Precious Promises and a Holy Calling

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:1-2

 

Life can often be quite a struggle. We can feel inadequate in how to cope with trials, how to make difficult decisions or how to avoid doing something we might regret. The answer to overcoming our struggles in life is to live as God instructs us. As Christians, God calls us to claim the things He has given us through His divine power to live properly and responsibly. He has given us great promises so that we can grow in our spiritual lives. As we live under these promises with the things He provides for us we can deal with the hard times we face and also minister to others as Jesus would. Through spiritual growth we understand we can have confidence in our spiritual inheritance provided by God and we can continue to move on in the spiritual training our Heavenly Father lays before us.

 

In 2 Peter 1:3-4 it speaks of the power through which God provides the ability to live the victorious and joyful Christian life. It states, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

 

Did you read these words carefully? God’s “divine power” has given us everything we need for our life and the godliness to which we are called. The ability to live a godly life is made possible by the great and unlimited power of the Creator of the Universe. We can’t live our Christian life by the power of the flesh and we don’t have to live it by our own willpower. We can live it by the things God gives us through His power. These things are provided by His divine power through the knowledge we gain of Him in His Holy Word. What are these things? First is the gift of His mercy in our salvation. We are convicted of our sin through a knowledge of who God is and the salvation He offers through His Son. This knowledge of God in His Gospel speaks to our heart and mind and gives us the opportunity to accept Jesus as our Savior. When God saves us from our sins we are forgiven and justified in His eyes and the burden of the debt of sin is removed from our lives. Now we can live in freedom and grace. This is an empowering experience. When we know that the debt of sin and the penalty for it no longer hangs over our head we know we have been liberated. We are now free to live for God. This justification through our acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice is the fertile spiritual ground from which all other acts of growth in faith can take place. Secondly God gives us the Holy Spirit as a permanent resident in our lives to guide and counsel us in holy living as well as convict us of sins and imperfections. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to seal us in our salvation. The Holy Spirit will manifest Himself in our spirit as we live out our Christian life. He will give us the power to love others, overcome sin, praise God and grow in grace and knowledge of God. Thirdly God redeems us and transforms us into new creations. This renewed spirit has a godly quality to it and as verse 4 states we “participate in the divine nature.” This spirit is described in 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” The spirit God gives us is courageous and brave. It is powerful. It is full of love and is self-disciplined in godly living. If we seek to let our spirit live by the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within us, we have everything we need to live the Christian life.

 

But this passage in 2 Peter says there are more blessings that are bestowed upon us by the Lord. There are the promises He grants to us because we are part of His family. There are hundreds of promises God supplies to His servants. I will mention just a few. God has promised to supply every need we have (Philippians 4:19), that His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9), that we can avoid being taken over with temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13, Jude 24, Daniel 6:16), that we can have victory over death because of Jesus victory (Acts 2:32, 1 Corinthians 15:3,4, 57), that all things will work for our good (Romans 8:28), that we will be saved (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38), and that we have eternal life (John 10:27,28). These promises are the foundation upon which we build the obedience of our Christian walk. Without the promises and our relationship with the Lord, our activities would be simply duties done in the flesh.

 

These promises allow us to participate in His divine nature because we have the Holy Spirit in us and we have been forgiven and justified in His sight. By this divine power we can live victoriously and escape the temptations of the world and the pull of the sinful flesh. By His divine power we are new creatures in Christ and are no longer spiritually dead, but spiritually alive in Christ. This divine power manifested in His promises allows us to continue in the responsibilities He has given us.

 

So from this foundation of the things God grants us as a Believer, as well as His promises provided by His divine power, we are to make every effort to add to our faith in God. The promises of God encourage us in our Christian living. His Word guides us in our Christian walk. The Holy Spirit convicts and comforts us as we strive to live our godly life. All of this is made possible through His divine power. We don’t need to seek for secret knowledge, mysterious philosophies, fleshly meditative chants or worldly logic and reasoning to live in Christ. We can live content and joyfully as a servant of our Heavenly Father.

