Thank you so much, Jake and Sarah, for leading us this morning. Very good words. I don't know if you paid attention to that in the hymns that we sang, songs we sang, but some tremendous words really relating to the message this morning. 

In this second epistle of Peter in this first chapter, he's encouraging us to understand our salvation, to understand who we are in Christ, what we have in Him, and then to live in light of that truth, to add to our faith virtue and knowledge and self-control and so forth. So Peter is concerned about holy living. Last time we were together, which has been a little bit, in 2 Peter 1, we talked about a like precious faith. We talked about the truth that every believer in Jesus has an equal faith, a faith of equal value and status. We're all equal in Christ. 

We also saw the great truth that God in salvation has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, that we lack nothing. God has changed us; He's fully equipped us to live a life that is consistent with who we now are because of the work that God has done in us. So we worked about halfway through these verses, and this morning we're going to kind of review that truth of who we are and what we have, our salvation, that we looked at in depth last time. 

What we're going to talk about this morning is applying those truths. How is it? Why is it, first of all, that we can live a new life? And then we're going to talk about how God intends we should live that life. You remember that we looked at the fact that when we believed Jesus we were crucified with Him, we died with Him, were buried and raised to a new life with Jesus. Our old man died, that man in Adam who was controlled and dominated by indwelling sin; we were freed from sin that we might now live for God. 

We also died to the law; we saw that in Romans 7, 1 to 6, that we no longer live according to the letter but by the Spirit. We died, we were married to another, that is Jesus, that we might now bear fruit to God. In our death with Jesus, we were also released from the bondage to fear of death. We now have in a present possession eternal life and no longer need to fear the transition from this life to the next, but rather we look forward to our glorification and eternity with Him forever. 

Not only have we been born again, not only have we been regenerated and made new men in Christ, free from the law of sin and death and now living under grace, righteousness unto eternal life, but we also have the life of Christ living in us, as we just sang, not I but Christ through me. Jesus Christ lives in us and works His will and His life out through us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us permanently, imparting strength to our inner man. We were saved by grace through faith in Jesus and we now live by grace through faith in Jesus. 

This is the command of the new covenant according to 1st John 3:23 and 24, believe Jesus and love one another. All of these truths are for everyone who believes. If you are in Christ, then all of these things are true of you. This is what God had said in His Word, and these things form the basis for holy living. 

That's sort of where we're going to be in our outline to start this morning. This is where we left off last time and I'm going to pick up now. So let's look at our text, 2nd Peter 1, verse 1. Simon Peter, a bondservant, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 

As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Well, we had six points on our outline; we got through the first three. Like precious faith, all things exceedingly great and precious promises, and we're going to pick it up in number four, a basis for holy living, giving all diligence and neither barren nor unfruitful. 

Well, verse 3 again, Peter says, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Just listen to these words. Look at them in your Bible. Can you believe that for yourself? Can you believe that God has given to you all things that pertain to life and godliness? He says in verse 4, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

Escaping corruption, remember we talked about that speaking of regeneration, the corruption that's on the inside as opposed to the pollution that Peter's going to talk about that the false teachers had escaped coming into the church. Corruption is an inside thing like cancer, like sin, controlling and dominating you, and Peter says we have escaped that; we have become partakers of the divine nature. He gives us a basis for holy living, and in verse 9 he tells us why sometimes this is not a reality in the life of the believer. 

Verse 9 says, for he who lacks these things, speaking of virtue, holiness in their lives, consistent living in righteousness, he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness. Listen, he's forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. This is the key in understanding a basis. The reason why we can live a new life is we've been cleansed; we have escaped corruption; we've been born again; we've been regenerated; recreated, made new. The basis for a life of holiness is regeneration, and this is what it means to be cleansed from our old sins, and this truth is explained in Romans 5 to 8 as we looked at in depth in our last message and touched on this morning. 

In Romans 6 where Paul lays out these great truths for our union with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection, and the truth that we died to sin and the law, to the fear of death, it's the same thing Peter's saying in our text. You've escaped corruption, you've become partakers of the divine nature, you've been cleansed. It's the same thing. 

