Simon Peter was no academic. A fisherman by trade, his pugilistic spirit had to be broken before he could become an effective apostle and founder of Christ’s Church. His two pastoral epistles are a mixture of firebrand preaching against false teachers and prophets and practical encouragement to suffering believers. By his own admission, he struggled to understand his fellow apostle Paul’s theological treatises of early Christian doctrine.
But his writings are full of spiritual depth and wisdom, and he encapsulates our true identity as believers very succinctly. We always incorporate some of his key paragraphs in our teaching. Especially this one: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
Recently, I found another gem that led to much meditation. It’s in his second letter to the Church, chapter 1, vs. 3-11:
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The root of our new identity in Christ—members of a chosen generation, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and a people of His own possession—lies in a call from God. He called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, or as 2 Peter 1:3 says, He called us to His own glory and excellence. Talk about a high calling!
Let’s think about that for a minute. You and I – undeserving, un-glorious, sin-soaked, imperfect, mortal human beings – have been called to His glory and excellence by the immortal God Himself. It’s a call to a higher life – one that rises above the sin-soaked, man-made world. As Peter puts it: an escape from “the corruption that exists because of man’s sinful desire” (ours included). We can’t earn that call by any means. It is pure, merciful privilege to have received it from God the Father. It never ceases to amaze me that He Who has been the God of millions for thousands of years knows me, found me, and called me to His glory and excellence! I hope you’ll stop to think for a moment and consider how marvelous that is.
However, before we bask too long in the glory of that call, we must realize that it comes with strings attached: the living of a radically different life. If that sounds like too much of a burden, rest assured: Peter points out that part of God’s call to His glory and excellence are great and precious promises by which He gives us all we need for living the life He desires for us, and by which we have become partakers of God’s nature.
In other words, His call to glory calls for a life opposite to that of the world, marked by certain godly qualities and virtues, empowered by His divine nature given to us through His promises.
Easy-peasy, right? Hmmm, not exactly.
It turns out that a life marked by godly virtues is not something that comes automatically. We must pursue it with all we have. “Make every effort, ” says Peter. Not when it’s convenient, not an occasional stab at it, but every effort to pursue godly qualities:
Bring virtue (Greek: uprightness) alongside faith. Think James 2: show your faith through
good deeds.
Add to that knowledge. In other words, faith, expressed in good deeds, must be done with wisdom – the knowledge to do the right thing.
Then he mixes a few more ingredients into the virtue-cocktail: self-control, steadfastness, godliness (devotion), brotherly affection, and love. They are the visible evidence of a life lived according to God’s call to His glory.
Peter’s list of virtues bears striking similarity to Galatians 5:22-23 where Paul expounds on the fruit of the Spirit as evidence of a life in step with Him. It shows remarkable synchronicity between the apostles’ letters as they addressed common issues facing the believers. It seems that true identity was as much an issue back then as it is now.
The big difference between Paul’s approach and that of Peter is that Paul emphasizes these qualities as the result of the Holy Spirit’s work within us while we “crucify the flesh” (i.e., kill sin), whereas Paul stresses that godly virtues must be practiced. That’s not contradictory but complementary. Paul says the same thing in Philippians 2:12-13, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” What is His pleasure? Excellence – godly uprightness without a hint of self-service.
The long and the short of Peter and Paul’s admonitions is that we must work out what He works into our souls. He deposits His divine nature in us through the Holy Spirit. He changes our desires, appetites, will, purposes, intentions, thoughts, and emotions. Out of our godliness-infused souls come changed attitudes that in turn produce different habits, actions, and speech we put into practice.
Basic stuff but so easily confused, neglected, and even misunderstood. Many of us wrestle with the question: what is the Holy Spirit’s part and what is my part?
I think of it as a child learning to walk. The ability to do so is deposited in him. His bones and muscles have strengthened to the point that he can stand and walk upright. The vestibular region of his brain gives him the ability to balance and not fall over. But he has to be intentional in taking steps and practicing, falling down, standing up, and trying again. Then, once he masters toddling, practice running and walking uphill and downhill. If he doesn’t, he will never activate the abilities given him. Human beings are designed to strengthen their God-given abilities by practice. That also applies to the qualities that are part of our spiritual lives.
God has deposited His nature in us in all its glory and excellence. He has called us to a divine life and given us great and precious promises. But that divinely virtuous, glorious, excellent life will never become a visible reality in us if we don’t make every effort to practice these things.
When we do, Peter promises that they will not only confirm our glorious calling, but we will never fail and instead become spiritually productive, while at the end…” there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11)
So don’t give up, and don’t slack off. Practice faith, supplement it with uprightness, kingdom-knowledge (which comes from abiding in God’s Word), self-control, steadfastness, godly devotion, brotherly affection (towards our fellow believers), and agape-love. If you don’t know how, ask the Lord to guide you, and He will persistently put you in situations where these godly virtues are put to the test. That is, after all, the best practice.
Don’t give up, but think of the heavenly welcome that awaits when you heed God’s call to glory, excellence, and the pursuit of virtue.
Photo credit: Philip Goldsberry/Unsplash images.