Don’t Forget The True Meaning Of Salvation

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to this Spirit-filled word by David Enshu. When you catch a word, you have caught God. May you catch a word today that will cause God to change your story.

[0:13] Be blessed. 2 Peter chapter 1, reading from verse 1. Samuel Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

[0:35] According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, and besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge, and to knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity.

[1:14] For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacks these things is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he has been purged from his old sins.

[1:32] Wherefore, the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[1:50] Here ends the reading of his holy word. Father, thank you for the privilege to hear your word. We pray that let us hear from you as we hear your word.

[2:03] Enlighten our eyes. Open our eyes. Show us things about yourself which man cannot teach us but you. Thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. When we talk about salvation, the reason why you are a Christian is because you are saved.

[2:28] There cannot be a Christian who is not saved. Okay? Being a Christian means you are saved. It's not because your mother gave birth to you and your mother goes to church.

[2:41] Your father is a bishop. That does not make you a Christian. Being a Christian is a personal experience. It's so private that it cannot be outsourced or none can do it on your behalf.

[2:58] Being a Christian means you have been saved. So that means you have salvation. Now, if you say you have salvation, you can't talk about salvation without knowing the danger you have been saved from or what you have been saved from.

[3:17] So salvation requires one to know. If you have salvation, then you should know what you've been saved for. You can't say I'm saved and then they ask you from what. You say, ah, really? I didn't really think about it.

[3:29] That means you are not saved. Think about the things I'm saying. I'm saying something quite strong. If you don't know what you have been saved from, you are not saved.

[3:43] But I thought I've been going to church. Yes. Many, many, many people will be going to church who will go to hell as well. Yeah. Plenty. Those both in church and those who are not in church.

[3:55] You see, being in church does not guarantee your salvation. The fact that you are in church doesn't mean you are saved. How many of you used to be in church and you knew you were not saved?

[4:07] I used to be in church. You know, I'm in church now. But I used to be part of a church. But I was not part of the church. I wasn't part of the church of the living God.

[4:21] I was part of a church, a local church. There are people who are part of local churches. In fact, on the register, your name is at the top. But when it comes to the church of the living God, God's own church, the church is for God.

[4:41] It says that 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, talks about that. Verse 15 said, But if I delay, I write that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself.

[4:54] Where? In the house of God. And what is the house of God? The church of the living God. Okay. So the church of the living God equation equals to the house of God. Okay. So where is the house of God?

[5:05] The church of the living God. What's the church of the living God? The house of God. It's also same as the body of Christ. And for some people who don't understand it, especially, they like certain strange teachings and certain teachings.

[5:19] Someone, I met somebody, said, You know, all this is not about church. It's about kingdom. It's about kingdom. You just don't understand the work of Jesus. That's why. That's why you are talking about it. The church is equals to the kingdom. Don't separate the two.

[5:31] There's no difference between the church of the living God and the kingdom of God and the body of Christ and the house of God. No difference. No difference. So the church of the living God is the kingdom of God.

[5:43] In Acts chapter 20 verse 28, Take it to yourself and to the flock over which God has made you overseer to shepherd the flock of God which he bought, he purchased.

[5:55] So to shepherd the flock, to shepherd the church, the church of God. Who owns the church? Who owns the church? No man owns a church. Pastor David doesn't have a church.

[6:07] Those of us who keep saying my church, my church, we have to disease from that. The church belongs to God. So it says the church of God.

[6:18] You can be part of a church but not part of the church of God. So I used to be part of a church but I wasn't part of the church of God because I was not born again.

[6:30] My sins had not been forgiven. I had not repented. And Jesus was not living and feeling at home in my heart. So now, when you become saved, you must know you are saved on condition that you've been told what you have been saved for and what saved you.

[6:51] What you have been saved from, what you have been saved by, and what you have been saved for. What you have been saved from, what you have been saved by, the instrumental cause of your redemption or your salvation.

[7:06] Why are you saying you are saved? On what grounds? So you must know what you have been saved from, what you have been saved by, and what you have been saved for.

[7:18] Those things are just basic in Christianity. If you don't know what you have been saved from, I doubt if you are saved. If you don't know what you have been saved, those two things, what you have been saved for, you grow through teachings.

[7:34] You find out more. But what you have been saved from and what you have been saved by, these two things, if you don't know, you are not saved. What have we been saved by?

