“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.”

Therefore

“Therefore” means on which account. “Therefore” closely connects thought to verses 5-9. This is the punch line of verses 5-9.

brethren

Peter identifies himself with his readers. These are those who have “obtained like precious faith” with Peter.

be even more

“More” is a word of advance. After the smoke clears, God has a purpose for our lives as long as we are alive. Therefore, we pick ourselves up and move on. The “blind” Christian (v.9) lives in spiritual failure. If we live in carnality, we should “be more diligent” to advance our spiritual lives.

diligent

“Diligent” means to make haste, to be zealous. Diligence signifies hastening to do a thing. “Bend every effort” to build character into your lives. Give every atom of energy you can to this task.”

Ti. 3:12, “When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.”

“Diligent” is eagerness. This is not the rah, rah approach to life. “Let’s all get behind this because we use group psychology.” No, this eagerness comes from the motivations previously presented in this chapter. Eagerness comes from the character qualities of verses 5-7. This person does not allow personal ambition or human drive to get in the picture. He rests in God’s provisions.

PRINCIPLE:

Christians are to advance their spirituality even in the face of failure.

APPLICATION:

We have no right to “feel sorry” for ourselves. There is no excuse for accepting defeat. No matter how much we have failed the Lord, we must pick ourselves up by God’s grace and move on. God has a plan for every Christian as long as they are still alive. Get up and fight another round. Don’t lie on the canvass. There is no excuse for self-pity. God always has “more” grace for us.

Some may question our walk with God. They question whether it is real to us. Our salvation might be suspect to your wife or husband. We claim that we are Christians, but they cannot see the reality of it. We can claim that we are Alexander the Great, but that does not mean we are. People examine our walk to see if it measures up to talk.

We can talk about a good game but cannot produce on the field. We can second-guess the coach’s call, but we never played the game. We criticize others, but we do not produce. We talk well but not walk well. We are good talkers, not good walkers.

Ep. 4:3, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

2 Ti. 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

He. 4:11, “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”