Today we radically switch gears and read a letter by Peter, an apostle. II Peter is a small book near the back of the New Testament. Peter is the author and he wrote it to Christians, to tell us to learn and grow and be wary of false teachers, and lastly talks about Christs return.
Chapter 1 Verse 1 - 'Simon Peter, a servant and apostle' - he includes his old name Simon and his new name Peter in his opening comment. He lets us know he hasn't forgotten his past. Peter is writing this letter to those who share the same precious faith he has. Our faith is precious, in fact its priceless! Our faith was freely given to us through Jesus Christ.
Verses 2-4 Peter hopes those who read this letter - grace and peace will grow in abundance - peace and grace occurs as we learn more about Christ. We need to read, pray and worship together to grow in our faith.
God's glory and virtue draws us to him. God's divine power gives us everything we need to lead a godly life. And when we come to know him we are given the gifts of peace and grace.
Verses 5-7 '5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.' NLT version. I like the way the NLT reads. I have Romans 5:1-5 written in my bible, which is a similar scripture as this. These verses lay down the foundation for living a godly life. As we grow in faith these things will come to us. And it isn't always easy.
Verses 8-9 continues '8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.' NLT. Its a comfort know that we will become more productive and useful. This reminds me of Thomas the Tank stories - the useful engine. The author of Thomas is a minister - he writes good moral stories for children to learn to live by. Young children are drawn to Thomas. He is quiet and simple and helps his fellow train. God meets us where we are and gently leads us to living a godly life. And Peter gives us a warning for those of us who fail to develop. This is why we need to pray, read and be with fellow Christians.
Verses 10-11. Peter continues to tell us to do all these things eagerly, faith,virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and love - we will enjoy eternal life in heaven.
Father God, there is a lot of theology in today's reading. We ask today that we accept your grace and peace, and that we will be open to the knowledge you give us to lead a godly life. We have the law of the old testament as our foundation and the heart side - faith, virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and love to be more like you and encourage others to walk along side us. We ask that our faith does not become complacent but an active daily walk with you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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