 

2 Peter in verses 5 through 7 illustrates the responsibilities we have as a Christian to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord. Peter says that for all the reasons He mentioned in the first few verses we should make every effort, not just some effort, not only meager effort, but EVERY effort to add to our faith.

 

The first part of verse 5 says the following, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness;” Here we are told to add to our faith in God, “goodness.” Goodness here implies excellent virtue or a deep-seated goodness. We can act good, but when we are truly good deep within our heart we exude kindness and concern for others and it shows. This is the goodness that Christ possessed and the goodness we are to develop within our person.

 

Verse 5 continues, “and to goodness, knowledge;.” This is a commandment to add to the goodness we develop in the Lord, knowledge of God and His Word. Spiritual knowledge is necessary to live a holy life. When we are good in our hearts because of God’s influence, the knowledge we gain in spiritual matters can be applied appropriately. Knowledge of God enables us to develop wisdom in how to live and how to minister to others. Knowledgeable goodness can enable us to deal with difficult people in truth and in love.

 

Verse 6 states, “and to knowledge, self-control;”

As we develop as a Christian in knowledge we grow in our ability to have self control. Knowledge gives us what we need to know to make good choices in what to do and not do. Self-control is the discipline that results from us applying what we know in Scripture. Unless knowledge is applied to our behavior it is just dead facts and information. God’s Word is living and must be applied to our thoughts and actions to be truly lived.

 

Verse 6 continues with, “and to self-control, perseverance;” Here is another important instruction. As self-control is manifested we must persevere in it. Anyone can be self-controlled for limited periods of time, but if we persevere in our self-control it becomes second nature to us and influences all areas of our life. We become more responsible citizens and servants of God in a consistent manner.

 

Verse 6 also says, “and to perseverance, godliness;” The longer we persevere in our holy lifestyle as a Christian in thought and deed we become more godly as well. We become more of an image of God Himself. This is what we are called to be, Christ-like, in thought and behavior.

 

Verse 7 states, “and to godliness, brotherly kindness;” Here is implied the fact that as we become more like God we begin to love people more like God does. We forgive quicker, reach out and love more compassionately and seek to serve others as Christ did from an instinctive desire we have to minister to people as God would.

 

Verse 7 ends with one more requirement for our spiritual disciplines, “and to brotherly kindness, love.” Brotherly kindness is a form of loving concern, but true “agape” love that comes from God is deeper and stronger than kindness. Brotherly kindness is friendly compassion but the love of God is sacrificial. It is the type of love that caused Jesus Christ to allow Himself to be crucified for us.

 

So as we grow in our spiritual maturity becoming more like God each day we will express faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. The reason for God instructing us to develop these qualities is given in verse 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.” God wants us to be effective and productive in our Christian life. He wants us to not just spiritually grow, but minister to others, spread the gospel and praise Him in our service. We do this more effectively as we mature and develop these godly qualities. Criticism is expressed in verse 9 for those who fail to develop such spiritual maturity. “But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” Basically we are told here that if we can’t see beyond our own needs and desires we will fail to grow in our faith. If we fail to claim His promises and acknowledge what His divine power has given us, we are myopic or nearsighted in our spiritual vision. We are basically blind to what is asked of us by our Heavenly Father when it comes to living as a Christian.

 

Verses 10 and 11 are an expression of encouragement and expected blessings if we live out what God commands.

 

“Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

 

We are encouraged to be eager and excited about how God has chosen us and redeemed us. We are to be passionate about being in the ranks of those who call themselves a child of the King. We should be driven to seek to be more like Jesus each day and tenacious at growing in our faith and the qualities of godliness. The earthly reward for obedience is never falling in our faith and our Christian walk. The eternal heavenly reward for such obedience is a rich welcome when we enter the gates of heaven. Do you want to be richly greeted in heaven when you arrive because of your dedication and obedience? I sure do! Now go do it!