PENTINGNYA MEMBACA ALKITAB

Tujuan :

1. Mengetahui dan menyadari bahwa Bible Reading merupakan salah satu cara
mempertahankan relasi bersama dengan Allah dengan cara yang sederhana.
2. Mengetahui tips-tips yang menarik dalam Bible Reading setiap hari.

3. Termotivasi untuk melakukan Bible Reading secara rutin.

Pembacaan Firman Tuhan : II Petrus 1 : 3-10

Isi Kitab II Petrus memperingatkan para pembacanya (orang-orang Kristen) untuk
bertumbuh di dalam imannya. Di mana pertumbuhan iman dapat berjalan terus, walaupun
ada pengajar-pengajar palsu yang datang, pengejek-pengejek menyerang, karena Allah
telah menganugerahkan kuasa Ilahi bagi orang Kristen yang melawannya.
Pasal 1 (2Pet 1:1-21). Pengajaran tentang Kuasa Allah tersedia bagi setiap orang Kristen
untuk bertumbuh di dalam imannya.

Ayat 3
 “Karena kuasa ilahi-Nya”
 “menganugerahkan”
 “segala sesuatu yang berguna”
 “untuk hidup yang saleh”
 “oleh pengenalan akan Dia”

Ayat 4
 “menganugerahkan”
 “janji-janji yang berharga dan sangat besar”
 “supaya olehnya”
 “mengambil bagian dalam kodrat ilahi”
 “luput dari hawa nafsu duniawi”

Ayat 5
 “justru karena itu”
 “harus dengan sungguh-sungguh”
  “menambahkan kepada imanmu kebajikan”
 “kepada kebajikan pengetahuan”

Ayat 6
 “kepada pengetahuan penguasaan diri”
 “kepada penguasaaan diri ketekunan”
 “kepada ketekunan kesalehan”

Ayat 7
 “kepada kesalehan kasih akan saudara-saudara”
 “kepada kasih akan saudara-saudara kasih akan semua orang”

Ayat 8
 “Sebab apabila semuanya itu ada padamu dengan berlimpah-limpah”
 “kamu akan dibuatnya menjadi giat dan berhasil dalam pengenalanmu akan Yesus
Kristus, Tuhan kita

Ayat 9
 ”Tetapi barangsiapa tidak memiliki semuanya itu”
 “ia menjadi buta dan picik”
 “karena ia lupa, bahwa dosa-dosanya yang dahulu telah dihapuskan”

Ayat 10
 “Karena itu”
 “berusahalah sungguh-sungguh”
 “supaya panggilan dan pilihanmu makin teguh”
 “Sebab jikalau kamu melakukannya, kamu tidak akan pernah tersandung”
Making One’s Calling and Election Sure

1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our
knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
1:4
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through
them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world
caused by evil desires.
1:5
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,
knowledge;
1:6
and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,
godliness;
1:7
and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
1:8
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being
ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9
But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted (near-sighted ks. mata ayam ) and
blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
1:10
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager (eager ks. ingin sekali, hasrat. to be e. to
go ingin sekali pergi. Inf.: e beaver orang yang rajin sekali. -eagerly kk. dengan tak sabar,
dengan keinginan yang amat besar) to make your calling and election sure. For if you do
these things, you will never fall,
3 The grammar of this verse connects it more closely with v.2 than the NIV indicates; it
shows the way in which the multiplication of the knowledge of God takes place--through
the divine power given to us. God has called believers "by his own glory and goodness,
God in salvation reveals his splendor and his moral excellence, and these are means he
uses to effect conversions. In bringing people to the knowledge of himself, God's divine
power supplies them with everything they need for life and godliness. Probably what is in
view is the work of the Spirit of God in believers, providing them with gifts and enabling
them to use these gifts.

4 "Through these" refers to God's "glory and goodness" or more generally to his salvation
mediated through the Incarnation. So when Jesus Christ came in his first advent, God
made certain promises ("very great and precious") of the new Messianic Age (cf. 3:9, 13)
to be brought in when Christ returned. These promises enable Christians to "participate in
the divine nature."
How does this participation come about? In at least two ways. (1) The promises
themselves have a purifying effect on the believer's life (cf. 1Jn 3:3). (2) Conversion entails
a definite break with "the corruption . . . caused by evil desires." In coming to know God
through Christ, believers escape the corruption of sin; and Christ renews and restores the
image of God in them.

