From Simon
Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.
To those who
received a faith equal to ours through the justice of our God and savior Jesus
Christ.
May you
have more and more grace and peace through the knowledge of God and Jesus our
Lord.
By his
divine power the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own honor and glory. Through his honor and glory he has given us his precious and wonderful
promises, that you may share the divine nature and escape from the world’s
immorality that sinful craving produces.
This is
why you must make every effort to add moral excellence to your faith; and to
moral excellence, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, endurance; and to endurance, godliness; and to godliness,
affection for others; and to affection for others, love. If all these are
yours and they are growing in you, they’ll keep you from becoming inactive and
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever lacks these
things is shortsighted and blind, forgetting that they were cleansed from their
past sins.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, be eager to confirm your call and election. Do
this and you will never ever be lost. In this way you will receive a rich
welcome into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
So I’ll
keep reminding you about these things, although you already know them and stand
secure in the truth you have. I think it’s right that I keep stirring up
your memory, as long as I’m alive. After all, our Lord Jesus Christ has
shown me that I am about to depart from this life. I’m eager for you always
to remember these things after my death. (II Peter 1: 1-15, Common English
Bible)
Peter is
doing here what I remember I longed for and looked for as a hungry young believer (and
still do): Don’t coddle and baby me; I wanted the truth of God that would make
me alive, propel me in the direction of the pursuit of God. I wanted to be
challenged. I was tired of sleepwalking in church services, going through the
motions without missing a beat.
The Word of
God is full of challenge. The more familiar we become with God’s words, the
more He can teach us the things we need to know and do. It hasn’t stopped after
40+ years for me! By God’s grace we will never stop pursuing the Lord, learning
and growing, like Peter talks about.
Part of
encouraging one another is this idea of spurring one another on to greater
commitment to God and His words, challenging one another, like Peter did when
he was still alive, to determinedly continue doing those things which cause us
to grow up in Jesus. Because Peter saw to it that his words were written down, you
and I can be challenged and encouraged to do what he says. And we can in turn
challenge others to join with us in hot pursuit of God and the only life worth
living.
May we live
up to who we are, “… a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
for God’s own possession,” not for the purpose of elevating our individual self-esteem
to feel good about ourselves, but to fulfill our calling as a group of people with
the same faith in Jesus Christ, “that (we) may proclaim the excellencies of Him
who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Peter 2: 9)
’Til the
whole world knows.
