My name is Michael. I am the lead pastor here at Christ the King Church. And we are working a series in the book of 2 Peter, which is about how the grace of God changes you.

And so far, there have been two big ideas that have emerged in this study. One is the God saving work. And the other big idea is our obedient response. Those are big, two big ideas. As far back as I can remember, I have been I would say I've been a Christian as long as I can remember. I don't remember a time in my life where I did not believe in God, and I did not believe that I was sinful or that Jesus was the Savior.

But there were times that I was de that I doubted whether or not I was saved. And so, I've questioned at times Whether or not I was, whether or not Jesus had actually saved me, but I was able to work through those doubts, through my childhood and ended up, having peace in my relationship with God until I got to college, and then I faced new challenges.

When I got to college, there was a guy that I met, his name is Chad, and Chad was a student, and there was Chad was known as a kid who grew up in a Baptist family, I believe his dad may have even been a pastor, but he became an atheist. So, he had denied the faith and had founded a campus organization called Rush, and Rush stood for rationalists.

United for Secular Humanism, which is why they called it Rush, because you, the other one's a mouthful. But that was Chad. And I thought I want to share the gospel with this guy. And so, I just thought, I want to track this guy down and set up a time to meet with him and tell him about Jesus.

And so, I did. And we had a meeting set up and we went to the campus library at Marshall University, which is the Harvard of West Virginia, if you didn't know this. But went to campus library and I sat across from Chad and I, told him about Jesus, told him about my faith, and I said, you ought to return to Christianity.

And then Chad shared his objections to Christianity with me and destroyed everything that I had said, and I was helpless. He really shredded me. I had no answer for the things that he had to say. And it was really It was really trying because it, those things started to eat at me. And you combine that with some of the professors that I had that they were like piranha, they were just like, they loved to feed on the weak faith of young Christians and to get them to deny the faith.

And they were very effective at what they did, and they had that effect on me. So it triggered a crisis of faith where I started to question everything, not question God, question whether or not I was a Christian question the Bible, question the whole foundation to the point to where I, if it weren't for the people in my life that I really cherished, I would, that those are the things that really kept me from just walking away altogether.

And I've reached a crisis point, a low point this doubt went on for several years while I was in college. But after this low point, God broke through in a powerful way. And that's a story for another illustration for another sermon. The point and why I'm telling you this is because this phenomenon is happening in the world a lot right now.

And there are two doctrines related to this that will be featured in this sermon. The doctrine of apostasy and the doctrine of assurance. They both happen to start with a, that had nothing to do with me trying to be Baptist here. It's just, those are just the two doctrines. So, you've got apostasy and assurance.

And in recent years, we have seen an increase in people committing the sin of apostasy, which is a person claims to follow Christ, and then they reject that faith, and they fall away. And so, in a time of widespread apostasy that we're seeing now, there is an even greater sense that Christians need to have assurance that they are saved, that they are in the faith, and that God has rescued them.

And then, on top of that, you've got some of the other theological questions that people wrestle with, which is things like God's election. So, if God is sovereign over salvation, then why do we bother with any of this at all? For God is sovereign, what does it matter what we do? It's just, we're just along for the ride.

We're robots. And then along with that doctrine is the headache that you get when you try to figure all these things out, which is what we're going to do this morning. We're going to try to work through these things, and hopefully you won't get a headache as we're doing this. But 2 Peter has answers, and we're going to look at I'll read you several texts, but I'm really going to focus in on one verse that is, uh, the core idea here.

So, let's dig in. 2 Peter chapter 1. I want to read verses 10 through 15, but we are going to focus mostly on verse 10. Let's listen to God's word. 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.

Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in the body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.

And I will make every effort, so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to recall these things. This is God's Word. I want to give you the outline now. There are three big points. And the third point has two sub points, all right? Here's the three points. Number one, God is the one who calls and elects us for salvation.

Point number two, God commands us to confirm His calling and election. And number three, God's calling and election is confirmed through the pursuit of Christian virtue. by which we receive two things. And here's the two sub points. First, we receive assurance that we are truly saved by God's grace. And second, we receive the promise that we will never fall away.

That's the outline, and now we'll go through this one at a time. Big picture, first point, God is the one who calls and elects us for salvation. So, let's look at verse 10, and I've just moved the words around here to visualize the point. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. Two words there that I highlighted for you, calling and election. And we talked about calling a couple of weeks ago if you recall. Calling is the theologians would refer to this as an effectual call. So, it's not just an invitation. But it is something that is a certainty.