Paul gives us a key word in that passage in Romans 6 for practical application of these things in our lives. That's what we want to talk about this morning, how do we apply these things, and the word is reckon. It's logizomai in the Greek, meaning to count up the facts, used of reckoning a balance sheet. So we are to take the facts of our salvation, what God has done, who we are in Him, our death with Christ, our resurrection to new life, the crucifixion of our old man in Adam, the new birth, the new man in Christ, all of these great truths. We're to count them up, and we're to remember them, and we're to reckon them to be so. 

This is a volitional choice on our part, an exercise of the mind to know and believe what is true, and to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. When we think about living the Christian life, when we think about a holy life, or as Peter describes in our text, adding to your faith these things, the New Testament gives us two key words. 

The first is reckon in Romans 6:11, the second is abide in John 15. But before we can reckon or abide, Paul instructs us in Romans 6 that we must know, and Peter gives us the same message of truth of our regeneration in our text, and he uses the word know over and over and over again in this epistle. It is through the knowledge of Jesus Christ that God has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He says, add to your faith knowledge. You will neither be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

Don't forget, know, remember that you have been cleansed from your old sins. We first must know and understand the truth if we're going to apply that truth in our daily lives. When we think about the confusion in the Christian Church about how God intends that we should live a holy life, we all, any serious believer, want to live a holy life. It's a desire that God has put deep in our hearts to live for Him, to glorify Him, to be a witness, but there exists a lot of confusion as to how we live this life of holiness, and I think this really boils down to only two options. 

One is to live by the law, by works, and many teach and believe this in the Christian world. Even those who say and believe that we are justified by grace through faith will sometimes add the law as a rule of life to the believer for sanctification. The other option is sanctification by grace through faith, which I believe is the biblical truth. Just as much as we are saved by grace through faith, so we live by God's grace through faith alone. 

We see Paul explain this very forcefully and clearly in several texts. In Romans 6 he says that we are no longer under the law but under grace, that we live by grace. In Romans 7 it seems that this is the whole intent of the teaching here. I want you to turn to that passage with me again, Romans 7:4 to 6, as we review some of what we looked at last time. 

Romans 7 at verse 4, he's given a marriage illustration and talked about how a woman is bound by the law of her husband until her husband dies. In verse 4 he says, therefore my brethren you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you may be married to another to him who was raised from the dead that we should bear fruit to God. You want to bear fruit to God? You want to live a holy life? First you have to die. 

Romans 7:5, for when we were in the flesh, when was that? That was before we were saved, right? When we were in Adam. When we were in the flesh, this is what it was like. The sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members, our hands, our mouth, our mind, to bear fruit to death. We lived in perpetual sin. 

Verse 6, but now, see the contrast, the adversity? But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that, there's your purpose words, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. What law is it that Paul's talking about here that we died to so we could marry another? Because clearly he says we are no longer under it, no longer bound by it, nor do we live in or by or through it. What law is he talking about? 

Look at the next verse, verse 7. What shall we say then, is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. Where have you read that before? You shall not covet. Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5. Just a couple of days ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine who's teaching through the book of Galatians, and he's in chapter 4, and he's wrestling with this idea of whether the law is binding on the believer as a rule of life, some sort of means, element of God's plan for holy living. 

In the course of our conversation, he brought up the division of the Mosaic law into the ceremonial, civil, and moral law. He affirmed the reformed position that the moral law is still binding on the believer, or a way, or a means, some part of God's intention for holy living. This is an interesting thing to me, particularly in the midst of the book of Galatians. But I've heard it taught many times that somehow Paul's not talking about the moral law represented by the Ten Commandments, that this law is still binding on the life of the believer, which I can only understand as somehow necessary to promoting, facilitating holy living. 

So that's what we're talking about this morning; how do we apply the basis, the truth of our salvation into our lives so that we might live a holy life? What does God say? Turn over to 2 Corinthians 3 with me, please. 

2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 2. Paul says, "...you are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men." He's talking to the believers in the Corinthian church, you are our epistle; you're read by men. He says, "...clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God." 

Now look what he says in verse 6, "...who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter..." Remember Paul just said in Romans 7:6, "...we no longer live by the letter, but by the Spirit." "...not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 

But if the ministry of death, the ministry of death, Paul, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. Paul says here, we are ministers of the new covenant. 

He preached the gospel in Corinth, many believed, and in this new covenant, they are the epistles. They are being read by men; they are the witnesses in the world, not on tablets of stone but of flesh, that is of the heart. It's an inner heart change, a new creation that produces the basis for a new life that shows the men of this world the genuineness and the power of the gospel. Notice what he says, we are not ministers of the law, the letter. We are ministers of the Spirit. 

