2 Peter 3: Lives of Holiness and Godliness

Today’s reading is 2 Peter 3.

According to the apostle Peter, God has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of Jesus. Because God has given all we need in Jesus, we should make every effort to grow in Jesus and avoid the influence of false teachers and scoffers. This matters because the Day of the Lord is coming. Though Jesus did not judge the nations when He first came into the world, the world is reserved for fiery judgment.

Since the world is reserved for fiery judgment, Peter asks, “What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness” (2 Peter 3:11, ESV). He calls to mind the judgments he mentioned in 2 Peter 2:4-10. Just as God cast sinning angels in hell and is keeping them until the judgment, the present world is being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. As God once destroyed the world with water, He will one day destroy it with fire. Just as God made Sodom and Gomorrah an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, God will turn the world to ashes and condemn it to extinction, judging the ungodly within it.

However, God takes no pleasure in the death of the ungodly. Rather, He wants the ungodly to come to repentance and live. As Peter explained in his examples of judgment, God knows how to deliver the godly. He knows how to rescue the godly from trials and from judgment. That is, He knows how to deliver those who have repented. He delivered Noah’s family. He delivered Lot. He delivers the godly. What kind of lives do we want to live then? Do we want to indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority? No. We want to lead lives of holiness and godliness.

Since we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells, we must be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish. That is, we must be diligent to be like Christ. According to 1 Peter 1:19, Jesus was a sacrificial lamb without spot or blemish. We must be diligent to be like Him. We might even say we are to be diligent to participate in His divine nature.

There’s that “diligence” word again. We are to diligently add Christ’s qualities to our faith. We are to diligently confirm our call and election. We are to diligently pursue becoming spotless lambs ourselves without blemish. Since Peter has taught us and reminded us, we must take care that the error of lawless people does not carry us away. We must not lose the stability that can only be found in Christ.

To be clear, Peter does not mean we will earn our way into Christ’s eternal kingdom. Jesus was the spotless sacrificial lamb without blemish who ransomed us by His blood. He died for our sins. Apart from Him, we cannot be spotless and without blemish. Only by His sacrificial blood can we be washed as white as snow. However, Peter does mean when the blood of the spotless lamb cleansed us from our former sins (see 2 Peter 1:9), it did so to set us free from sin, not set us free to sin.

Despite what may be popular in many modern churches today, being a Christian is not about making a momentary decision for Christ. It is about surrendering our allegiance to Christ. Being a disciple is not about getting baptized but then living in our fleshly passions. Being a disciple is about following Christ and becoming more like Him. Will we fumble, falter, fail, and fall? Of course. But must we grow? Absolutely.

We are certainly incapable of being godly by ourselves. We cannot be godly without the sacrifice of Jesus and the strengthening of the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 3:14-21). But neither can we be godly if we are giving ourselves over to ungodliness. As we’ve stated in previous posts, “Without God, we cannot. Without us, God will not.”

God has granted us everything we need. Let us give Him everything we are and have. Let us pursue lives of holiness and godliness.

Tomorrow’s reading is 2 Peter 3.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does 2 Peter 3 prompt or improve your hope in God?

2 Peter 1: Confirm Your Calling

Today’s reading is 2 Peter 1.

Augustine reportedly summarized Christian salvation and growth this way: “Without God, I cannot. Without me, God will not.”

Peter demonstrates this dynamic cooperation as he outlines Christian maturity in 2 Peter 1. Apart from God’s divine power, divine promises, divine call, divine election, we could not possibly grow to maturity by our own efforts no matter how diligent. Some, through the centuries, have taken this notion too far. They have claimed this means our efforts do not matter. They have claimed we actually don’t make any efforts ourselves, but only have effort to the degree God has chosen and predestined us to exert effort. This notion, however, flies in the face of Peter’s letter and his instruction to be diligent in our own effort.

Peter considers the foundation of God’s power, promises, call, election settled. His concern is for Christians to exert their effort. Twice he exhorts his audience to exercise personal effort. He begins his discussion of mature growth by claiming we must bring to bear all diligent effort to add the mature Christian qualities to our faith. Then he concludes this list by claiming we must give all diligent effort to make our calling and election firm, sure, certain.

