Monday, October 24, 2022

 

Monday, October 24, 2022


Psalms 130; 131; 133

Nehemiah 2:9-20

2 Peter 1:1-11


Observance: United Nations, inaugurated 1945


Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.


John Bunyan’s autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners is a most encouraging read, primarily because of the determination he had in his battle against satan when confirming his election unto salvation. Before Bunyan felt able to hold on to the promises of life eternal and absolute forgiveness at the foot of the cross, he was blown about by moods and temptations. He records that every now and then, when feeling like he was at rock bottom and discarded by God, a passage from the Bible would come to mind, so he would rush to his wife and hassle her if she knew which passage he was thinking of. This was in the days before Google, so poor Bunyan had to manually flick through his mighty Geneva Bible to find the promises of scripture his soul needed.


Peter is talking to people like Bunyan after his baptism of the Holy Spirit, people who have an absolute faith; a certain trust that God has saved them in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He calls it a “faith as precious as ours”. This is not a faith that can be worked for; it is “received”. This faith, that is, an individual’s knowledge that Christ is theirs and they are Christ’s, comes from God’s “call and election”. According to our doctrines of grace, this election is unconditional. That is, God did not decide who to draw to Jesus based off anything we have done or will ever do.


This is why Peter encourages us to a certain way of life based on the finished work of Christ. He is not saying we should be good people in order to gain God’s favour. Peter is saying that if you have been called by God, then you have a new will (a renewed mind) which wants to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Not only that, Peter says, but the desire to live this way proves your election, and your love for Jesus. Your actions show that you remember the cleansing of past sins that you have received from Jesus.


We are saved; so we live in goodness. This gives us knowledge, and because we now know the difference between right and wrong, we must practise self-control to do right and avoid wrong. Practising self-control builds endurance, which is godliness, and godliness is mutual affection and love for one another. This is the life of a Christian, not the life that makes one a Christian. Our sins have been nailed to the cross, so God has forgiven and forgotten them. But the memory of the forgiveness and cleansing in the precious blood is sweet to us, and inspires us to live as slaves of Jesus, praising His worthy and holy name forever, with our lips and with our lives.



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