According to the gospel in 2 Peter, there are 2 main things Peter says you must do while believing in the faith. As we know it Peter is the successor of Jesus Christ Himself. Before Jesus departed back to the Father in heaven He gave Peter three chances to rectify himself. See earlier on in the scriptures Peter was giving a word from the Lord that said he would deny Christ three times before the rooster crowed. Peter, as tenacious as he was, did in fact deny Christ those three times and fulfilled the word of the prophet. After this act of guilt Peter felt so awful and what I believe is a new passion for Jesus hit his spirit. He was now desperate to amend his wrong ways towards Christ. Peter made it his business to be there ever step the way for Jesus when he was wrongly tried, convicted, and then executed. After Christ rose from the grave, He gave swift instructions to the women that came to the tomb to go back and gather the disciples and tell them He had risen and he wants to see them again. After Jesus showed himself to the disciples and walked with them only for a short while later; Jesus asked Peter “do you love me?”. Peter with all his energy and might said “Yes”!! Then Jesus instructed him to feed his sheep which simply translates into peach the gospel to all men. He asked Peter the same question 2 more times and both times Peter’s answer was an asserted “yes”!! Jesus replied to him both times to feed his sheep. I believe this was Peters way to get back in right standings with Christ. Jesus extended his love to Peter even after Peter denied him before the cross.
There were many other situations in the bible that Peter and Jesus experienced on a more personal level then any other of the disciples. Peter intact was the very first disciple picked by Jesus and was the only one that Jesus made a personal covenant with saying that he will make him a fishermen of men not just fish. Jesus called Peter his rock, which also means he relied on Peter to be strong because He was building His church on the rock. Another examples is when the disciples were on the boat going to the other shore and a storm hit that night and everyone saw a figure walking on the night waters. Peter reconziged that it was Jesus and Jesus commanded for Peter to walk on the water to meet Him. Once Peter got out the boat and fixed his eyes on Christ he began walking on water as well. Shortly after that Peter lost faith and got distracted. Once this happened Peter began to sink. Jesus had to reduce Peter and show him the areas of his life where he needed to build his faith. However, at the end of Jesus life here on Earth, Peter was His go to man. If you read the 1st and 2nd book of Peter in the bible you will see how experienced Peter’s faith is. His faith is so well developed because he had a crash course in believing in God. In some translations Peters books are some of the toughest to understand. There are different reasons for such a thing. For starters the Bible has been translated from Hebrew and Greek to English. Some words could have been left out here and there. Another reason it is a tougher book is because the amount of time Peter spent with the savior. Peter was not a baby in the spirit, for crying out loud his shadow healed the sick and he caused people to walk that never walked before just like Christ.
In 2 Peter 3:18 the bible declares that We must grow in the grace and in knowledge of Jesus Christ. These are the two things we must do if we want to consider our living in Christ mature and not infant. Peter says to grow in the grace and in knowledge of Jesus Christ. I researched a good bit on this scripture and what I found out will open your mind to some new insight. Grace in this passage is not talking about mercy or favor, however it is talking about time. The true meaning of Grace in this scripture is time. The amount of time that God allows for us to find salvation before the end of the world (day of judgment). So Peter is saying the real things we need to be chasing is not riches or fame, but its use the time thats left for humanity to grow in more knowledge of Jesus. Also know that his power has been given over to us freely to accomplish the works that Christ himself would normally do. The bibles says that we got this power so we can be partakers of His nature. Peter followed Christ so close that he not only walk, eat, pray, and study with Jesus, but he actually picked up Jesus’s nature and put his own down. Peter use to be one of the most angry apostles, cutting off the ear of the guard, fighting Judas for betraying jesus, etc… but He was willing to drop the nature he was born with in order to follow Christ. This is the example left behind by Peter for us to use. We always say we want to be able to do what Jesus did, but we have to be willing to change on the inside how He changed the world on the outside. Peace be unto you!!
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warmly,
Kent Gant Jr.
Kent Gant Jr is a ordained teacher and founder of www.kentgantjr.com, which has a total weekly reach in the hundred thousands. Kent earned an associate degree in business management and supervisor training. Following college, he quickly moved into management and managed serval grocery retailing stores along the southeast of America. While publishing his first book in 2015, Kent began traveling and making guest appearances on television and every other news outlet possible to share his ministry with the world. Kent has constant viewers all the time, and his social media following is loyal to reading whatever he is writing next.
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