Living Proof

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. – 2 Peter 1:12-15 ESV

Peter wasn’t telling his readers something they didn’t already know. He was simply reminding them of the truths they had been taught since the day they first believed. And he was determined to go on reminding them until the day God called him home. Peter knew that the circumstances they were facing had caused them to question the reliability of God’s promises. The presence of suffering and trials had left them wondering whether following Christ was really worth all the effort. But Peter reminded them that while faith alone in Christ alone could save them, they would need to develop and display the other Spirit-enabled attributes in their lives. He listed virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love as key components of a healthy and growing spiritual life. And while they were already aware of the necessity of these Christ-like characteristics, Peter was going to keep bringing them up until their lives reflected them – regardless of the circumstances. 

There’s a vast difference between knowing the truth and actually living it out in daily life. A cognitive understanding of “these qualities” was insufficient. It was of little use to know the technical definition of self-control if you didn’t actually put it into practice. And any discussion of godliness that failed to produce godly behavior was little more than religious rhetoric. In other words, it was all talk, no action.

For Peter, these qualities needed to be constantly inculcated and incarnated into the life of the believer and ever-increasing in their influence. Otherwise, the believer would risk becoming “ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8 ESV). Notice that his emphasis is on Jesus. His point seems to be that a believer’s ever-expanding knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done will result in effectiveness and fruitfulness. The greater our understanding of all that Jesus accomplished on our behalf on the cross, the more we will seek to live like Him. We will grasp the amazing significance of the Spirit’s role in our lives and seek to live in obedience to His will. And when we do, we will accomplish greater works than Jesus Himself, just as He promised.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” – John 14:12 ESV

Jesus went on to tell His disciples that the power behind those “greater works” would be the Holy Spirit.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” – John 14:16-17 ESV

It is only with the Holy Spirit’s help that a believer can transfer “these qualities” from the head to the heart and radically transform their behavior so that it mirrors that of Christ.

You can sense Peter’s urgency as he states, “it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live” ( 2 Peter 1:13 NLT). He was driven by an awareness that his days on earth were limited and that he must carefully steward whatever time he had left to carry out his commission. It is most likely that he wrote this letter from Rome, where it is believed he was eventually martyred by the Roman emperor, Nero. Peter lived with a determination to make the most of his time on earth, not wasting a single second that God graciously provided. In the back of his mind, Peter could always hear the prophetic words that the resurrected Jesus had spoken to him on the beach.

“I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.” – John 21:18-19 NLT

As the apostle John points out, Jesus was alluding to Peter’s eventual death. It is unclear whether Peter understood the words of Jesus to be a premonition concerning his eventual martyrdom. But he must have understood that by the time he reached old age, he would suffer some kind of arrest and imprisonment. It is believed that Peter was in his 50s by the time he wrote this second letter, and that would have been considered “old” in those days. With each passing year, Peter knew that his time on earth was drawing to a close. He even referenced the words that Jesus spoke to him that fateful day on the seashore.

For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. – 2 Peter 1:14-15 NLT  

Peter wasn’t attempting to tug at their heartstrings or put them under some false sense of guilt or sympathetic obligation. He was simply expressing his determination to finish strong. He was going to take advantage of every precious moment he had and use it to encourage his brothers and sisters in Christ to “remember these things.” What things? These things: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

Peter wasn’t promoting academic enhancement. He wasn’t looking for ritualistic religious practices or outward displays of self-righteousness. He was expressing an expectation in true heart change that showed up in Spirit-transformed behavior. It seems likely that Peter had in mind the words that Jesus had spoken to the pious and outwardly righteous Jews of His day.