It is something that will certainly happen because God's call will not be denied. So, an example of this is Romans 11:29, which says, for the gifts and calling, same Greek word there, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Irrevocable, if you're a hillbilly like me, but irrevocable if you're sophisticated.

But either way, the gifts and calling of God cannot be revoked. These are things that are certain, that will for sure happen. So, it is like I gave you the illustration that God, or that Jesus called out to Lazarus and the calling of Lazarus's name outside of his tomb revived resurrected him, revived him.

It brought him back to life. And Lazarus was not choosing whether or not to be resurrected. It just happened because Jesus called him, and that Jesus's calling was effective. So, it is an effectual call. Now the second word, the word election this word means choice. So, I looked it up in my dictionary and it just means to choose.

So, what you would think now in our usage, typically. We are the ones who elect. So, when we speak of an election, if you say the election, we're, we know that in November we're going to have an election and that means we the people will collectively tally up our votes and choose a president, senators, house representatives and so forth.

We choose and that is our election. So, we are the subject, and the object is the ones. The one that we elect or the people we elect now in the Bible's usage Typically, it's the exact opposite. So, in the Bible God is always the subject He is the one choosing he is the one electing and God elects a people by his choice So Jesus said I came to seek and to save the lost So Jesus is the one who seeks, Jesus is the one who saves, because he is the one who is the active one.

He is applying the election of God to a people by saving them. And so, as I thought about election, there was another, I thought about what this, the definition of the word, and one of the possible definitions was to select. And I thought, that, you just added an S. You take elect and add an S to it.

What is that, what does that even mean? So, what does it mean to select? And why do we say elect? And why do we not say select? And so, I asked Wade about this. I was like, Wade he was like, Passing by my office on the way back from the bathroom or something. I'm like, hey, wait, hold on. What do you think is the difference between elect and select?

And he was like I, they seem to mean the same thing. I was like, that's what I was thinking. And then he went back to his office and then he yelled back. Oh, and it also means like something, exclusive or premium or a higher quality is a select. And I was like, oh, that's interesting.

I thought about that, we, I don't, this is not, this is the way that we use the words. So, this is not a Greek thing. I'm just saying like this is an important distinction in the way that we use the English word election and why we don't usually speak of selection. Selection implies something of a premium quality.

So, let's say you're broke, but you go to Kroger, and you need to buy some groceries. So, you buy the Kroger brand. You buy the cheap brand. But let's say you just got your income tax refund and you're feeling a little elite. So, you want to buy, the nicer ice cream and then you go and look at the ice cream.

It's there's the cheap Kroger ice cream but there's also private selection. It's called private selection because it's the premium brand. Meaning this ice cream is better than the other. Now, it's not just the ice cream that you happen to choose, it's the ice cream that is the select ice cream.

And the fact that you select it means it is a little bit higher grade. Now, that is not the way that God elects us, and that distinction is important to point out because we speak of God's election, not of selection. So, God did not choose us because we are the premium brand of humans, right? There is, I love you guys, but it's not like you're the sharpest knives in the drawer.

All of us, we're not the prettiest. We're not the specialist. We're not the richest. We're not the most successful or powerful. And that's. that's God's people. God's people are ordinary people and God loves and delights in shining the glory of His power and His nature and His mercy through all different kinds of people, not just picking the cream of the crop and saving them only.

So, God elects a people not based on any quality, any advantage, any condition that they have met. God elects people purely on the basis of His own of His own grace. There are no conditions that we meet that attracts God to us. And this is why theologians refer to God's election as unconditional.

So, if the typical Calvinist doctrines, the U of tulip, there's the U. The U refers to unconditional election. Meaning, God's election is not based on how cool you are and how lucky God is to have you in His club, but rather it is unconditional. You have met no condition other than just being human and being a sinner in need of grace.

And God elects those people not based on any condition they have met, but purely out of His own sovereign love that He bestows freely on His people. This combination of phrases, calling and election, these two the commentary I looked at said that there's so much overlap between the two that they really constitute one thing.

concept. And they said it's two different words in the original, but the concept could be united and fairly translated as one concept. And he said it is one elective call. Because it's one thing. They are two parts of a whole. So, God is the one who elects. Salvation is a gift of God's grace from start to finish.