The law engraved on stones, he says, that's pretty clear what he's talking about. He calls it a ministry of condemnation, a ministry of death. Turn over to Galatians 6 with me at verse 11. We see it clearly there as well, Galatians 6:11. Paul's a little bit worked up in the letter to the Galatians about those who would teach that the Christian life is faith in Jesus plus keeping the law of Moses. 

6:11, see with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. 

What avails something? What produces righteousness? What works out this salvation? A new creation. It's not the law, it's not some religious ceremony, but it's a new creation that matters. Regeneration, the new birth, this is the basis for holy living, and the grace and power and life of God is what produces fruit as we abide by faith. 

Perhaps the clearest teaching on this is back in Galatians 2; turn back a couple pages to Galatians 2 at verse 16. This is an amazing passage. This follows right where Peter and Paul have had their little confrontation and Paul has withstood him to his face because he had withdrawn himself from the Gentiles and gone over with the legalistic Jews. 

Verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not. 

Now look at verse 18, for if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law in order that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteous holy living—that's the context here—I live by faith. 

Now if righteous holy living comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. Paul says it was through the law that I realized my sin, that I came to faith in Jesus, and through faith in Him I was crucified with Him, I died, was buried, and raised to newness of life. Now if I go back and build those things again which I destroyed, that is to go back to the law as a rule of life, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law. Why, Paul? Why did you need to die to the law? So that I might live to God. I do not set aside the grace of God. 

And lest we be confused, not clearly understanding what Paul's saying, look at chapter 3 and verse 1, the following verses. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit—that's speaking of justification, how were you saved? By hearing through the Spirit. Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect—that's sanctification—are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 

You were saved, justified by grace through faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit; are you now being made perfect, sanctified by the works of the law? There's absolutely no basis in the New Testament for the moral law of God as a means to holy living or as a rule of life. 

Now hear me, because I want to be so very clear here. It's not that the law is bad. That's why Paul wrote Romans 7, 7 to 25; it's not the law that's the problem, the law is holy and righteous and good. And the law is a representation of the perfect, holy, and righteous character of God. And when we are conformed to the likeness of Christ in the process of sanctification, our outward living will be in consistency with the law of God, His character, His nature, the divine nature, as Peter says, we have become partakers of. 

But what we must first know and understand is that the law of God, moral or otherwise, the whole entire law of Moses is not a means, a way to holy living; it has no power to produce holiness in our lives. It's not God's way for us to bear fruit for His glory and thus it's not a rule of life for the believer. Listen to Paul's words in 1 Timothy 1. I labor this because it's so prevalent in the Christian community, but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. 

Okay, how do we use it lawfully then? Understanding this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there's any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, listen to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. The law has served its purpose in our lives, to show us our sin and lead us to faith in Christ, and now we live by the power of the Spirit and not by the letter. 

It's vital that we have knowledge, that we know and understand that in regeneration and salvation God has performed a miraculous work in us, crucifying our old man and Adam with Jesus and raising us as new men in Christ. We see this in Romans 12 as well; go to Romans 12:1 with me. There's no thin thing in the Bible here. 

Romans 12:1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service; and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

Paul says, by the mercies of God. This phrase speaks of the great doctrines of our salvation he's just taught us through the first 11 chapters of Romans, specifically 5 to 8 concerning sanctification. By these mercies, he says, present your bodies a living sacrifice to God. He says it's our reasonable service. The word reasonable is logikos; it's got the word logic in it. It literally means rational or reasonable. Think about that with me. 

How is it that you have in the past viewed the Christian life, holiness, consistent Christ-likeness in your daily living? What is it that you've been taught about who you are, what's going on inside of you, and your expectations for daily living? Here's what God says. God says you've been crucified with Jesus. You no longer are who you were in Adam. You've been raised to newness of life, a new creation, free from the controlling power of sin, from the bondage of the law, from the fear of death, and now you are in Christ. You stand in grace. You experience righteousness and you possess eternal life. 

And not only that, but Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in you permanently and empower you with the very power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead in order that you might live in holiness. Paul says it's rational, it's reasonable for you to live a holy life in light of these things being true. 

