Yes. I would take the next regular page through 2 Peter 1:5–11. Verse 11 completes the thought; verse 12 begins Peter's new emphasis on remembering what they already know.
2 PETER 1:5–11
MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE
Peter has just made an extraordinary statement:
“His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…”
—2 Peter 1:3
God has given.
God has called.
God has promised.
Now Peter turns to what Christians are to do with what God has given them.
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue…”
—2 Peter 1:5
There is no contradiction.
God provides.
We respond.
Grace does not produce inactivity.
“GIVING ALL DILIGENCE”
Peter doesn't say:
God has done everything, so nothing is expected of you.
Neither does he say:
Work hard enough and perhaps God will save you.
He begins with people who have already received “like precious faith” (1:1) and God's “exceeding great and precious promises” (1:4).
Then he tells those people:
“giving all diligence…”
Christian growth is not accidental.
Peter expects effort.
“ADD TO YOUR FAITH”
The KJV says:
“add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge…”
The picture is not necessarily a ladder where we completely master one quality before beginning the next.
Peter describes qualities that should increasingly characterize the Christian life.
He begins with faith.
Then:
Virtue — moral excellence.
Knowledge — understanding shaped by knowing God.
Temperance — self-control.
Patience — endurance, steadfastness.
Godliness — a life oriented toward God.
Brotherly kindness — affection for fellow believers.
Charity — love.
Notice where Peter ends:
Love.
Christian maturity isn't measured merely by how much we know.
Knowledge without transformed character isn't what Peter is describing.
WHY THESE QUALITIES MATTER
Peter continues:
“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
—2 Peter 1:8
There is that word again:
knowledge.
But Peter's knowledge of Christ isn't merely information stored in the mind.
Knowing Christ is supposed to produce fruit.
That becomes particularly important when Peter begins describing false teachers in chapter 2.
They may possess religious language.
They may make impressive claims.
But Peter will tell us to look at what their teaching produces.
WHAT IF THESE THINGS ARE MISSING?
“But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”
—2 Peter 1:9
Notice Peter doesn't say the person never knew anything.
He says he has forgotten.
That's an important word in this letter.
Peter is deeply concerned about Christians forgetting what God has done for them.
In verse 12 he will say:
“I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance…”
Peter's answer to spiritual forgetfulness is:
Remember.
Remember what God has done.
Remember what you were taught.
And live accordingly.
“MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE”
Then comes a sentence we shouldn't hurry past:
“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure…”
—2 Peter 1:10
Peter is speaking to brethren.
He has already described them as people who have received precious faith.
Yet he tells them:
Give diligence.
And:
Make your calling and election sure.
What does that mean?
Is Peter saying God's choice is uncertain?
Is he saying Christians earn their election by good behavior?
Or is he telling Christians to confirm in their lives the calling they have received?
Whatever conclusion we reach, we shouldn't remove Peter's warning:
“…for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
That “if” deserves attention.
Peter sees perseverance in the Christian life as something that matters.
CAN A CHRISTIAN FALL?
This passage is sometimes pulled into the long debate about whether a Christian can finally fall away.
But let's first allow Peter to say what he actually says.
He tells Christians:
Give diligence.
Make your calling and election sure.
If you do these things, you shall never fall.
Later in this same letter Peter will describe people who:
“…have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…”
and then become:
“…again entangled therein, and overcome…”
—2 Peter 2:20
So we shouldn't make Peter's warnings meaningless.
At the same time, Peter isn't trying to make faithful Christians live every day wondering whether God has abandoned them.
His purpose is the opposite.
Keep growing.
Keep following Christ.
Keep practicing these things.
There is assurance in continuing with Him.
We'll examine the larger question separately in Going Deeper.
“YE SHALL NEVER FALL”
The word translated “fall” carries the idea of stumbling.
Peter isn't promising that Christians will never commit another sin or make another mistake.
Peter himself knew something about stumbling.
He had denied Jesus three times.
Yet Jesus restored him.
Peter's concern is with continuing faithfully toward the goal rather than abandoning the way.
And then comes the promise:
“For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
—2 Peter 1:11
Look where Peter's eyes are fixed:
the everlasting kingdom.
Christian growth isn't simply about becoming a better person this week.
Peter is looking toward the destination.
SOMETHING IMPORTANT HAS HAPPENED
Go back and read verses 3–11 together.
