If you have your Bibles with you, if you will be opening to Second Peter, chapter three, this is where we are going to be spending the majority of our time this evening. And we will look at this entire chapter, and hopefully the things that we pull out of it will be things that will be beneficial to us as we think about this concept of biblical transformation. We've been thinking about this for the past couple of days, and in those two days, through the lessons that we have been looking at we have made the observation that transformation begins with new life, that without new life, transformation cannot happen. We might be able to change our lives in the sense that we become better moral people, but we are not truly going to be transformed in the biblical way until we have new life. Because it is that new life that we have in Christ that facilitates the ability to be able to change to be the kind of people that we are called to be as children of God. And we've observed that this is a lifelong process, and it is something that is not going to be fully realized in this life, but it will finally and fully be realized in the life that is to come, in the new creation that God has prepared for his people. And we've also observed that although we may be Christians, we still live in a world that has fallen, a world that is filled with sinfulness, and as a result of that, that continues to threaten the new life that we have in Christ and the transformation process that we are engaged in. As the Apostle Peter said in Second Peter, in First Peter, chapter five and verse eight, that Satan is a roaring lion and he is seeking whom he may devour as he roams about. We are involved in a spiritual conflict, as the Apostle Paul makes clear in Ephesians chapter six, a conflict in which we are fighting against the spiritual host of wickedness. And so it becomes very challenging, and because of these powerful threats that work against us, transformation becomes a difficult process, and it's a process, as we talked about this morning, a process that can, in fact, be stalled, and in some cases, it can come to a screeching halt, and therefore it must be readjusted. People have to be refocusing, and therefore focusing upon the eternal home, begin that transformation process once again. And the only way that we are ever going to be able to survive all of these threats that come upon us is by being successfully transformed into the image of Christ. As the Apostle Paul said in Second Corinthians, chapter three and verse 18, that we are being transformed into this image of Our Lord, from one stage of glory to another stage of glory.
So as we address this last lesson, we're going to be thinking about, how can we do this successfully? This is what this lesson is going to be covering, successful transformation. Before actually begin the lesson, though, let me just take a few some brief moments here to, first of all, thank the shepherds of this congregation for inviting me to come and to be here. I have not known the majority of you folks, although I now have grown to have some new brothers and sisters that I am fully aware of, I've always known of this congregation for as long, I guess, as long as I've been preaching. But this is really the first time I've ever been able to interact with you all, and it's been just a pleasure for Pat and I to be here with you and to be able to experience this time together, as you have invited me to come and speak on these particular subjects. It's also a thrill for me to be with Kenny and Beth again. I don't know if many of you know this, but Kenny was our, I guess you could say our last preacher before COVID hit. In fact, all of the brouhaha that was flowing around COVID at that time was during the week that Kenny was with us in a gospel meeting up in Kingsport. And there was an occasion in which we thought, okay, what are we going to do? And we decided, well, he's here, let's let him preach. And you guys have got just a wonderful, wonderful blessing having Kenny in your midst. Kenny is a great, I've known Kenny for a long time. I think I probably knew his dad better than I knew him, though, when I was a young man going down to Bald Knob, Arkansas, I met Gary and his and Kenny's mother, and I can't recall your mom's name right off the top of my head. But Gary was such a kind man, and still is. I was surprised to hear that he is still living, and I'm thankful that he is. He is such a great guy, and his influence throughout that part of the country has been profound, and it is demonstrated clearly in Kenny, the kind of influence that Kenny has had over these years. And you guys are indeed blessed to have Him in your midst. And I'm thankful that Pat and I could be with Kenny and Beth again, and to continue this friendship that we have with one another. And it's been good to be with to be able to see Mike and Bailey. I know that you have a family that's going to be leaving you, and in a way, it's almost like karma, that's the way I look at it, because Mike and Bailey left us, and they came down here, and we were just-- we were so sad that they had to leave us. We're thankful that they found this good church family to be able to work and worship with. Of course, this is Mike's home growing up here Bailey, I think, is from Kansas, and she came to Alabama, but she came via Tennessee. And I think, quite frankly, if you would ask her, and she would be honest with you, I think she would tell you she likes Tennessee better than she does Alabama. But nonetheless, she has to be here with her husband. And it's been so good to be able to to see Mike and Bailey and to see Roman. Roman was actually born in Kingsport, and they left right after that, just a few weeks after he was born, and I'm glad to see that they are doing well here. And it just been great to be with you guys. It's been a just a profound experience for me, and I hope that the things that I have shared with you and my learning has been things that have been helpful to you as well.