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.” – Matthew 15:8-9 NLT

And Jesus had quoted the words of His Heavenly Father, recorded by the prophet, Isaiah (Isaiah 29:13). As God’s chosen and set-apart people, the Jews had displayed a penchant for playing the part. Jesus constantly referred to them as hypocrites, little more than actors in a play, pretending to be something other than what they truly were. And Peter feared that the readers of his letter were running the risk of doing the same thing. If their lives failed to reflect the fruit of righteousness, made possible by the indwelling presence of the Spirit, their worship would be nothing more than a farce. They would become ineffective and unfruitful. Their witness for Christ would become diluted by compromise with the world. And for Peter, that was unacceptable.

He had opened up this letter with powerful words of encouragement.

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. – 2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV

Peter expected the recipients of his letter to fully embrace the “precious and very great promises” made available to them in Christ. Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on their behalf, they had become “partakers of the divine nature.” They weren’t sinners trying to act like saints. They had been redeemed, renewed, and enjoyed a reconciled relationship with God the Father. In Christ, they were new creations. Their old sin nature, while not fully eradicated, was no longer in control of their lives. They had the power to live distinctively different lives, just as Paul had declared to the believers in Corinth.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… – 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 ESV

Not only did they have the ministry of reconciliation. They were to be living evidence of the transformative reality of Christ’s reconciling work. As Paul put it to the believers in Corinth, “The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This ‘letter’ is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NLT).

In the same way, Peter greatly desired that his brothers and sisters living in Asia Minor would be letters of recommendation, declaring with their lives the redemptive and reconciling power of the gospel.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Proof Positive

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” – John 5:30-36 ESV

Despite what the religious leaders believed, Jesus was not some independent agent acting on his own behalf. He was the Son of God and had been sent on a divinely-sanctioned mission by His Heavenly Father. All that He said and did was in keeping with and in full submission to the will of the Father. In fact, Jesus has already stated that, “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19 ESV).

Now, He repeats that same thought but ties it to His claim to have God-given authority to act as judge over mankind.

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30 ESV).

As the Son of God, Jesus was operating under the authority of His Heavenly Father. Though a co-equal with God, Jesus had willingly submitted Himself to do His Father’s will. He had come to earth, taken on human flesh, and was doing and saying only what His Father had instructed Him to do. And part of the responsibility God had given His Son was to judge or discern between those who truly believed in Him and those who were standing in opposition to His ministry and mission. Because of His direct access to the Father, Jesus knew exactly what God knew and was able to pass judgment on the words and actions of others. 

It was His relationship with the Father that gave Jesus the authority for all that He said and did. And Jesus made it clear that without His Father’s approval, His claims would be of no value. Anyone could say they had been sent by God, but only Jesus could back up His words with tangible proof.

“If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.” – John 5:31-32 ESV

The very fact that Jesus could cause a paralyzed man to walk was evidence of God’s power over His life. Every miraculous sign He performed was further proof that He had God’s divine seal of approval over His ministry. It is highly likely that the religious leaders had heard the rumors concerning Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Some of them may have been there to witness what had happened. Matthew records in his gospel that when Jesus had come up out of the water “the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17 ESV).

It is not clear whether anyone else heard the testimony of God that day, but Jesus did. He knew who He was and what He had been sent to do. And all that He did from that point forward was in keeping with the will of His Father.

Jesus reminds the religious leaders that they had sent a team of priests and Levites to interrogate John the Baptist in order to determine who he was and what he was up to in the wilderness. They had heard the rumors that he might be the long-awaited Messiah. And when these men had confronted John the Baptist and demanded to know who he was, he had been very blunt in his reponse.

He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” – John 1:20-23 ESV

Even John had witnessed to the fact that he was only the forerunner for the one who was to come. His job had been to prepare the way for someone greater and more significant than himself. And he had told his interrogators: “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:26-27 ESV).

And Jesus accuses the religious leaders of having been caught up in the fervor and excitement surrounding John the Baptist’s ministry. His declaration that the kingdom of God was near at hand had gotten their attention. So much so, that some of them had shown up at the Jordan River to watch John baptize. They were curious and wanted to make sure they were not missing out on something important. But John had seen them in the crowd and called them out.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” – Matthew 3:7 ESV

They had heard the testimony of John and seen the crowds of people seeking baptism for the repentance of their sins, but they had still refused to believe. And John had warned these self-righteous men that they would face certain judgment at the hands of the one who was to come.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” – Matthew 3:11-12 ESV

John the Baptist had been painfully clear in his testimony regarding Jesus. He had held nothing back, declaring in no uncertain terms that the Messiah had come and the judgment had begun.

