The Power for Our Pursuit

Faithful Coronel

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2 Peter 1:3–4 NKJV

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:2–4 ESV

2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Introduction

A missionary named Herbert Jackson got a car that wouldn’t start without a push. For two (2) years, he would ask people to push it so that it would start. During his rounds, he would park it on a hill or leave the engine running. When Jackson retired, he turned over the car to the new missionary. While he was explaining how he would get the car started, the new missionary looked under the hood. Then, he said, “I believe the only trouble is this loose cable.” After securing the cable, when he started the car, lo and behold the engine roared to life, much to the surprise of Jackson! For two(2) years, Jackson endured unnecessary trouble. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.

The Source of our Power

It is the same way with many believers. Many of us fail to tap in to our source of strength. That’s why we live lives that do not please God. We forget the truth that He is our source of power. We forget that God has given us everything we need so we can live a godly life when we believed in the LORD Jesus as Savior.

2 Peter 1:3–4 NKJV

2 Peter 1:2–4 ESV

The Sufficiency of God’s Provision

The Sufficiency

This verse (verse 3) begins with the pronoun, “His” which when we look at the preceding verse 2, refers to “Jesus our Lord.”

We see the sufficiency of our resources for spiritual growth because it came from our Lord Himself. When God calls, He empowers. He has given us all that we need for a godly life “through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue (excellence).” Jesus is the source of our spiritual growth, and we should know Him more. Peter was not talking about a superficial, head knowledge. The word “Knowledge” in the Greek “implies an intimate and personal relationship.” Spiritual life made spiritual growth possible.

God gave us everything we need so we can live a godly life when we believed in Christ Jesus.

The Standard for spiritual growth

In the same verse, we also can see the standard for spiritual growth. We are already complete in Christ Jesus. When a child is born, he is already complete and he just needs to grow. Likewise, when we are born again spiritually, we are already complete. We have the potential for growth.

Note the verse says “has granted” or means “to give as a gift”. God gave because of His grace, not because of any merit on our part.

At one point in our lives, God gave us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” and we will never be the same again because it has a continuing effect. What His power gave us is already in our possession and it is permanently ours.

The Scope of God’s resources

In verse 3:

2 Peter 1:3 ESV

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

The phrase “all things” is the scope of the resources that God gave us. tells us:

Ephesians 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

“Every” means every. “All” means all. These mean everything included and nothing excluded. That’s why Paul can declare: “in Him you have been made complete”

Colossians 2:10a NASB95

10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Verse 4 assures us of what we have: ‘by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises’

Col

2 Peter 1:4 ESV

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

The phrase “has granted” here is the same verb used in verse 3. The word carries with it the idea of the worth of the gift. Peter called them God’s “precious and very great promises”. These promises are not empty promises because they are backed up by God’s power. God gave us these promises is so that we would not be corrupted by the world-system but be conformed to the image of Christ.

We often say, we are “defeated” by this or that sin, when, if we are honest with ourselves, the truth is, we are plain disobedient. It’s not a matter of weakness, rather it’s a matter of our willingness to obey God. We do not want to obey.

Remember Christians, we no longer belong to this world. We are now called to become more like Christ.

The Source

We have seen the sufficiency, the scope, the standard and the source of the power for our spiritual growth. God’s power is there all along. God gave us everything we need to so we can live a godly life when we believed in Christ Jesus.

We have seen the

God gave us everything we need to so we can live a godly life when we believed in Christ Jesus.