November 24, 2019, 2 Peter 1:1-15 – Post 2 – ISSL Reflection

V.
I closed the other day with two questions – (1) What is the first step we take toward this knowledge? And (2) What steps do we take as we begin to gain this knowledge?

Recall that the “knowledge” we are considering is

“… the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord…. through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness …. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith … with knowledge … [to] keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

First step? Maybe that step is by “him who called us by his own glory and goodness …”

Can we take seriously that the first step, the first movement, is from “Him” towards us?

If that is true in any sense, what do you think about that? How do you feel about it? And, how do you think you want to react?

VI.
Did you notice we are encouraged to –

“ … make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.”

Maybe that suggests our first step is “faith.” I’ll leave you to consider what kind of “faith” this might be.

VII.
I do want us to notice the sequence here – faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection, love.

Maybe the old statement that “all you need is faith” does not paint the entire picture.

Initially, I asked us to pay attention to how often Peter mentions “knowledge.” Now, please note that “knowledge” is not the starting or ending of how Peter wants us to “support” our faith.

How am I going to “support” my faith in the ways that Peter marks out?

What will today and tomorrow look like for me if I can take his encouragement seriously and “support [my] faith”?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}


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