But Jesus admits that John’s testimony, while true, was superseded by a greater and more compelling testimony: The evidence of His divinity as revealed by His miracles.

“…the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” – John 5:36 ESV

But there is more to Jesus’ statement than His claim to perform supernatural signs and wonders. There had been others in Israel’s history who had been given the divine ability to do miraculous signs, including Moses, Elijah, and Elisha. The miracles Jesus performed were just a portion of the “work” that He did. Every aspect of His earthly life was a witness to His divine calling and commission. His life of perfect obedience gave evidence of who He was. His powerful words, spoken with an authority the people had never heard before (John 7:46), were further proof of His identity. 

This entire scene portrays the conflict between Jesus, the Son of God, and the religious leaders of His day. These men were experts in the law and avid students of the Hebrew scriptures. They were knowledgable and well-informed. If anyone should have understood the identity of the coming Messiah, it should have been them. But here was the Messiah standing right in front of them, but they were blind to the reality of His identity and stubbornly resistant to any evidence that might support His claim to be the anointed one of God.

And Jesus is about to use His God-given authority as the judge of all mankind to condemn them for their willful refusal to accept the overwhelming evidence of His identity. They were without excuse and their fate was sealed. It was just as Jesus had told Nicodemus, another curious but unconvinced member of the Pharisees.

“God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” – John 3:17-18 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

What Have I Done to You?

1 Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
    and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
    and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
    and he will contend with Israel.

3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
    How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
    and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
    Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
    and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
    that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:1-8 ESV

Micah now shifts the focus of his message from the future to the present day, addressing the people of Israel with a personal plea from God Himself. He employs judicial terminology, deliberately speaking his audience as if they were on trial, with God standing before them as their judge.

In the first two verses, Micah uses the Hebrew Word riyb three times, which can be translated “dispute, contend, or plead.” In essence, God is demanding that the Israelites defend themselves and present their case against Him. And He calls the hills and mountains to act as the impartial jury, hearing the evidence from both parties in this epic legal proceeding.

God is going to bring His riyb, or indictment against His chosen people. He will provide evidence in the lawsuit and allow the “enduring foundations of the earth” to settle the case. The mountains, hills, and foundations of the earth are meant to suggest the creative order that has witnessed the unethical and immoral actions of God’s chosen people since the beginning of time. If the mountains, hills, and foundations of the earth could speak, they could give damning testimony to support Israel’s guilt and justify God’s judgment.

Now, God turns His attention to the people of Israel, the defendants in this divine court action. He wants to hear their explanation for their treatment of Him.

“O my people, what have I done to you?
    What have I done to make you tired of me?
    Answer me!” – Micah 6:3 NLT

Like a lawyer cross-examining the defendant, God gives Israel the opportunity to present their case against Him. What evidence do they have that would indict Him as the guilty party and excuse their treatment of Him? This is their chance to provide proof that their behavior was warranted because of something God had done. If the mountains, hills, and foundations of the earth could speak up, they would echo the words of the psalmist, defending the integrity of the Almighty.

The Lord is righteous in everything he does;
    he is filled with kindness. – Psalm 145:17 NLT

This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. – Psalm 18:30 ESV

And if Moses, the great deliverer of Israel, could appear as a witness in this trial, he too would give evidence of God’s undeniable innocence and unwavering righteousness.

“He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!” – Deuteronomy 32:4 NLT

And Moses would have been intimately familiar with the guilt of Israel, having spent 40 years leading them through the wilderness on their way to the land of promise. He had watched God redeem and rescue them from slavery in Egypt and then listened to their constant complaints as God led them and provided for them. And their dissatisfaction with God had begun just days after they had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground

Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).

Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. – Exodus 15:22-24 NLT

And days later, these same ungrateful people would find another excuse to turn their wrath against God’s appointed leader, demanding that he explain why he had brought them into the wilderness to die.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” – Exodus 16:2-3 ESV

And Moses would announce God’s intention to graciously provide for their need, but he would also reveal that their grumbling and complaining had been against the Almighty. Their ingratitude had been directed at their redeemer.

“When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” – Exodus 16:8 ESV

The Israelites had an abysmal track record when it came to their relationship with Yahweh. And it lasted long after they got to Canaan and inherited the land promised to them by God. Their dissatisfaction with and disrespect for God continued for generations. It showed up in their failure to keep His commands. It was evident in their constant spiritual infidelity that showed up in their addiction to idolatry.

And God calls on the people of Israel to remember all that He had done for them. He demands that they contemplate and compare His actions to their own.

“I brought you out of Egypt
    and redeemed you from slavery.
    I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.” – Micah 6:4 NLT

And God gets specific, providing them with further evidence of His goodness, grace, and mercy.

“Don’t you remember, my people,
    how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed
    and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead?
And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
    when I, the Lord, did everything I could
    to teach you about my faithfulness.” – Micah 6:5 NLT

They had no right to point their finger at God, accusing Him of injustice or ill-treatment. He had done nothing but show them kindness and shower them with His gracious love. When their enemies had tried to curse them, God had intervened, turning the evil-intentions of King Balak into a divine blessing. And when the people had arrived at the Jordan River, God had provided them with yet another miracle, making it possible for them to cross over the rain-swollen river on dry ground.

So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground. – Joshua 3:14-17 NLT

In all of this, God had been teaching Israel about His faithfulness. He would be depended upon. He could be trusted. He was righteous in all His ways. But the same could not be said about the people of Israel. And, at this point in the proceedings, Micah intervenes, addressing his fellow Israelites with a series of rhetorical questions meant to reinforce their guilt and remind them of what was missing in their relationship with Yahweh.

What can we bring to the Lord?
    Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
    with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams
    and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins? – Micah 6:6-7 NLT

God had made it perfectly clear what He expected from His people.

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.” – Deuteronomy 10:12 NLT

He desired faithfulness on the part of His people. He wasn’t interested in lip-service and some kind of mechanical observance of rituals and rules. And the prophet Isaiah recorded God’s assessment of His peoples’ relationship with Him.

“These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” – Isaiah 29:13 NLT

And Micah, acting as a witness against his fellow Israelites, reminds them of what God had always desired of them.

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
    and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
    and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8 NLT

But they had failed. They had refused to do what is good and right. They had chosen to despise God’s mercy by refusing to extend it to one another. And they had decided to display a prideful and arrogant attitude toward their God, rather than walking humbly in His presence, grateful for His ever-present goodness and grace.

God was innocent, but they stood guilty as charged. He had done nothing to deserve their treatment of Him. And as the evidence continued to pile up, their chances of acquittal dried up. And God would be fully justified when He delivered His guilty verdict and pronounced their fate.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

If You Believe It, Prove It.

8 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. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  – 2 Peter 1:8-11 ESV

Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Seven characteristics that should mark the life of each and every child of God. They reflect what Peter means when he says, “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15 ESV). These are character qualities found in the life of Jesus and, as the author of Hebrews puts it, “the Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God” (Hebrews 1:3 NLT). To be holy as God is holy, is to reflect His nature, just as Jesus did. It is to live a life that is set apart and distinctly different from all those who don’t know Him, who don’t have His Spirit living within them. These seven qualities are Spirit-induced and empowered, not man-made and self-produced. But if someone has placed his faith in Christ, these qualities should be a part of his life. That is why Peter says, “if these qualities are yours and are increasing” (2 Peter 1:8 ESV). He is not suggesting that his readers do not have these qualities. He is simply separating those who do from those who don’t. Peter knew there were those in his audience who had failed to supplement their faith with these virtues. Some of them were not even believers. They had never placed their faith in Christ. Their lives would not be marked by these characteristics, because they are essentially spiritual in nature.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. – 1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

