Sometimes it feels like I'm so poorly equipped to live the life God calls me to. Without Him, I am. I can't win. In Him, I can't lose.
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."
The power isn't mine. It is God's. And yet, I tap into that power that resides inside me by putting forth effort. I have to work and train at it. It doesn't happen magically.
Verse 5: "For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness; knowledge;"...and the list goes on from there.
But I have to make the effort. However, the effort I put forth comes not from my own resources but from the divine power within me through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who enables me to put forth the effort directed toward growing in godliness in the first place.
Walking through the process described in this chapter is a big deal with very tangible results. We are assured that we will avoid being ineffective and unproductive (v. 8) as members of His family.
Verse 10b-11: "For if you doe these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Lastly, there are plenty of people in the world who question the historical accuracy of the Bible. It's certainly impossible to prove to someone who doesn't want to believe that the Bible is believable. At the same time, historians have little argument that Peter was an early leader of the church. And Peter himself was there with Jesus and was executed for his role in the spread of Christianity.
He writes in verse 16 about how he was an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus. If he didn't buy into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, why in the world would he waste his life building the church? Why would he be willing to die for something he knew to be untrue? That stance makes no sense.
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