2 Peter 1 1. Simon Peter, a servant, an apostle of Jesus Christ sends this letter to those have been given faith (which is as valuable as ours) through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Simon was the name of his old life, Peter is the name that Jesus gave to him. Notice that he was a servant first, an apostle second. Being a servant to a good master is one of the best things in life. We all have the same faith as even the apostles had. There are no big people and little people in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11, Jude 1. 2. May you know more and more of grace and peace as your knowledge of God, and Jesus our Lord, grows deeper. How can grace and peace be multiplied? Through getting more knowledge of God by paying attention to His Word. 3. He has, by His own action given us everything that is needed for living a good life and allowed us to know the One who has called us to Him through His own glorious goodness. It would be hard to believe that God would create the world, and prepare a way for us to be with Him, but not to prepare a way for us to know everything that we need to live on this earth. No matter what your problem is, there is a Scripture which speaks to your situation. 4. It is through His generosity that God's greatest, most precious, promises have become available to us, making it possible for you to escape the destruction that selfishness brings into the world so that we can share in God's nature. Men never thought of God sending His Spirit to live inside of us. He helps us to escape evil if we allow Him to have His own way. Someone will say, "I cannot do this. I do not understand what you mean. It sounds strange to me that God lives in me and can help me to do the right thing. I cannot live that way. I have to do something myself about this situation." If we think this way, we will not escape from a bad situation. The Lord asks us to stand still and see what He does when we take our hands off these things. 5. For this reason you must be diligent and see that your faith shows the highest character but then your character should be followed by knowledge ... Zacchaeus was so surprised by Jesus' love for him that he completely trusted the teachings of Christ in faith. He added character to his faith by publicly getting his conscience clear. Luke 19:8 If this list was a ladder, which step would you be standing on? 8. The more of these things that you have, you will not stop growing or become lazy and the more you will know about our Lord Jesus Christ. When we think about knowing more of Jesus, we begin to know what it is like to walk and talk with Him. We begin to sense what kind of things He likes and does not like. We see a red flag when there is something around us which we know is not from Him. Gathering knowledge about the world brings pride. 9. For the man whose life does not show these qualities is blind. His eyes are so closed that he has forgotten that he was forgiven and washed from his former sins. It is a serious thing to forget where we came from. Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” Luke 22 61 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit. Matthew 15:14 10. Set your mind on making sure of the calling for which God has chosen you. As long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. Each of us has a calling in life, a job we must do before we leave this earth. See also Jude 24. Live the kind of life that makes people amazed. They were amazed, and began to recognize them that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 12 – 13 A tent is a temporary place to live. God is preparing a new body for us. Who will transform the body of our humble state that it may be fashioned like His glorious body. Philippians 3:21. See also Jude 5, 2 Corinthians 5:1. 14 – 15 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go. Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. John 21:18-19 16 – 18 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. Matthew 17:2 The Bible has been tested for hundreds of years and has been found to be true in everything that it says. Science, history, medicine, geography, mathematics, and archaeology have all proven the truth of the Bible again and again. 19. And so we hold the Word of prophecy to be more sure than ever. You should give that Word your closest attention because it shines like a lamp in the darkness of the world until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.
The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say that?” Genesis 3:1 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 Many cults have taken one verse of Scripture out of context to deceive people. The Bible will never contradict itself. The Bible explains itself. When you are trying to understand a verse of Scripture, the first question you should ask is, “Where else is this found in the Bible?” If you search the Scripture, you will always find an example which gives more light on what you are reading. 21. No true prophecy came because a man wanted to create it. Men of God spoke because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The word here is a picture of a ship sail being moved by the wind. The Way the Scriptures fit together over a period of thousands of years with topics such as the prophecies of Christ being precisely fulfilled, written by many different authors never contradicting each other, proves that the Bible was not put together by men but by the Holy Spirit directing men what they should write. |