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This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Messiah Yeshua.

I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the righteousness – the justice and fairness of Messiah Yeshua, our God and Savior.

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Yeshua our Lord.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self‑control, and self‑control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Messiah Yeshua. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

That’s where we left off. We begin with verse 10: So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua.

Work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. God has called us. God’s call is His invitation for sinners to be saved, forgiven, to be with Him, to live forever with Him. When we hear the Good News about Messiah, and believe it, we accept His invitation and are saved.

God is the one who initiates this call. God is the one who invites us to Himself, draws us to Himself, opens our minds to understand, our eyes to see and our ears to hear. God is the one who awakens faith in us.

God has called us and God has chosen us. Before the universe began, God chose certain human beings who would be created, called, saved and live forever with Him. Our salvation comes from God choosing us – not us choosing Him. We would never choose Him if He did not first choose us.

Those called and chosen are not to take that choosing or calling for granted. They are not to be passive. Work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. We are not saved by our efforts, by our good works, but if we are saved, we will produce good works. Peter tells us we are to work hard – work hard to grow in faith, and the qualities he listed: moral excellence, knowledge, self‑control, patient endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love for everyone; work hard at serving the Lord. If we do, it’s proof, it’s evidence of God’s saving work in our lives – that we are indeed called and chosen. So, let’s have the attitude that we’re not here to pursue pleasure or an easy life, or make as much money as possible, but we’re here to work hard growing in faith, the qualities Peter listed, and serving God.

Peter adds two promises to motivate us: Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua.

The first promise: Do these things, and you will never fall away. Falling away is a reality. I’ve known many who have fallen away. They fell away from God, the truth, the Good News. They fell away from what is most valuable, most beneficial. We don’t want to fall away. Peter lets us know that if we work hard at doing these things, we will not fall away. We will stay close to God, who will be present in a powerful way to help us resist temptation, discern deception, and avoid spiritual drift. We will not fall away. We will remain steadfast, persevere to the end, and finish well.

The second promise: Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua. Today, there are about 43 kingdoms in the world led by kings, queens and sultans. Some are symbolic rulers, and some hold real political power, but every one of those kingdoms will end. In contrast, the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua will never end.

Kings, queens and sultans may be weak, unjust, self‑serving, tyrannical, but the Lord and Savior of this eternal kingdom rules with wisdom, love, righteousness, and faithfulness. Selfish? Self-serving? The King of this kingdom sacrificed His own life to save His people and enable them to live forever in His blessed and perfect Kingdom. He is the Lord and the Savior of this eternal kingdom.

 

Everyone who is saved will enter His Kingdom. However, not all will enter the same way. There is an entrance into the Kingdom and there is a grand entrance into the Kingdom. Peter is teaching us that there are degrees of reward and honor for the followers of Messiah. A grand entrance into Messiah’s kingdom means greater reward and honor. If you don’t want to be merely allowed in, but want to be given a grand entrance, an entrance with greater reward and honor – work hard at growing in faith, the qualities Peter listed, and serving God.

Imagine a king who rules a great kingdom. He has a beautiful daughter who is ready to be married. The king makes a remarkable promise to the men of his kingdom: in one year’s time, he will give his daughter in marriage to the man who builds the finest house on the land he provides. He will provide all the resources that are needed to build the house.

Two men accept the challenge. The first plans wisely, builds skillfully, and works hard. He works diligently, day after day. At the end of the year he completes a well-built, beautiful house.

The second man begins with enthusiasm but soon loses it. He thinks that the king’s promise will be given to him regardless of how hard he works, so he doesn’t work hard, pursues other interests, and cuts corners. When the year ends, his efforts produce a shoddy, unfinished house.

Of course, the king rewards the man who worked hard with a glorious wedding to his daughter. Do these things and God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua.

Therefore, I will always remind you about these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. For our Lord Messiah Yeshua has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. It’s important to be reminded of these important truths – even though we already know them and are standing firm in them. Why? Because usually, God’s people don’t fall away because we suddenly reject the truth. We fall away because we gradually forget the truth. Sin, suffering, distraction, fear, prosperity, and false teaching all exert a falling away influence on us.

God’s people have a long history of forgetting the most important truths – in spite of being warned not to forget:

Deuteronomy 6: Be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 8: Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands¼ For when you have become full and prosperous¼ then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

Forgetting God in the days of the Judges: The Israelis did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles.

Forgetting God in the days of Isaiah: You have forgotten God, your Savior. You have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.

Forgetting God in the days of Jeremiah – and before: Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me.

Knowing the truth and standing firm are maintained by being reminded. Remembering the truth keeps truth active, alive – and that helps us stand firm.

So, how are we reminded of the truth?

It’s the responsibility of the leaders, like Peter, to remind the Lord’s people of the truth. When leaders design a worship service which includes readings from the Bible, prayers and songs that contain truths from the Bible; when they bring teachings, sermons, messages from the Bible – even if we’ve heard similar things before – it shouldn’t be thought of as boring and dull and repetitive but as spiritual wisdom that will help us remember and stand firm in the truth we have been taught.