Well, let's get into this now, and we're addressing the question, how can we be successful in this process of transformation? Well, it is abundantly clear that, if you've been listening to the reading of the texts that we have been using, even in the morning, reading that the young brother read for us out of Romans chapter 12, that there is a phrase that continues to pop up, and that phrase is the idea of the renewing of the mind. In Romans, chapter 12, verse two, the apostle Paul says that we are "no longer to be conformed to this world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds." And then again, in the passage over in Ephesians, chapter four, which begins in about verse 17, and goes down through verse 24. You will note in verse 23 that when he talks about putting off the old self, and then he begins to talk about putting on the new self, he puts something in between, and that is, he says, "You have to be transformed by the renewing of your mind." So this is a concept that surfaces time after time, particularly in the writings of the apostle Paul the renewing of the mind. But the question is, what is that? What are we talking about when we talk about, what is Paul talking about when he talks about, this idea of the renewing of the mind? Well, I want to suggest to you some things, and you may disagree with this. I don't think there would be much disagreement, maybe some nuances of it. But I want to suggest to you some things that I think helps us to be able to understand a little bit better what this idea of the renewing of the mind really is all about. And I want to suggest to you that it is the idea of our minds being made new through the working of the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit is indeed working in our lives through the power of the Word of God. There is this passage in Hebrews, chapter four and verse 12 that teaches us that the "Word of God is living and it's active and it is sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and spirit and of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart." That's the power of the Word of God. But what we have to do is to understand we cannot separate the power from the Word of God from the one who gives it its power. And that is the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians, chapter six and verse 17, where the apostle Paul lists the panoply that we are to be putting on, that is the spiritual armor, that we are to be putting on in order to be successful in this spiritual conflict that we engage in, he mentions the fact that there is this one weapon which he says, It is the sword of the Spirit, and that, of course, is the word of God. So it is the Spirit of God that gives the Word of God this full strength and power to be able to help us in this process of transformation. And so I submit to you that what we are talking about here, in a sense, is just simply a reprogramming of the way we think. It is allowing the spirit to work in our lives, so that we change the way that we are thinking about things. And it is through the new life that we have in Christ with that we are thus then enabled to be able to think properly as we think in the way that God wants us to be think, which then results in behaving or acting in according with the way we are now thinking. But our thinking has to be changed by the way the Spirit works in our lives through the power that is inherent within His Word.
Now we're going to unpack a little bit more of that as we go through this, but I think initially that's what we need to understand. But the question then comes, okay, so you're changing the way you think. If that is the case, then that begs a question, and that question is, what do we need to be thinking about? What should we be thinking of in order to be able to assure this successful transformation? Now, there are a lot of different ways in which I was thinking about this lesson and how this could actually flow. And it could very well be that you could go to a text like over in Philippians, chapter four, in verses eight through nine, where the apostle Paul is telling people what they need to be thinking about and how it is that they need to be thinking the things that are true, the things that are honorable, the things that are just. And that would be a fair way of unpacking this concept of the renewing of the mind, what we need to be thinking about. We could go over to Second Peter, chapter one, and in the verses, beginning there in verse five and going down through verse 10, there is a list of what are called Christian virtues. And so he talks about things like adding to your faith, virtue, to virtue, knowledge. And he continues to go on with this list of virtues that is to be continued to added to your life, which he goes on to say that if these are things that you are doing, and if you are fruitful in all of these things, then you will be successful. So that would be a way to look at it.
