If Any Man Be in Christ, he Is A New Creature

    There is no subject more important than the nature and extent of the inward change that takes place when a man is savingly joined to Christ. Some think that this sanctification is God's work and that man has nothing to do with it. They say that God saves us, sanctifies us, and works his will in us, and we need give no concern to the matter of holiness. Others think that the work of sanctification and personal holiness is man's work entirely, that God gives the means and waits to see what we will make of ourselves.

    Peter cuts both of these errors out by the roots. On the one hand he teaches that we are the elect of God, born of the Spirit, given a new nature, a new heart, a new direction, and indwelt by the Spirit of God. But on the other hand, this dramatic change is accomplished through knowledge and belief of the truth (2 Thess. 2:13; Mark 16:15-16). We are born again, but we are babes who must mature and grow. God has appointed means of growth; the Word, prayer, worship, fellowship, trials, personal determination and effort (2 Pet. 1:5-8). “God worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure” (Phil.2:12-13).