Simon Peter, a bondservant
and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith
with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine
power has given to us all things that pertain
to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and
virtue, by which have
been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these
you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to
your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to
knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance
godliness, to godliness
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:1-8 NKJV
Sometime,
if you have a little spare time on your hands, you might look up “famous last
words” and read some of the things people have said before they die. You will find that while many are comical,
some are in fact a serious attempt on the part of the individual to impart some
wisdom that those left behind can use.
Have you ever thought about what you might wish to say if you found
yourself in that position? In this book
we see that Peter understands his time on earth is about to end, and this book
is, in fact, the last message he will leave for his readers.
Yes,
I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing
that shortly I must put off my
tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
2 Peter 1:13-14 NKJV
Peter
is held captive in Rome by Nero, and understands that he will shortly be
killed. Jesus did in fact predict this
by telling Peter that he could expect to die just as He Himself had.
“Most
assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked
where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and
another will gird you and carry you
where you do not wish.”
This He spoke, signifying by what
death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him,
“Follow Me.” John 21:18-19 NKJV
So
it is with the awareness of his impending death Peter chooses to leave us with
the words we find in his two letters. As
I studied them it became apparent that a subject Peter felt was very important
to get across to his readers was living a godly life, or what he called “godliness”. As I
thought about this, it occurred to me that many might have expected an
exhortation to attempt to do great things, yet it seems that Peter tells us
that how we live should be our focus rather than what we might do.
Peter
goes on to tell us that not only should living a godly life be our focus, we
have in fact, already been equipped to do just that. Look closely at verse three in the passage
above where he tells us “as His divine power has given to us all
things that pertain to life and
godliness,”. What this means to
us as believers is that when we made the decision to follow Christ, we received
everything God ever intended for us to have in order to live the life He
planned for us. The downside of this
knowledge is the understanding that any failure to live a godly life falls on
our shoulders because we fail to use what He has already given us.
I
believe one of the keys to living a godly life is found in the word “diligence”
that Peter uses in this passage as well.
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge
self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness
love.”
When I think about the word diligence I immediately think about exercising,
or working out physically as many of us do.
If you are like me, you understand the importance of having a routine
and sticking to it in order to accomplish your goals. A wonderful passage that puts these two in
perspective is found in the book of Timothy.
For
bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things,
having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8
NKJV
Now
most of us understand that one of the results of exercise is getting stronger
and in this passage Peter tells us that the same result can be found when we
pursue godliness. Notice that the
progression as a result of diligence is virtue, knowledge, self-control,
perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and finally love. So how do we begin to pursue the goal of
living a godly life? The answer is back
in verse three where Peter tells us that the first step comes “through
the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue”.
Now
this may be a humbling question to ask but in all honesty, do any of us spend
as much time trying to know God better by studying His Word as we spend on
exercising, or on our hobbies, or
recreation, or any other distraction life can put in front of us? Are we really committed to living a godly
life or is it something we think just happens naturally as a result of our
decision to follow Christ?
Of
all the things that Peter could tell us as he approaches the end of his life,
the one that he chooses to share with his readers is the importance of pursuing
godliness. “For if these things are yours and
abound, you will be neither
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”Peter's last words to us are to live a godly life by increasing our knowledge of God our Savior. If we do, we will accomplish much for the glory of God.
Keep
watching.
