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2 Peter 3:17-18
The Apostle Peter concludes this letter with two very important pieces of instruction for, “those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ,” as he tells us in the beginning of this letter in 2 Peter 1:1b (NKJV). First, a warning to be on guard for the false teachings; to not be led astray by them from the true message of the Gospel (2 Peter 3:17). And second, to live a life that is growing, “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). And then Peter ties it all together with his closing sentence reminding us [as is his stated purpose for this letter (2 Peter 1:12-15)] that it is to God and our Savior Jesus Christ that all glory be given, “both now and forever” (2 Peter 3:18b). He then finishes with the word appropriate for ending a prayer, as these instructions could and should be our prayer: Amen.
This is a command of ongoing instruction for living in “holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:11).
We all need to be on guard for the false teachers. We all need to be continuous in our seeking to grow in our relationship with God through our salvation in Christ Jesus. We all need to strive each day to be in holy conduct and godliness as we give all diligence to add to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love (1 Peter 1:5-7). These are the things that the Apostle Peter instructs us to strive for as Christians. These are the things in which we should strive for in bringing glory to God through our lives in our Savior Christ Jesus.
Dear LORD,
We have learned much from this study of the epistles of Peter, one of the closest disciples to Jesus during His earthly ministry. Please give us the strength and courage to implement the seven qualities of virtue, knowledge of Christ Jesus, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love into our faith in our Savior Christ Jesus, and live in holy conduct and godliness with all diligence – in Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.