God is the one who calls, He's the one who saves, and we merely receive it as a gift by faith in Him. And so, God's calling and election then are, that is His grace at taking initiative moving toward us to save us. So let me read to you Paul in the book of Romans. He also uses these same two words together too, and I just want to read this to you because he's talking about the doctrine of election and God's call and how they are just totally based on God's sovereign decree to elected people, not on anything that we merit.

Here we go. Romans 9, starting at verse 9. This is what the promise said. About the time, about this time next year, I will return, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing, either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger.

So not because of anything these, so he's talking about Rebecca's two sons, Isaac and Jacob in her womb. And God had chosen Isaac because of his own sovereign goodness, his love. As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Just so you know, hated in love there is not active animosity toward Esau, but rather it's a matter of comparison.

It is God's love for Jacob would correlate to a not being chosen. And so, the word that is used there is the word hate, but it's not hate the way you might think of it. Now that irks, that can irk us, right? What does Paul say about this? What shall we say? Is there any injustice on God's part? By no means.

For God says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then, it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

God is the one who calls and elects us for salvation. Point number two. God commands us to confirm his calling and election. God commands us to confirm his calling and election. So, let's look at verse 10 here again. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent. So here is a command. Be all the more diligent.

Be is the command here. Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

When it comes to the doctrine of election, sometimes we get worked up about free will and God's sovereign power. And the frequent concern in this is that it can feel to us as though it denies human agency. Do we lose our ability to make real choices or are we just robots? Are we just subject to God and God's telling us what to do and we don't really make real choices.

We're just robots. We have no will. We have, we're just along for the ride. And that isn't what the Bible teaches. The doctrine of election doesn't. It doesn't turn us into robots because in fact, in this very text that is speaking of God's calling and election, which is God's sovereign decree, there is a command for us to choose to confirm it.

So, we are involved in this, but we're not involved in the who gets elected and who isn't get elected. But we, those who are Christians, it is our duty and we, it is a duty. It's a command. And we have a responsibility to confirm it. And there's a way that we'll get into about how we confirm it.

But I just want you to see that we're not turned into robots. We're not turned into just mindless everything is just predetermined and we don't really have anything at all to benefit here. Or we're just, we don't have anything to choose, but rather it's we're, God appeals to our will and tells us to make a choice to confirm it. So, we're not the part that we play is not the electing part. It is the confirming part. And the thing I want us to really receive here is that this, the doctrine of election is not this eggheaded doctrine that seminary professors use and some obscure texts in the Bible to stump the students.

And a lot of times that's how it is treated. It is treated as this abstract thing that is really just complicated. And most of us are too dumb to figure it out. So, we might as well not even bother to believe it. That's not why it's here. It's in the Bible because God wants us to apply something.

And the application in the, is what's important here. It's a practical, relevant doctrine for how we understand God's grace and how we live our lives. So, the scripture teaches, and you've heard this word twice in the last few weeks Wade said it and I mentioned it also, and the theology word is compatibilism.

Compatibilism. That's not a disease. It is the belief that our human decisions are compatible with God's sovereign decree. So how that works is this. From God's perfect, omniscient, eternal perspective, God ordains whatsoever comes to pass. That is his sovereign decree. God is sovereign. He rules.

And from our limited, human, finite perspective, we make real human choices, and our real human choices are always compatible with God's sovereign decree. So, they, these things line up. Now that doesn't mean that we can figure this out. It's not a mathematical formula. But it is something that matters because we're commanded to do things within the context of God's sovereign decree.

And we're told to confirm that you're called and elect. And so, we have to make sense of this command. God commands us to make a real choice, and in the making of that real choice, it confirms you are indeed elect and called. I've got a friend, he was a member here a few years ago, and a very dear friend.

He's a dear friend. He's very precious to me. I love this man. But he is, he's not he doesn't, he's not walking in the Christian faith now. And we still stay in touch, and I still appeal to him. I'm like, man, you gotta come back, and I just, I try to gently appeal to him.

So, he's walking in disobedience. So, he's not living as a Christian, but the thing is that he claims that he is a Christian. And his claim is this theological thing where he says I know I'm a Christian because I'm elect. And so, the theology that he knows is now the excuse that he uses to justify his sin.

So, he, he says because I'm elect, I'm free to disobey God. And it doesn't matter if I disobey because I'm elect. It's like this, that is the most obnoxious kind of determinism that. And we should despise it. That is that is not the way that Scripture presents it. The Scripture presents it as you have real volition to make real choices and you must make them.

