Today's Devotions

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Showcase: Assorted Treats

  • Hope for Haiti +

    In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5 Read More
  • Give My Soul Rest: the movie Avatar +

    Avatar, the 2009 movie by James Cameron, raised as much discussion and controversy through its piecemeal use of Native American, Read More
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Don  Carson

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rsv/1-chronicles/passage.aspx?q=1+chronicles+26;1+chronicles+27

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rsv/2-peter/1.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rsv/micah/4.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rsv/luke/13.html

1 Chronicles 26–27; 2 Peter 1; Micah 4; Luke 13

SECOND PETER 1:5–9 PROVIDES us with a remarkable sequence of steps. Peter knows his readers are believers. Now he exhorts them to add some things to their faith.

(1) Add goodness to faith (2 Pet. 1:5): Probably the kind of faith Peter does not want to see is the kind of faith that James 2 dismisses: faith that is merely intellectual, merely affirming, but devoid of transparent trust and ready obedience. Genuine faith issues in obedience—but as usual, believers are responsible to go down that track and are discouraged from mere passivity. So add goodness to faith.

(2) Add knowledge to goodness (2 Pet. 1:5): Some knowledge is necessary for faith, but Peter has moved beyond that point. Elsewhere Timothy is encouraged to persevere in his "doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:16); here Christians are similarly exhorted to add knowledge to goodness. Nothing is as stabilizing and as motivating as a growing grasp of the mind of God.

(3) Add self-control to knowledge (2 Pet. 1:6): Mere knowledge may simply puff one up (1 Cor. 8:1–3) and fail to transform anyone. But if self-control, that blessed element in the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23), is present in abundance, the potential for good is incalculable.

(4) Add perseverance to self-control (2 Pet. 1:6): It is one thing to be self-controlled in a crisis, or for a short period of time, or when things are going well. It takes long-term perseverance to bring self-control to a shining polish.

(5) Add godliness to perseverance (2 Pet. 1:6): Otherwise, perseverance may turn out to be little more than a supreme effort of merely human will. God-centeredness, a genuine religious element in every virtue, transforms mere stoic resolve into transparent godliness.

(6) Add brotherly kindness to godliness (2 Pet. 1:7): Everyone hates the self-righteous. Self-control and perseverance, even godliness, have been known to generate rigid and unforgiving Pharisees. Add brotherly kindness.

(7) Add love to brotherly kindness (2 Pet. 1:7): That is better yet. For then we are mirroring, however falteringly or poorly, the character of the Master himself.

Note carefully what brackets these seven steps. First, at the front end, Peter tells us we are to "make every effort" to pursue this list, "for this very reason" (2 Pet. 1:5). "This very reason" is spelled out in the previous verses (2 Pet. 1:3–4). God's glory and goodness have provided great and precious promises, so that through them we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world. For this reason we are to make every effort to pursue these seven steps. Second, at the back end Peter assures us that these qualities will prevent us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:8–9).

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/loveofgod/2013/11/29/1-chronicles-26%e2%80%9327-2-peter-1-micah-4-luke-13/

 

Reflections to Consider

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Publications

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Music

  • River of Love

    There's a river of love that runs through all timeBut there's a river of grief that floods through our livesIt Read More
  • I Am Nothing

    I stutter when I tryTo speak the language of lifeI want to shout out loudBut I just cry insideSometimes it Read More
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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Christ is a Great Savior: a review of the movie Amazing Grace +

    Amazing Grace is a historical drama about William Wilberforce who was elected to British Parliament at the age of 21 Read More
  • Wilberforce, Hollywood's Amazing Grace, Charlotte Allen +

    William Wilberforce's relentless campaign eventually led the British Parliament to ban the slave trade, in 1807, and to pass a Read More
  • Making Beauty out of Ugly Things: Grace by U2 +

    Grace, she takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name Grace, she carries Read More
  • The True Nature of Grace and Love: a movie review of the Soloist +

    The 2009 movie The Soloist is based on a book by the same name, written by Los Angeles Times columnist Read More
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