Carried along by the Holy Spirit
Version: RSV
2 Peter 11. Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4. by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. 5. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6. and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7. and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; 11. so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to arouse you by way of reminder, 14. since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15. And I will see to it that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 16. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," 18. we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19. And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21. because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Peter really does a good job of summarizing how to “live like we’re saved!” Supplement our faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control. Those are tall orders! He’s telling us that when we have faith, we’re held to a high standard. When we attain that higher standard of living (spiritually—not “of the world!”) we then must continue to study the Word and learn as much as we can from scripture. And once we acquire that knowledge we must then exercise self-control. That one’s tough for me! A couple of my friends yesterday were teasing about my tendency toward “righteous indignation.” A good thing in theory, but when not expressed or demonstrated in a self-controlled manner, could be offensive!
Self-control must be supplemented with steadfastness—endurance and discipline to continue to self-monitor and to discern when is the appropriate time to speak up. Steadfastness with godliness. Unerring, unyielding faith is the only way we grow to resemble the type of life Peter describes. And all of those are possible because of the example and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Then Peter goes on to assert that the scripture are not just stories of random, but strong and faithful people! The words they recorded – and those recorded about them were God-inspired. None of the prophets “made it up as they went along!” So often they didn’t really like what they were commanded to say or do. So often they didn’t understand God, but they obeyed—I guess that's why God chose to work through them!
Our lives—after Easter—should be easier! It should be easier to become the kind of Christian Peter talks about. But perhaps, in fact, it is so much more difficult! (Remember, Peter struggled his whole life between doing what God demanded and doing what was wise by the world’s standard – and yet, in the end, he turned back into town to be crucified—knowing the end was imminent.) But he struggled nonetheless. That tells me that struggle is okay. Perfection is the goal—not the requirement! Peter’s wise words deserve reflection and prayer.
My prayer today, is that you will be steadfast as you go out into the world this week. Remember not only who you are, but whose you are.
Mary