And all of those free choices that you make are compatible with God's sovereign decree and God elects and chooses and we've spoken of these things in previous sermons, so I won't belabor the point here. But according to 1 Peter, or excuse me, 2 Peter 1:10, the fact that he is being disobedient is he's not confirmed as calling an election, which would give us every reason to question whether or not he actually is converted, whether or not he actually is even elect.

And so, he is doing the opposite of what we're commanded to do in this text. Now, we don't confirm our calling an election through. It's not just morbid introspection and searching our feelings and being sincere. No, there are actual action steps, there are commands that we obey that confirms our calling in election.

And that is the practice of Christian virtue. Verse 10, if you, so if is the condition, is the. The option here could go one way or another, but if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. And by fall, that is like a falling away, like a committing of apostasy. So, what are these qualities here?

What are the qualities he's talking about? If you were here last week, you heard Wade preach on them. Because it was the text just before the one that we're looking at today. So, let's go back and read the text that Wade preached on last week and this text is what is the antecedent being referred to here about practice these qualities.

Here are the qualities he's got in mind. 2 Peter 1:5-7. For this very reason, here's an effort thing again, make every effort, so it's a command, for you to do something, for you to exercise your power of choice. So, make every effort. To supplement your faith with virtue. So, here's your faith. That is what saves. You're saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, so that's what saves you. Now you take that faith, and you supplement it, you add to it what do you, what are you adding to the faith?

The faith is what saves you, but you add these other things to the faith. You 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.

Those are the things that we are told to put into practice. Not perfectly, obviously but there is an effort that we are Applying by God's grace to advance in these qualities, to practice these qualities. So, God's calling and election means that He has saved you, you've been indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

If you know earlier from the book of 2 Peter, we've talked about His divine power has given us everything that we need for life and godliness, right? We saw that a few weeks ago. So, you have everything that you need already within you by the Holy Spirit. God's calling an election means that you have been fully equipped with everything you need to grow in the areas being demonstrated in the verses I just read here.

That doesn't mean you're a passive robot. That doesn't mean you can just disobey like my friend did who says I'm elect, so it doesn't matter what I do. I said, no, you're, you must confirm your calling an election by living a certain way. God's calling an election frees you and it empowers you to become a virtuous man or woman. Third point, God's calling an election is confirmed through the pursuit of virtue. God's calling an election is confirmed through the pursuit of Christian virtue. So, I told you in the introduction that there's two sub points on this point, and here's the first one. Your calling an election is confirmed with a promise That you'll never fall away.

So, we already read that once. Let's look at it again. Let's look at it again. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm you're calling an election for if you practice these qualities, you'll never fall. There's your promise. But he goes on to say for in this way, in what way? It's in the practicing of these qualities, which if we do them, we'll never fall in that way.

There will be, here's another promise, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So, true Christians who confirm their calling and election through the pursuit of virtue, the pursuit of godliness, you'll never fall away. You need not fear that you'll fall away, that we don't want to fear that. In recent years, we have seen a rise in famous Christians committing apostasy. And so, what I mean is like they openly reject the Christian faith.

And it's happened enough times to where you can see a pattern. These things tend to always go a certain way. And one of the things that I've noticed is that when they tell their story, often it is They are presented in a positive light. They present themselves in a positive light. So, it's either they're the hero that arrived at a conclusion or they're the victim that's running away from, some oppression.

So, in the hero version, there's I set out on a noble quest to find the truth and I looked for truth and I have discovered in my wisdom and experience, my search for truth that Christianity is false and God isn't real and all those things. Another hero version is I've, I set out to break free from the oppressive Christian religion.

And so, they're heroic. Now the other version is the victim version. Which is, I've been hurt by the church. And the church has hurt me, and because I've been hurt, then I know that it can't be true. Or another version of the victim is I just can't handle the hypocrisy. Christians are just such hypocrites.

I can't handle the hypocrisy anymore. And so, I've just determined that Christianity is false. In both cases, they are applying a veneer to really a very simple issue, and that is they don't want to give up their sin. There is a sin underneath that veneer that they're accounting for, but they want to give it a good face.

And if they're walking away from Christians, then they are slapping Christians in the face, perhaps friends and family members and church members that knew them and loved them. And so, they have to justify it somehow. And the way they justify it is to, either they're a hero that's escaping something terrible or they're a victim that's running from oppression.

