2 Peter 1:10
“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”
But you should not stop with reflection on your initial call and election, for Peter’s admonition in our text (2 Pe 1:10) was given to Christians. You should also consider your ultimate call and election. Many are called, but few are chosen. Jesus taught this truth in several parables:
1) The Tares - Mt 13:41-43
2) The Wedding Feast - Mt 22:1-14
3) The Talents - Mt 25:24-30
4) The Vine And The Branches - Jn 15:1-2
Note the calling and election of the nation of Israel. Israel as a whole was called to be God’s people - Deu 7:6 ‘"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” But their calling was conditional - Exo 19:5-6 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."’ And many individuals failed to live up to their calling - He 3:7-11 “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest.'", 16-19 “For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” Similar is the calling and election of the church of God. The church as a whole are called to be God’s people - 1 Pe 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Yet our calling and election as individuals is conditional - Ro 11:22 “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.”; Re 2:4-5 “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”, 10c “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” We can become hardened by sin and fall away - He 3:12-15 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."’ -- We have been called, but will we be chosen at the last day? - Mt 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
How do we make sure of our election by God? By being fruitful in the knowledge of Christ - 2 Pe 1:5-11 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 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.”
Adding to our faith such things as virtue, knowledge, self-control. Abounding in perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love. By growing in grace and knowledge - 2 Pe 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
We can make our calling and election sure by being aware of the danger of apostasy; standing fast in the grace of Christ. By learning from the parables of Jesus. Not doing those things that offend, or practice lawlessness (Tares). Adorning ourselves with garments of righteousness (Wedding Feast). Utilizing what talents (abilities, opportunities) Christ has given us (Talents). Bearing fruit in our service to the Lord (Vine and Branches). -- Will your entrance into the kingdom be abundantly supplied? - 2 Pe 1:11 “For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
It never hurts to ask oneself: “Have I truly responded to the gospel of Christ...?” Was I scripturally baptized into Christ for the remission of my sins? Was my baptism like those depicted in the examples of conversion in the Scriptures? Might I need to be re-baptized like those in Ephesus? It never hurts to ask oneself: “Am I growing in grace...?” Am I abounding in the knowledge of Christ? Am I utilizing what talents Christ has given me? Am I bearing fruit for Christ? With such questions, one seeks only to “Make Your Calling And Election Sure”. Paul expressed it this way:
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” - 2 Co 13:5
