Christian Graces – Knowledge

1. Read: 2 Peter 1:5-8

2. About the Text:

1) Peter does not want us to be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 1:8).

2) This is why he instructs us to be concerned about this list of Christian graces.

3) It is about growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

4) Knowledge is the item we are concerned about right now.

5) How does knowledge contribute to our life in Christ?

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. We live in a world today that decries knowledge, not to mention spiritual knowledge.

1) Many today say that there is no truth or that truth is relative.

2) 20 out of 25 college freshman say that ethics is like having one’s choice of ice cream.

3) It produces a culture of discontentment, dependency, depression, and death.

2. Lack of knowledge brings about spiritual destruction.

1) “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6).

2) “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith” (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

3) “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:2-3).

3. We must desire spiritual knowledge above all else to avoid death and have life.

1) “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).

2) “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil.3:8).

3) “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

1. We cannot have spiritual life without knowledge of God’s word.

1) “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).

2) “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:1-2).

3) “[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

2. An informed faith is foundational for a spiritual life.

1) “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

2) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

3. Our faith must be put into practice.

1) “But He said, ‘More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Luke 11:28).

2) “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).

3) “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

1. God’s word is powerful to change our life.

1) “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

2) “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

2. I must appropriate within my behavior the knowledge of Christ.

1) “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18a).

2) “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:9).

3) “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

4) If our knowledge is not bringing us to Christ-centered behavior, it is not spiritual knowledge, and it will not give spiritual life.

3. Spiritual Knowledge and Spiritual Life is in Christ.

1) “and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Colossians 3:10).

2) “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col.2:3).

3) “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

4) “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

1. Knowledge of Christ is essential to life and spiritual fruitfulness because . . .

1) Ignorance Destroys Spiritual Life.

2) Information Establishes a Spiritual Foundation for Life.

3) Ideas Inform Spiritual Behavior for Life in Christ.

2. Invitation