Over the next few weeks, we’ll be reflecting on Peter’s second
letter. We’re not sure exactly which church Peter is writing to, but since he
was martyred during the reign of Nero which was from 54-68 AD, and Peter’s
ministry occurred mostly in the western part of Asia Minor, it’s likely a
circular letter written to a number of churches in the area. Peter’s letter is
not just applicable for his time; it’s still applicable
today. In his letter, Peter teaches us how to think about God, ourselves, sin,
obedience, worship, suffering, community, and hope. His letter invites us to
come close to Jesus to understand and respond to him. It’s a letter written to
warn about false teachers, and to stir us out of spiritual laziness. Peter reminds
us that God’s working with real people in real places; his letter’s not about
throwing ideas about who Jesus is out to everyone, he points us to Jesus who
acts, speaks, judges, saves, and guides his people.
Peter begins by
acknowledging himself as both a slave to, and an apostle of, Jesus Christ. He greets the people,
reminding them of the gift of faith they’ve been given; a faith rooted in God’s
and Jesus’ righteousness. I always appreciate how the letter writers in the New
Testament greet the people by offering them both grace and peace through Jesus.
Both are powerful blessings to offer someone. A dear Jewish friend always
greeted me with “Shalom my brother, Yahweh’s grace to you today.”
There’s something centering and soothing to your soul when you receive this
kind of greeting from a friend, creating trust.
One of Peter’s main
themes, especially in
chapter 1, is spiritual growth. Growth comes through our choices and
consequences, through prayer, God’s promises, and in how God deals with his
people. A second big theme is truth and what truth looks like when God speaks
to his people. Truth is rooted in our relationship God and his trustworthiness;
this is why Jesus says that he is the way, the
truth, and the life. For Christians, faith in Jesus Christ forms the
foundation of our spiritual life. Paul expresses this clearly: salvation comes
“by grace...through faith,” which is God’s
gift rather than anything we do. Biblical faith means believing in God’s
character and His promises; grounded in God’s nature as revealed in Scripture.
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” a deep confidence
that transforms future promises into present reality. Unlike everyday human
trust based on experience, biblical faith trusts in what stays unseen, resting completely
on confidence in God.
Peter writes in verses
3-4, that Jesus calls
us to a godly life, “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 desires.” Jesus
gives us everything we need
for a godly life through the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. Our knowledge
comes through knowing Jesus; his life and teaching, his death, and
resurrection. Knowing in the Scriptures is not so much about head knowledge
like the Greeks, it’s more about knowing through relationship. Peter
doesn’t let us off the hook of our sinful desires and ways easily with a
simple, “Just try harder.”
Rather than a passive gaining of information, biblical knowing involves actively
participating in the covenant relationship. If you know
Jesus, you know and have the power to say “no” to temptation and our
evil desires because through his promises, we participate in his divine nature.
This becomes powerfully true through the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t mean it’s easy,
but that we can.
For Peter, faith is
rooted in our relationship with Jesus which
is then lived out in our daily lives. This is how we live into sanctification. Sanctification
is living our salvation out, becoming more and more like Jesus. This is where
Peter goes now in verse 5-7, “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.” Sanctification is about responding to
Jesus and the cross.
Change is God’s call to
us, telling us that he
loves us too much to not change us through his Spirit; we’re able to say “no”
to ungodliness and sin because of the strength of the Holy Spirit. It’s not
like we have to figure this out on our own. Jesus knows our weaknesses and
temptations, he gives us his help to resist, his help is personal to each of us;
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high
priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly
to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of
grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need.” 2
Peter 1 is about our identity as found in Christ, shaped by Christ, and for
Christ.
Faith is our
relationship with Jesus lived out with those around us. This is why Peter focuses here on both
our relationship with Jesus in goodness, knowledge, and godliness; focusing on
self-control and perseverance; and living well with others within the body of
Christ through mutual affection and love. We hear echoes
of this in Titus 2:11-12, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
Peter now commands his
readers, “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.” Verse
10 was previously translated, “be all the more
eager to make your calling and election sure.” A more literal reading of
the Greek is, “rather, be zealous to put into force
your calling and election.” This sentence is an imperative and clear in
its intent, even if the translations vary a little, it’s a command: we’re
called to live out our faith and calling as a child of God. We are called to produce good fruit, “confirming our election;” living in the abundance
of being in Christ. The word used “to confirm,” is a call to show our calling to
follow Jesus is true, and that through how they’ve embraced Jesus’ call and
teaching in their lives, they’re not likely to fall away as they live out what
they believe in Jesus.
Peter’s not calling us
to earn our salvation or election;
he’s calling us to actually live what we believe. The Heidelberg Catechism,
after its teaching on the Apostle’s Creed asks in Q & A 60, “How are you
righteous before God?” The answer is so comforting, “Only by true faith
in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously
sinned against all God’s commandments, of never having kept any of them, and of
still being inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without any merit of my
own, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction,
righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a
sinner, and as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for
me. All I need to do is accept this gift with a believing heart.” Sanctification and confirming our election are all about responding
to Jesus and the cross, to being changed through the gift of his new life. We go back to 2 Peter 1:4, “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 desires.”
We’re saved to do good works, to show God we
are thankful and to praise him, we do good works so that we can be assured of
our faith through its fruit, and we do good works so that others might be won
over to Christ. James writes in 2:14–16 “What good
is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no
deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without
clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and
well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”
Jesus tells his disciples in John 15:8, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you
bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
We’re chosen, elected to bear fruit, so that
through our lives, others can see our belief and trust in Jesus as our Lord and
Saviour, and are transformed through the Holy Spirit. We reveal what the
kingdom of heaven is like through how we live our lives Jesus’ way. The world
needs the kingdom of heaven now, needs people shaped and inspired by the
kingdom to build the kingdom values and ways into our community here so that
the world can be given a glimpse and example of hope, of grace, and of the new
life found in Jesus, working with the Holy Spirit in stirring a desire and need
to be part of God’s family too.
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