by Mr. Titus Menezes
2 Peter 1:1-11
2 Pt 1:10 - Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.
I would like to begin with the sentence - therefore the answer is 12! Does it make sense? Just knowing the answer does not tell you how the answer was arrived at + - * /. So too it is with our theme verse which begins with the word therefore. This is a conclusion statement and it has been derived from what goes before it.
Peter is giving us a beatitude – Blessed are they who confirm their calling and election for they will never stumble and will gain entry into the KOH. This teaching is not just of spiritual growth but one of continual spiritual growth and that's why we have the words be eager to confirm your call and election. It’s not a one-time affair but a regular one. It is building of Christian character.
Read 2 Pt 1:3-11. We will go by each verse so we can arrive at our conclusion (theme) statement
3 His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature.
His divine power – what is this divine power? The Holy Spirit! So it is not any other power but the power of the Holy Spirit
His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness. The Holy Spirit has been given for life and godliness. Gal 5:16 says live by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Living by the Spirit will help you escape the corruption that is in the world.
5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.
You must make every effort – this does not mean you have to do it all by yourself – you have to cooperate with God – for what? You must make every effort to support your faith. The first thing that happens when we come to the lord is an increase in faith. Something happened and within a short time you made Christ the centre of your life. But this faith, you must have seen, started to waver shortly after that. Faith in our Lord is not a standalone component. It is not going to grow out of thin air. It has to be supported by certain things and Peter here gives a list of seven virtues.
Faith > goodness > knowledge > self-control > endurance > godliness > mutual affection > agape love
Some of these virtues find a mention in Gal 5:22 – fruit of the Holy Spirit. How does the list begin there – love, joy, peace … but wait, here Peter mentions love last. If you look at any construction does it start from top or down? Down and love is that base. The base has to be stronger to support the high rises. If the foundation is weak the entire structure is in danger of collapsing. Even if one of these ingredients is lacking, faith will not grow. As each of these virtues begins to increase, so will our faith expand or increase.
8 For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is a promise up here for manifesting these virtues, for fruitfulness
For if these things are yours – they are your property, your possession. You have to proudly say – it’s my share. But none of us would like to say so of these virtues – we do not want self control – give back and close the chapter, endurance – I cannot carry on like this endlessly and last but not the least why at all should I love him after all the miserable things he has done for me.
and are increasing among you – these seven virtues have to grow, its an investment. As humans we invest in jewellery and property and like to see it appreciate in value as time passes. In the gospels we read store up treasures in heaven.
they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ – in other words it will prevent you from backsliding.
These seven virtues come with cooperation with God. If you abide in me then you will bear much fruit else you will wither. Once you have decided to follow Christ, there is no looking back, there is no room for slowing down, no stagnancy. The only way is upwards. You have to be fruitful in the production of godly fruit and this is a sure sign of increase in faith. This will guarantee an increase in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. You want to know more of a person, get close, interact. Through these virtues you will get close to Jesus.
Now the accusation / warning and a blunt warning it is.
9 For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.
If these virtues are missing in your life or is not growing then Peter mentions three things – he is nearsighted, he is blind and he is forgetful of the cleansings of past sins
The person is nearsighted – he can’t see the things of the future, he lacks vision for life. Many of us have our focus fixed on our situations, our problems. If these things get sorted out then I will walk with the Lord.
If the virtues have to grow among us then we are going to be challenged. Our situations will be pressing. There was this girl who was getting married and she was engaged and I said to her you got your first ring – engagement ring, then you will get another ring and that will be your wedding ring and finally suffering. She asked me is it joyful suffering? And I asked her if she ever had a suffering that was joyful? Suffering is painful but when we decide to walk with the Lord there is a purpose. We are only looking at the suffering and forgetting that God is busy developing something in us – the virtues.
And is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins – Last week, I was called to speak on sin & repentance at an LSS programme. The next morning after my talk during my prayer time, I felt the Lord whisper to me – in repentance you change/become from hearer of the word to a doer of the word. I said Lord how I wished you gave me this message a day earlier I would have covered it. Little did I know the Lord was giving me inputs for this talk and when I read this line I was in awe of the Lord!
If you have truly repented then you are not only going to be a hearer of the word, you will have to be a doer of the word! If action is missing then repentance is in question. You have forgotten what the Lord did for you when He met you. The cleansing of our past had a purpose and Peter is asking us to recognise it.
10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.
Be all the more eager – not just eager, more eager but all the more eager, do not hesitate, do not slow down, keep pressing towards the finishing line to confirm your call and election.
These are the key words - to confirm your call and election. You are called to grow in the virtues that we just listed and as you manifest these not only will your faith increase you will guarantee your entry into the kingdom of heaven
I could understand the word calling but why has Peter used one more word election? Is he trying to differentiate? I will refer to three parables from the gospels (though it refers to the parousia) hoping to bring a message in context with our theme. The first one is the parable of the 10 virgins - five wise and five foolish took their lamps. The foolish ones did not take any extra oil with them while the wise ones took flasks of oil along.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. The virgins are the ones who carried the word along. It’s not that they carried the bible in their hand but that they carried the word in their heart. They gained knowledge of the word and increased their faith in the Lord. And the word lit their pathway through life.
