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# 3 2021 Dev. 2 Pe.1:1-10. Add to Faith! Read verses 1-10. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
2 Peter 1: 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.”
2 Peter addresses the same people he wrote to in 1 Peter: “To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,…” Peter continues with the same theme of God’s calling but he also promotes true knowledge of God’s Salvation in order to counteract a secret knowledge, Gnosticism, (see note) a heretical teaching beginning to raise it’s ugly head among some followers of Jesus. There are false teachings around today that may also be addressed in this second book of Peter.
2 Peter 1:1-10 calls on followers of Jesus to confirm their calling and election. He addresses the congregations: “To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:” Faith is a gift: “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.” So that we may “participate in the divine nature… of God our Savior Jesus Christ.” Don’t misinterpret Peters words here, we will not become gods at any time but we are given the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This covers the first 4 verses.
V.5 pointing back to the first 4 verses. “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith…” Faith is a gift we respond to, some accept it as heart knowledge, some accept it as head knowledge, some do not accept it at all. Are people able to rejects God’s calling? Yes, and no. We still have a free will as corrupt as that is, we are able to reject the Holy Spirit’s working in us, thankfully the Spirit of God does not give up. Yet, Scripture warns us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, it is the unforgivable sin. In our work as missionaries we were asked this question on occasion: have I committed the unforgivable sin? The answer is no, you are concerned about it, if you had committed that, the Spirit would have left you and you would not care in the least.
So how do we “add to faith”? First of all, faith has to be in our hearts, Peter starts with goodness, add that to your life, second, knowledge, know the Word of God, practice self-control, persevere, hang in there, especially at this time, add godliness, a daily practice, mutual affection, respect others, love, as Paul tells us in Col. 3, Love ties all these qualities together. Peter also warns us, if we do not add to faith we have forgotten that we ”have been cleansed from their (our) sins.” But if we practice these qualities we will be productive and effective in our lives and in “knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Peter goes on the encourage us in v10, pointing back to everything said before: “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things you will never stumble,” Praise be to God!
Note: Wikipedia, Gnosticism says that humans are divine souls trapped in the ordinary physical (or material) world. They say that the world was made by an imperfect spirit. The imperfect spirit is thought to be the same as the God of Abraham. … Some Gnostic groups saw Jesus as sent by the supreme being, to bring gnosis to the Earth.
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