LEARNING DAILY

2 Peter 1:2-4, May God bless you with His special favor and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord, better and better. As we know Jesus better, His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, He has given us all of His rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in His divine nature. (New Living Translation)

It is Peter’s desire that more and more peace comes to those who get to know Jesus Christ “better and better”. The peace that Peter writes about comes over time and as people gain understanding of Jesus Christ (at least for most people). For Believers this is certainly an encouragement to spend time in the Word of God reading/studying/meditating on what it says. Prayer time is also necessary. The more Bible study and prayer results in greater knowledge of who He is and how much He loves you; That is pretty important to each Believer as he/she walks the narrow way into His kingdom. Take time to think about spending eternity with Jesus!

This knowledge is important as the next thing Peter writes about is the divine power of Jesus “gives us everything we need for living a godly life”. The struggle with sin can be very real. For believers who struggle with continual sin, spiritual weakness, or even being indifferent or uninterested in greater knowledge of Jesus – well, that is their choice to make the effort to know Him better. He has given Believers everything they need to live the way He desires us to live. What does that mean? How do Believers get what they need? Believers can’t and don’t earn or work for it; everything needed comes, like salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ. Peter’s writings make God as the source of all life, and the only source of “everything we need for living a godly life”. The Lord Jesus sets the standard, “He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness!” He has called every Believer to follow Him in moral excellence and equips us to do so.

Read verse 5 to find what Jesus desires believers “to be diligent in adding to their faith” in Him; virtue (moral excellence), knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Peter wants his readers to overflow with grace and mercy and that comes through greater knowledge of who Jesus Christ is. It comes from “that same mighty power, He has given us all of His rich and wonderful promises”. Again, that comes from God’s word. The more one spends with Him the more one gets to know who He is! That is just the same as spending time with people.

Paul taught, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Bible is God’s Word to humanity, written by human authors as God prompted and guided them to write what they did. That means that every word written in the original manuscripts was by given by God and intentionally placed there.

It is clear that God wants each Believer to be set apart and to be made holy. That is what the narrow way is all about; the big word for this is sanctification. He has given us everything needed to walk the narrow way. It is up to each Believer to choose to walk with Him in faith, to trust Him, to be obedient, and to be led by the Holy Spirit.