2 Peter 1 - Are You An Effective Christian?

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Overview of 2 Peter - Insight for Living - Chuck Swindoll

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Simon was Peter's given name, and Peter was the name given to him by Jesus. The name Peter meant "rock". I.e. When Jesus said, "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it!" - Matthew 16:18

Peter was first of all a "servant". He had given up his rights as a disciple of Christ. The Greek word is "doulos", and also means "bond-servant". Second, he was sent as an apostle, or messenger of the Good News. The servant described who he was, and the apostle described his calling. 

We receive faith as a gift. It is the most precious gift we will ever receive. The word "knowledge" in the Greek is an word which connotes more than just "head knowledge". It is a deep sense of knowing based on experience of the subject matter. 

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

3 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. 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.

Peter reminds us that it is only through God's divine power can we lead a godly life. We can't just try harder to be a mature Christian! We need power! The power starts with our calling. God's glory and goodness is reflected in His calling us to follow Him. Our Christian life is built on God's promises to us. We need to hold on to them and cling to them, because they are precious. 

As we rely on God's promises, especially of the promise of Jesus Christ, we become the people we were intended to be. We were made in God's image, though we were marred by sin. Now we are being restored into the likeness of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way we participate in the divine nature. This doesn't mean we are God, but we become godly because of the work God started in us and will be faithful to complete it. Philippians 1:6

It is only in this power that we can escape the lusts of the world. Evil desires are like lust, greed, pride, power, and vanity. 

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 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. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

These are very important verses for what it means to grow to Christ-like spiritual maturity. Notice though faith is a gift, we add to our faith qualities that show the world authentic faith. He is not preaching "faith plus works". He is preaching that our works and transformation of our lives flow from our faith and the promises of God fulfilled in Christ. And, of course, the last in the list is love, which sums up all of the virtues. These qualities are similar to the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22. 

As our character gets transformed, we naturally become the type of people who look the one he has described. He calls this an effective Christian. This means that there are ineffective Christians! We sometimes call these "lukewarm" or "dead" Christians. It assumes that we might have knowledge of Christ but not be exhibiting any of these qualities in our lives. We say we know Jesus, but our lives don't show it. 

He says these qualities should be "increasing in measure". This is the nature of spiritual growth. We don't grow spiritually mature all at once. It is a process, as the Holy Spirit roots out behaviors we exhibited before we came to know Christ. We can seem to go two steps forward and three steps back early in our Christian lives and even later in our lives. The devil can try to discourage and accuse of us of being a hypocrite. But the more we tap into God's divine power through the Holy Spirit, we can become the type of person Peter describes. We become effective and contagious Christians that draw people to Jesus. 

A good question to ask is are you growing as a Christian? Is your behavior increasing in measure for the qualities he lists in verses 5-7. Don't beat yourself up if not. We all have periods of spiritual dryness and times of straying away from the Lord. The key thing is to confess it to God and at least one other person and move forward in God's power!

As it is say in Revelation 2:4, "Remember your first love!" 

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As we grow in faith and develop consistency in our behaviors, we become more and more sure of our calling and election. Though Jesus is the only assurance we need for salvation, the more we are living in obedience to God, the more ready we are and more confident for Jesus to return. When Jesus returns we will receive a rich welcome into God's eternal kingdom! How cool is that!

Prophecy of Scripture

12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

Peter wanted to remind them of these truths because I am sure some of them had strayed. This is what a good shepherd does. When Jesus called Peter he said to him a couple of times, "Peter do you love me ... then feed my sheep!" A faithful shepherd watches over and cares for the flock God has entrusted to them. 

Peter reminds them they live in a "tent". A tent is only a temporary place of residence, just as our living on earth is only temporary. Someone in a tent looks forward to a permanent home. As believers our bodies are temporary. One day we will all die, but there is laid up for us in a heaven a home that will be permanent. Peter's utmost priority was to continue to remind them of these things! 

We all need reminders of our eternal home and not to get caught up in the earthly tents we live in here. 

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[b] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

Peter will soon be talking about the false teachers who have come among them. He wanted to remind them that teaching he shared with them was straight from Jesus. On the Mount of Transfiguration Peter saw Jesus in his glorified form. The same form Jesus will have when he comes back. Peter had this experience so he could encourage these believers. 

Have you had a mountaintop experience? How has God used it to bless others and encourage them where their ultimate destination will be?

19 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. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

He warned them of false prophets who were only speaking from a human standpoint. These false prophets were making stuff up and saying it was from God. Peter reminds them that all prophecy comes from God's Word. God's prophets were human but spoke the Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is how the bible God got written. The bible is the prophetic word of God given by many faithful prophets, who wrote down what the Holy Spirit told them. 

The only way you can tell a false prophet is if you know the real one. A real prophet's words never conflict with the bible. They never conflict with anything Jesus has taught, as He is the Word of God made flesh. Some people teach or predict things will happen beyond what the bible has taught. When an earthly prophet makes a prediction and it doesn't come true, they are a false prophet. 

This is when anyone speaks outside of the clear teaching Scripture, it is extremely dangerous. God could lead a modern day prophet to speak a new revelation, but in my experience it is rare. I see the prophetic gift being more taking from what God's already revealed Word in the bible says, and speaking it as a Word of Knowledge for specific people in specific situations. 

This is why it is so important for you to be in God's Word on a daily basis. I hope the Daily Bread Blog is helping you to understand the scriptures and put them in practice, which will keep you from being an "ineffective Christian".