[7:44] By the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah. By the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is what guarantees our salvation. Somebody asked me, so is the death of Jesus important?

[7:55] Must all Christians believe in the death of Jesus? A child asked me that. I said, yes, that's what makes us Christian. So if you don't believe that Jesus, no, the question was, so what if I don't believe that Jesus died?

[8:06] What happened? I said, then you are not a Christian. Ah. So the person asked, so if you don't believe that Jesus died, you are not a Christian? I said, yes. Being a Christian means you believe Jesus died, not died because everybody died.

[8:17] People are always dying. So what's exceptional if Jesus died? That is the, that's where the rabbi is the road. Yes. Jesus' death was not an ordinary death. It was a theological term, a vicarious death.

[8:30] He died on the behalf of others. People who were supposed to die, he said, stand aside, let me die for you. The wrath of God was supposed to come upon us. He said, stand aside, let me take the wrath from God.

[8:42] Let me take it on your behalf. So now God doesn't have any grounds to exercise or to direct his wrath towards you. Why? Because Christ took it all. Now, if you are in Christ, then you are not, you are not in debt to God.

[8:57] You don't owe God sin. Your sins have been paid for. Because the wages, Romans chapter six, the wages of sin, sin has per day. You go ahead.

[9:10] The police may not have a problem with you, but there is a pay day coming. The wages, somebody say wages. Wages. Wages of sin. So when you sin, Bible says, the soul does sin shall die.

[9:25] When you sin, death is waiting for you. Death is the natural consequence, the normal by default, the normal consequence of sin.

[9:37] So because of our sins, death was waiting for us. Someone needed to die. I'm not talking about natural death. Death being shattered from God. So Bible says that, God demonstrated his love to us in that whilst we were yet sinners, Christ died.

[9:54] Romans chapter five, verse eight. Christ died for sinners. Christ died for us. So he didn't die for himself. That's what makes his death different.

[10:05] He didn't die for, in first Peter chapter three, verse 18, for Christ suffered once for sins. Not his sins, for our sins. His suffering was because of our sins.

[10:16] So what you are supposed to suffer, he did it. He took it on your behalf. He suffered once for our sins. The just, he's the just. He suffered for the unjust. Can you imagine? A good person suffering for bad people.

[10:27] You can't tell me you are not bad. You. People may not know, but you know. Sometimes there are thoughts that go through your mind. It's, if people find out, they'll be shocked that such a nice person like you, you can't even think this way.

[10:43] It says that, the just for the unjust. Christ died for our sins. The just for the unjust. Why? The reason why he died is that he might bring us to God.

[10:56] God. That's why he died. He died so that you, the one he died for, not every human being, those who accept his death, he brings you to God. He died that he might bring you, he might bring you to God.

[11:11] That's the job of Christ. You can't get to God by yourself because you have too much sin. In sin did your mother conceive you. So before you were born, that's why as soon as you arrive, you cry because sin has arrived.

[11:25] Another sinner, he said, ah, ah, ah, he said, in sin did my mother conceive me. Yeah. In sin did my mother, you were conceived in sin.

[11:39] Somebody said, no, because of fornication. No, no, no, that's not fornication. So you were born sinner and Christ had to come and pull you and bring you to God.

[11:52] How did he do that? He had to, first of all die for you. He died for you. That's why he had to resurrect. Because a dead man can't do squat. So he had to resurrect. Now, after he has paid for it, he resurrected and brought you to God.

[12:07] This is what the Christian life is about. Shout hallelujah. So, being saved means you have been saved from Matthew chapter 1 verse 20 1, the angel told Joseph that he will save his people from their sins.

[12:30] For he shall save his people from their sins. What does he save us from? What does he save us? So, if you say you have been saved, means you have been saved from your sins. But why do I need to be saved from sins? That's where the difference between a believer and an unbeliever comes in.

[12:45] An unbeliever doesn't see anything wrong with their sin. As for sin, we all know you have it. There are a lot of things unbelievers does not know. An unbeliever doesn't know. But one thing unbeliever will always know that he has sinned.

[12:59] That's why they have to find a way of saying, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in God. But then you ask him, what do you do about your sins? I don't have sin. That's why you say you don't believe in God. So, everybody has sinned.

[13:13] And the problem with God is he's so pure, he can't accommodate sin. One, you can't come to God with your sin. And not just that, we sinned Adam in Adam against God.

