SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
6/10/2012 7:59:02 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Spiritual Growth Brings Practical Results (PT-2)
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Peter
1:10-11
Message
of the verses: As far as I know this
will be the last SD in the book of 2 Peter as I have filled in all of the
blanks that were missing from when I first did my Spiritual Diaries back in
2003. I am very thankful that the Holy
Spirit of God has brought me to do my Spiritual Diaries for the end of 1Peter
and the beginning of 2Peter; it has truly been a blessing to me.
Security
(vv. 11-11): “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; 11 for in this way the entrance into the
eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied
to you.” (NASB) 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more
diligent to make your calling and election sure, 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.” (ESV)
There are those who believe that
once a person becomes a born-again believer in Jesus Christ that somehow they
can lose their salvation, but this is not what the Bible teaches at all. When you are sure that you have been born
again and can never lose it, then you will walk with your eyes wide open so
that you will not stumble because you are secure in Christ. “1Jo 5:13
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God, so that you may know
that you have eternal life.”
Jesus said that we can be known by
our fruit, and Dr. Wiersbe writes “It is not our profession of faith that
guarantees that we are saved; it is our progression in the faith that gives us
that assurance. The person who claims to
be a child of God but whose character and conduct give no evidence of spiritual
growth is deceiving himself and heading for judgment.”
Peter speaks of our calling and our
choosing (NASB) in verse ten. In the ESV
the words are translated as calling and election, and election is God choosing
those for salvation. When a person is not
a believer we do not preach to them about election, we preach to them the
Gospel, and once they become a believer they will realize that the Lord elected
them to salvation. God will use the
Gospel to call sinners to repentance.
This is a deep subject that the Bible teaches and faith is involved in
order to accept it, just as faith is involved in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ
as Savior and Lord. “Faith comes by
hearing and hearing of the Word of God.”
So now we know that God has elected
and called us, but this does not mean that we should sit on the sidelines and
do nothing. Peter points out that
election is no excuse for spiritual immaturity,” for as long as you practice
these things, you will never stumble.”
The ESV uses the word “diligent” in verse ten and this means “make every
effort.” “12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you,
both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13).” We have looked at this before, but what we
see here is that God must work in us before we can do His will. Another thing that is true as Dr. Wiersbe
points out is “It is also true that we must be willing for God to work, and we
must cooperate with Him. Divine election
must never be an excuse for human laziness.”
Just a thought here and that is that
Dr. Wiersbe uses the KJV in most of his commentary, and I like the NASB, but
the ESV is similar to the KJV, as it uses the same manuscripts, so it is easier
to follow his teachings in the ESV. I
must say that I do like the ESV a lot.
We read in the ESV in verse eleven,
“For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the
eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The Greeks used
this phrase to describe the welcome given Olympic winners when they returned
home. Every believer will arrive in
heaven, but some will have a more glorious welcome than others. Alas, some believers ‘shall be saved, yet so
as by fire.’” (1Cor. 3:15)
We will finish this section with
these words, “Just think of the blessings that the growing Christian enjoys:
fruitfulness, vision, security—and heavens best! All this and heaven too!
“The Christian life begins with
faith, but that faith must lead to spiritual growth—unless it is dead
faith. But dead faith is not saving
faith (James 2:14-26). Faith leads to growth
and growth leads to practical results in life and service. People who have this kind of Christian
experience are not likely to fall prey to false teachers.” False teachers is the major theme of 2 Peter,
2nd John, 3rd John, and Jude, which is why Dr. Wiersbe
combined these three short letter into his commentary entitled, “Be Alert.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Spiritual
growth is the most important thing that we can do in our Christian life, for as
we grow we become more and more like Jesus Christ and that is the goal of all
believers: “For those whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He
would be the firstborn among many brethren.”
(Romans 8:29)
My Steps of Faith for Today:
I continue to write about abiding in the Vine, or remaining in the
Vine. When one looks at the outside of a
branch that is connected to the vine it does not seem like it is doing
anything, but then one day we see the development of fruit, which shows that
there were many things going on in the inside of the branch in order to produce
this fruit. What is going on in the
inside of a believer in order to produce the fruit that God has called us to
produce can be seen in different parts of the Scriptures. We read in Romans 12:2, “And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect.” The renewing of one’s mind
can only be done through the teaching, reading, meditating, and memorizing of
the Word of God. It says in Psalm 119:11
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The process of growing up in my walk with the
Lord, and being more and more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ is
centered around His Word.
Memory
verse for the week:
1 Simon
Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a
faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior,
Jesus Christ:”
6/10/2012
9:08:44 AM
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