So, Peter is addressing believers, reminding them that these qualities are theirs and should be increasing. That is to be the norm. That is what God intended. And their very presence in a believer’s life, and that believer’s determination to see these constantly added and increased will result in an extremely positive outcome: “they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8 ESV). The Greek word Peter uses that is translated “ineffective” is argos, and it refers to someone who is lazy, shunning their responsibilities or assigned duties. The Greek word for “unfruitful” is akarpos, and it refers to a tree that is not yielding fruit as it should. Like a barren tree, the believer whose life lacks the “fruit” of these seven qualities, is abnormal and unnatural. His life is not as God intended. It doesn’t take a high IQ to figure out that the opposites of these two negative words would be diligence and fruitfulness. But notice what Peter states is to be our focus: the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The seven characteristics Peter has outlined are to be a means to an end, a very specific end. As the NET Bible puts it: “they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately” (2 Peter 1:8 NET). That is the end game, the final goal, an intimate knowledge of Christ. And we get there, Peter suggests, by diligently adding these seven virtues to our life. When we supplement our faith in Christ with the attitudes of Christ, we grow to know Him better. We grow in our understanding of who He was and how He has called us to live. Because we can add these seven virtues only with the help of the Holy Spirit, we become increasingly more dependent upon Him. And it is He who makes Christ known to us. Jesus told His disciples regarding the Holy Spirit, “he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26 ESV). He also told them, “he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13 ESV) and “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14 ESV).

So, as we diligently add these virtues to our lives, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we grow in our knowledge of Christ. We become more like Him. We begin to see life the way He does. And our lives begin to take on His very same character and truly become Christians, not just in name, but in action and attitude.

But Peter knows that there are believers in his audience whose lives are not marked by these seven attributes. Which is why he states, “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Peter 1:9 ESV). Think about it. A believer who lacks virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, is missing the whole point behind being a believer. He is living as if he was still enslaved to sin and incapable of exhibiting Christ-likeness. He is nearsighted, living with a stunted perspective on life, that never allows him to see his true identity as a child of God. He forgets that he has been chosen by God. He can’t see that he has been set apart for God’s glory and purposes. His ability to see that he is a new creation and has a new capacity to live out his faith in everyday life is cloudy and lacks focus. And he comes across as lazy and unfruitful. 

Which is why Peter so strongly admonishes his readers: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election” (2 Peter 1:10 ESV). He encourages them to get busy, to make every effort to prove their new identity in Christ by purposefully and diligently adding these seven virtues to their faith. Their presence proves our calling. They give outward evidence of our new nature and our status as sons and daughters of God. Peter promises, “if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10 ESV). Peter is not suggesting that it is our practice of these seven virtues that keeps us saved. No, our eternal salvation has been secured by God’s grace through His Son’s death on the cross. We don’t save ourselves and we don’t keep ourselves saved by doing good works. Peter made this clear in his first letter.

…he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time… – 1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV

What Peter is trying to say is that when you “make every effort to supplement your faith” (2 Peter 1:5 ESV) with these seven character qualities, you give evidence of your new life in Christ. This evidence is not for your benefit. In other words, it isn’t intended to prove to you that you are saved, but it does reveal to the lost world around you that faith in Christ is truly life-changing. It is marked by diligent, obedient effort and fruitfulness. Jesus spoke of this very thing.

“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5 ESV

And He went on to say:

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” – John 15:8 ESV

Those who are believers in Christ are to live lives of fruitfulness. They are to be marked by these seven characteristics that emulate the very life of Christ. And their lives will have an impact on all those around them, both saved and unsaved. And we do so with the confident assurance that our eternity has bee permanently secured for us by Christ.

