Remind Me Again
Remind Me Again
A brief thought about 2 Peter 1:2–11
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For the one who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. (NASB 2020)
2 Peter 1:10-11 used to make me wonder if I might lose my welcome into heaven if I failed to show certain behavioral traits.
Here is some insight that I have come to see in this passage.
The context for this all begins at verse three. Peter talks about various aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. He says we should do whatever we can to make them grow.
This doesn't mean that we are working for acceptance, but that we set our minds on Christ, on things above, on what He has done to, for, and in us.
Then he says if we don't see fruit, it's because we have forgotten that we are completely forgiven.
Finally, he says that if we do "these things" we will not fall (go back to trying to be righteous by what we do) and will receive the promised inheritance.
So what are "these things"?
As we always find, it comes down to faith.
Believing that Father has given us:
everything we need for life and godliness,
His great and precious promises,
that that we participate in the divine nature,
that we are completely forgiven.
These are the things of which he wants to remind us. And we need that!
(See 2 Peter 1:3-13)