[13:24] So, his judgment is also against us. So, to save us from our sins means to save us from the state of being sinners, one, and to save us from the judgment of God against sin.

[13:36] So, then when you are born again, you enter with humility. You enter like a salam seeker. You are coming to seek refuge.

[13:50] Those who come to church with pomp and pageantry, you are not saved. You are not saved. When Peter finished preaching that powerful message, they said, my brethren, Acts chapter 2 verse 37, what shall we do?

[14:02] What shall we? They were cut to the heart. They realized that, in fact, we are sinners. How did they? Look at the last statement he made before they said what they said. The last statement said, this Jesus, this same Jesus, whom you crucified, God has made both Lord.

[14:16] Ah, we have crucified them. Ah, ah, ah, so our sins, we have been found in our sins. Then they said, men and brethren, they tell you all this church, they are always condemning people. They are too judgmental.

[14:28] When they want to sin, they say we are judgmental. The word is catchy, is the word. When they want to, when you want to sin, you will not, you will not stay in our midst and sin continually, comfortably.

[14:44] You have to feel discomfort about your sin because you are a saint. Listen church, we are saints.

[14:56] That's who we are. We are saints. We are saints. We can't be comfortable with sin. It doesn't mean we are sinless, but we definitely sin less. We are saints.

[15:13] Please, let us not trivialize the issue of sin. I say it doesn't matter, God understands. Excuse me. If you look at what this just went through on the cross, that should tell you God's, God's approach towards sin.

[15:26] It's okay, it's okay, you know, we are all human beings and you know, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. He said, the grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Titus chapter 2, verse 11 and 12.

[15:38] Teaching men that we should deny worldliness. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldliness, we should live. The church's job, we are here to encourage one another to live somebody right.

[15:53] So if we are quiet on that and only emphasize, no, verse 11, only emphasize verse 11. Verse 11, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all. If you have caught it, then the next statement will become operative.

[16:10] The same grace that saves you, teaches you. So, I question your salvation if sin doesn't mean anything to you. You can't believe the wrong gospel and be truly saved.

[16:25] The gospel that saves, first of all, makes you realize you're a sinner. Hello? Tell my friends, my colleagues, some of the preachers, humanist preachers, who say you don't have to mention sin.

[16:41] How can people be saved if you don't remind them of their sins? Jesus said, I didn't come to save the righteous. I came to save sinners. So then, your entry point is admitting that you are one of the sinners.

[16:54] It is not something that we should frown on. It's something that we should celebrate. Paul said, this is a true saying. First Timothy chapter 1, verse 15, said, this is a true saying and worthy of acceptation.

[17:09] He said, the truth and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world. Why? Why? To save sinners.

[17:21] And he said, of whom I'm chief. I mean, I'm a chief sinner, but God came to save me. That's the good news. The good news is only for sinners.

[17:34] If you're not a sinner, you wouldn't need Christ. It's not breakthrough first. Salvation first. He said, the things that accompany salvation.

[17:46] So, salvation comes first and all the other things are added. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 9. The things that accompany salvation.

[17:57] They accompany salvation. They don't precede salvation. So, I want to establish the fact that everybody must understand if you are a Christian that you have been saved.

[18:14] And if you know you have been saved, what have you been saved from? Your sins. Okay? And the judgment of God because of your sins. It's so important. Bible puts it this way. Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 19, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.

[18:32] How? Not imputing their trespasses against them. So, you are faulty. But God said, I want to bring you through Christ so I won't impute. I won't hold what I have the legal grounds to hold against you.

[18:43] I won't hold it against you because Christ has legally also taken it off. So, Christ's death was a judicial death. In other words, our redemption has been paid for.

[18:56] It's not arbitrary. When I say arbitrary, someone thought, okay, you know what? All right, take this. No, God didn't just arbitrary give us redemption. Christ actually, judicially, is legally paid for.

[19:09] Yeah. I just want somebody to understand that our salvation is judicial. Yes. It meets all the requirements and the standards of God's justice.

[19:21] It's very important. This is what charismatics don't know. I'm just generalizing it. Okay. We only took our breakthrough. And you don't know what you have been saved from.

[19:33] All you know is Satan abound you. Satan abound you. Satan abound. Satan abound. And Satan knows that you are very ignorant about a lot of things concerning your salvation. So, when the Bible says that grace will be multiplied to you according to the knowledge, 1 Peter 1, verse 2, according to the knowledge, watch this.