For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 1:11 ESV

Our reward is in the life to come We live in this life in order to obey and portray Christ to a lost and dying world. We will face rejection and persecution for our efforts, just as He did. But we are willing to endure the suffering because we anticipate the reward to come.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Guilty of Being God.

John 10:22-42

Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" – John 10:31-32 NLT

The people wanted a Messiah. They had been looking for him to come for generations. Now they had to confront the rumors of whether or not Jesus was the one for whom they had been waiting. But so much didn't seem to make sense. Yes, He did miraculous works. He did inexplicable wonders right before their eyes. He healed the lame, the blind, and the mute. He even raised the dead. But something wasn't right. Maybe it was because He didn't look the part. After all, He was just a common-looking peasant from the backwater town of Nazareth. He had no known pedigree. They would have had no clue that He was David's rightful heir to the throne. They simply saw Jesus as a virtual nobody who burst on the scene unexpectedly and who was stirring up excitement among the people and anxiety among the religious leadership. For many of them, Jesus had become more of a sideshow than a potential savior. He was a welcome distraction from the day-to-day misery of life under Roman rule.

So when Jesus showed up at the Temple during the Festival of Dedication, or Hanukkah, a crowd surrounded Him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly" (John 10:24 NLT). They wanted Him to come right out and declare His intentions to establish His rule and reign and begin His plan for saving the people of Israel from their oppressors. They were ready for Jesus to start acting like the kind of Messiah they had been waiting for. But the kind of salvation came to bring had nothing to do with the tyranny of Rome. It had nothing to do with earthly thrones or kingdoms. At least, not yet. Jesus came to offer freedom from sin and the gift of eternal life. And all the miracles He had done in their sight were more than proof enough that He was exactly who He had been rumored to be. "The proof is the work I do in my Father's name," he told them. Jesus tried to get them to understand that the miracles He performed were evidence that He had been sent by and worked for God. But the majority of the people in the crowd that day were looking for more. Miracles were not enough. But their skepticism had to do more with blindness than anything else. Jesus told them, "you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me. For my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one" (John 10:26-30 NLT).

Jesus knew that there would be those who never believed in Him. They would reject both His message and His miracles. Not because His messages and miracles were unimpressive, but because they were spiritually blind to the truth. Jesus told them point-blank, "You are not my sheep." They didn't belong to Him. God had not opened their eyes to the reality of Jesus' mission and message. They were still spiritually dead and incapable of recognizing the Messiah who stood right before their eyes. And evidence of their spiritual blindness was their reaction to Jesus' statement, "The Father and I are one." They immediately picked up stones to kill Him. They saw Jesus as a mere man, not God. He was guilty of blasphemy and deserved to be stoned to death. But the real reason they wanted to kill Jesus was because He was exactly who He claimed to be: The Messiah, the Son of God, and the King of the Jews. He was God, and for that they wanted to kill Him. It would be the same thing that would lead to Jesus' conviction and crucifixion at the end of His life. His crime, as proclaimed on a wooden sign hung above His head on the cross, was "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Jesus died for being who He claimed to be. He was guilty for being God and He died because of it. All along the way, Jesus had been doing the work of His Father. He had given ample evidence of His deity. And He told the people that day in the Temple courtyard, "Don't believe me unless I carry out my Father's word. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don't believe in me" (John 10:37-38 NLT). Look at the evidence. Recognize that it is of God, not man. But their eyes remained closed and their hearts remained hardened. But many believed in Jesus that day. There were some sheep among the goats, some believers among the doubters, some converts among the crowd.

Father, there is so much evidence surrounding Your Son that validates His claims. And yet millions still reject Him even today. Their eyes are blinded and their hearts are hardened. And unless You open their eyes and soften their hearts, all the evidence in the world will never win them over. Salvation is an act of God, not man. It is completely up to You, not us. Thank You for opening my eyes and softening my heart so that I could see clearly for the first time and recognize the truth of Jesus' claims and accept the free gift of eternal life He offered. Amen.