Peter does not mean our calling and election depends on us. He does not mean we are to earn our way into the kingdom. If so, then it would be based on our power. But it is not. It is based on God’s power. Yet, he tells us to exert our power.

No doubt, this seems like double talk and becomes confusing. Allow me to share an illustration to clear up the point. Consider the Israelites standing at the edge of the Promised Land after they had been delivered from Egyptian bondage. By their own effort, they could not conquer the Promised Land. They didn’t have the skill, the acumen, the strength, the power. Yet, God told them to go take the land. They could take it, not because they had the ability, but because God has the power and God was with them. The question for them was not if they believed they were strong enough to take the land, but did they believe God was strong enough to take the land using them. Sadly, the first generation didn’t try and fail. Rather, they failed to take the land because they failed to act on God’s promises and power. The second generation did not succeed because they exerted perfect effort. They failed in multiple ways. They succeeded because they made the effort God directed.

Israel’s initial failure and later success helps us see the question we must ask ourselves as we hear Peter’s double exhortation to make every effort. Not do we believe we are strong enough to mature? Not do we believe we have the capacity to make our calling and election certain? But do we believe God has the power to grow us, establish us, and confirm us? If we believe God is strong enough, then we will make the effort because we know our effort is not alone but is anchored in God, multiplied by God, made effective through God.

God richly provided an entrance for ancient Israel into the Promised Land not because they were strong enough, but because He was. But He did so only when they believed His promises enough to make the effort to take the land. In like manner, we will only grow to maturity and partake of the divine nature when we believe God is so powerful that He can mature us as we make the effort to conquer sin and corrupt desire in our own lives. That belief, that faith, that trust, that allegiance is not demonstrated in words and statements. It is demonstrated in action and effort. Often flawed and faltering action. Often failed and fumbling efforts. But we keep making our effort, weak though they may be, not because we think we’ll finally accomplish something, but because we know God will accomplish something through us when we make the effort.

Will you make the effort? What quality will you diligently work on today? How will you work on it? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tomorrow’s reading is 2 Peter 1.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does 2 Peter 1 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Seeking the One

Today’s reading is Matthew 18.

Okay, okay, we are supposed to become the least, the last, and the lowly. Further, we are supposed to value the least, the last, and the lowly. But what about when the least, the last, and the lowly become the lost? What about when they become exactly the kind of person we always knew they would. We knew they wouldn’t last. We knew they would abandon the fold. We knew they would decide to go into sin. We tried to warn you about that one, that’s just the kind of person that one is.

You know what Jesus does in that case? Jesus humbly leaves the ninety-nine that are sticking with the flock in the mountains and goes out looking for the lost one. Jesus values that least, last, lowly, and lost one greatly. So should we.

In fact, that is what the entire paragraph from Matthew 18:15-20 is all about. Sadly, we too often view that paragraph as the steps we take to withdraw from someone. No doubt, if someone refuses all our efforts to draw them back into the fold and flock of God, we will have to take extreme measures of discipline. But this paragraph is actually about all the effort we take to bring them back. Regrettably, we’ve gotten ourselves in a day and age where whole churches are so afraid of upsetting someone or hurting their feelings, we just let them wander off on the mountain side where they are completely vulnerable to attack from wolves and from the great dragon. This paragraph is actually about how much we care and desire to bring them back. We go after them. If they won’t respond to us, we take a couple others with us. If they won’t respond to a handful of us, we mobilize the whole flock. If they won’t respond to the whole flock, we must discipline, but even then we don’t give up. We mourn. We pray. We do not treat them as enemies, but as fallen siblings.

The arrogant and prideful kick these least, last, lowly, and lost to the curb with a “Good riddance. We are better off without them.” The humble seek them out and strive to win them back.

Are there any you need to seek out today?

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 18.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. Why is it so easy to quickly give up on those who stumble, falter, and fall away?
3. How do you want people to treat you if you stumble, falter, and fall away?
4. What advice would you give to help us reach out to the fallen and encourage them to come back?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?