[19:57] It's very important. Knowledge of what? Is that only God? Jesus Christ. Ah, so he separates God and is Jesus not God? Is there? No. God. You have to know God and you also have to know what, when we say Jesus, what we actually mean.

[20:12] When Jesus, what, this whole Jesus thing, you have to get a better understanding of it. Thank you. There are people in church who don't know Jesus. They are born, but they don't really know much about this Jesus.

[20:23] Oh, no, he died, innit? He died. He resurrected, innit? That's it. Yeah, that's why you are not growing in grace and peace.

[20:34] You got to know Jesus. God is not, you have to know God, the creator, the greatness, his greatness, his plan. You have to know God so we can fear him and we have to know Jesus so we can appreciate our salvation.

[20:48] You are in church and you have lost sight of the fact that you've been saved from sin. People only remember they have sinned when they are in crisis. And then they want God. They want God. They sneak into church and sit at the back hoping that maybe they are humble.

[21:04] Why do you wait for crisis to remind you of your sinful state? Now, watch this. This is where I'm going. When you come into church, when you become born again, when you are part of the church of the living God, you shouldn't forget that you have been saved from your sins.

[21:20] It helps you to save better. But there is the tendency, there is the inclination, there is the human proclivity to forget you have been saved from your sins.

[21:36] Yeah. You have actually been saved from your sins. Jesus saved us from our sins. But one thing I found out about even our salvation from sins is not only saving us from sins of our sins.

[21:46] Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7 talks about how we have redemption, forgiveness of sins, Colossians chapter 1 verse 14, we have redemption in him, forgiveness of sins. Say forgiveness of sins.

[21:57] So we have been forgiven. The thing you have done, God said, I've waived it because of Christ's death. I've forgiven you. So we have been forgiven. But I found out that we have not only been forgiven, but we have also been cleansed.

[22:12] Yeah. We have been cleansed from our sins. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 11, it talks about how we have been cleansed. Yes. It says that such were you, were some of you, but ye were washed.

[22:25] Wow. But ye were sanctified. You were just, we have been washed, washed. God has a washing machine and the washing machine, the detergent is the blood of Jesus. And then when you come to church, he forgives you and then throws you into a washing machine and then you show up.

[22:39] Wow. The only thing is your ex doesn't know you have been washed. Yeah. Yeah. Your feelings might still remain the same, but really in the sight of God, you have been washed.

[22:54] Because Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, it talks about how he attained or secured purification and went to sit up in heaven. Yes. Wow. It says, having, appointing all things by the word of his, of his power.

[23:07] And when he had by himself done what? Paged our sins. No, no. Not just forgiven. Paged means to clean it. In Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14, it talks about how through the eternal spirit has purged us.

[23:23] He has cleansed us from our sins. It says that how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself with our spot unto God to do what? Cleans. He has to cleanse us.

[23:34] So the blood of Jesus cleanses us in the Hebrews chapter 9, the same Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22, it talks about according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood.

[23:46] So Jesus' blood cleanses us. Now, don't forget the reason why God would run to listen to your prayer is because you have been cleansed, you have been purged from your sins.

[23:58] Now, I'm going somewhere. The reason why you are in church and you can show your power and it doesn't create problems in heaven. You can lift up holy hands without rotting, darting.

[24:12] How? You? You know, there are people who look at you, there are some of you here, there are old friends who look at you and still, check out, this guy, he really changed this girl. Yeah, some of you people who know you and the way they know you, they still don't believe that you are a changed person.

[24:28] And your salvation is actually a witness to the goodness of God. Yeah. You are saved. How many of you are saved? I'm saved.

[24:38] Saved from your sins. Saved from the judgment of God. And not only saved from sins, but we have been cleansed. Cleansed from our sins. In Titus chapter 2, verse 14, I quoted verse 11, I quoted verse 12, I left out verse 13, but let's go to the verse 14 and see.

[24:54] Titus chapter 2, verse 14, who gave himself for who? Us. Why did Christ give himself for us? He didn't die for himself. That's what makes his death unique. He gave himself for, who gave himself for us?

[25:05] Why? That he might redeem us from every lawless deed and do what? Purify. He purified for himself his own special people.

