To be given the privilege of allowing God to make use of us to achieve His purposes is an enormous privilege. The association of privilege and sacrifice is not foreign to our thought process. In serving the national interest, we often associate privilege and sacrifice. As an example, consider the common attitude when people are called to serve in the military in times of national crisis. Patriotism is expressed in sacrificial service. The values of the life in the nation are worthy of defense. One is honored to sacrifice for the privilege of continuing the existence of the nation.
A possible distinction in this attitude toward the nation and toward God is that the attitude commonly existing toward the nation exists when the nation is in crisis. The attitude toward God never ends because His conflict with Satan will not reach conclusion until Jesus Christ returns.
Peter begins this letter by referring to himself as Simon Peter. Simon was his name prior to his following Jesus. Peter was the name Jesus gave him (see Matthew 16:17-19).
He did not begin his letter as a privileged person with an elite position before and after Jesus' death and resurrection. Rather, he began with an assurance to others who placed their confidence in the resurrected Jesus. Their faith in Jesus was as important and significant as was the faith held by the twelve. The focus should be on God and Jesus, not on a human. God the Father and Jesus Christ the son made it possible for them to live in divine righteousness, not any person, regardless of what his position with Jesus was. He wrote as a bondservant or slave, as an apostle or one commissioned. He was not the Peter who in the past held a lofty view of his confidence, but the Peter who humbly served.
Some endorse and some reject the following view. In this chapter it seems to me that Peter made a distinction between God the Father and Jesus Christ the son. This distinction is not to be seen in the message we receive--it is the same message consistently delivered. To me, the distinction is in the eternal objective and the road to the eternal objective. The objective is to live with God. The means of coming to God is Jesus, who was crowned by God to be the Christ. I suggest you consider Jesus' statement in John 14:6, Peter's statement in Acts 2:36, and Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. We want to live with God (as we were created to do), and the way providing that access to God is Jesus Christ. We have never seen God and cannot relate to Him in His eternal character. Jesus lived in our world and provides us an example of how a godly, sinless person lives in the physical realm. We can relate to Jesus because he shared our existence.
Note the focus is not placed on a human leader, but on the incredible provisions Jesus Christ provided believers. There is no inadequacy in the salvation God made possible through Jesus Christ. Believers are provided everything they need to live a godly life resulting in their salvation. The knowledge is the knowledge of their Savior, not the knowledge of an institution. By no means does this statement demean the church. It merely acknowledges salvation is provided by our Savior. Jesus saves. The saved comprise his church. The church is the "called out." Saved people want to be called out of sin to live for God. Jesus' death and resurrection call us out of sin. The church is people who hear and respond to the call.
It is Jesus who teaches us how to live for God in this world. This statement reminds us of Paul's words in Philippians 3:8-11. In Paul's words, there is no comparison of the righteousness sought by human deeds through keeping rules and regulations and the righteousness God makes available in Jesus Christ. Please remember that we are not talking about the unquestionable importance of obedience, but the focus of obedience.
Access to this life of godliness is provided through divine power, not through human achievement or status. They were accustomed to living in a world where even in spiritual matters "power (status) had its privileges." One has access to the most wonderful opportunity of all opportunities by acts of God, not by human achievements or position. This life that leads to existence with God is as certainly available to the least significant people as it is to the most significant people. Anyone is capable of having confidence in and learning from the values of an example. It is who he is and what he has done, not who we are, that calls us to follow him.
The incredible promises are based on who Jesus is, not on who we are without Jesus. It is his promises, not our worthiness, that allow us to share in the divine nature. Peter's emphasis on sharing in the divine nature reminds us of Paul's usage of the concept of a new life in Ephesians 4:20-24 and Colossians 3:1-11.
Take note of the fact that this new life has a responsibility that those who answer Jesus' call to follow him must accept. It is not optional. We seek to escape the force of decay in this physical world. That which decays life even as we live it is the force that focuses us on physical desires rather than on spiritual existence in Jesus Christ. People who follow Jesus Christ will live differently than people who do not follow Jesus Christ. Their values, their personal actions, their interactions with others, and their priorities are different. Sometimes who they are clashes with who society wants them to be. The differences are not artificial or contrived. The differences arise naturally from who they are. Who they are arises naturally from who Jesus Christ is.
We are so precious to God that He invests His reputation in us! The key to making sacrifices in godly living is the awareness of privilege in being in God's family with Jesus Christ. The sense of privilege makes sacrifice acceptable.
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 8