Originally Posted by aron
I have mentioned this before, but the case of Peter is so blatantly inserted throughout the NT account of salvation that it can be held up as a template. Whose case got more ink than Peter's? And didn't Peter fail, again and again, on his journey?
The "rich entrance" Peter talks about in 2 Peter 1:11 is in God's salvation, not Peter's works. The diligent practice, the certainty, the lack of stumbling that are cited in the previous verse (1:10) is God's, not Peter's. Though we don't say, "Let us sin, that grace may abound", yet the point remains that salvation is of the Lord. It is surely not of our own works, that none can boast. It is God who works in us both the willing and the working.
In sum, it is a journey, full of failure, full of shame and bitterness. Peter denied the very Architect of salvation, and then went outside and wept bitterly. But God saved him, nonetheless. Peter failed, but Jesus intervened, and Peter turned back to God's path. And this pattern continued after the resurrection, and even after the Acts; see Paul's account in Galatians 2, for example.
But Paul failed, too. John failed. You and I failed. Our cases are simply not as well documented as Peter's. If you try, you will fail. But God will intervene and save you.
And if you don't try, and struggle to be saved, do you really think that God will save you? What kind of faith is that? That's "Let us sin, that grace may abound," no? That's calling black as white, and white black. God said, "As you do, so will it be done to you." If you don't try to find God, do you really think that God will try to find you? Who are you kidding? If you don't cry out to God for mercy, in your bitter failure and shame, do you expect Him to enroll you in the heavens? And if by faith you try to show mercy toward others, doesn't God likewise promise to show you mercy?
If you try to be saved, you will fail, and you'll be discouraged, and God's promised mercy will come to you; your eyes will be opened and you'll see Jesus, the unique Christ, the promised Messiah, who struggled and indeed overcame. Then you will be encouraged to follow Him, and obey, and God's Spirit of grace will be with you, more and more, until the promised day. You will find your rich entrance, and that not of your own works, but of the obedient Son's grace, who fulfilled and embodied all of God's promised blessings.
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