[25:19] Zealos forgive. We have been purified. Don't forget that. Let Satan get an advantage over you. Because there are things Satan knows about you, which he can use against you and make you go.

[25:34] He will make you feel so bad. You are not sure if this thing is actually taken care of. So, if there is something you should do, don't forget that you have been purged from your sins.

[25:47] Don't forget in your Christian journey, it has bad consequences if you forget. That's when you'll be in church and say, I don't talk to this one. I don't talk to this one. You are quarreling.

[25:58] And that's why you'll be in church. And it gets to a time you are sinning comfortably. It doesn't matter. Listen. Being born again, I need to get this very clear.

[26:13] Because there are people who are preaching a different gospel. As though, you know, what they behave like no one sins. They are all sinless. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Nobody is perfect. How many of you know that?

[26:24] Because some people might be reminded that nobody is perfect. Because this one, it doesn't take science to know that nobody is perfect. Nobody is perfect. So, the fact that you are born again, the genuine sign you are born again is not indicated or reflected by the perfection of your life.

[26:43] So, you'll see someone, they all call themselves Christians, and so on. He calls himself Christian. He's Christian. Just that, he had a bad day and he slapped you. He had a bad day.

[26:59] Yeah. He's still a Christian. He had a bad day and did something really bad. He's Christian. He ended up in fornication. Bad. Bad. Someone say bad.

[27:10] Bad. He's Christian. He watched pornography and he's still Christian. Yeah. He hasn't changed the fact of who he is. You know, but just that, man, some of you know that sometimes you are struggling and you are trying, but you are striving hard, but man, I let myself down again.

[27:27] Man. And so, I don't think this thing I can do. Who told you you can do it? Why have you forgotten that your sins have been cleansed? Thank you. So, it's not determined by the perfection of your life, but by the direction of your life.

[27:43] If you are a genuine Christian, it is indicated by the direction, not the perfection. You fall, but you get up and your heart is towards the things of God. Your heart is towards church.

[27:54] You can't stay out of church comfortably when you are genuinely born again. There is so much in the New Testament. I'm about to say something very strong.

[28:05] I don't know. I'm surprised that many, many humanist pastors in our times don't know this because they are looking for attention. That's right. They are not working for God. They are just working for themselves to look for acceptance.

[28:19] A pastor should never target acceptance. He said, Paul puts it this way. For if I please men, I will not be the servant of God. If I seek to please men, if I seek to please men, Galatians chapter 1 verse 10, for do I now persuade men or God or do I seek to please men?

[28:38] For if I still please men, I would not be a born servant. I can't do it. People will find some of the things you are saying quite strong but you are a courier.

[28:52] You might deliver somebody's warrant for arrest but it's not you. Arrest warrant. They say I should bring your cotter and CCJ and they begin to chase you and want to fight you.

[29:05] So it's important for us, let me just go back to the word, to remember that we have, our sins have been purged. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 26, that he might wash him with the washing of water by the word.

[29:21] So we are meant to be washed and purified and that's good news that you can appear before God faultless. David puts it this way in Psalm 51 verse 7, he said, purge me with hyssop.

[29:37] He said, purge me with hyssop. Hyssop is like bleach. But David, when he look at the things he has done, ordinary detergent is not good. He need that bleach.

[29:47] I haven't, if you agree with me. He said, purge me with hyssop that I shall be clean and I shall be clean. I need this. So that is what we have come into when you are in church.

[30:00] Stop trivializing what it means to be a Christian. And I was going to say something, yeah, about more, sometimes pastors become so based on humanist tendencies.

[30:11] So we leave the core things of scripture. The core things of scripture are not celebrated by fallen men. The only way you can accommodate fallen men within your congregation if you water down the core things of scripture.

[30:26] We have been purged from our sins and that's good news. So it doesn't matter who you are. You didn't show up by yourself. God is the puppet master. He brought you here so you will know that those sins can be forgiven.

[30:38] And not only those sins can be forgiven, not only forgiven, you can be cleansed from the sin. There's no trace of that sin in the record of heaven. There's no trace of that sin on you.

[30:52] Hallelujah. Then that will inform your worship. It will inform your giving. It will inform your service. When you are serving in church, you have this in your mind that I have been purged from my sins.

[31:04] Every activity, spiritual pursuit is informed, is built on the platform of the fact that I have been forgiven. My sins have been purged. That's why God drove Adam and Eve from the garden.

