Make Your Call and Election Sure

The believer's “call” and “election” speak of his vocation or service to God through possessing 8 qualities that have a sequence to them and are chained together. These qualities are faith, virtue (moral excellence), knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. “If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:8) Also, a greater experience of entry into the kingdom of God will be yours, if you have these qualities.

Make Your Call and Election Sure

The Apostle Peter writes:
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure (Second Peter 1.10a)

This call speaks of calling or vocation, and it has the purpose of God in view.

This election speaks of being chosen as a servant of God.

Believers in Christ are God's servants for His purpose.

That purpose involves possessing certain qualities.

This call and election are made sure (steadfast and firm) by possessing those qualities.

Eight Chained Qualities.

Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. (2 Peter 1.5-7)

Add to your faith

Faith is foundational for the qualities that follow. Faith is assurance and conviction. It is by faith in God’s righteous character and promises that the believer conduct himself. “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11.6b And, “[God has] given to us exceedingly great and precious promises.” 2 Peter 1.4

Add to your faith: The word to has the idea of in connection with and add means supply.
We should look at these qualities as being connected to the other.

And so, in your faith, supply virtue. Virtue is moral excellence. We need to do what is right according to God’s moral will as revealed in Scripture. Virtue should follow a belief in God’s righteous character.

Knowledge at this point refers to knowing and accepting the rightness of the will of God in your life.
Romans 12.2 says, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV

Self-control as a virtue is the maintenance of right priorities.
These priorities are spiritual priorities that enable a walk of faith and virtue.

Perseverance is endurance, staying on course.
If self-control involves maintaining right priorities, then out of this should come endurance, staying the course.

Godliness is being devoted to God.
It goes beyond virtue to a proactive life for God.

Brotherly kindness is an active good-will towards other Christian believers.
Love is a concern for the well-being of others, especially their eternal well-being.

Therefore, believing God’s promises and righteous character, do what is right, discerning and approving the will of God for your life, keeping priorities, staying the course, devoted to God, seeking the well-being of other believers (especially) and all people.

Concerning these qualities

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1.8)

We can have knowledge of Jesus Christ and salvation, but if these qualities are not in our lives, then that knowledge is not productive (fruitful).

If these qualities are yours and increasing, then you will be productive and not idle (a better translation for “barren”).

If one lacks these qualities, then he is blind, shortsighted, and has forgotten that he was cleansed. (verse 9)

Blind and shortsighted both concern unfavorable spiritual conditions.

Blindness speaks of ignorance, while shortsightedness speaks of a limited perspective of the outcome of your conduct--you can’t see the far-reaching

implications it will have in your life and others.

Has forgotten means that the truth of your salvation from sin is not impacting your devotion to God.

If you do these things...you will NEVER STUMBLE. (2 Peter 1:10b)

This stumbling is the same idea as seen concerning the nation of Israel: have they stumbled that they should fall? (Romans 11:1)

Stumble speaks of error.

Israel--whom God had called as His people for His purpose--erred (stumbled) through their disobedience to the word of God and became disqualified to be God's people for His purpose.

For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom. (2 Peter 1:11)

A greater experience of entry into the kingdom of God will be yours if you have these qualities.

Perhaps Peter's words here allude to the honors paid to winners of the Olympic games. When a winner came back to his home town, he would be welcomed by a special entrance built in the town or city wall in his honor.

These qualities in your life will impact others in this life, and they will be as a crown for you in heaven; as the Apostle

Paul writes the Thessalonians:

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2.:19-20)

The Enablement for The Life To Which We are Called.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by [or to] glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (Second Peter 1:2-4)

Twice Peter makes reference to knowledge in Christ as the means through which grace and peace is increased and a godly life is lived.

God's divine power has given the believer what he needs to live the life he has called us to live.

Our salvation involved a new birth, which is the creation of a new spirit [resulting in a new self according to God's moral image] that desires and imitates the moral character of God by means of renewing the mind in knowledge and faith in God's word.

By this new birth, we have a new capacity to be partakers of [participate in] the "Divine nature" [the moral character of God], escaping the destructive course of this world of corruption [moral decay] through "lust" [the inclination of our old self is contrary to God's moral image].

God has called us with respect to glory [or honor] and virtue [or moral excellence which is doing the right thing].
Therefore, God has given us what we need by the new birth to live the life to which we are called.

Because of the new birth, the believer can experience God's will in his life, by a renewing of the mind by knowledge and faith in God's promises and character.
He must understand and act in these 8 qualities as each one supplies for the other.

Being diligent in these qualities will result in a fruitful life, being approved by God for His purpose, which is the believer's calling and election made sure (steadfast and firm) in his life and paving the way for an honorable entrance into the kingdom of God.