LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD MARCH 20, 2025
Second Peter 1:1-11 Inspired Version
1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the
righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According
as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and
virtue, 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 6 And to knowledge, temperance; and to
temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; 7 And to godliness, brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. 8 For if these
things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But
he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and
hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for
if ye do these things, ye shall never fall; 11 For so an entrance shall
be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
Peter was speaking in a very straight forward manner and
not trying to make a play on words. His counsel is just as appropriate for us
today as it was then and has been down through the ages.
We all know that charity is defined in Moroni 7:52 as the
pure love of Christ. Pure means not mixed or adulterated with any other
substance or material. Pure is free of any contamination. Pure means wholesome
and untainted by immorality. Pure is spotless, stainless, free from harshness
or roughness.
All these definitions of pure fit only one person who
ever lived on this earth, and we know who that was. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ who endured every effort by all He came into contact with, even His own
apostles, and remained PURE.
If we had nothing more than the scripture above and the
two great commandments, we would have sufficient guidance to do what God has
asked us to do. There has been many questions recently about “The Promises of
God.” What is the promise for obedience and disobedience in the above
scripture?
In our process of “Living in the Kingdom of God,” and
waiting for Jesus to come in His Glory and establish His True kingdom, do we
individually, as families, and as the Body of Christ have these aspects of
Kingdom living abounding in our daily walk? What is the promise if we are
abounding in these qualities? What is the promise if we are not? To help us in
this regard, we might want to go back and read about the beatitudes in Matthew
5:1-14. Make sure you read it from the Inspired Version as there are significant
differences from all other translations.
Next week the Conference of Restoration Elders will work
with the theme: “New Wine in New Bottles.” This scripture is found in Matthew
9:22-23 and Mark 2:19-20. There is actually a song out entitled, “New Wine.”
Pull it up and read the lyrics. Every day of our lives, as God gives us the
breath of life, He is asking us to examine our own life and see if we need to
put new wine in us and become a new bottle filled with the Pure Love of Christ.
God bless
Paul Gage
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