Over the course of this study, we have been looking at qualities we are to add to our faith – moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Now, we are going to wrap up the series by looking at Peter’s conclusion.
“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” (2 Peter 1:8-11).
Let us consider four points from the verses above.
We Must Grow in These Things
Christians need to possess the qualities discussed in this study. When Peter wrote, “If these qualities are yours…” (2 Peter 1:8), he did not use the word if as though it were optional. Rather, it is expected that we possess them. God expects His people to be of a certain character,* and calls us to live up to a higher standard than the world.
Not only must we possess these qualities, but we must continue to grow in them. Peter said they are to be “yours and…increasing” (2 Peter 1:8), and God expects us to grow in this manner. In his first epistle, Peter described how Christians are to be “like newborn babies, [who] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). He closed his second letter to these brethren with an admonition to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
If we possess and grow in these characteristics, we will be useful and fruitful (“neither useless nor unfruitful”) in the Lord’s service. Paul told the brethren in Colossae to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). If we hope to please the Lord – which should be the desire of every Christian – then we need to learn about these characteristics that are pleasing to God and work diligently to cultivate them in our lives.
If We Lack These Qualities…
Being a Christian does not mean we automatically possess the qualities Peter listed. It is possible for Christians to lack these traits, which is why Peter said we are to apply “diligence” (2 Peter 1:5) in order to acquire and grow in them. What does it say about us if we lack these qualities? Peter mentioned two things.
First, we are “blind or short-sighted” (2 Peter 1:9). He was not talking about our physical eyesight. Instead, this was a spiritual problem. Peter described a condition in which we are not focused on spiritual things that pertain to our faith. Instead, we focus wholly on worldly or temporal things. Paul described the danger of this in his letter to the saints in Rome: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). The apostle John warned, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17). These warnings were given because it is very easy for Christians to allow the things of this life to distract them from the things of God. This misplaced focus hinders us from growing in these areas as we should.
Second, we have “forgotten [our] purification from [our] former sins” (2 Peter 1:9). Peter explained in his first letter that we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Redemption is about more than just providing us with forgiveness. Because we have been redeemed (bought with a price), we are now His people, and we are to do His will. Paul explained that Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:14). In his letter to the Ephesians, he wrote, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Being the people of God means that we are to be doing the work God has given us to do. This includes continually adding these characteristics to our faith. Yet when we forget that Jesus redeemed us with His blood through the cross, we start to see ourselves as being no different from the world and, therefore, free to behave as the world does. As we discussed throughout this study, adopting a worldly perspective may enable us to develop a distorted form of these qualities, but not as they are defined in the word of God.
Be All the More Diligent
We want to avoid being what Peter described – useless, unfruitful, blind, and having forgotten our purification. Therefore, we are to be diligent, not only to add these qualities to our faith (2 Peter 1:5) but also to “make certain about His calling and choosing you” (2 Peter 1:10), or “make your calling and election sure” (KJV).
What does it mean to “make [our] calling and election sure”? We need to understand what those terms mean.
- Calling – We are “called” through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14). When we obey the gospel, we make a commitment to live by faith. Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17).
- Election – God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4). We have been “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). As the people of God, we have an obligation to strive to live up to this higher standard.
To make our “calling…sure,” we must live by faith as the message of the gospel teaches us. To make our “election sure,” we must live holy lives and engage in the good works that God has given us to do.
Peter then said that “as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Peter 1:10). In other words, we will not sin as long as we are continuing to add these qualities to our faith. We have been called to overcome sin (1 John 2:1; Romans 6:6-7, 11), yet we still sin from time to time. John acknowledged this: “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Why do we sin even after becoming a Christian? It is because we have slipped in our efforts to continually add these qualities as we should. To overcome sin, we need to do more than stop sinning; we must actively practice these things.
The Entrance into the Eternal Kingdom
Through Christ, we have the way of heaven open to us. Jesus told His disciples, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). Not just for them, but all of His people have hope that acts as “an anchor of the soul” because Jesus has entered into heaven “as a forerunner for us” (Hebrews 6:19-20). Peter said this “entrance into the eternal kingdom” will be “abundantly supplied to [us]” (2 Peter 1:11). In other words, it is not in doubt. We “overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
However, in order to take advantage of the way into heaven that the Lord has opened up for us, we must continually add these qualities to our faith – moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. This is what it means to be “faithful until death,” even in the face of “tribulation” (Revelation 2:10). No matter what our circumstances are, we continue to grow in the Lord.
Conclusion
The Lord made it so that we can be saved eternally in heaven. In order to reach that reward, we must live by faith, which involves continually adding to it. Let us not become complacent, but rather be diligent so that we can receive the reward promised to the faithful.
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* Another passage that discusses characteristics which God’s people must possess is Galatians 5:22-23, in which Paul described the fruit of the Spirit. For an in-depth study of this passage, see the article, The Fruit of the Spirit.
