This study was first taught on July 23, 2013

Topic: The Essence of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives (6.6): The Necessity of Works (3)

(use the audio to study)

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Background
Having seen the downside of not adding the supplies of faith to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ two weeks ago, last week, we proceeded to see the upside of making every effort to not just add the supplies of faith to our faith in Christ, but also, to have them in abundance in our lives. We saw that as these supplies are abundantly ours, our faith becomes active and effective, and, we become useful and productive believers in Christ, who intimately know their Lord, and whose experience of Him, is evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit, being made manifest in them. This, we noted to be the crux of the Lord’s desire for those who are His; thus, when He comes to have fellowship with us, either individually or collectively, the critical issue is “Do they know Me?” Through our intimate knowledge of Christ, we come to know the Father intimately; our worship of God is in spirit and in truth; and, we enter into eternal life.

We saw that we grow in our knowledge of the Lord as we interact with the word of God, and fellowship with other believers in Christ, all, through the Holy Spirit; and that, as we yield to the Holy Spirit working the supplies of faith into our lives, we become more and more intimate in our knowledge and experience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit who brings us into this intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, provided we are yielded to His operation in our lives. And, as we become more and more intimate with the Lord, He can then entrust us with His message of salvation to a dying world, along with the authority and empowerment to release His power and glory into the lives of others, in order to bring them to the knowledge of eternal salvation! Thus, our evangelism, missions, and church planting, must not just be in word only, but in the demonstration of the Spirit, which is at work in us; manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, or, the nature of Christ. For this reason, we ought to make the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, our priority. And like Paul, the apostle, our one mission in life ought to be that we may know Him—intimately and experientially!

Scripture Text(s)
2 Peter 1:1-11
Tonight, we shall see further motivation for ensuring the presence and abundance of the supplies of faith in our lives. It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will give us all, the full assurance of salvation, as we continue to grow in these graces, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Easy-to-Read Version of the bible translates the portion of v.10 of our scripture text, which we shall focus on tonight, thus: “My brothers and sisters, God called you and chose you to be his. Do your best to live in a way that shows you really are God's called and chosen people ...” and the Good News Bible translates this same portion of v.10 thus: “So then, my friends, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience …” In other words, there is an earnestness that is required of us to ensure that God’s calling and election, and thus, His salvation, which He has so freely bestowed upon us is not lost due to a careless, reckless, and lackadaisical attitude in attending to the things of God, and of His kingdom.
1 Peter 2:9; Romans 9:11; Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Matthew 22:1-14; Romans 8:28-31, 35, 38-39; 11:29; Ezekiel 28:11-18; Mark 3:13-15, 16-19; John 6:66-71; 12:1-6; Acts 1:15-20; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 1 Timothy 6:6-14, 17-19, 20-21; 1 Samuel 16:1; Hosea 4:11; Revelation 7:4-8; 2:2-7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Philippians 2:12-15; 2 Peter 3:14-18.

Conclusion
The bible tells us that we ought to work hard to ensure that our calling and election by God is secure. Not that we can earn our calling and election, which is purely by grace; but we must work hard to ensure that our calling and election is not lost through our own carelessness, recklessness, and lackadaisical attitude. We have seen how people who were called and chosen by God for His purpose, ended very badly, losing the eternal bliss promised them by the Lord. Yet, it was not because God was not able to keep them to the end; rather, it was because they did not work at making themselves acceptable in the Beloved (Jesus Christ).

The bible tells us that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, yet we find people who acted contrary to God’s word; defiled the gifts and calling of God, end up losing the eternal life that they ought to have enjoyed. For example, Lucifer was made perfect, but when pride entered into him, he was driven out of heaven; and even though his gifts were not taken away, he nonetheless perverted them and till today, uses them for evil purposes. We have also seen examples of Judas Iscariot, Gehazi, King Saul, and the tribe of Ephraim; all of whom lost their calling and election because they did not work hard to remain in their calling! They did not turn away from a life of sin, which manifested as covetousness, greed, disobedience, and, unrepentant and obstinate idolatry. We have seen how the church, or, believers in Christ in Ephesus were being warned to repent of their lack of fervent and unfeigned love for God, lest they lose their calling and election, and, by extension, eternity with God.

When God called and chose us, we were not perfect; however, He has made provision for our imperfections to be made perfect, not just by means of pronouncing us justified, but also, by the operation of the Holy Spirit Whom He gave to us. Our cooperation with the Holy Spirit, as He works in us the supplies of faith, after we have believed in Jesus, ensures the security of our calling and election. Unfortunately, when we refuse to apply the word of God in our day-to-day living, we make a mockery of our calling and election, and are in danger of losing same; just as we make ourselves of no use to God, if we are not growing in the things of God. Therefore, God continually encourages us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and to keep growing in the supplies of faith or graces, continually, as the way to making it very clear that God has indeed called and chosen us.

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