Peter holds two truths together that Christians sometimes pull apart.
GOD HAS PROVIDED
“His divine power hath given unto us all things…”
CHRISTIANS MUST RESPOND
“Giving all diligence…”
Peter doesn't seem troubled by putting those statements beside one another.
Neither should we be.
God's provision does not eliminate our responsibility.
Our responsibility does not eliminate God's grace.
DON'T TURN THE LIST INTO A SCORECARD
It would be easy to read Peter's list and start measuring ourselves:
Faith? Check.
Knowledge? Check.
Self-control? Not so good.
Patience? Better try harder.
That's probably missing Peter's point.
He says these qualities should be “in you, and abound.”
He's describing growth.
The Christian who has followed Jesus for forty years should not be content to have exactly the same character he had when he began.
God has given us what we need.
Now Peter says:
Grow.
THE BIG PICTURE
Peter began this chapter with what God has given us.
Now he tells us what should happen because of it.
Faith should grow into character.
Knowledge should produce fruit.
Grace should produce diligence.
Calling should produce perseverance.
And Peter isn't finished.
Beginning in verse 12 he tells us why he is so determined to remind them of these things.
Peter knows he is going to die.
Before he does, he wants Christians to remember.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
GOING DEEPER
The natural deeper study here is:
WHAT DOES “MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE” MEAN?
This one will deal seriously with election, assurance, perseverance, the word “if,” and the possibility of falling—without starting with either Calvinism or Arminianism and then forcing Peter into their system.
Return to HOME page
Return to PETER page
GOING DEEPER
WHAT DOES “MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE” MEAN?
2 Peter 1:10
Peter writes:
“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
—2 Peter 1:10
That raises some important questions.
If God calls and elects, why does Peter tell Christians to make their calling and election sure?
Why does he say “give diligence”?
Why does he say “if”?
And what does he mean by “fall”?
Does our salvation depend upon us?
Or is Peter simply telling Christians to prove that they were already unconditionally elected?
Before choosing an answer, let's read Peter.
WHO IS PETER TALKING TO?
This is the first thing we need to establish.
Peter isn't addressing unbelievers and telling them how to become Christians.
He calls them:
“them that have obtained like precious faith with us…”
—2 Peter 1:1
They have received grace and peace.
They know Christ.
They have received God's promises.
They have:
“…escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
—2 Peter 1:4
And in verse 10 Peter calls them:
“brethren.”
So whatever the warning means, it is addressed to people Peter treats as Christians.
That is important…!
WHAT ARE “CALLING” AND “ELECTION”?
The words are related, but they aren't identical.
Calling points to God's summons—His invitation into life in Christ.
Election points to God's choosing.
Peter has already spoken this way in his first letter:
“But ye are a chosen generation…”
—1 Peter 2:9
The initiative belongs to God.
Peter isn't saying:
Choose yourself so God will choose you.
God calls.
God chooses.
God supplies.
But Peter still says:
“make your calling and election sure.”
So God's action does not make the Christian's response irrelevant.
WHAT DOES “SURE” MEAN?
The Greek word translated “sure” is bebaios.
It carries the idea of something firm, secure, established, confirmed.
Peter isn't telling Christians to rewrite God's decision.
The emphasis is upon making their calling and election firm or confirmed.
How?
Peter has just told us.
“If these things be in you, and abound…”
—1:8
What things?
Faith.
Virtue.
Knowledge.
Self-control.
Perseverance.
Godliness.
Brotherly affection.
Love.
The life Peter describes gives visible expression to the calling a Christian has received.
DOES THAT MEAN GOOD WORKS EARN SALVATION?
No.
Look at Peter's order.
God's divine power:
“…hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…”
—1:3
God gives before Peter commands.
God calls before Peter tells us to grow.
God gives the promises before Peter says:
“giving all diligence…”
Peter doesn't describe people climbing their way up to God through moral achievement.
He describes people responding to what God has already provided.
We might put it this way:
Our obedience doesn't purchase God's grace.
But Peter certainly expects God's grace to change the way we live.
THEN WHY DOES PETER SAY “IF”?
This is where we need to be particularly careful.
“…for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
—1:10
We shouldn't erase the word “if.”
Peter could simply have said:
You were elected, therefore you cannot fall.
He didn't.
