For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
A guilty conscience will drive people to the grave, there is no benefit in convincing them not to feel the guilt. Those who live a blameless life will escape the consequences of a guilty conscience, but those who revel in perversity will be swallowed by them.
If we think about God’s instructions and follow them to the best of our ability, they will make us wiser than our enemies. God’s commands will give us understanding and show us how all other ways of life are false paths which lead to sorrow. God’s word will provide us light in a dark world so that we can walk without stumbling. Let us keep God’s decrees to the very end of our lives.
Every time I read this passage I am struck by the order in which Peter says that our lives should be built. Perhaps “built” is the wrong word. The base of living as servants of God is faith. Without faith, none of the rest matters, or is even possible. The next step, or layer, is goodness. Once we have faith we need to try to be good as best we understand what that means. As we try to be good, God will reveal more to us, giving us knowledge of what it means to do His will, and to do good. The knowledge God gives us will reveal to us the necessity of self-control. If we make the effort to develop self-control it will teach us to persevere in the face of suffering. As we persevere, we will develop godliness (which is goodness based on God’s standards rather than human standards). Godliness will teach us to act with love towards those who love us (even if they do not always show it). As we master the art of mutual affection in the face of difficulties we will discover the ability, and need, to love everyone, even those who do not return that love.
Peter reminds us that this is not a once and done process. It is an ongoing process which continues as long as we live with each of these feeding the others. Faith will cause us to desire to be good. Working at being good will teach us more about what God desires. Applying that knowledge will lead to self-control. Self-control will teach us to persevere. Perseverance will lead us to godliness (which is similar to goodness, except that it recognizes that sometimes it is another’s interest for us to do something they will not like). Godliness leads us to have mutual affection for those around us (generally, our fellow believers). Mutual affection matures into love for all. Each step along the way increases our faith, which allows us to build up each of the levels above that. Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that you cannot truly have the level above without the one Peter lists before it. You will not develop true love for everyone if you do not have sufficient knowledge. You will not learn knowledge which will lead to love if you have not worked at being good to the best of your understanding.
Nebuchadnezzar had another dream. This dream warned him against hubris, against believing that he was in complete control of his own destiny. This passage is a warning to each and every person today. No matter how great your accomplishments, they can all be stripped away from you in a moment. It is only by acknowledging that it is God who controls our fate that we can avoid being brought low and ending our lives in misery. Those who have great success in this life are the most likely to fall into this trap. Those most likely to make this mistake are those who think they are too smart and too wise to listen to anyone’s advice. The fate laid out in this passage is the fate waiting for those who believe they know more about finances than their financial advisers and more about people than their personnel advisers. Very few who suffer this fate ever repent and acknowledge God as Nebuchadnezzar did.