[31:15] Sin drove them away. You can't go back to God in sin. We became the enemies of God. We became the enemies of God. We are born like that in that condition. And then Jesus comes and releases, redeems us and delivers us and saves us.

[31:30] How can you forget that so quickly? But it's possible to forget. It's possible to forget. You are living a church life you've forgotten that your sins have been purged.

[31:42] God, there are things about you if we know we will still struggle to relate with you normal. But God knows it all and actually loves you more. He said, where sin increases, grace much more abounds.

[32:00] Romans chapter 5, the end. So now, what's the point? Now this leads me back into the text. The text I've been reading. This is very important because you won't appreciate what the text is saying if you don't get the point I've just made about forgiveness of sins.

[32:20] If you don't get it, you won't appreciate what the text is saying. And the other thing I will say because of time, I will leave that and then, now let's look back to the text. Let's look back at the text. First, second Peter chapter 1, it talks about, watch this, there are things that we have been given when you are born again.

[32:33] When you are born again, what are some of the things you get in the fundamental, based on what I've just said? What do you get? Forgiveness of sins.

[32:44] I mean, it's just something that comes automatically with being born again. I'm forgiving. You can stand in the middle of nowhere and say, I'm forgiving. Woo-hoo.

[32:55] Ha-ha. Woo-hoo. Woo-hoo. Woo-hoo. I'm forgiving. I'm free. I'm free. Woo-hoo. It comes with salvation. And when you look at the text we read earlier on, it talks about, whereby he has given us great and precious promises.

[33:12] That also comes when you are born again, you now have access to promises of God. So, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 20, it says, all the promises of God in him are yes. So, all the many, many promises of God, you can't walk with God in the field of God without stepping on promises because it's littered with promises.

[33:28] And it says, all the promises are yes in Christ and in him, amen, to the glory of God. So, when you are in Christ, when you are born again, you also have access to the promises of God you can claim.

[33:40] That's what we do most of, and charismatics have well been taught, to know how to claim your healing, to know how to claim your marriage, to know how to claim your redemption, to know how to claim your breakthrough. These are all accompanying salvation.

[33:53] So, when you are in Christ, you shouldn't be denied these things, but just that many people don't know. So, you have access to their promises. And then it says that, whereby are given to us great and precious promises that by these, verse 4, you might be partakers of the divine nature.

[34:09] When you are born again, you have access to the divine nature. You don't only have human nature, you also have divine nature. Come on! Come on!

[34:20] Come on! You are not ordinary! You are not ordinary! And you have been called into this. You just, you didn't call yourself.

[34:31] When he calls you, it inspires you to call on him to be saved. So, God called, I will go into the calling if the time permits. But, we have these things in Christ.

[34:43] We have these things. We have forgiveness of sin. We are called. We have promises, we are surrounded with promises. And we are also partakers of the divine nature.

[34:55] These are basic things that we have in Christ. Now, watch this. He said in the verse 5 that, and besides all this, giving all diligence unto your faith, virtue.

[35:06] And to virtue, knowledge. And to knowledge, temperance. And to temperance, patience. And to patience, godliness. And to godliness, brotherly kindness, which is brotherly love.

[35:17] I talked on that last week. And to brotherly love, charity. So, you cannot be saved without faith. If you say you are born again, you have to validate it by saying you have faith in Jesus.

[35:30] Without faith in Christ, you are not born again. Without faith in Christ, when you say you have faith in Christ, that means you are, you accept that his death was sufficient for your redemption, for your salvation, and the forgiveness of your sins.

[35:44] You accept, because God has accepted. This is faith in Christ. It's not just, I believe, I believe nothing will happen to me. No, no, no, no, that's not what I'm talking about. We are talking about, you have faith that Jesus is your savior.

[35:55] So, what makes you a Christian is faith. They just shall live by faith. It's not works. It's not how nice you have behaved. Behaving nice doesn't make you a Christian. That's right. But being a Christian, I force you the opportunity to add your faith, virtue, behave nice.

[36:12] To virtue, knowledge. To knowledge, self-control, brother. Control yourself. They lived in times where orgies were the norm of the day.

[36:25] Just eat and have fun, party around, sleep around, do whatever pleases you, city life, money. That's the times they were living. And Peter had to tell them, add to your knowledge.