But underneath it all, it's, and a lot of times, if you look under the hood of the story a lot of times what emerges after that is there's some adultery, there's some affair, there's some they have some desire to affirm like a homosexuality or something like that. They want to escape the pressure of the world that they don't want to be called a bigot or they don't want to be, it's like they are pressured into that decision.

And they're trying to escape that. So, they're making it sound good when really they're just running from trouble. Here's the hard pill to swallow. Not everybody who says they're a Christian. Is actually a Christian. I wish that weren't true, but it's true just because somebody says they're a Christian doesn't mean they're actually a Christian.

They're false converts. And if there were no such thing as false converts, then why would God bother to command us to confirm our calling and election? There will always be fake Christians. I hate to break it to you, but there will always be fake Christians. Now, maybe that scares you. It scared me at one point, and that, that can be a scary thing to consider.

So, what do you do? If it scares you, you're like if other people have fallen away, then who's to say I won't fall away? How can I know that I won't be among those who fall away and do the same thing these other people did? Are we not given an answer here in verse 10? Verse 10 tells us that the authenticity of your faith is demonstrated by the pursuit of Christian virtue.

You confirm you're calling an election. So, the way that you know for sure that you're saved is by practicing these qualities. So, if you're pursuing virtue. Steadfastness, love, self-control, all of the things that we mentioned earlier, that is how you grow in your sense of assurance. Yes, God is indeed at work in my life.

God has indeed saved me. So, we have to distinguish by, we're not saying that pursuing virtue is the means of salvation. Pursuing virtue is the confirmation. Or to put it another way, we're not advocating salvation by works, but salvation with works. But in every case, true Christianity will be affirmed by the pursuit of virtue.

There's going to be some evidence. There's going to be a life of obedience and godliness that you're pursuing. And that includes the promise that if you practice these qualities, here's the if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. That is a promise. I missed it. That is a promise. You will never fall if you practice those qualities.

You will never fall. That is a promise.

Second, sub point. The confirmation of your calling and election comes with the assurance that you are truly saved. The assurance. So, Thank you. God's elective call is what determines ultimately whether or not you are saved. God does all the work. It is not based on anything that you do. It is all the work of God.

Jesus accomplished it all for you. Jesus paid it all. And you confirm that work is indeed true of you and active in your life through the pursuit of virtue, which you inwardly experience as assurance. Assurance, a person who is assurance is a person who is calmly confident that yes, I am in the Lord, I am His child, and I believe that He has saved me.

That's, that is the experience of assurance. So, the objective reality of your salvation is God's calling and election. He is the one that has done it. You are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. That's the objective reality. Your subjective experience of that, your subjective confidence in your salvation is received and acknowledged through the pursuit of virtue.

So, it's not up to you to just look inward and be like, yeah, I believe pretty hard. I'm really believing. And then now I know that I'm truly saved. In fact, there's something we used to do that I regret. I used to be on staff with a crew, so it was a college ministry, and we were trained, and we did this for a while when I was on staff with them.

The training would tell us that after a person would, you go through the four spiritual laws or the know God personally booklet with them, then if they pray to receive Christ, then immediately, the next thing that you do, like you follow up and within, a couple days at most, you try to get right back after them, and then you start hammering home assurance of salvation.

And so, you go through, 1 John, some different lessons in it. And what you do is you try to get them to, it's like you just tell them right away, you're, you definitely are saved without a doubt. And what that does is that conditions them to think, because I read your booklet, I liked what I read at the end, and I prayed the little prayer at the end, therefore, I know with utter surety.

That I am saved and that's not what the Bible tells us to do that. Bible doesn't tell us confirm your calling an election through praying the little prayer and feeling good about it. No, it is actually through the pursuit of godliness. And so, the way that you confirm that you're saved is not I remember praying and I've really felt sincere about it.

In fact, when we sang, I had my hand up in here a little bit because I didn't want to be weird, but I had my hand up a little bit. That's how I really know that I meant it. Whenever I prayed at youth camp, when that's not what the Bible tells us. We're told to confirm it by practicing these qualities.

And that's the command. And that's really an important thing I want you to hear this. This isn't a life hack, which is, hey guys, some of you may not feel very safe sometimes, so let me tell you a little trick I've learned. Pursue some virtue and then you'll feel better about it. That's not, it's not a life hack.