Involvement with a faithful community of Yeshua-followers reminds us of the truth. Not just pastors and rabbis and teachers, but our brothers and sisters are instruments God uses to remind us of the truth.

We are reminded of the truth by continual interaction with the Word of God. When we read it, meditate on it, and hide it in our hearts; when we hear it taught – we remember what is true.

We are reminded of the truth by the Holy Spirit. Yeshua promised that the Spirit would bring His words to our remembrance. When we are filled with the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, live in the Spirit – the Spirit will remind us of the truth.

And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. It was only right that Peter keep on reminding the Lord’s followers about the truth because leading God’s people is not about coming up with something new and entertaining, but being faithful to teach what has already been revealed.

For our Lord Messiah Yeshua has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. Peter lived what he taught. He worked hard serving his Lord during his life. And since Messiah Yeshua had revealed to him that he would soon be leaving this earthly life, he intended to work hard to make sure the Lord’s people would remember these things after his death. Peter was wise. He was one of the greatest leaders of his time – but he didn’t want the faith of the Lord’s people to be dependent on him – because their faith might weaken when he departed. Therefore, he would work hard to embed these truths deeply in them so that it was self‑sustaining in their minds and hearts. Peter wants us to have a faith that survives the loss of leaders, persecution and the destructive influence of false teachers – which is the subject of chapter 2.

Why are these things so important to remember? Two reasons: Because they are so true and so important. How do we know that? Because of what Peter witnessed on the Mountain of the Transformation, and because of what God had already spoken through the prophets by the Holy Spirit. For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Our faith is grounded in historical reality, not clever stories that were made up. When Peter writes, “we were not making up clever stories,” he is refuting the idea that the message about the Lord Yeshua is like the myths and legends and made up stories about the Greek and Roman gods. No, Christianity, Messianic Judaism is based on historical reality, on truth, on fact, on eyewitness testimony. What the apostles, the Lord’s representatives, proclaimed about Yeshua, really happened. They were not invented by them.

Peter calls their attention to the powerful coming of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah – referring to Yeshua’s transfiguration, Yeshua’s transformation – as a real, historical event. On a mountain in northern Israel, Peter, James, and John were allowed to see a glimpse of Yeshua’s majestic splendor, His kingly glory. Yeshua’s glorious transformation on that mountain, which made that mountain a holy mountain – was a preview of the powerful and glorious coming that will be fully revealed when the King returns.

Peter gives us details that reinforce that this was a real, historical event that he and James and John personally witnessed. But this is more than Peter letting us know that this was a real, historical event. These details are profound, very significant, very meaningful, and if believed – as they should be, strengthen our faith. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father. Yeshua’s transformation, and what God said to Him, was God’s affirmation of Yeshua. The honor and glory Yeshua received didn’t come from people – it came directly from God the Father. God Himself affirmed, confirmed, validated who Yeshua is.

The voice from the majestic glory of God said to Yeshua. Peter lets us know that the voice he heard came from “the majestic glory of God.” The majestic glory of God means God’s glorious presence – what the Jewish people would associate with the Shechinah – the glorious presence of God that filled the mishkan, the tabernacle, and later filled the Temple. On that holy mountain, Peter, James and John witnessed that same glorious presence surrounding Yeshua.

The voice from the majestic glory of God said to Yeshua. The word “majestic” emphasizes God’s supreme authority. What was said to Yeshua came from the Supreme Authority, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. If the Highest Authority said this about Yeshua, let no angel from Heaven or human on Earth dare contradict this.

The voice from the majestic glory of God said to Yeshua. Peter didn’t imagine this. This was not a mystical experience that wasn’t tangible, real, verifiable. Peter heard with his own ears the voice of God speaking to Yeshua. God spoke real words to His Son which reveal real truth.

The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” The Supreme Authority spoke and revealed Yeshua’s identity. Yeshua is not merely a prophet, a holy man or a teacher – He is the Son of God, sharing the Father’s nature and authority.

He is God’s dearly loved Son. The Father dearly loves His Son. The Father’s love for the Son did not begin when Yeshua became a man. It’s a love that the Father has for His Son that existed from eternity past and will continue through all eternity.

This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. The Father’s declaration that Yeshua brings Him great joy reveals God’s perfect pleasure and complete approval. This joy comes from the Son’s nature, and His submission to the Father’s will, and His obedience, and His faithfulness – from eternity past, during His time on Earth, after His ascension to Heaven and throughout eternity.

The identity of Yeshua as the glorious and powerful and kingly and beloved Son of God was declared directly by God – in time, in history, before multiple witnesses – and reinforced by Yeshua being gloriously and powerfully transformed. This removes all doubt that the message of the Lord’s representatives, the apostles, comes from human opinion or made up stories. It’s the truth – and it must be remembered. The One we believe in is real, divine, glorious, powerful – and His coming kingdom is certain.

Let’s pray:

Father God, we thank You for calling and choosing us. Strengthen us to work hard to grow in faith and these qualities so we are useful to You and are protected from deception and spiritual drift. Help us remember Your truth, live in Your Spirit, and finish well, so we receive a grand entrance into Your eternal Kingdom. Amen.