In other words, there's all kinds of ways to look at this, but what I want to do is to take a different tack. And I want us to look at a passage over in Second Peter, chapter three. In fact, that's what we're going to be looking at, is Second Peter, chapter three, because I believe that what we find in this chapter are four things, four characteristics that are absolutely required if we are going to be successful in being transformed by the renewing of our minds, and thus be successful in our transformation. Four things that we're going to talk about. And the first one is this, and that is that the renewing of the mind requires being mindful or remembering some things. In Second Peter, chapter three, there in verses one and two, Peter writes, "this is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the Holy Prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles." And so what he is saying here is that I want you to remember some things. Now what does that mean then to remember? Well, it's evident that Peter understood the importance of this. It was important for him, as a preacher and as a teacher of the Word of God, to constantly remind those to whom he would address the things that he needed to address to them. It was something that was so profoundly in his mind that he needed to continue to remind them of things that they already knew. You see this in the beginning of Second Peter chapter one, when in verses 12 and 13, he writes, "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 is right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder." And what this does, it seems to me, is it illustrates that in order to be able to keep ourselves spiritually alert, to keep ourselves with respect to having our spiritual senses very keen, we need to constantly recall to mind the things that we already know. And I think that there's something that, perhaps incidentally, we might be able to learn from this that I took as something that was very helpful for me as a preacher. And I'm sure that anybody who is worth his salt in preaching, or those who perhaps have the aspiration of wanting to be a preacher someday some things that they need to understand. And that is, and I think that Kenny would agree with this, and any of you who have been about the work of teaching or preaching, that you would come to the understanding, and you would agree with the fact that the majority of preaching and teaching is not the constant introduction of some new idea. It is not the constant new insights that you might have been able to acquire. And all of those things are important. And I'm not saying that that shouldn't happen. As a matter of fact, I do believe that if a man who has the goal of wanting to teach the Word of God is not digging deeply into the Word of God and sharing with his audience the things that he has learned, then he's not worth his salt as a gospel preacher. But what I am saying is this, and that is that what preaching really consists of is primarily things that you folks already know. I know that that's the case, and so what we need as preachers is simply to remind you of these things that you already know. And that's what Peter was saying here. This element of remembering is something that I do not believe can ever be over emphasized when it comes to be being transformed by the renewing of our minds. And the reason why this is so important is because of the very nature of human beings. It seems to me that the nature of human beings is that we have a tendency to forget very easily. And let me give you an example. I was trying to think of an example that was so, just so audacious that has occurred here recently that we've already forgotten about. And I think what it would be, this is the one that I came up with, and has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with the fact that this was something that was totally audacious, and that is that a man who is running for the presidency almost got his head blown off, and we've already forgotten it. That's just the nature of human beings. We forget things, and we forget things quite easily.
You know, the Greek spoke of time in this way. They said time wipes out all things. And the idea is, I understand what he with. What was being said here is that the way the human mind functions is that it's like, according to the Greeks, at least, and I think that they're right, that it's kind of like a slate with things written on it. And as time continues to progress, what happens is that time is like a wet sponge. And if you've ever been around a chalkboard and you've written something on that chalkboard, if actually using chalk, or I guess, you could use the the eraser too as well. But whenever you have that up there and you take a wet sponge and you wipe that chalkboard, it's gone. It's not there anymore. And that's the way that the Greeks perceive the human mind, that there are things that we easily forget. And this being the case, we are in the continual situation of not so much needing to always learn new things, although, again, I think that there is a place for that, but it is more important that we remember the things that we already know. And so remembering is, I believe, one of the the primary ways in which we are involved in this renewing of our mind and thus making this, this transformation process possible. And what we especially need to remember is what we have already learned from the Word of God, wherever we are in our pursuit of the knowledge of the Word of God. You know, there's this interesting statement in Philippians, chapter three, verse 16, where the apostle Paul encourages the brethren he was writing to there, he said, "Only let us hold true to what we have attained." Now, I am confident that I do not know everything in the Bible, and I am confident that you folks don't know everything there is to know in the Bible. There is going to be a continual pursuit of knowledge. That's just the nature of Biblical studies. We want to learn more, but up to a point, we have acquired the information that we need, the information that we need, for instance, to know how to become a child of God, the information that we need to know how to live as children of God, and all of the other facets that go along with that. But as we continue in the process of learning, we are adding new things to our treasures of knowledge, and what we have to remember to do is to remember what we've already learned. And so wherever you are in your spiritual journey of obtaining knowledge. I believe what Paul is trying to get us to understand is that we need to hold true to what it is that we have already attained. We need to be loyal to the truth that we already know, and we need to remember those things.