He exhorts Christians to diligence and attaches a promise:
If you do these things, you shall never fall.
Whatever theological system we eventually construct must leave Peter's sentence intact.
If our theology makes Peter's warning unnecessary, perhaps we should examine our theology rather than rewrite Peter.
WHAT DOES “FALL” MEAN?
The Greek word is ptaiō.
It means to stumble or fall.
But Peter obviously isn't promising sinless perfection.
Peter himself stumbled badly.
He denied Jesus three times.
So:
“ye shall never fall”
cannot mean:
You will never commit another sin.
The larger concern is whether Christians continue faithfully toward the kingdom Peter mentions in the very next verse:
“For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
—1:11
Peter's eyes are on the destination.
CAN A CHRISTIAN REALLY TURN AWAY?
We shouldn't try to answer that from verse 10 alone.
Fortunately, Peter returns to the subject.
In chapter 2 he describes people who:
“…have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…”
—2 Peter 2:20
That sounds remarkably similar to 1:4:
“…having escaped the corruption that is in the world…”
But Peter says these people can become:
“…again entangled therein, and overcome…”
And then:
“the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.”
—2:20
Peter continues:
“For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”
—2:21
Those are difficult words to reduce to:
They were never really Christians in the first place.
Peter says they escaped, knew, and then turned from.
We should at least allow those words their ordinary force before explaining them through a theological system.
PETER HAD HEARD JESUS WARN HIM PERSONALLY
There is something especially interesting about Peter giving this warning.
Jesus once told Peter:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not…”
—Luke 22:31–32
Peter knew both sides of this personally.
Christ preserved him.
And:
Peter still had to remain faithful.
Later Jesus told him:
“Follow me.”
—John 21:19
Peter's security wasn't found in pretending failure was impossible.
It was found in continuing to follow Christ.
WHAT ABOUT “ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED”?
That phrase isn't found in 2 Peter.
Neither is the theological term “perseverance of the saints.”
That doesn't automatically make either idea wrong.
But it means we shouldn't begin with the slogan.
Begin with Peter.
Peter tells Christians:
Give diligence.
Grow.
Make your calling and election sure.
If you do these things, you will not fall.
And later:
Don't become entangled again.
Don't turn from the holy commandment.
Whatever doctrine of security we teach must be large enough to include all of those statements.
DOES THAT MEAN CHRISTIANS SHOULD LIVE IN CONSTANT FEAR?
No.
That isn't Peter's message either.
Look again at the passage.
Peter doesn't say:
Spend every day wondering whether God still loves you.
He says:
“if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
That is encouragement.
Keep walking.
Keep growing.
Keep trusting.
Keep following Christ.
The warning isn't intended to destroy assurance.
It tells us where assurance belongs.
Not in our ability to predict the future.
Not in a past religious experience considered apart from everything that follows.
But in a continuing relationship of faith with the Christ who called us.
GOD KEEPS — BUT WE MUST CONTINUE
This isn't unique to Peter.
Jesus said:
“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.”
—John 8:31
Paul wrote:
“…if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled…”
—Colossians 1:23
Hebrews says:
“For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.”
—Hebrews 3:14
And Peter says:
“if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
The New Testament can speak strongly about God's faithfulness and just as strongly about our need to continue.
We don't have to silence one set of passages to protect the other.
FROM GOD'S SIDE — AND FROM OUR SIDE
Perhaps this is the simplest way to put it.
From God's side, the Christian has every reason for confidence.
God has called.
God has promised.
God has supplied what we need.
God is faithful.
But Scripture never turns that confidence into permission to abandon Christ.
From our side:
We continue believing.
We continue following.
We continue growing.
We refuse to turn away.
That isn't earning salvation.
It is continuing in the faith through which we received it.
LET PETER FINISH HIS SENTENCE
Sometimes theological debates begin with:
“Are the elect eternally secure?”
Peter asks a more practical question:
What should people whom God has called and chosen be doing?
His answer:
“give diligence…”
And:
“if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
Then comes the destination:
“…the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
—2 Peter 1:11
Peter isn't trying to make faithful Christians insecure.
He is urging them onward.
God has provided what you need.
So keep going.
Don't use grace as an excuse for carelessness.
And don't let fear convince you that every stumble means God has abandoned you.
Grow. Persevere. Follow Christ.
And let Peter's words mean what Peter actually said.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.