2 Peter 1:5-11
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:
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Grace New Testament Commentary - 2 Peter 1:9-11
1:9 The character-deficient Christian can be said to be shortsighted. Since the epistle as a whole lays heavy stress on the reality and certainty of the Lord's coming (vv 11, 16, 19; 2 Peter 3:4-14), the Apostle is probably thinking of believers who no longer look ahead to the Rapture. Instead their vision is severely limited to the here and now, or for the present world.
A Christian who lacks the qualities mentioned in vv 5-7 is also blind. The word order of the original text has blind first and shortsighted second, calling for a translation like this: "For he who lacks these things is blind, shortsighted, and has forgotten..." A person who is blind to the spiritual realities of life from God's viewpoint is also shortsighted about the future. He is not challenged by the Second Advent to be a better person (see 2 Peter 3:11-14). On a spiritual level a person can be both blind and shortsighted.
And a Christian can also forget that he was cleansed from his old sins. This individual is a Christian! He has been cleansed from his old sins. The Apostle unmistakably can conceive of a cleansed believer as lacking the qualities found in vv 5-7. He deplores the spiritual condition of such a person, but he in no way questions his salvation.
The blind and shortsighted believer lacks appreciation for God's mercy in the past. But he also shows an unconcern about new sins that will also require forgiveness from God. Naturally this does not mean that he is in danger of losing eternal life. The fact remains that sinning believers must seek their Father's forgiveness in order to renew their fellowship with Him (1 John 1:7-9). Remembering one's past cleansing ought to galvanize him to pursue holiness and growth (2 Peter 3:17-18).
1:10 Thus increased diligence (be even more diligent) is all the more desirable in developing such a lifestyle. The personal results affecting one's present quality of life (vv 8-9) carry with them other results regarding his future quality of life (vv 10-11). Here Peter enjoins his readers to make their call and election sure. This statement has often been misinterpreted and misapplied. This text does not mean that Christians are to confirm their call and election to eternal salvation. Such an idea is completely foreign to this passage. Peter has just finished addressing his readers as believers (v 1) whom God has richly endowed (vv 3-4). If the word election (eklogē = selection, choosing) referred to being chosen before time (as in Eph 1:4), it is surprising that the phrase is not reversed: "your election and calling" (cf. Rom 8:30).
Here is one of the many verbal allusions in the Petrine epistles to the teaching Peter had heard from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: "many are called, but few are chosen [eklektoi]" (Matt 20:16; 22:14). All Christians have been given a royal summons by God Himself, inviting them to the glorious privilege of coreigning with Christ in the life to come (2 Tim 2:12; Rev 2:26-27; 3:21). But not all Christians will be chosen to coreign (cf. Rom 8:17: 2 Tim 2:12). Peter, therefore, wishes his readership to produce in their lifestyle appropriate verification that they are royal people, destined for high honor in the coming kingdom of God.
1:11 All born-again Christians will enter the kingdom of Christ, but only those who develop the Christian character described in this chapter will have a special kind of entrance. For so, says Peter, "an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly".
The words "will be supplied" are from the passive form of the same verb, epichoregeō, in v 5. Only if believers add to their faith the character qualities Peter describes will God add to him a rich entrance to the kingdom. Heavenly reward, not salvation from hell, is the theme here. The holy and fruitful lifestyle of vv 3-8 can be a demonstration that an individual Christian has not only been called, but actually chosen, for great reward in God's future kingdom. As he diligently pursues this pathway, doing the things Peter has enjoined, he will be able to avoid any serious spiritual stumble (v 10). Thus his pathway can climax in a rich entrance into Jesus' everlasting kingdom.
Charles Bing - Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship - Make Your Call and Election Sure, 2 Peter 1:10-11
(Salvation) Interpretation: Diligent faithfulness will prove the believer's salvation that allows entrance into heaven.
(Discipleship) Interpretation: Diligent faithfulness will confirm the believer's future and rewards in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This passage is a mainstay of those who claim that our eternal salvation must be proved by our works. The (Salvation) understanding is that we can only know or assure ourselves of our election by the fruits we produce by diligently putting on Christian virtues. Of course, the implication is that lack of fruits shows that one is not saved, or that he cannot know that he is saved. The phrase "call and election" is interpreted as the effectual call to salvation and God's choice before time to save us.