The lamps contained oil. We read in the OT that oil is used as the anointing and so these virgins had the anointing. On having a God experience each is given an anointing and the oil is given for lighting, a burning desire within. This is where the similarity ends.
5 of these they say were wise and carried extra flasks of oil. The anointing is given for service and the more you serve, the more is given. They had gained the extra anointing through some effort and carried it along. Nothing comes free. The foolish ones however had nothing to carry along.
The bridegroom was late in his coming and they had to persevere into the night and they were running low on oil. Suddenly the call came and they had to go but the wicks of the foolish ones were going off. They asked for oil from the wise ones but they couldn't share. This is the case with anointing, it cannot be shared, each is given his own. What happened - the foolish ones were stranded and the wise ones made it to the bridegroom, the kingdom of heaven. Ten were called five made it.
The parable after this is the parable of the talents Mt 25:14ff. A certain man gave his three servants talents – one he gave five, another two, and the third one. Each one was given according to their capacity. The first went out and made five more and the second went out and made two more but the last one hid it in the ground.
The first two took their talents and went out to work with it and multiplied their talents and must have been delighted to meet the master at his coming. Both were commended as good and faithful servants. And both these words find a mention in the seven virtues good and faith full – full of faith servants.
What about the third one – he hid the talent he had received. There was no visible work done as a result with the passage of time it was devalued. Rs. 100 ten years back has no value today. You get nothing for it. The master called him the worldly man – wicked and lazy man and had him cast out into the darkness. Three were called, two made it.
One last parable – the parable of the wedding banquet were those who were worthy were called but chose to go about their other business and then others were called. However among them was a soul who attended the banquet without the wedding garment. And the king asked him a simple question Mt 22:12 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness. Many were called but few were chosen.
The man was not clothed appropriately for entry into the banquet. Peter is telling us to be clothed with the virtues he mentions. In all the three parables those left out were in darkness while the others made it to the Kingdom of Heaven. This makes it very clear there is a difference between calling and being chosen. They are not the same and this is what Peter is saying be eager / wise to confirm your calling and election.
Election is being chosen, appointed to a position. We have elections – many participate but few get elected or chosen. Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." I called you to be a prophet to the nations. God called you to be something specific. God called, you did not call God, God chose, you did not choose. God did not call for nothing. He was not taking a walk and suddenly found your phone number and decide to call you or he suddenly remembered you. God did not call as Stevie Wonder sang – I just called to say I love you….
Friends, God called you for a purpose and it is your responsibility to discern the area you are called. Do not be foolish in asking the opposite question – did God call me? The day you repented and believed, you were called. That's given and confirmed. But do not stay there. Find out what God wants to do through you.
The priest at the Thanksgiving Mass mentioned that you all have had a God experience and that's why you are here. And some among you have identified your call. I latched on to his statement. We may have seen it as a general statement but it was not a happy statement. Only few have identified their call. What about the rest? Is any part in your body a spare? Every part is called to perform a function. We call ourselves charismatics but we are minus the charisms, the anointing. Its not that the Lord has not given, its just that we have other priorities – the man who hid the talent, the virgins who did not have the flasks of oil.
Many of us look at our immediate situation. We all have genuine and valid reasons why not to respond – we are too young, lets finish our studies, then I have just begun work, I am just married, I have small children, let them finish their education then suddenly the strategy changes, now I am old, its for the younger generation, I have a litany of illnesses and so on and so forth and finally to dust. Peter calls these people nearsighted and blind. If these are your remarks then you know how the Bible views you and the resulting reward.
I like the way Peter begins this letter- Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. He is called to be a servant but to serve in the capacity of an apostle. Some of us have maids at home but we instruct them what they are supposed to do and not supposed to do. What are you called to do for the Lord? What are you elected for? This is where your faith and virtues will grow faster.
Calling and election are two sides of the same coin and cannot be separated. Mt 7:21 - "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Only those who complete their given task are entitled.
There is a promise for confirming your calling and election. 2 Pt 1:10 - be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.
Now it looks like Peter is blind. He is asking us to look at the heavenly virtues and then he says you will not stumble. When we look down at our situations and walk itself we stumble, what will happen if we look up? How can Peter say so confidently that you and I will not stumble?
Friends, Jesus has walked that way and He has made the way clear, hence you will not stumble. He is the good shepherd. He is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is giving the direction, come, follow me.
11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
This is the way to go and if you do it, you have confirmed and made easy your entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. Peter wants to see each one of you in heaven and he also wants to know what jokes are being cracked of him here on earth.
I conclude with 2 Pt 1:10 - Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election.
Tonight if you have heard His voice, harden not your hearts with your priorities and problems, but have this simple prayer speak Lord, your servant is listening. Amen.