Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10 & 11 (ESV)
Last Sunday we learned that Peter, facing imminent death, felt compelled to pass on a comforting truth, a doctrine, to his loved ones. His desire was to fortify them with a hidden, yet very real promise from the Bible, which they could build their lives upon in the face of this world’s toughest trials.
Peter reminded them that God had chosen them, because He loved them and wanted them for His own, long before the creation. Although they already knew and were established in this truth, it was his desire that they experience an abiding assurance of God’s purpose for them. You and I can be sure, as well. But, how? By choosing to grow in grace, through cooperating with God in the process of our sanctification… our becoming more and more like our hero, Jesus. Walter Elwell has this to say in the Baker Dictionary of Theology concerning God’s choosing or election and our appropriate response:
human beings may trust God to do what is right [in election], and our highest good is to choose the will of God for ourselves.
It is a good thing to have that assurance that God not only called, but has chosen us for salvation. We can enjoy that assurance as we yield to His Spirit and the instruction of His Word, resulting in the working out of God’s will in our lives.