The (Salvation) interpretation has a problem on the face of it. If, as some understand it, calling and election are sovereignly determined by God, then how can anything we do influence that determination in the sense of making it more sure? We can agree that our performance can give evidence of our salvation, but can we say that it proves our salvation? Added to that is the fact that the measure of fruitfulness in anyone's life is subject to various interpretations.
We begin to understand this passage when we observe that Peter is writing to Christians without any doubt on his part or theirs that they are saved. They share the same "precious faith" and "righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:1). God has given the readers all they need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3), and they "may be partakers of the divine nature" (Peter could be speaking about their present position or perhaps a future privilege earned by their righteous behavior - either way it assumes their salvation; 2 Peter 1:4). They have also "escaped the corruption that is in the world" (2 Peter 1:4).
After that affirming introduction, Peter exhorts the readers to add to their initial faith godly virtues (vv. 5-7) so that they will not be barren (useless, from argos), unfruitful, shortsighted, or blind lest they forget (or neglect to appreciate) that they were cleansed from their sins (vv. 8-9).
It should be noted that believers can be unfruitful and spiritually blind. Fruit and good works are not guaranteed in salvation. To say that they are is a theological construct coming from a deterministic view of God that omits human responsibility. Fruitfulness and godliness is the responsibility of every believer, thus Peter's exhortations. God has given believers His power to live a godly life (v. 3-4), but it is the responsibility of every believer to cooperate with God and put on godly virtues (vv. 5-7).
Peter then goes on to exhort the readers to further diligence to make their "call and election sure" (v. 10). The adjective translated "sure" (bebaios) means to be certified, confirmed, validated by evidence. But to whom is their calling and election to be confirmed? Surely it is not the reader, because Peter has repeatedly confirmed that in the preceding verses. There is no evidence that the readers were struggling with any doubts about their salvation. Peter must have in mind their visible testimony to others as their works confirm to those people their faith in Christ, which the readers claim to have (cf. Rom. 4:2, John 13:35; James 2:21-25).
To what does "call and election" refer? It is assumed by many to mean the divine effectual invitation of people to salvation and God's determination to choose them for salvation before time. A problem with that view is that the word order is incorrect, for it would be "election" before "call" (Rom. 8:30). We find the order Peter gives in the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 20:16 (in the Majority Text) and Matthew 22:14 where Jesus says, "For many are called, but few are chosen." Those words conclude two parables about the kingdom (Matt. 20:1; 22:2). In those parables, the choice to pay certain wages and the choice to allow some wedding guests into the celebratory feast follow the invitation to work or attend the wedding (the call). It is likely Peter is recalling Jesus' teachings about those who enter the kingdom and those chosen for special rewards in the kingdom (see the previous discussion of Matt. 22:1-14).
God has called all believers to His kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12), but only the faithful are chosen for special rewards (Rom. 8:17: 2 Tim. 2:12). If that is Peter's assumption, then his words in 2 Peter 1:1-11, indeed the whole epistle (cf. 2 Peter 3:14), are designed to prepare the readers for a rewarding entrance into his kingdom. This is borne out in the words of verse 11 - Peter does not speak of gaining entrance to the kingdom, but enjoying a rich entrance "supplied to you abundantly." The passive form of the verb epichoregeō ("will be supplied") indicates that God bestows the reward. Peter assumes that all of his readers will enter the kingdom (even the unfruitful ones), but he wants to motivate them to godliness by the prospect of an abundant welcome. He may have in mind his culture's practice of giving a victorious warrior or athlete a celebratory welcome into a city. We know from our discussion of 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 that not all Christians will enter heaven with equal rewards. That is also true of the kingdom.
The (Salvation) interpretation makes the issue in 2 Peter 1:10-11 the fact of entering the kingdom of God (which would be interpreted as heaven). The (Discipleship) interpretation makes the issue the quality of one's entrance into God's kingdom. The first view breeds futile introspection and endless uncertainty about one's salvation. The second view motivates believers to grow in their faith and maturity on the basis of their sure salvation.
We should never treat our salvation as a static condition. God has provided all we need to grow, but it is our responsibility to avail ourselves of the things that make us mature. Our motivation is not to prove our salvation, but to honor God with the pleasure of bestowing us with a rich welcome into His eternal kingdom.