So what's the problem? Why do we so often fail to have things that Peter lists here, the evidence of holy living consistently added to our faith? Peter says we've forgotten. Either we don't know or we don't remember. That is, we don't choose to believe what God says is true. We've forgotten that we were cleansed from our old sins. 

We choose to believe the sin that still lives in us. We choose to believe the emotions that well up in us. We choose to believe the world that lies to us. Paul says in Romans 12:2 that there's something going on in our lives that must stop. And there's something that we must do, a means, a way that God intends we should live a holy life according to, on the basis of who we are. He says, stop being conformed by the world, but be being transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

Literally, Paul says, stop. Stop being conformed to this world. Stop letting the outward forces and wisdom and ways of this world conform you into its image so that you live like the world. That's not consistent with who you are on the inside. That's not logical, reasonable, rational in light of the great transformation that God has performed in you. 

It is, in fact, contrary to who you are to live in sin. Rather, we must be being transformed by the renewing of our mind. And the word here is metamorphame. It's used of Jesus in the transfiguration on the mount. Remember where he kind of pulled back his flesh and showed them the essence of who he really is? What an amazing experience on the mount. 

Paul says that how we live, our outward actions should manifest the reality of who we are on the inside. Should be coming continually through the renewing of our mind by God's truth and word into consistency with who we are. We should live according to who we actually are in our spirit on the inside in Christ. He says this is reasonable. This is rational. 

I'm not asking you to do something contrary to who you are or what you can do or what God has supplied in abundance in order for you to do. That we present the members of our body to righteousness. Well, we've looked at some pretty strong language concerning who we are in Christ in this new creation, the regenerative work of God in us. 

We've seen some pretty clear teaching about God's plan for holiness as the rule in our lives. So, you know, the truth of the scriptures is really a why. It's not a how so much. Why we can live a new life because of what God's done. But I got to ask how, you know, that's just the way we are, isn't it? I mean, how? How does this work out? How does God intend that this practically work out in my life day by day? 

We've seen that it's not by means of the law, but by His grace through faith. Peter says we must give all diligence, look at verse 3 of our text again, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Our excuse can't be that we don't have something we need, right? He says we've been given exceedingly great and precious promises; we've become partakers of the divine nature; we've escaped the corruption that's in the world, and then He tells us to add to our faith, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, virtue knowledge, knowledge self-control, self-control perseverance, perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 

For if these things are yours and abound, you'll be neither barren nor unfruitful. That's what I want. I don't want to be barren; I don't want to be unfruitful; I want to produce fruit for the glory of God. And He says he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. 

Give all diligence, He says, be even more diligent. These words mean to give every effort, to apply ourselves wholly to this task. So there is an effort on our part; it's not let go and let God. There is an effort on our part, an extreme effort. He says be even more diligent to apply ourselves wholly to this task. A discipline, a battle to be fought. What is the battle? How do we fight? Isn't that a good thing to know if you're going to go to war? Where's the battle? How do we fight the battle? 

These are vital questions because if we're fighting at the wrong point, misunderstanding the battle, we have no hope of winning, of consistently living in righteousness as God intends and expects. There's a reason why the New Testament writer spends such a great deal of time, and I like to think it gives me a reason to spend such a great deal of time, explaining all the things that we've just studied. The truth of our salvation, of regeneration, who we are and what we have in Christ. 

That is because it's God's plan and purpose that the commands He gives, the imperatives, are based on the truths, the indicatives concerning who we are in Christ. Let me give you an example. When I was growing up and was very involved in a major religion, went to parochial school, attended the Mass six days a week, participated in the sacraments, served as an altar boy, the whole ball of wax. In that time in my life, I was given the law of God. 

Things such as do not lie, do not steal. I was taught those things. I was to memorize those things. I had the Ten Commandments listed; they're a little different than the Bible because they take out one and add...split the last one, did you know that? But anyway, in religion, in the lost state in Adam, I had no means to keep that law, to live in righteousness, to please God. I was told, do not lie. But I had no basis in my life for living that out. I had no power to make it a reality. 

I remember lying. I remember going to confession to the priest when I was a little kid; I said, I lied. What did you lie about? I said, I told my dad I watered the chickens and I didn't. He said, boy, them chickens are going to dry up and blow away, say three Hail Marys, you'll be fine. Well, that's a true story. I had no basis for living it out in my life. In the New Covenant life in Christ, the basis for holy living is regeneration; it's a new birth. 

