For This Very Reason

2 Peter 1:5-11(NIV)

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 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. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

At Life-Spring we are learning to memorize 2 Peter 1:5-8 to help us grow in maturity by ingraining the word of God in our minds and spirit, to mold our character to be mature sons and daughters of God.

We start this verse off with “For this very reason,” and if you are wondering what this reason is exactly, I would like to take some time to explore what it may be.

Peter writes in verse 3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” God has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him. Peter is saying that EVERYTHING we need to live a godly life is given to us through our knowledge of him. His divine power through the Holy Spirit combined with the word of God gives us everything we need for a godly life.

Then Peter says in verse 4 “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” Through ‘these’ He has given us his great and precious promises so that through ‘them’ we can participate in the divine nature, avoiding the corruption of the world caused by evil desires.

So what are ‘these’ and ‘them’ Peter is referring to? 

It is what we are memorizing in verse 5-7. “5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” It is through these things that God has given us very great and precious promises. Through these things we are able to participate in the divine nature of God, when we make every effort to add these things to our faith. We also know in verse 8 that “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.” This means that the more we increase in these qualities, the more knowledge we have in who our Lord Jesus Christ is so that we can be more and more like him.

Peter then says in verse 10-11, “10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We must make every effort to confirm our calling and election, in the NLT it says “work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen.” When we make the effort to add to our faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are being intentional about molding our character to prove that we really are followers of Christ. Peter even ensures us that if we continue to make every effort that we will never stumble and that we will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of God.

Why make every effort?

So Father I thank you for your life giving Word. I thank you that through your divine power we have everything we need to live a godly life. That when we live out your word through the power of the holy spirit, we get to participate in your divine nature. I thank you for the great and precious promises you have given us and I pray that you would help us to grow in our knowledge of you. I pray that as we make every effort to add to our faith, that you would show us a little more and more of who you are. I pray that the very essence of who you are God will be seen in our lives and that we can represent you well here on earth. Thank you Holy Spirit! We pray this all in Jesus’ name, Amen!