This is a command, a duty, because God wants you, if you are truly saved, God wants you to know it, and to be confident in it. Because, in fact, that confidence fuels further pursuit of virtue. It, that is a good thing for you to receive that, and there's a way to do it. Let me read to you an excerpt from this booklet is the London Baptist Confession of Faith, which was published in 1689.

So, this is really old. And, if you're more of a Westminster man or woman it says pretty much the same thing. The Westminster Confession of Faith there's a lot of overlap between the two. But what I want to read to you is very similarly reflected in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

And there's a chapter and I've got a few copies of this, so I've, I offered these for free. Nobody at the 9 a.m. took it, so there's four available up here for free. One, if you, so if you want what's, what does Christ the King Church really teach? What do they believe? Here's a really good summary of, the big core doctrines that we teach here.

And because it's historic, this isn't innovative. This is something that is historic and it's rooted in people that are much smarter than I am. Very long tradition, and it's lasted for 300 plus years. And so, I offer this to you, not just for theology's sake, but because it is, it could be a wonderful devotional reading.

And, so there's a, and it's very tightly worded, so it's just like you could just, phrase by phrase, every word in there is meant to be. Very packed with meaning. So, I want to read to you an excerpt from chapter, I think it's chapter 18, you know I said 18, it might be 28, it doesn't matter, it's in there.

But this is on the Doctrine of Assurance, and there's four copies up here, feel free to take them, they're free. But here's what it says on the Doctrine of Assurance. It is the duty of all to be as diligent as possible to make their calling and election sure. In this way, their hearts may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit and love and thankfulness to God and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience.

These effects are the natural fruits of this assurance. Thus, it does not at all encourage believers to be negligent. And I love what he says there at the very beginning of this. It is the duty of all. So just like we saw here, it's a command. So, it's not a life hack. It's not a suggestion. This is something you're commanded to do.

Because it is for your good. And the more assured you are, truly assured, then these other benefits flow out of that. Your heart is enlarged. You have peace and joy in the spirit. You have love and thankfulness to God, strength and cheerfulness, and the duty of obedience. Those are wonderful things. Those are blessings that God wants you to enjoy.

Those come, largely as the fruit of assurance. So, I want to wrap up with three exhortations. To different kinds of people here today. And there are three different kinds of people that I want to speak to. And the third kind, there are three different versions. So again, I want to make the outline clear here so you can track with me.

So, I want to speak to non-Christians. I want to speak to Christians that have assurance, that we're talking about, and Christians that do not have assurance. And there's different reasons for that, and that's what I want to speak to. And this will just take a minute. So non-Christians, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, hear this from the bottom of my heart.

All the Christians in this room are delighted that you're here. And we want you to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ. And so that is truly we want you to know Jesus. We want you to receive His grace and for your life to be changed. If you were tripped up by these big concepts of doctrine of election and predestination and that sort of thing, there's, that is never meant to be a, that's not meant to be something you have to figure out.

Because a lot of us, it's difficult. They, you don't have to figure that out to receive the grace of Jesus. To receive the grace of Jesus, you repent of your sin, and you believe. And you call Jesus, save me, I'm a sinner. That's all you gotta do. And then God will produce all the other things in your life.

But, just to hear that we want you to know Christ. to be saved, and for then your life to be changed. And I would be happy to speak with you, any other pastor, anybody like Wade that led music earlier, we'd be happy to speak with you about them. Second group are Christians that have assurance. So, you have received the thing that we're talking about, meaning that you really have this confidence.

Praise God for that. I would say that's true of me. It's like I believe in my bones that God has saved me and that I have nothing to do with it other than just praise His glorious grace for what He did. If you are confident in your salvation, and that's been confirmed in your life, then be thankful for that and let it humble you and not make you proud.

So, it's whatever progress you've made in your growth in Christ, your sanctification, that's not something that you ever have any right to take credit for, because it is the grace of God producing that in you. It is His power that works in you. So, thank God for it, be humble, and continue to pursue it all the more.

Third group. don't have assurance. And so, if you see yourself as a Christian, but you don't really feel confident that you're saved, what do you do about that? And the first thing is ask the question, why not? I don't want to jump immediately to, of course you're saved. Of course you are. Don't doubt that ever.

I'm like, no, maybe there's a valid reason because we're not just, it's not just a blanket carte blanche thing where we're automatically given assurance. It's something that we should strive to confirm our calling an election. So, the fact that you don't have that assurance is an opportunity to reflect.