[36:38] Self-control. Self-control. So, it's not a donation. You have to now develop it. The father, you are born again. How many of you know after you became born again, you still have things to really work on?

[36:52] Sometimes the self-control is like, reel yourself back in. Because some aspect of your life is coming out. It's something, you are about to give birth to a nasty baby. So, you have to pull that baby in.

[37:04] And then let the Holy One come out. Self-control. We all need it. That's why you find out, they say, a pastor has done this. A pastor, genuine man of God, but he miss applying self-control or developing self-control.

[37:19] And if you don't develop it and add to your faith, brother, you will be humiliated. Even though, born again. Yeah. You can be a church leader. You can be a president.

[37:30] You can be in the choir. You can be a musician. You can be a deacon. In itself, self-control, I thought, is dealing with yourself. Patience is dealing with others and situations. How to keep yourself in dealing with others and situations.

[37:42] Self-control, how to keep yourself in dealing with yourself. So, it says that to your faith, add virtue. That's moral excellence. To moral excellence, add knowledge.

[37:52] You got to know. Don't be ignorant. You are in church, but you don't know squad. I know Jesus. Who is Jesus? In what way? You have to know. Know your word. Know your word.

[38:04] But you see, if you don't give yourself to knowledge, you will believe anything. That's right. This whole thing is about tithe and money. You see, you don't know. That's why. So, to your virtue, add knowledge.

[38:15] Don't just be a nice person. Know. Know the word. Know the things of God. Add knowledge. Don't be ignorant. Don't celebrate ignorance.

[38:28] At least there are things that people don't know. About medicine. About science. About technology. But please, you can't be a Christian and not know your word.

[38:42] Not know your word. I'm just a nice person. Add knowledge to your niceness. Thank you. Thank you. How can you be saved by faith that is not reasonable?

[38:55] That's the motive. You are not really saved. You must have an intellectual understanding of why you are saved. It must be a reasonable faith. Faith that can be explained like I've been explaining.

[39:07] Right. So, add knowledge and to knowledge add temperance. The self-control. To self-control add patience and to patience add godliness and to godliness add brotherly kindness.

[39:18] How can you practice this without being part of a local church? Those who say I don't have to belong to a church. You can't there are things in the New Testament you can never practice without being part of a local church.

[39:31] So, to godliness add brotherly kindness. That is local church life. And to brotherly kindness add agape loving everybody. Then it's it didn't end there.

[39:44] It says for if these things now look at the text. for if these things be in you and abound they make you that you neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of this knowledge is different from that knowledge I spoke about.

[40:00] This knowledge is epignosis. That knowledge is gnosis. Now, that knowledge is intellectual head knowledge facts knowing facts and this knowledge is an experiential knowledge.

[40:11] There's a way I know my wife you don't know her. By virtue of relationship we live together for almost 20 years. So, I know her in a way that reading about her won't let you know.

[40:23] So, just head knowledge is the gnosis. But this one it said you'll be it will make you if these things watch this if these things now faith is where it starts but now you have to develop your faith for these things and if these things be in you they make you so that you will not be barren or unfruitful.

[40:41] And last week's teaching I taught you about how Christianity the life of God is by default supposed to be fruitful. You're supposed to have fruits. And so the root is faith.

[40:55] The fruit is the love of God. Now watch this and I'm ending now. Today's message I'm not about to preach it. Having had this foundation I can preach today's message in five minutes.

[41:09] Now let's look at the next verse. Let's all read it from the screen if you can see it. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 9 But he that lacks these things I don't think we can just rush and read it.

[41:27] Watch this. He that not like he that lacks what? These things. before you go further you have to establish what the these things are.

[41:42] That's why you read your Bible. He that lacks what things? These things. There's a problem there. If you lack these things there's a problem. But he so you can be born again and still lack these things.

[41:59] You have faith but you lack these things. Because you are saved by faith and not by works but you lack these things. and he that lacks these things there's something.

[42:11] First of all he said let's read it again. Let's go. But he that lacks these things cannot see oh forgotten first of all blind.

[42:32] 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 talks about the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17 talks about how in the futility of their thinking having their understanding darkened talking about those who are not in Christ there's something they don't know.

[42:49] In Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 28 and 29 let's look at it. That's a very important text. Deuteronomy 28 28 the Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of what?

[43:05] Look at the next one. Look at the next verse. Oh you shall grope at noon day. You are groping. As a blind man grope in darkness you shall not prosper in your ways.

