I recently got up and proceeded to get ready for the day, preparing to take my son to school. As I gathered my purse and keys, I called for him, “Are you ready to go?”
He came into the kitchen, still dressed in pj’s. “Mom, it’s Good Friday. I don’t have school today.”
Sigh. Oh, yeah.
I am increasingly forgetful. So much so, I have monthly, weekly, and daily lists to remind me of where I need to go and what I need to do. Apparently, even those aren’t sufficient for me to remember my son has a day off from school.
I don’t know about you, but I am also spiritually forgetful. I go about my day as though my life depends on me. I labor in my own strength. I put my trust in methods, plans, and to-do lists. I fret and worry and fear in the face of challenges and unexpected circumstances. I often feel overwhelmed and ill-equipped. In all these ways and more, I forget the power at work in me. I forget the gospel and its significance, not only for salvation, but for daily life and growth in grace.
The Apostle Peter wrote a letter to a group of believers, reminding them of the gospel and its power to transform them. He reminded them they’ve been given everything they need to live a godly life, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4). Friends, this is huge! Did you catch that? God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. All things!
He did this through the work of Christ on our behalf, who through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection, secured for us all the promises of God. Through faith in Christ, we are united to him. We have the very Spirit of Christ living within us, making us partakers of the divine nature. That word, partakers, in the Greek is koinónos. It means mutual fellowship, sharer, partner. We share in God’s nature as we become increasingly more like Christ, through the power of his Spirit at work in us.
Peter then goes on to describe what it looks like to grow more and more like Christ (vv.5-7). These are qualities that characterize sharing in the divine nature. They are the natural outworking of the Spirit’s power in and through us. These qualities help us bear fruit for the Kingdom (v.8). These are not characteristics that save us; rather, they are produced in us by the Spirit as we live out the realities of our salvation in Christ.
virtue
knowledge
self-control
steadfastness
godliness
brotherly affection
love
He then cautions, “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (v.9). Peter could refer here to those who verbally expressed faith in Christ but did not have a transformed heart. Or he could refer to true Christians who have wandered from the truth. Either way, such forgetfulness is serious. Friends, it is crucial that we remember our salvation. The good news of the gospel is that not only are we saved by grace, but we are also transformed by grace. God calls us to grow in the likeness of Christ and then he provides us all we need to do so. Amazing grace!
When we find ourselves living life apart from the gospel; when we find ourselves living as though everything is up to us and our own strength, wisdom, and power; when we find ourselves stagnant in our growth in godliness; we need to remember the gospel which saved us. We need to remember the promises of God for us in Christ: We are his children (Jn. 1:12); He will make us like the Son (1 Jn 3:2); He will persevere us to the end (Phil. 1:6); We have an inheritance in heaven (1 Pet. 1:4), among many others.
Forgetting what day it is (an all too often problem for me!) is a challenge. Forgetting an appointment is problematic. Forgetting the one thing you went to the grocery store to pick up is annoying. But forgetting what Christ has done for us in the gospel is far worse. May we go to great lengths to remember and rehearse the truths of the gospel each day, relishing in the truth that God has given us everything we need to live for him.
