Because of His Promise

"By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

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, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.” 2 Peter 1:3-9 (NLT)

God gives many clear commands in Scripture. Because of that, it can be easy to look at the Bible like a list of demands and rules or to-dos and not to-dos. However, in 2 Peter 1:3-9 we see that Scripture and God’s commands are not as much about rule-keeping as they are about empowering the Christian to live a godly life. 

In verse 4, Peter reminds us that God has given us “…great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” 

When we receive the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ, obeying the words of Scripture becomes the way that Christ enables us to be more like Him. Not only did our faithful heavenly Father give us salvation, but he fully equipped us to live out that salvation each day on earth so that others could be brought to Him as well. 

So, as Peter says in verse 5, “In view of all this”, we are to do everything in our power to respond to the promises God has given to us by growing into the likeness of our Savior. How do we do that? Verse 6 reminds us that the more we study Christ and His Word, the more our hearts will be transformed to be more like Him. And the more we are like Him, the more we will love those around us, which will compel us to share His Gospel so they, too, can come to know Jesus as their Savior. 

I love this about our Jesus, He could have used anything to share His Gospel (and He does), but His key to sharing His hope with the world is with whom He calls His friends - you and I (John 15:15). 

So as we go about our day today, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to how He wants us to be made more like Jesus. Let’s keep pressing into Scripture (just like we are writing and studying Scripture right now), and let’s be open to that person that God wants us to share His grace with. 

“The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:8 

Be encouraged! We have an eternally faithful Teacher, an unfailing promise and a glorious job to do. Let's get to it. 

Maybe today as you read this post you realize you have never responded to the ultimate promise of God, His salvation. If this is you, we would love to speak with you, send us a quick note here!