Welcome to this week’s blog. This week I’m focusing on 2 Peter, Chapter 1: 3-20. First, for a little background on the book of Peter. Peter was a devoted prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Peter, a faithful servant to Jesus, knew his calling and election. Throughout the book of Peter, he emphasizes the importance of God’s confirmation of our individual callings and elections; God’s divine plans for our life. Do you know your calling and election? Do you understand why God created you for His purpose?
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – 2 Peter 1:10-11.
The book of 1 Peter was written just before the Roman Emperor (Nero) began his persecution of Christians. In 1 Peter, Peter wrote a letter of encouragement to the Christians who painfully suffered for expressing their faith in various public realms. The book of 2 Peter was written 2-3 years later (~ A.D. 66-68) when Nero’s persecution of Christians had intensified. In 2nd Peter, Peter wrote a letter to the churches, warning them against “false teachers.” The second letter to the church was because Peter saw people doubting their faith and turning away from Jesus. Peter recognized the works of evil doers and false teachers and wanted to encourage Christians to never give up or fall away from their divine beliefs.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil doers – 2 Peter 1:3-4.
If you are truly a Christian, and your faith is real, it will be evident in your godly actions and behavior. If you are diligent and persistent in your Christian walk, you won’t waver or revert back to your old sinful ways, or allow yourself to be betrayed by false teachers or evil doers, as Peter clearly warns us in scripture.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ – 2 Peter 1:5-8.
Ultimately, all of us hunger for an abundance of God’s grace and peace, but if we are unwilling to put forth the effort to get to know Him through the study of scripture and devoted prayer time, then we will be left behind and swallowed up by the corruption of today’s evil doers. Prophets like Peter, even though they were human, spoke from God, as they were led by the Holy Spirit. This means that scripture did not come from the creative work of the prophets’ own invention or interpretation. God used the prophet’s talents, education, and cultural backgrounds to help them write the message He intended to be faithfully communicated through the very words they wrote. The bible is not a collection of fables of human ideas about God. God and the Holy Spirit led the prophets to convey the message to us, even thousands of years later and to every generation.
As Christians, what falls from our lips, and our actions and behaviors must remain godly. If we do not have the knowledge of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we will never understand our calling and election in our life. To grow in our faith, we need to know God. How do we get to know God? By following Him and gaining knowledge through His teachings. Open your bible to where the prophets, who walked along side of Jesus, share their first-hand experiences. We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain – 2 Peter 1:18.
Jesus, God in the flesh, taught His disciples, and faithfully communicated His prophetic message through the Holy Spirit, and not by the creative work of the prophets. And now, thousands of years later, we remain faithful in studying, growing in our faith and believing in God’s promises, His Word. We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophesy of Scripture came about the prophet’s own interpretation of things – 2 Peter 1:19-20.
We are to stay true to His Word, the bible, and reject the false teachers who misrepresent God’s truth.
The 1 and 2 books of Peter have taught me four primary truths in God’s Word, scripture:
1. Scripture is “truth” and the “authority” above any other man-made doctrines
2. Scripture is the predominance of our “faith”
3. Scripture warns us of “Christ’s return” and how to get ready
4. Scripture - no prophecy of scripture comes from man’s own interpretation, but only by the messenger, the Holy Spirit.
If you are ready and eager to follow God’s calling and election for your life, then you need to make every effort to ensure your actions and behaviors are aligned. True faith is making every effort towards a life of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. God Bless until next week,
Debra Pauli Unstoppable Believer
Scripture Quotes: Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV) / English Standard Version (ESV)
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