And every command to holy living is based on that truth and the life of Jesus in us. Turn over to Colossians 3. I want you to see this for yourself. Colossians 3 at verse 1. Since you were raised with Christ— that's what that means there—since you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

Paul establishes the same truth basis here. You died, now you are in Christ. Now look at verse 9, Colossians 3:9. Do not lie to one another. See, I had that all my life; I had the law, but I didn't have any basis to keep it. What's Paul say? Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. 

Here's the imperative, the command, don't lie. Why? Why shouldn't I lie? Because there's a logical, rational truth that gives me a basis for not lying. I have put off the old man; that's not who I am anymore; I'm not controlled and dominated by indwelling sin. I have put off the new man. These verbs, putting on the new man, putting off the old man, are in the aorist, which means it was a one-time event in the past. It's accomplished. 

I don't have to put off the old man; I don't have to put on the new man. I have put off the old man; I have put on the new man in regeneration. God did this. But notice the other phrase here, verse 10, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. The verb there is in the present tense, meaning this is an ongoing thing. I'm being renewed in knowledge. 

The very same thing we saw in Romans 12, renew your mind, be being transformed. We see the exact same thing in Ephesians 4; he tells us, you shouldn't live like you used to live. You shouldn't live like the rest of the Gentiles, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness and greediness. Does that sound like a Christian? 

Paul says don't live like that anymore because that's not who you are anymore; you've put off that old man. You've put on the new man. And then he says, you're being renewed in the spirit of your mind. We should no longer live like lost pagans. Why? Because we no longer are lost pagans. The truth that is in Jesus is this: we have put off the old man, we have put on the new man through our union with him in his death, burial, and resurrection, and God has made us new men, new creations; the old is gone; the new has come, 2 Corinthians 5. 

And we're being renewed by the truth, the Word of God. This is the battle, my friends. What does it mean to reckon? What does it mean to abide? Those two key words in the Christian life. In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul says, we walk in the flesh but we don't war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 

The knowledge of God, the truth according to His Word, all these things we've been looking at, who we are, what we have, the all things that pertain to life and godliness, the exceedingly great and precious promises that Peter talks about, my brothers and sisters, in all of these texts, the present active part for us is concerning the mind. The battle is in the mind. It's not a battle with sin per se, not a battle out here in our members. The battle with lying is not one at the point of the tongue; it's one in the mind, knowing, remembering that I was cleansed from my old sins, choosing to reckon what God says is true, living by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

You know, we don't always do that, do we? Last night, yesterday was a very long day. If I told you everything I did yesterday, you wouldn't believe me. But at the end of the day, I had to do Sarah's chores because Sarah and Ashley are over in the cities visiting Caitlin, and at the very end of the day, I thought all I had left to do was milk and grind some hamburger and pork and package it, and then I was going to be done. 

And I come up the driveway in the side-by-side, and Bobby's standing in the driveway with a big grin on her mouth, and we've got to take this cow up to Bessemer. It's about 8 o'clock now, so we've got to load this cow. And I've already, I've had it; I've been pushed past my limit. So we go to load this cow, and the cow won't load, and she's running all over the place, and we're trying to get her in, and we can't get her in, and I confess to you that I yelled at my wife a little bit. 

And then we finally get her where we're going to get her in, and the dog comes under the trailer and bites her in the nose, and she runs back and bulls over the gate and is out in the pasture again. And at that moment, I didn't reckon myself dead indeed to sin. But I had that choice, right? Didn't I have that choice? Isn't it still true that I'm dead to sin, even though I didn't act like it? 

I can't say to God, I didn't have something I needed; I was tired; I was hungry. I could have chosen in my mind at that point to, you know, it's no big deal, and it's no big—20 minutes later, it's no big deal; we've got the cow in the trailer, and we're driving to Bessemer, and everything's fine. Stopped at Quick Trip, got a cup of coffee, it was all right. 

But in the moment, I chose not to reckon myself. James 1 describes this process, this battle, with a clear illustration. Let's look at James 1, James 1 at verse 14, he says, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 

James uses the picture of conception and birth. We died with Christ; we are no longer dominated and controlled by sin, law, and death. We were made new in our spirits, regenerated and cleansed, but sin still lives in us. Sin is still here. Nothing happened to sin; we died. We were freed from that controlling power, but sin's still in there. 

