God's Word Trumps Personal Experience

I preached this last Sunday morning on 2 Peter 1:12-21. Peter is assuring his readers that he will continually repeat and reinforce the message that has been entrusted to him. The truth of the gospel was not a fairytale to Peter. It was not just a collection of stories that encouraged mankind to live elevated lives. No, Peter claims that he was an eyewitness not only to the earthly ministry of Christ, but also to the transfiguration. This event was when God the Father spoke in affirmation of Jesus, and in doing so confirmed the deity of Christ (the Greek phrasing here speaks of a oneness of being). To Peter, the truth of the gospel was real; he had seen it and experienced it for himself. But, when you move past this section in the passage to verse 19 you see Peter reveal something incredible. Peter tells his readers that we have something more sure than personal experience; we have the word of the prophets. Now, Peter is referring not just to the major and minor prophets in the Old Testament; he intends to indicate the Old Testament Scriptures generally (it should not be overlooked that just two chapters over in 3:16 Peter refers to Paul’s New Testament writings as Scripture as well). In other words, the word of God trumps personal experience. If we are seeking truth in this life, Peter would argue, God’s word is more sure than anything else, personal experience or otherwise.

Below is a link to the full sermon video:  

Sermon video link 

Blessed Assurance

Recently, I preached a sermon on 2 Peter 1: 1-11. The text reads as follows:

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

After we finished looking at the text exegetically, we turned our attention to the subject of salvific assurance. In other words, what are we to believe about our salvation? Can we know whether we are truly saved? The Bible appears to answer this in the affirmative. Peter, in this passage, provides us with one important clue to answering these important questions. Now, the doctrine of assurance can be looked at in two ways. First (and Peter does not touch on this point), there is the objective sense in which we find assurance. Objective is defined as: “not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased.” So the objective way in which we find assurance of our salvation is by looking at the cross of Christ. Christ made sure the salvation of anyone who will come. If we have reached out to Christ and have trusted him as our only hope of salvation, then we may gaze upon the finished work of the cross as an objective means in order to find salvific assurance.

Now, Peter shows the way we experience assurance in a more subjective way. Subjective may be defined as: “existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought.” In other words, once we gaze upon the finished work of the cross, we then believe. And, through the help of the Holy Spirit, we begin to seek after those Christian virtues spoken of in Peter’s epistle, which ultimately bear fruit—they become, in a progressive sense, a reality in our lives. This work of the Holy Spirit is something we sense and perceive in our lives. The apostle Peter says it in the following way: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”