THE POWER OF SPIRITUAL ADDITION (PART 5)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen.

2 Peter 1:10a NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The power of spiritual addition involves adopting a series of character traits that help bring a Christian believer closer to being as they should be, a reflection of Jesus Himself. This progression flows from a striving for moral excellence, to a quest for knowledge, then a commitment to self control followed by persevering as a believer while adopting godliness and showing mutual/brotherly affection to one another and sacrificial love for all.

As we grow in all of these qualities, we will become more productive and effective in carrying out the work God has called us to do by modeling and being more knowledgeable of His Son.

This is what we have learned through our study of 2 Peter, chapter 1, verses 5 through 8, and today, in part 5, we find more from the first half of verse 10 in this passage. Look again at those words here:

So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen.

I chose the NLT translation of this half verse to better allow you to understand what the Word is conveying here. Alternative renderings of the verse, which can often add clarity, read like this:

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. NIV

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. NKJV

My friends, you must do all you can to show God has really chosen and selected you. CEV

Before I get into the meat of this half verse and its rich meaning, I wanted to focus on the word Peter uses at the very beginning. As you can see, translators used very different English renderings which include “friends”, “brothers and sisters”, and “brethren”. The Greek word in this verse is actually “adelphoi” and it refers to all believers, whether men and women. The point is that they are all part of God’s special family.

Moving from this, let’s tackle the matter of Christian believers being called by God and to do so, let’s go to Paul’s first letter to his ministry mentee, Timothy, where he writes this:

...join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. Vv.8b-9

Here we’re reminded that God saves Christian believers through His Son and then calls them to a holy life, a life set apart from the world and its ways. He then helps lead and guide them through the Holy Spirit so they can supplement their faith through the power of spiritual addition (adopting all the aforementioned Christian character qualities) and fulfill His will and way in Christ-like fashion, for to truly be Christian is to live like Christ. With this, it is the responsibility of every believer to show others that they are under the calling of God.

It’s also an obligation to let other see that He has selected you, an easy way to understand the doctrine of election. In fact, the scriptures tell us that God chose us well before we were even born into this world. Consider this from the first chapter of Ephesians:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. Ephesians 1:3-6

Wow.

Think about this for a moment.

I have heard (and maybe you have too), people ask someone when they were saved and in response, people will usually provide a day and year (sometimes even an exact time or location or event) when they decided to receive Jesus as Savior. But as we read this, perhaps our answer to the question should be that God chose (elected) us for salvation “before the creation of the world”. He “predestined us” for what we gain as Christian believers, the “adoption to sonship through” His Son “Jesus Christ” (Romans 8:14-17).

It blows me away to know that God had me and my salvation in mind before He created anything but then again, this is the incredible, incomprehensible nature of the Lord God Almighty. Maybe this leaves you a bit awestruck as well.

As we exercise the power of spiritual addition in our lives, let us do it in such a way that everyone will clearly see that we are indeed chosen and selected by the God Most High to replicate the life of His Son Jesus and carry on His commitment to always be about His Father’s business.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.