Now, why is that so important? Well, there's all kinds of reasons for that. I think it's true because first of all, it is through the biblical text that we learn God's plan for salvation, how we can be saved from our sins. As Paul said in Romans one, verse 16, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God into salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek." It is through the word of God that we learn everything that we need to know that pertains to life and godliness, equipping us with the necessary information about how to live godly lives, bringing glory to God. A Paul said to Timothy in Second Timothy three verses 16 and 17, that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped, perfectly equipped, unto every good work. "This is how important the Word of God is, and it's through God's word that we receive the strength that we need to resist the temptations of Satan. Probably the greatest illustration of that is Jesus, when he was being tempted by Satan during the 40 day period of time in which he fasted prior to His earthly ministry. And Satan came and he tempted him three times. And you will note particularly in Matthew's account of this, over in Matthew chapter four, that in every temptation, Jesus responded by saying, It is written. Jesus knew the word of God. Jesus is the Word of God, so he knew it, and he knew how to resist the temptations that were being put upon him by going to the Word of God in order to be able to resist those things. It is through the word of God. God that we receive the comfort when we go through the trials and the difficulties of life. Psalm 119, verses 49, and 50, says, "Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life." And to illustrate it this way, in the years that I have been preaching, I have done many, many funerals. I'm sure Kenny's done many funerals too, as well. And one of the things that I've noticed is when there are people who are suffering, and particularly when there are people who are on their death bed, they are not calling from-- for some philosopher from some college somewhere, to come and try to explain to them the nuances of death and dying. You know what they're calling? They're calling a man who is a man of God with a Bible in his hand. And the reason why is because there's comfort in that. God's Word provides us with that comfort that we need as we go through the trials and the difficulties of life. It is through the word of God that the Spirit works in us. It is the sword of the Spirit that He wields in order to be able to make us the kind of people God wants us to be as we are being transformed into the image of God. God's word has great moral power. It has great spiritual power. It is inherent within it in order to be able to commend the righteous and to condemn the unrighteous. Again, as the Hebrew writer said, it is a sword that is dividing things, and as it divides, it is separating that which is righteous from that which is unrighteous. We can know what is right because God has given it to us within His Word. And so because of what God's word can do for us, it is imperative that we be mindful of it, that we keep it in our memory, and that we bring it to our remembrance, recalling what it says. And particularly is that true when we find ourselves in difficult challenges that we may have to go through in life. We need to be remembering the Word of God.
But now let's look more specifically at what Peter says we need to be remembering in the context of Second Peter, chapter three. And what he is saying is that we need to remember what God's Word says about the coming judgment. Here again in Second Peter three, beginning in verse three, "knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires, they will say, Where is the promise of His coming? For Ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished, but by the same word, the heavens and the earth that are now existing are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly." What Peter is telling these people is, you need to remember these things. You need to remember the predictions of the prophets. You need to remember the commandment of the Lord, and you need to remember the teachings of the apostles. And Peter is telling them about this judgment that is coming, that they needed to be mindful of, and they needed to remember. Well, I will tell you that, like in Peter's day, there are scoffers today who deny that God is going to come in judgment. In fact, there are probably more people who even deny that God exists. But we know better, and we know better because we know God's Word. We know what God's Word says. We know that His word has the power to counteract the evil words of those scoffers, just as it did during the times in which Peter penned the words that he wrote here in Second Peter, chapter three. And when the Lord does, in fact, come back in judgment, as God's word said, he is going to do, then we are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we are going to be judged. Guess what? Based upon His Word. As Jesus himself said in John 12 and verse 48 he did not come to judge, but he came for the purpose of saving people. But he said, but there is one who will judge you the words that I have spoken, these will judge you in the last day. And so what I'm saying is that if we are mindful of God's word, remembering what it says, and especially what it says about the coming judgment, then our minds will be renewed and transformation will be successful.
