2 Peter 1:10

2 Peter 1:10

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;

In light of everything that Peter has said we are to be diligent to make sure about God’s calling and choosing of us. When we discuss callings as Christians we are normally talking about God’s specific will for us. We look to the example of the Old Testament prophets and how God called them and lead them in His specific will. We may also even look to the calling of the apostles for examples of how we should seek God’s calling on our lives. But is God’s calling on our lives specific or general? There are many Christians who will say that God’s will is specific and He created you as an individual to do a specific work that only You can do. While there are others who say that God has appointed specific tasks and wants Christians in general to fill them. In all honesty I am not sure where I fall on this spectrum. On one hand I feel called to ministry but I am not sure of a specific calling to one area of ministry. Also my call to ministry was not audible or specific it was more of a conviction. I was convicted that I was not truly giving God my entire life and once I turned it over to Him I felt that I should be in ministry. Well this is all a rabbit trail away from the real calling Peter is talking about here. I do not believe he is addressing the issue of calling to works but of calling to grace.

We are to be diligent to seek out our salvation, to verify that we are saved. All of us struggle with doubts and many of us are terrified by the comment Jesus makes in Matthew 7:23 “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!’” This is why Peter has presented us with this little self-examination. We will always struggle with doubts about our salvation or the reality of God because no matter how much we may want to we cannot prove that He does exist! We have great evidence and experience but there will still be room for doubt. This is why we must be diligent to seek what the Bible says. I tend to be very pragmatic about Christianity at first, I tell people it is hard but it works. This reasoning could apply to any lifestyle but Christianity stands apart from all the rest. Our faith is not based on what we do but what has been done for us. That alone sets us apart from every other religion man has ever conceived. If you look back at Matthew 7 you will see that the men Jesus is talking about are appealing to their works for salvation. Our salvation is accomplished by the work of Christ and given to us as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). We have no right to brag in our salvation because we did not save ourselves! It is so easy to forget what Christ did for us because we get caught up in doing for God. We naturally want to turn our gifted salvation into earned salvation this is why we must be diligent to make certain about HIS calling and HIS choosing. God is the one who has done everything and our works are a reaction of praise and thanksgiving! James talks about faith and works because how can people tell that we have faith unless our actions back it up? Yay Jesus, I am saved now I am going to do whatever I want! Does that sound like the Christian life? NO! Look at what Peter says next.

For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;

We are to keep in mind everything that God has done for us and in response we supply the qualities mentioned in the prior verses. I still think that the sanctified Christian life must be primarily focused on others. The Bible tells us to pray with righteous motives and I have found something out, it is so easy to pray with righteous motives when you are praying for other people! If you are not praying for your fellow believers then you are robbing yourself of such a simple joy. When we pray for each other we can see God work because we are praying with right motives. I do not have to worry about praying for myself because I know I have other people praying for me! People who are praying for God’s will above all else. I have also found it is much easier to live a more sinless life when I am actively pray for others. Sin is ultimately about selfishness and when we pray selflessly for others the appeal of sin decreases in our lives. I wish I could say that I was better at being selfless and I pray that I would put others ahead of myself. We must fill our lives with prayer for other people. If we are focused on others we will not sin! I wish we could achieve sinless perfection this side of Heaven but we are too selfish to ever truly strive for it here on Earth. I am convinced of this, if you want to be more sanctified in this life stop praying for yourself and pray for others. We must be focused on God first and other second. If you are afraid that your personal prayer requests will not be lifted up remember that Christ Himself is praying for us in Heaven! Let your friends know your requests so that they can pray for you. This is the Christian life, we get to take joy in watching each other grow in love and faith in the One who died and gave Himself up for us!

I would love to pray for you so please feel free to leave your requests in the comments. I only ask if you see other people prayer requests posted there then before you post pray for those needs. We must be a community if believers who lift one another up in prayer!