and our spirit. Such is the case with the passage we are going to spend some time with today.

We are challenged to add to our lives certain characteristics that Jesus displayed to us in His life.

So today let's get back to the basics:

Peter wants us to grasp the basics - to get a firm grip on the basics. He's calling us today to Progressive and Active Christianity. But then when you think about that for a moment - what other kind of Christianity is there?

2 Peter 1:5-9

Let's begin with:

Notice with me two important phrases in verse 5: "make every effort" and "to add."

When we see where Peter is going we might not remember adding to be so easy after all…

Add…

Hmmm, each of these alone is worthy of a challenge to add to our life. Together they seem to be almost overwhelming. Over the top!

Yet, notice those phrases Peter uses before he lists the "Great 8."

He challenges us to "make every effort."

Effort requires that we zealously and seriously push ourselves to develop these eight in our lives.

Regardless of what political persuasion you may be or how you are going to vote in November, one of the things you can admire about both of the Presidential Candidates is they are zealously and seriously going from one State to another to win this election. They are working themselves long days, long hours, and from what I see in the paper, they will not be letting up until Election Day. One of them will lose the election, but it will not be because they didn't try hard.

In this list of the "Great 8," as we talk about effort…

"Add" and "effort" go together quite well. It takes a determined effort to add these qualities to our life and once we have a grip on them, it takes just as strong a grip to maintain them and grow in them.

A question you may be pondering is "Why Bother? I've tried to live this way and I've failed. I just can't be this kind of person.

Well let me give you a bit of hope. Go back to verse 3 and remember underline - highlight - memorize the phrase, "His divine power…"

It's not meant to be about us. It's meant to be about Him. We don't have the power to make these changes. But He has the power for us to change.

Now if this hasn't been enough of a challenge already - catch still another phrase in verse 8: "in increasing measure."

Again we don't have to really spend much time defining what this means, for if you have ever had …

…then you already know that "increasing" is a good thing. It is desired, it's considered to be positive, growth - it's the plan!

We are not only to have these qualities but we are meant to grow in them, to become richer in them so that when people get to know us, they can see them in us.

Let's go back to the skeptic's question again.

"Why Bother?"

The answer is, because God wants us to be known by these qualities. By using the opposite of the words Peter used in verse 8 - if we have these qualities they will make us:

Can you see how these qualities will make a difference? How they have already made a difference? They not only change us, but they help me to assist others in changing as well.

This passage calls us to active addition, but it also warns us about…

Subtraction was never easy for me on paper, but then did you know that by not adding at times, we are as a result subtracting?

If we are not actively and progressively adding these qualities to our lives then we are not going to see the positive results but rather the negative results Peter warns about.

Considering the 4 warnings of the Apostle. If we decline to add the "Great 8" to our lives, we will be:

This could be ineffectiveness:

Frankly we will stagnate without the "Great 8."

Ponder this with me for a while. Which of these "great 8" could we just do without and still grow in all our relationships?

If we decline to add the "Great 8" to our lives, we will also be:

Life goes by so quickly as it is, but can you image life passing us by and we have accomplished zilch except earning a living? We are meant to be productive people. That's who we are. That's how God made us. That's when we are the happiest.

For the sake of time let's think for a moment about our evangelistic outreach. Can we successfully grow in number without…

Verse nine gets a tad bit more intense with it's warnings. Without the Great 8 growing in our lives we will be:

If we simply say, "These mean nothing to me. What's the big deal? I can be a Christian without them," then we are as blind as our old friend Samson.

He thought he could live any way he wanted to live and be okay with God. Actually, I'm not so sure he cared one way or the other about being okay with God. Perhaps the saddest passage in the Old Testament is heard from the lips of this man of steel when, after having his hair cut and the Philistines were upon him, the scripture says in Judges 16:20-21:

Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. (NIV)

Spiritual blindness will eventually lead us to spiritual apathy, which will take us to spiritual death. A place we do not want to go as an individual or a congregation.

Without the Great 8 growing in our lives we will also be:

We will have forgotten what God has done for us in Jesus Christ the Lord - forgotten that we have been cleansed from our past sins.

By the way, if you are visiting this morning, I want you to know that what I'm referring to he is not too good to be true. We can have our sins forgiven and we can once again be clean. How is that possible? It's only possible through the blood of Jesus Christ. Again, it's all about Him. We can't do it on our own.

If we neglect the Great 8 we will have forgotten to be men and women of faith. We will have forgotten to be men and women who are

Subversive Subtraction is really dangerous business. It can lead us to be:

As you can see for yourself this is inconsistent with Progressive and Active Christianity!

The Kind of Christianity we are called to live - the only kind of Christianity there really is.

Well, what's to say? Let's get started!

Pick the easiest one of the "great eight" and circle it or underline it in your bible.

Why?

Because this week I want you to begin right here in this passage to be effective and productive not only in the Lord Jesus but in every relationship in your life.

Choose the one you're going to begin working on and each day pray about your life and this quality. Ask the God who promises to supply our needs to help you become this person.

Don't just stop at praying though. Begin to "live" it! Try it at home, work, with your neighbors, with your pals, with your spouse, and toward each other right here.

When you get discouraged, get back on your knees and pray about it again then get back to implementation.

Why Bother?

I don't think I'll answer it this time, because I think you already know the answer.

Imagine…

This morning you may just be ready to imagine and more. In just a moment we are going to close with a song of decision.

Today - you have decided to live a progressive and active life in Christ! Good! Let us know, let us pray with you.

Perhaps you would like to consider becoming a Christian today - the whole thought of having our sins cleansed intrigues you. I know it did me.

Maybe you would like to have prayer for something that is heavy on your mind - you don't want to talk about it, but you would like for us to pray with you - You got it!

Or maybe today you have decided after some thought to be a part of ACC - to place your membership here and commit to worshipping and growing with us.

Copyright © 1997-2004, The Preacher's Corner. Reprinted here by permission of the author (and our good friend) Alan Walker for the benefit of our subscribers. Alan may be reached at: sermonzzzz@aol.com. This message may be used by subscribers of The Preacher's Study in their local work only. It may not be published on the Internet, in a book, or anyplace else beyond the local congregation without the expressed permission of the author. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.