Who: In a few hours I will open my Bible to 2 Peter and minister to fellow soldiers, NCOs, and officers.
What: Chaplain roles and responsibilities; religious support of Service Members
When: 1230
Where: In front of the Tactical Operation Center (TOC)
Why: Religious Support (RS) of America’s U.S. Army
Context: The bottom line up front (BLUF): “Provision, Progress, & Certainty of the Christian’s Pilgrimage”
Text: 2 Peter 1:1-15
When I was working on this homily, one quote from Warfield I discovered in my studies struck me with special power:
“The gospel does not offer us beautiful ideals or poetic myths; it offers us historical facts. The apostles were not men of vivid imaginations, but witnesses of an objective, shattering reality.”
God’s “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,” Peter writes (2 Pt 1:3). In other words, what we have, we have received. We have been granted it by God’s grace. Human boasting is therefore forbidden.
Then Peter lists evidences of true saving faith:
- Virtue (v. 4)
- Knowledge (v. 5)
- Self-control (v. 6)
- Steadfastness (v. 6)
- Godliness (v. 7)
- Brotherly affection (v. 7)
- Love (v. 7)
Peter teaches the same principles as James does, namely, that faith without works is dead (Jas 1:17).
Encouragement: How does the Christian pilgrim persevere? By recognizing that God has granted to him/her the needed strength to live the Christian life. By recognizing that Christianity is historically true. We worship not an idol of wood, hay, or stubble, but the resurrected, living Savior.
Stagnant faith is dead faith. Active faith brings assurance. “The used key is always bright,” Ben Franklin wrote. Why? It shines because of its repeated use. Lean into the Christian battle, fellow pilgrim, knowing that the conquering King has prepared a place for you at his table.
MIND & MATTERS 
What I love about this segment of this epistle (2 Pet. 1:5-7) is how Peter does more than list the attributes, but arranges them in a particular order. In my mind, the way he organized them shows a building from the basic idea of virtue, the idea of “pleasing or excellent character,” to the ultimate idea of love. Growing from excellent character to agape requires the steps in between: knowledge of God and His ways, gaining control of our nature, steadfast faith, desiring to reflect God’s nature and character, and nurturing affection for our fellow man. There’s a whole sermon in this, but I’ll stop here. Bottom line is that the more we learn about God, the more we seek to apply His principles to our lives and seek the “more excellent way” Paul mentions (1 Cor. 12:31b-13:13).
LikeLiked by 1 person