Our Sure Foundation

In our last study, Peter challenged believers to stay on a path of maturity. “Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (1:5-7).

These characteristics are all proof of God at work in your life.

Many people in the church lack these things. Tragically, they live in sterility instead of in the fruitfulness available to them in Christ. Sometimes their lack of enthusiasm will make them wonder if they are even saved (see 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 and 2 Corinthians 13:5). It’s a worthy question. If you have no interest in spiritual things, examine yourself to ensure you are in the faith.

“Make your call and election sure”—he means, of course, more sure. If you are a child of God, then nothing will change that. However, your assurance can be disturbed by the life you live. If you lack a solid foundation, you might doubt your salvation, which easily opens you up to getting entangled in sin. This is all the more reason to get serious about learning God’s Word.

Peter addresses such things with urgency because he knows his time is short. He stirred these saints to grow in grace so that spiritual senility won’t set in. Peter wants us to remember certain things—beginning with the trustworthiness of God’s Word. We have an authority on which we can depend. “How do we know the Bible is really the Word of God?” Peter addresses that in verse16.

The Bible is historical and factual, not a pack of lies or a fairy tale. If you sincerely study it, God will make it real to you. If there is a veil over your eyes, it isn’t because you are mentally blind but because you don’t want to give up your sins. God will make the Bible come alive when you're willing to do that.

God’s Word is like a light shining from a dark place—it’s a certain word of truth, Peter says, because it’s God's spoken Word. God transmitted His complete will and word through the men who wrote Scripture. What a miraculous book!

The Bible is both a God-book and a man-book. It deals with human life, right down to where we live and move and have our being, yet it is God speaking to man in a language that is understandable to us.

The Word of God is the only tangible, supernatural thing we have in this world. It draws people away from the world system and puts them into the arms of God.

The Bible has a whole message, with collaborating messages. No portion can be interpreted apart from other verses on the same subject. (This is why you shouldn’t pull a verse of Scripture out of context and build a doctrine on it. If you can’t get the whole body of Scripture to confirm your doctrine, then get a new doctrine.) God took each writer and used him, without changing his style or interfering with his personality, to write His Word, so His message comes across. If God spoke out of heaven today, He would have to repeat Himself because He already has said everything He has to say to mankind. God has gotten His Word to us through men of different personalities and different skills. For this reason, this is a man-book and a God-book.

Peter tells us we have “the prophetic word confirmed.” It’s a solid rock under our feet. We can have confidence that it is true and trustworthy. No wonder the Word of God has been attacked more than anything else. If the enemy can get rid of the foundation, he knows the building will come crashing down.

The Bible is a solid foundation on which we can rest our faith.

Next: Peter calls out false teachers.