And so, there are three options that could be before you for why you don't have that assurance. One is that you're just not truly converted. You're, you would be what, perhaps what we would call a cultural Christian. Meaning that mom and dad went to church, grandma went to church. You believe some vague things about God.

You own a Bible. There's, there, there are things in your life that, that are the trappings of Christianity. But there isn't a personal faith in Jesus Christ. And so, if that's you, then what I said previously applies, like repent of your sin, confess all known sin to God and ask God to forgive you.

And I would also very strongly urge you to talk to someone so that they can help guide you. And by someone, a mature Christian or a pastor. That would be me that would be staff, or Eric is the other elder here. You could speak to one of us, but we would be delighted to speak with you about that.

So, you're not truly converted. The second option is that you're converted, but you're disobedient. And so, God has truly saved you, but you don't feel that sense of confidence that you're saved. And the thing is, if you're not obeying Jesus or the Bible, then it's right that you are not assured. That you don't have assurance because assurance is not a thing that is guaranteed.

That's the subjective feeling or the experience or the confidence in your salvation. So, you are objectively saved because God did it. But subjectively, it's a matter of debate because you just don't have that confidence. I want to read you a text here, and this is the last one that we'll read.

This is one verse prior to the one we started in. So, we've been reading verse 10 this whole time. If you back up one verse. Remember he said, practice these qualities. If you practice these qualities, you'll never fall. Here's what he says also before that, whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

So, we're talking because he says you forgot that you were cleansed from your former sins and we're saying this person is truly converted. They have been cleansed from their former sins, but they've forgotten it. And because they've forgotten it, they don't have the assurance. And they're not, they lack the qualities we've been talking about.

And so, they're nearsighted. It's like you're blind to your own spiritual condition. You are truly saved, but because you don't practice or live it out, it's blinded your mind, and you can't give a sober assessment of your own spiritual condition. And so, in that case, what would you do? The next verse tells you, you practice these qualities, and if you do, you'll never fall.

But you have to do the effort of confirming you're calling an election. And the third type of person who doesn't have assurance is you're converted, and you are obedient, and yet you doubt God's promise. And I think there may be a number of us that would slip in and out of this category from time to time.

Towards there, there may be a legalism that's in your mind where it's like you think that you can't be saved unless you have, you've reached a certain level of maturity. And don't forget Satan is an accuser because he doesn't want you to have assurance. And so it could be that you're saved and you're obedient, but you doubt God's promise.

Now if that's you, then it is simply a matter of trusting God's promise and verse 10 gave that to you. If you practice these qualities. you will never fall. So don't worry about it. Don't the freedom that assurance gives you is that you're not fretting all the time because if you're fretting, then you're worried and you're doubting God's promise and you'll be near to the verse before this second Peter one eight says you'll be ineffective and unfruitful in your Christian walk.

So, practice the qualities and rest in God's promise. And that could be a discipline. Ask for friends and city group. If other people say help me, to believe the truth of God's promise and that I will experience assurance. As a general rule, my observation is that people in this, people that would worry whether or not they're saved, if they're really fretting about it, chances are they really love the Lord, chances are they're really converted, and so the fact that they're worrying It's a pretty good indicator, not definitive, but it's a pretty good indicator that they are truly saved.

And so, if a person ever comes to you and says, I'm worried if I'm saved, and it's like there's no obvious sin in their life, everything seems to be okay from your estimation, you might say, hey, the fact that you're worried about it is a good sign. Believe God's promises and take them to 2 Peter 1:10 and encourage them, hey, if you're walking with God obediently, then you should feel assured.

You should receive assurance, and as you grow in Christ, that assurance can grow and bear more fruit.

I'll pray here in a moment, but just consider the action step before you. But the application That is common to all of us is practice these qualities, pursue virtue, not as a matter of legalism, but from the grace of God to confirm your calling and election. Alright, let's pray. Our Father in God, thank you that you want us to be assured of our salvation.

You don't want to keep us doubting and you don't want us to be ineffective or unfruitful. You want us to believe and to enjoy the blessing of assurance. So, Father, I ask you for these things. I pray that nobody in this room will be apostate. I pray that all the true believers in this room will have assurance of salvation.

And I pray for all here that are not believers, or if they're uncertain, Lord, that you will bring them to repentance of faith in Christ, and that they will demonstrate that by confirming their calling and election, and they will grow. And so, thank you, God, that you are a good and gracious and merciful God.

who brings this about in our lives. Help us to believe these promises. We pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.