Number two is this, we need to renew our minds by not overlooking. That is not forgetting what is really important. He says in verse eight "But do not overlook this one fact beloved that with the Lord one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years is one day." Now, if you're using a different translation. Like, for instance, if you're using the New King James Version, the word there where it says overlook, is actually the word forget, but do not forget this. And what it does is it comes from a word that means to be hidden from or to be unaware or to be without knowing, and it carries the idea that is almost the exact opposite of being mindful. Being mindful means to remember, not overlooking means don't forget. I think it was Will Rogers who said something to the effect that we are all ignorant, just in different ways. But I am wanting to say to you, and I think that this is important, that we understand that as Christians, when it comes to righteousness and when it comes to holiness, there is no excuse for ignorance. Now that doesn't mean that we're all going to be on the same level of understanding this righteousness and holiness, but what I am saying is that there is no excuse for being ignorance of it, because we have what God has given to us within His Word that makes it possible for us to know. By the grace of God, we were provided access to his word which taught us how to become Christians. And by this continual grace of God, we have the same access to the Word of God which teaches us how to live as faithful Christians. Again, that's what Paul said to Timothy in Second Timothy 3:17, that it instructs us in righteousness. Now it takes time to learn what God's word has to say, and we have to learn to be patient with one another as we are on this journey of knowledge. We have to be patient with ourselves as we're on this journey of knowledge and learning. What does God want for me? What does God's Word say about these things? But the fact is, we must be learning and we must be applying what we learn so that we can be pleasing to God. There is no good reason why any Christian should be ignorant of what the Lord expects of his children, unless it is because of laziness or because of indifference.
Well, what are we not to forget? In this context, Peter says, "Do not forget that with the Lord, one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years is one day." And I think that what he is telling us here is that we should not be forgetting the Lord's timetable. Time is not the same to God as it is to us. We try to quantify time. We have minutes, we have seconds, we have hours, we have days, we have months, we have years. And you could go on and on as as to how we quantify time, that's none of that's true with God. A day is like 1000 years, and 1000 years is like a day with respect to God. And when we think of the 1000s of years that have come and gone, and we look at how little the time is that we're actually here, then I think what happens is we begin to put things in perspective, and we begin to feel very insignificant. You know, if you live to be, let's say, just 100 years old, do you realize that if you were to draw a timeline within the 1000s and 1000s of years of human history, you are a speck in that little bitty timeline. And that being the case, we judge everything through the lens of what we know through the time that we have been here. But when we begin to look at it through the lens of God, it becomes much more significant because we become more insignificant with respect to time itself. You know, when you think of the slowness of human progress, especially when it comes to spirituality and morality, or in the modern day in which we're living today, you see how it is the apparent digression of spirituality and morality, particularly within Western culture, and particularly within American culture, it's very easy to become discouraged. Discouraged to the point of being pessimistic and becoming cynical about everything, and that's because we are viewing it through the time lens that we're familiar with. But there is great comfort in knowing that God does not work in time. God works in eternity, and it is against the backdrop of eternity that things then begin to appear in their true proportion, and that's when they begin to assume their real value. And so what I'm suggesting here is that we need to not forget the Lord's timetable. One day is as 1000 years and 1000 years is one day. For those of you who are earlier, we have prayed about the coming up, the upcoming election. And you know what? The election is going to come, and it's going to go. Whoever is going to become the next president the United States, it's going to come and it's going to go. And there is no need for us to become cynical or to become pessimistic however, it turns out. Because the fact that is when you look at it through the lens of God's timetable. 1000 years is as a day, and a day is as 1000 years.
We also must not forget the Lord's salvation, as he says in verse nine, "the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." It is God's desire that every human being be saved. And it's for this reason that he sent Jesus into this world. As Jesus said in Luke 19, verse 10, "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." And as again, Paul wrote to Timothy in First Timothy two, verses three and four, "this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth." And according to Peter, the only reason that God has delayed the Day of Judgment is to give further opportunity for people to repent and turn to him in obedient faith, as he's pointing out there in verse nine, that God is not slow to fulfill his promise, but what he is the reason why he's being so patient, he says, is because he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Verse 15, count the patience of Our Lord as salvation. And so for those of us who are Christians, we should understand that every day that comes to us is a gift of mercy from God, and we should also understand and we should not forget the Lord's salvation. We should be busy taking advantage of these days of mercy, and we should be looking upon them as days of opportunity. Paul gave that encouragement to the Ephesians over in Ephesians chapter five, where in verses 15 and 16, he said, "look carefully then how you walk not as unwise, but as wise making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." And so we need to be taking advantage of the opportunity that we have, because every day is a blessing from God. Opportunity, therefore, to spread the gospel so that others can be saved, because that's why God is being so patient. He wants people to be saved, opportunity to be involved in service to our fellow man, opportunity to be able to develop a deeper relationship with our Heavenly Father. We cannot forget these things, his timetable, his salvation, and we cannot forget again the day of the Lord. As he says in verses 10 through 13, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done in them will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." And I think what Peter is doing here is he's further elaborating on what he said earlier about what we need to remember. We need to remember that the Day of Judgment is coming. We need not to forget that the Day of Judgment is coming. The fact is, we need to keep this always before us, as seen by his emphasis being placed on both the positive side, remembering it and the negative side, don't forget it. And when it comes, and this is what we need to understand, when it comes, the day of mercy is over. It's gone. Now it is the day of judgment, and justice is going to be handed down. So if we are going to have a continuation of the renewal of our minds and accomplish successful transformation in a world that can easily distract us and even draw us back into it, then we must not overlook and we must not forget, what God expects of his children, how his timetable works, his gift of salvation that He wants to give to all, and his coming in judgment.
