Bible Questions Answered:
“...so how is it made, our calling
and election?
Jerome/ Copenhagen, Denmark
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
II Peter 1:10 KJV
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give
diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall:
II Peter 1:10 NLT
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.
First of all, it
must of necessity be said that “we are not,” saved by works,
religious or otherwise!
Romans 3:23-25
NLT
23 For everyone has sinned; we all
fall short of God’s glorious standard.
24 Yet God, with undeserved
kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ
Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins.
25 For God presented Jesus as the
sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe
that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood..."
Ephesians 2:8,9
KJV
8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is The Gift Of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
Titus 3:4-8 NLT
4 But—“When God our Savior
revealed His kindness and love,
5 He saved us, not because of the
righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed
away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy
Spirit.
6 He generously poured out the
Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.
7 Because of His grace He declared
us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal
life.”
Here is the
complete context of II Peter 1:10 KJV:
II Peter 1:3-10
KJV
3 According as His divine power hath
given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and
virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all
diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and
to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and
abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things
is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was
purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do
these things, ye shall never fall:
Virtues or
Fruits of the Spirit, all are Godly attributes, to be
found in the life of God's child.
Galatians
5:22-25 KJV
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:9
KJV
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in
all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Philippians
2:12,13 KJV
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And what is God's
good pleasure in the life of a Christian?
Luke 1:74,75 KJV
74 That He would grant unto us, that
we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him
without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness
before Him, all the days of our life.
II Corinthians
7:1 KJV
Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
I Thessalonians
3:12,13 KJV
12 And the Lord make you to increase
and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we
do toward you:
13 To the end He may stablish your
hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Hebrews
12:9,10,14 KJV
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of
our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we
not much rather be in subjection unto the Father Of Spirits, and
live?
10 For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we
might be partakers of His holiness.
14 Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
I Peter 1:16 KJV
Because it is written, Be ye holy;
for I am holy.
I Peter 2:9 KJV
But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light;
II Peter 3:11
KJV
Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness,
Homily:
If you were taking out citizenship in another country, you would be
required to know their constitution and laws, so that you would live
by them.
Should it be any different for God's city?
Hebrews 11:13,16
NLT (Be sure to read the whole
chapter.)
13 All these
people (God's people of faith)
died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive
what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed
it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.
16 But they
were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for
them.
