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The Importance of Reminders (2 Peter 1:12-15)

Scott Kercheville
01/22/23 - Sun AM

I was talking through various challenges with a dear friend of mine from college and though he said other things, he also said something he has said to me repeatedly lately: “Prayer helps.” We have known each other for over 15 years, we have read together, travelled together, cried together, and enjoyed many deep conversations about the bible, theology, philosophy, and family life. He’s intelligent, thoughtful, and knows me well. And yet with all this, his reply to me is: “prayer helps”?

Sometimes we need reminders. And with some things, we need frequent reminders.

People are rising up in the churches with destructive false teachings — promoting cheap grace and sensual living and casting doubt on the Lord’s promise to come. But Peter has urged them to see that God has given them everything they need to lead godly lives. Through God’s great and very precious promises, we will escape corruption and share in the divine nature. So, Peter urges, we must make every effort to practice virtue by means of faith, and knowledge by means of virtue, and self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, beginning with faith and perfecting it all in love. We must not be unfruitful but confirm our calling so that we’ll be granted entrance into Jesus eternal kingdom one day.

It is a beautiful vision of our humanity and of all history, and yet, is there really anything new here? “Make every effort” and “grow in these qualities.” Do we really need Peter to tell us that again? Surely at some point in his first letter he talked about faith, steadfastness, godliness, and love. In fact, why we are here yet again reading the same Scriptures, singing the same songs, praying the same prayers, and listening to another sermon. Why do we keep getting together to praise God and tell each other to serve the Lord?

Peter explains himself in verses 12-15. Here, Peter explains that he finds it important to remind them to grow in these qualities…

(a) Always, though they are already know them (vs. 12). They know Jesus and are firmly established in the truth. They know they need these qualities. Despite that, he intends to always remind about them. And he’s made that more permanent by writing it so that even we today can read… what we already know… again.

Sometimes, we need reminders. And some things are so important and the risk of forgetting them is too great, that no matter how well we know them, we need frequent reminders, always.

A lot of stuff comes at us every day: new experiences, new people, new information, times of great joy, laughter, and blessing, or times of frustration, deep suffering, and grief.

But it is by diligent practice of these qualities that God will richly provide entrance into the eternal kingdom of the Lord Jesus. The bottom line is that we are forgetful. It is amazing to me after such a wild year how much I feel I need to be reminded of. With so many new-different-joyous-and-difficult things that come our way and with our place in the kingdom at stake, the risk is simply too great — we must be reminded of our responsibility to practice these qualities, always, though we already know and are established in them.

(b) In order to stir them up (vs. 13). We might be tempted to think that only new knowledge and experiences can stir us up out of complacency to growth. We might think that being reminded of what we already know only inflates our ego. Or we may mock reminders as repetitive, mindless repetition. But Peter says he intends to stir them up, arouse them by means of… this reminder.

Reminding people to do and be what they already are isn’t a waste! Reminding the faithful to keep excelling in faith, the steadfast to continue being steadfast, and the loving to love all the more doesn’t inflate our egos, it stirs us up to continue to be faithful, steadfast, and loving people — sometimes even more so.

There is a time for correction in weak areas. But it is vital to remind one another to keep doing what we’re already doing and growing in what we already are, lest we be discouraged, forget, and slip.

New knowledge and experiences can certainly stir us up into action. None of this is to discount that. Hebrews 5-6 does warn us to pursue maturity and to not continue as infants who want nothing more than the milk we already have. There is a danger of only staying where we are. But there’s also the danger of  becoming stagnant or veering off the path by forgetting the basic stuff we once knew. We truly can be stirred up by way of reminder. “I see you have been praying, continue to pray without ceasing.” “The love and affection you have been showing will go a long way, keep excelling in that.” “It is hard to be sturdy and steadfast in these times, but keep going like you have been.” “Fruit is evident in your life — keep it up!”

Reminders of what we already know stir us to excel in what we are already doing.

(c) So they can recall them after he departs (vs. 13-15). In some way the Lord had made it clear to Peter that he would soon put off this tent, this body. Maybe it was the conversation recorded in John 21 when Jesus told Peter that when he was old he’d be stretched out and carried where he did not want to go — alluding to Peter’s future crucifixion.  Or maybe it was some recent encounter with the Lord. Either way, Peter would soon depart. But a major portion of the foundation of the church is the apostles. And it has been common throughout history for leaders to give farewell instructions and warnings to guide into the future — Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Paul, and Jesus all did this. And now it is Peter’s time. So he reminds them so that any time in the future they may recall the importance of growing in these qualities.

On occasion in recent history, some will try to highlight Jesus in the gospels while discounting the words of the apostles.

It is vital that we do not treat Peter or any of the apostles as if they and their words and their lives are dead and irrelevant. “Alright, they’re dead, now we have more flexibility around here.” No, even Peter does not even use the word “death” to describe what will soon happen. He may be putting off his tent — his body — and he may not yet have his resurrection house — temple, body — but, Peter, the apostles, and the faithful who have departed are with Christ.  In Christ, those dead apostles aren’t dead and the must continue to be the foundation of this local church and of the whole church. They have departed, but we are not free to depart from their witness nor from the church and foundation they laid.

This is why Peter made every effort in his life to teach, and that’s why even wrote out these reminders — even after his departure we today can continue to take reminders from the apostles on whom everything we do is built.

Think about Peter here as he nears the end of his life, having seen the singularly most significant thing that has ever happened since the foundation of the world — the cross and empty tomb — and having heard the most important words ever spoken; yet, he knows that after he dies many will suck the power out of the gospel with cheap grace and sensuality, while others would chalk it all up to a clever myth. What do you do when you know people will cast doubt on the most important stuff in the world? You live it, preach it, write about it, remind and remind and remind again about it; then you die for it and pray people will still listen.

And here we are nearly two thousand years later still living through exactly what Peter said was coming — and yet still listening.

We live in a technological age of information. There is so much knowledge that appears to be new and important coming at us. There are so many influencers who act like they have rediscovered Jesus and are leading people to love like he did through tolerance; they have finally escaped the harsh, superstitious ways of the past. God won’t punish people. The church is full of arrogant hypocrisy that must end. But it is deception. It reminds me of what John says: they don’t recognize God’s children because they don’t know the Son or the Father. Their condemnation is certain — let’s not be drawn into it.

In these disorienting times with so much coming at us, let’s continue to slow down to receive reminders from God’s word — which we may already know —because it’s about what's most important. We have received a faith of equal standing with the early generations. Jesus’ divine power has granted to us everything we need to live godly lives. He’s made promises by which we may escape the corruption in the world and partake in his divine nature. So, let’s = make every effort to grow in every way — starting with faith and ending in love. If we don’t, we’ll be ineffective and unfruitful. For it is by diligent fruitfulness that we will receive a warm welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Peter may be dead, but his words are as true today as they were then. We may have been waiting for his coming for two thousand years, but that only means God has been very patient and that we are closer to salvation than we were at the first. So let’s remember to diligently continue in the way we have been going.