[43:20] You shall be only oppressed and blind continually and no one shall save you. So blindness is the natural preserve of the unregenerate.

[43:35] Blind. Someone help me here. Someone help me here. Someone help me out here. Zephaniah 117 said I will bring distress upon men and they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against.

[43:53] Sin will make you not see a lot of things that are meant to help you. Instead of blessing your pastor you will be fighting him. Instead of saying in church maybe I'm too tired of this church.

[44:05] I'm too tired of this church. Alright. Your maddest devils are waiting for you outside. You forgotten where you used to be before you got saved.

[44:17] You ran out. Ran out. Ran out. So he said blindness. In Revelation chapter 3 verse 17 it also makes reference to blindness.

[44:28] He said because you say I am rich I have become wealthy and have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched miserable poor blind. Blind but not knowing.

[44:43] And in 1 John chapter 2 we are reading from verse 9 to 11 said if you walk in the light and you hate your brother you are walking in darkness. He who says that he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now.

[44:56] The next verse. He who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling. This is very strong scripture. I don't know why we modern day Christians don't see these scriptures.

[45:10] If you read the scripture you can never with audacity say I don't like this person. You don't read your Bible that's why. And you are not practicing this Christian thing.

[45:22] Look at the next verse. It's quite strong statement. But the next verse says that but he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded the guys.

[45:39] Now watch this. See that blindness is talking about now in 2nd Peter. It says that he who lacks these things if you lack these things you are blind. You are walking but you can't see properly.

[45:51] And he didn't say only blind. He said suffering myopia. Short sightedness. In other words, life is not just about today, girl. When you are going through crisis and difficult times, you need to see far.

[46:05] You need to see far. Other than that your current condition will make you make terrible mistakes. How many of us have made a decision at the moment and later regretted?

[46:16] I didn't realize I should have made this decision. long sightedness. Don't look at what is happening today to determine your future.

[46:28] Make decisions that you know. See, if you are short sighted, all your decisions are based on what's happening now. Somebody, you are 38, 38 years old.

[46:40] You don't have any degree. And then your brother wants to help you. Your sister wants to help you. Do this course. And the course is four years. Ah, it's too long. But by the time you are 42, whether you like it or not, in four years you'll be 42.

[46:53] You either think far and start it now. So by the time you are 42, you are 42 with degree or 42 with disgrace. you have to see far.

[47:10] The way you are relating to people, your care group leaders, your church, your service, think far. Don't just think now. But if these things are lacking in you, you are blind and you can't see far.

[47:24] But if you are not blind, if you are seeing well, you will see far. That's what it means. If you are actually seeing well, you will see far and you interpret this in the light of the future and what God's promise has got for you.

[47:41] If these things are lacking in you, you said that person is blind, he cannot see far and the last one, you've forgotten that you have been purged from, you see the sins thing, because if you forget that you have been purged from your sins, it's a problem.

[47:56] If you forget that you have been purged from your sins, say, it's a problem. It's going to cost you a lot of the benefits of redemption. And so you are redeemed, but suffering like the unredeemed.

[48:11] You are redeemed, but it says that you are God's. Didn't I think, Psalm 82, verse 5, 6, and 7. It said, I said ye are God's.

[48:21] This is a very interesting text. It said that, I have said ye are God's, and all of you are children of the Most High. Look at the next verse. But ye shall die like, ah, ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

[48:39] You see, you are not working in your status, so look, you are suffering what others suffer. Short-sightedness, blindness, short-sightedness makes you forget that you have been purged from your sins. You can't be a Christian and effective one for that matter and forget that you have been purged from your sins.

[48:55] How do you become a Christian? You know you have sins, you have been purged from your sins. Stay effective Christian by not forgetting you have been purged from your sins. You have been cleansed from your sins. And if you forget, these things are annoying you.

[49:10] Because if these things are you, there is no way you will forget. So develop moral excellence. Add knowledge. Develop it to produce self-control.

[49:21] Develop it to produce patience. Develop it to produce godliness. Develop your godliness to produce brotherly love. Develop your brotherly love to produce agape love. Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry.

[49:36] When God speaks, works show. And the works will surely show in your life. To hear more from David Entry, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and subscribe to Caris Church on YouTube.

[49:50] Don't forget to share and subscribe to our podcast so you're always up to date. Be blessed.