Number three is this, the renewing of the mind requires that we be diligent. Verse 14, "therefore beloved, since you are waiting for these things be diligent, to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace." This word diligent is a word that's interesting. It means to hasten to do a thing or to exert oneself. And the idea expressed in this word, as I understand it, is that it is this concept of the great and the earnest effort that is to be put forth in an intentional way, a way in which it is directed, especially in light of the fact that the judgment of God is coming. In other words, to be diligent is speaking of the tangible demonstration in the life of a Christian of what one remembers and what he doesn't forget. In other words to not simply be hearers of the word, but as James said, to be doers of the word. So how is our diligence to be demonstrated? We'll look again in verse 14, to be diligent, to be found by him, how without spot or blemish, and at peace. Now I want to look at the last one first, and then we'll come to the first one. First of all, I think what he is telling us is that we need to be diligent in the relationship that we have with God. To be able to be found at peace with him. When Jesus came to this earth, His purpose in coming was to bring about peace, to bring about reconciliation between God and man. That's the way that the angels announced his birth, as it's recorded by Luke over Luke, chapter two and verse 14, that this Prince of Peace was coming into the world and peace would be upon the earth. Well, what kind of peace? Obviously not conflicts between human beings. It's peace between God and man. And when there is peace then between God and man, then you have the very foundation upon which now you can build peace with each other, but it has to begin with the Creator. Because if we are not at peace with our Creator, how in the world do we ever think we're going to be at peace with his creation? So we need to be diligent in being individuals to be found at peace with God, particularly when He comes again.
How is the maintaining of this peace then accomplished? Well, that takes us to the first part, and that is as we conduct ourselves, how we live our lives without spot and blameless. And this tells us that in the way that we live our lives, we should be always striving to demonstrate godliness and holiness while we inhabit this earth. And again, that's I believe, what Peter was trying to say over in first Peter in the first chapter, in verses 15 and 16, when he said, "But as he who called you is holy. You also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy." Now that's not to say that we're never going to commit a sin, because, as we talked about this morning, we will commit sin. As John pointed out in First John, chapter one and verses eight through 10, "if we say that we have not sinned, we are deceiving ourselves. We are liars. If we say that we haven't sinned, we're making God a liar. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So we are going to sin. But what I am saying is that we are doing our very best not to sin, so that sin no longer has dominion over us, as the Apostle Paul argued in Romans chapter six. We have died to sin. And having died to sin, it no longer is our master, but God is our master. Living in a fallen world, we're going to slip up from time to time, but we are doing our very best not to sin, to allow God to be the one, to direct our lives. And so we are living our lives in such a way that we are going to be found without spot and blameless when He comes again. And if we are diligently continuing putting these things into practice, particularly what we have learned from the Word of God, then our minds will be renewed and transformation will be successful.