And our minds and our emotions in this physical body await regeneration and glorification. Don't they? Your emotions and mind, they're not regenerate, like your spirit is, okay? There's still a battle with sinful desires, emotions that speak contrary to the truth of God. And James says, when these thoughts and desires rise up in us, when in my mind I'm like, dirty rotten cow, I have a choice at that moment. 

And I can rationalize that it's okay for me to have an outburst of wrath. Or I can choose at that moment in my mind, it's got to be the hardest one there is, though. At this point in my mind, I can choose to reckon. I can choose to remember God's Word. 

I can choose to call out to Jesus, right? Jesus, help me. And this is practical in marriage and relationships. Your wife says something that burns you after a long day, and what are you going to do? You've got to win that battle right here. Because once you decide here, what James says, once you conceive it here and rationalize it, it's coming out here, right? 

Here's the battle in the mind. You know, you see something you really desire, and perhaps the thought comes up in your mind and emotions that you might just take that thing for yourself, even though it's not yours. This is where the battle is, the practical application of these things. Will you rationalize in your mind that you deserve that thing? 

There's a whole pile of people doing that in our world, isn't there? Just go in there and take it. I deserve it. Rich man, I ain't going to bother him. I need it. I deserve it. We can do that too, can't we, in our mind? 

Or at that point of the heat of the battle, will you remember God's Word? Will you remember what you most want? You know, I most want to love my wife. I most want to lift her up and build her up. That's what I most want in my relationship. I want to be an example to my kids. I don't want to lose it. 

Silly, isn't it, after you lose it? It's not who you are. We now, more than anything, want to serve God, to love Him, to be a witness for Him. But we have to know the truth, and then we have to understand God's way to live that truth out, apply it in our lives. We have to reckon ourselves. We have to call out to Jesus and help. 

Can you imagine being in that point of temptation, whatever it is, and saying, Jesus, please help me? Jesus, please help me? And reckoning and calling to mind His Word and depending on Him, and then sinning? No, that's not how it works. That's not how it works. 

So we have a discipline. There's a battle. Give all diligence, Peter says. But we have to understand that battle. I want to just close with Ephesians 3, verse 14, if you'd turn to one last passage. We have to remember to reckon; we have to abide, depend on Him. He's the vine; we are the branches; we have to remain in Him; we have to remember who we are; we have to live in total dependence on His life and power in us. 

Ephesians 3:14, Paul describes, I think this passage comes as close as any in the Bible to tell us how. Tell us how we live the Christian life. For this reason I bow my knees, Paul's praying for the believers in Ephesus, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. 

According to His riches, not my bank account, right? That wouldn't be good if it was according to my resources or your resources. According to His riches in glory, He's going to strengthen us with might by His Spirit in our inner man. Look at verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the length, and depth, and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, amen. Each of these phrases build on one another, much like the things we're to add to our faith in our text in 2 Peter. 

The way that we can see virtue and holiness in our lives, God's plan for us to live a holy life is not by the law, not by our power, but by faith, by trust in Jesus and His life and power in us, the Holy Spirit imparts strength to your inner man as we abide by faith. Jesus lives His life in and out through us as we renew our minds to His truth and let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. 

And it's God the Father, it's not me, it's not you, it's God the Father who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to His power that works in us. We want to glorify God in all that we do; we want to bear fruit so that we might be witnesses in this world, but we must understand the battle and we must understand God's means to accomplish the victory consistently, one day, one moment at a time. 

His plan is for us to know the Word. His plan is for us to renew our minds to it continually. His plan is for us to live a life of dependence on Him, remaining focused on Him as we live by faith. My brothers and sisters, in these things, we must give all diligence. As Peter promises that in this way, we will be neither barren nor unfruitful. 

Closing prayer. Father, we're so thankful that You've saved us. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You that You provided a way of salvation. Thank You for the work that You've done in those who believe You, who release them through death from the power of sin, from the bondage of the law, to the fear of death. And thank You that we now live in grace, producing righteousness, and ultimately, eternal life. 

Help us to believe You. Help us to trust what You say, and not what we feel, not what our experience has been. To believe what You say is true and to live in light of it by Your grace and Your power. In Jesus' name, amen.