Tuesday, July 26, 2016
2nd Peter ~ Greetings (1:1-2), Exhortation to Growth in Christian Virtues (1:3-11), The Purpose and Authentication of Peter's Message (1:12-21)
2 Peter 1 NLT
1 This letter is from Simon Peter, a
slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same
precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and
fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
2 May God give you more and more grace
and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
3 By his divine power, God has given us
everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by
coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous
glory and excellence.
4 And because of his glory and
excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises
that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption
caused by human desires.
5 In view of all this, make every
effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous
provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and
self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly
affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
8 The more you grow like this, the more
productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But those who fail to develop in this
way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from
their old sins.
10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work
hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do
these things, and you will never fall away.
11 Then God will give you a grand
entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 Therefore, I will always remind you
about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in
the truth you have been taught.
13 And it is only right that I should
keep on reminding you as long as I live.
14 For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown
me that I must soon leave this earthly life,
15 so I will work hard to make sure you
always remember these things after I am gone.
16 For we were not making up clever
stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes
17 when he received honor and glory from
God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is
my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
18 We ourselves heard that voice from
heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 Because of that experience, we have
even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay
close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in
a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your
hearts.
20 Above all, you must realize that no
prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,
21 or from human
initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke
from God.
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