II. The Essential Christian Virtues (1:5-15)

A. The Efforts for Christian Fruitfulness (1:5-9)

5 Because of the new birth and the promises associated with it, Christians participate in
the divine nature (v.4). But the new birth does not rule out human activity. Sanctification is
a work of God in which believers cooperate. This is why the Bible gives ethical imperatives
based on dogmatic indicatives (cf. Ro 6:11-14; 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; 1Pe 1:13-21); this
principle is in accord with biblical statements of how God works (cf. Ro 8:13b; Php 2:13).
So Peter urgently calls for a progressive, active Christianity. It is by faith alone that we are
saved through grace, but this saving faith does not continue by itself (Eph 2:8-10). Peter's
chain of eight virtues (vv.5-7) starts with "faith" and ends in "love" (cf. 1Ti 1:5).
Christians are told to "make every effort to add to [their] faith." In NT times the word "add"
was used of making a rich or lavish provision. To make every "effort" requires both zeal
and seriousness in the pursuit of holiness. "Goodness" is an attribute of Christ himself
(1:3) and therefore is to be sought by his people. It is excellence of achievement or
mastery in a specific field--in this case virtue or moral excellence (cf. Php 4:8; 1Pe 2:9).
The "knowledge" that is to be added to faith is the advance into the will of God. The false
teachers (eventually known as the Gnostics) claimed a superior knowledge. The apostles
stressed that it was necessary for those who know God to live a godly life (cf. 1Jn 2:3-4;
5:18) and that Christ taught them the will of the Father (Jn 15:15).

6 The next virtue in Peter's chain is "self-control". The concept of self-control played a
great role in the philosophical ethics of classical Greece and Hellenism. But in NT ethical
discussions it is not generally used, perhaps because the normal biblical emphasis is on
God at work in us by the Spirit rather than on human self-mastery. Self-control is the exact
opposite of the excesses (2:3, 14) of the false teachers and the sexual abuses in the
pagan world. The NT concept of self-control is instructive. Paul uses the verb "to control
oneself" of the unmarried (1Co 7:9; cf. Ac 24:25) and of his own self-discipline for the
Gospel (1Co 9:25). In the only other use of the noun besides 2Pe 1:6, Paul lists it as one
facet of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:23). So while the biblical ethic does include "self-
control," it sees it as the manifestation of the Spirit's work in believers, resulting in the
human activity Paul speaks of in Ro 8:13.
Following self-control is "perseverance" or "patience". This virtue views time with God's
eyes (3:8) while waiting for Christ's return and for the punishment of sin. Perseverance is
the ability to continue in the faith and resist the pressures of the world system (cf. Lk 8:15;
Ro 5:3; Heb 12:2). "Godliness" is piety or devotion to the person of God.

7 "Brotherly kindness" and "love" (agape) complete the list. The knowledge of God issues
into love for other believers (1Jn 4:7-20). Brotherly kindness denotes the warmth of
affection that should characterize the fellowship of believers, and love is the queen of the
virtues (cf. 1Co 13), denoting self-sacrificing action in behalf of another. This love flows
from God who is himself love (1Jn 4:8) and who reaches out to the world (Jn 3:16; 1Jn
3:16). Godly people who participate in the divine nature must abound in love.

8 The "knowledge" of God is the beginning, the continuance, and the goal of the Christian
life (cf. Php 3:10). If Christians possess in ever-increasing measure the eight virtues just
listed, they will not be "ineffective and unproductive" (like the false teachers described in
ch. 2). Progressive growth in the Christian graces is a sign of spiritual vitality and prevents
sloth and unfruitfulness (Mt 13:22; Jn 15:1-7).

9 Not to have these virtues is to be "nearsighted and blind." In the NT "blind" is commonly
used in a metaphorical as well as a literal sense (cf. Jn 9:39-41). Spiritual blindness can
come from being spiritually "nearsighted". Such a defect of vision leads one to
forgetfulness of cleansing from old sins. Perhaps Peter had in mind those who turn away
from their commitment at baptism.

B. The Confirmation of Election (1:10-11)

10 In view of the dangers spoken of in v.9 and the possibility of a fruitful knowledge of God
(v.8), Peter exhorts Christians "to make [their] calling and election sure." "Sure" is a word
used of confirming something, as in the legal terminology of validating a will. So a
Christian by growing in grace becomes assured of having been called and elected by God.
Some prefer a corporate sense of election here (cf. 1Pe 1:1). In favor of this view is the
fact that "calling" and "election" are bound together by a single Greek article and that the
word "calling" can have a general application (cf. Mt 22:14). Nevertheless, in the Pauline
letters calling and election are normally used in a particular sense (cf. Ro 8:28-30). People
respond in faith to God's gracious working. Likewise Peter's emphasis here is on human
response. Many see Paul's influence on Peter (cf. comment on 3:15).
If Christians are continually advancing in the virtues mentioned in vv.5-7, they will never
"stumble" or "fall." Some have argued that "the loss of salvation" is in view here, but the
meaning of "suffer a reverse or misfortune" fits the context well. Strong warnings about
unfaithfulness to Christ and emphasis on the necessity of perseverance are common in
the letters of Paul (e.g., Col 1:22-23; 2Ti 2:12-13).