And then there is this final one, and that is that the renewing of the mind requires that we take care .Again here in Second Peter, chapter three, he says in verses 17 and 18, you, "therefore beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to him, be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." This phrase, take care, or again, the New King James, uses the word beware. It uses one word instead of phrase like you see in the English Standard Version. But whatever the case, it comes from a word that means to watch or to be on guard, which is the way that it's actually translated in the New American Standard Bible. It says to be on guard. And the idea here is not to become over confident, but to always be watchful, knowing the kind of moral and spiritual danger that is constantly around us. We have to constantly be on our guard, so as not to be carried away by the moral and the spiritual false teaching. And thus we wind up losing our stability as we journey through this life, succumbing to the ways of evil. We have to be careful. We have to be cautious. And why is this something that is so important? Well, it's easy for a Christian, I think, to be able to grow over confident in his own spiritual strength. And if and when this had even happens, one with the over confident attitude becomes the most vulnerable to becoming a victim of false teachers. Resulting in falling away from the Lord. Paul told the Corinthians in First Corinthians, chapter 10 and verse 12, "if you think you stand, take heed lest you fall." If we are going to have a continuation of the renewal of our minds, and if we are going to accomplish successful transformation in a world that is filled with false moral teaching and false spiritual teaching, then we have to take care. We have to be constantly on guard against these teachings and against their pervasive influences. And the way this is accomplished, it's what he says in verse 18, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ. To him, be glory, both now and to the day of eternity, amen." To grow. It is a process that we are all involved in and that we can succeed in, if indeed we take to heart the very principles that are taught throughout the pages of the New Testament about how to be living our lives now that we have new life in Christ, Jesus.
So as children of God, because of the new life that we now have in Christ, we are called to be transformed. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, to live lives that have been changed, to put off the old man and to put on the new man created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. And this is successfully accomplished by the renewing of our minds, by the reprogramming of the way that we think. And it's because of the new life that we have in Christ that we are now enabled to think properly, being able to discern what truly is the will of God resulting in holy living. This process of renewal doesn't happen automatically, but it is in something it is, in fact, something that is intentional. You're not going to stumble into this. It is something that you are planning on. It is intentional. As we seek to purposely have our thinking readjusted and brought into alignment with the will of God that is revealed within His Word. We still live in a fallen world, and it continues to threaten this transformation. And so if we want to be successful in our transformation, we need to heed Peters guidance. To be mindful of God's word, remembering what it says in all that it says, wherever we are on that journey of knowledge, but especially to remember what it says about the coming judgment. And we must not forget what God expects of his children, knowing his timetable, and knowing, because his timetable works, that we are going to turn it over to him, and to know of his gift of salvation that He wants to give to all, and of His coming judgment. And we must be diligent continually putting into practice what we have learned from the Word of God. We must take care constantly being on guard against false moral and spiritual teachings, and in making sure that these characteristics are part of our lives, then I want to suggest to you that we are going to be people who will succeed in this transformation process.
Now let me conclude by making these observations. As this happens, you are going to begin to feel uncomfortable. At least, I hope that you will begin to feel uncomfortable. It's already been pointed out that we are strangers and we are pilgrims on this earth, and that's the way we need to feel, like strangers and pilgrims on this earth, it is a good thing to feel uncomfortable. A man by the name of Carl Truman, who's a theologian, and he's also a social critic. He made this observation, and in fact, it was so profound to me. If you ever get an email from me, you'll see this in the footer of my emails. And he said this, it should be the Christian's natural state to feel that things or that times are out of joint and that we do not belong here. Folks, we don't belong here. We are belonging in a new creation. A new creation that God is preparing for his people. That's where we belong. And because we belong there, we have to understand therefore, that in Christ, we have new life. We are a new creation, as Paul said in Second Corinthians, chapter five and verse 17. And now, because we are this new creation, we are being transformed into the image of Christ. And for what reason? To get ready to take our place in the new creation that God has made for us. We do not belong here. And if life feels out of joint to you, good, because that's the way it should be, we are indeed heading to a new creation. We are already a part of it. And thank God for that. Would you bow your heads with me?
Please, Father, we are so thankful to you for Jesus, we are thankful to you that through Christ, we can have new life. And we are grateful to you, Father, that because of that, we are now a part of that new creation that is yet to be consummated. We pray that you will help us to prepare ourselves to take place in this new creation as we seek to be transformed into the image of your son. Please bless us in that effort. May we be successful, and may we find our home with you in eternity. Once this life is over, we beg father that the time will come, that you will return soon, that it will be hastened by the way that we live. And we ask Father that when that time comes, that you receive us into that beautiful place that you have prepared for your people in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you so much for this weekend and for listening to me, and I hope that the things that we have thought about and studied about have been encouraging to you.
