2Pe 1:10 Wherefore
the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.
The politician who gets elected but does nothing after
that will be voted out of office in the next election. He has not done enough
to make his election sure.
The word “sure,” means firm, steadfast, secure.
Likewise, Peter exhorts Christians, the elect of God, to make their calling and
election sure and steadfast. It implies that Christians can lose their
salvation if they are not careful with it: “Wherefore let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Peter's second epistle makes a strong warning to
believers. He informs us that everything we would ever need, that pertains to
life and godliness, has been supplied to us by our Saviour (2 Peter 1:3). And
not only that, he also informs us that “Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2
Peter 1:4).
2 Peter 1:4 is the key point of Peter’s message:
1. We are given exceeding great and precious promises.
2. We are partakers of the divine nature.
3. We have escaped the corruption of the world.
But the fact is that when we began this walk the devil
will try to lure us back into his fold. Peter therefore writes that we must add
to our faith the following items to prevent a failure to our faith: “And
beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue
knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to
patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness charity” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
The Christian man or woman who
has the qualities mentioned, and who has them in increasing measure, will be a
fruitful person (2 Peter 1:8). He has made his election sure and steadfast. But
the Christian man or woman who lacked these graces is “is blind, and cannot
see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (2
Peter 1:9).
1. He is blind to the blessings of God. He only
professes to know God in words, while in works he denies Him. He is ignorant
(blind) of the requirements of him to live as a child of God.
2. He is short-sighted; he can only see what is near.
He can see only the things of this world and not the things that are of God.
For this reason, he is worldly and cares only for the things of this world and
miss out on eternal life: “While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal;
but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
3. He is also forgetful. Peter said that we have
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But the Christian who
has not added the Christian graces to his life is living a life of sin. He has
forgotten he has been cleansed from his old sins. He has forgotten he has been
made holy by the blood of the Lamb and has taken on the divine nature: “For
as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ”
(Galatians 3:27).
We have all things that pertain towards life and
godliness. And we have escaped from the pollutions that are in the world. But
there is a danger of forgetting this truth. It is sad when Christians become
spiritually blind to the knowledge of God, only seeing the things near him and
missing out on the things above, and return to the world. It’s the reason Peter
exhorts us to give diligence to make our calling and election sure: for if we
do these things, we shall never fall (2 Peter 1:10).
Is your election sure and steadfast?
Jimmy Lau
Psa
119:97 Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
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