Reading 2 Peter 1:1-21 MSG
1-2 I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.
Don’t Put It Off
3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The One Light in a Dark Time
12-15 Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. I know that I’m to die soon; the Master has made that quite clear to me. And so I am especially eager that you have all this down in black and white so that after I die, you’ll have it for ready reference.
16-18 We weren’t, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight.” We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.
19-21 We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word. – 2 Peter 1:1-21 MSG
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” – Luke 22:31-32 NKJV
1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? – James 4:1 NLT
3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. – James 4:3 NLT
God hasn’t called us to ALLOW our HEARTS TO BE HARDENED.
We need to examine our motives.
TWO IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES IN THIS CHAPTER:
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- Your SPIRITUAL GROWTH has nothing to do with your PHYSICAL AGE.
- You can grow SPIRITUALLY as much as you want to grow.
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31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. – Luke 12:31-32 KJV
12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; 14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. 15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. – 2 Peter 1:12-15 KJV
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 1:5-8 KJV
5 For this very reason, adding your diligence to the divine promises, employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue, and in exercising virtue develop knowledge…etc. – 2 Peter 1:5 Amp
“…adding your diligence to the divine promises …”
The way you ADD is to exercise or establish the previous.
In Order to PROGRESS, you MUST do something with what you HAVE NOW.
Building Blocks:
1. FAITH
2. VIRTUE
3. KNOWLEDGE
4. TEMPERANCE
5. PATIENCE
6. GODLINESS
7. BROTHERLY KINDNESS
8. CHARITY (LOVE)
FAITH
The first few steps take us from being SELF CENTERED and RULED BY OUR FLESH to a PLACE where we can truly be CHRIST-LIKE in our BEHAVIOR.
Each step is a TRANSFORMING STEP.
Our POTENTIAL can always take us farther than where we are today!
Real Bible Faith simply says about you what the WORD says about you.
VIRTUE
The quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong.
KNOWLEDGE
It’s more than memorizing scripture.
I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. – Proverbs 8:12 KJV
“I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.” – Proverbs 8:12 NLT
TEMPERANCE (SELF-CONTROL)
Knowledge helps to produce or generate self control or restraint.
REVELATION is like the SHOCK COLLAR of the SPIRIT!
KNOWLEDGE informs us of CONSEQUENCES and RESULTS in SELF CONTROL!!
PATIENCE
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith, develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-3 NIV
GODLINESS
Godliness is an attitude of Christlikeness.
BROTHERLY KINDNESS
basically loving others and not being self-centered.
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens (weight that takes you down), and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden (task or light load). – Galatians 6:2-5 KJV
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” – John 13:34-35 KJV
CHARITY LOVE (Agape – God kind of love)
“8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” – 2 Peter 1:8-11 KJV