Faith Matters: September 9, 2009

The Scriptures teach that faithful Christian living will be rewarded by greater privileges and rewards in the future kingdom of Jesus Christ.

For instance, the apostle Peter distinguishes between a just-barely-made-it entrance into His eternal kingdom and a richly abundant one. (2 Peter 1:5-11)

He says if we add to our faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love (vv. 5-7) we will not be ineffective and unproductive. (v. 8)

Christians who fail to develop these qualities are said to be "short-sighted" or "blind" (v. 9) because they are focused on earthly and material values rather than eternal, spiritual realities.

They will miss out on the riches they could have had.

But, those who practice these things will never stumble (v. 10) and thus run the risk of losing the rewards believers were called to obtain.

Finally, Peter calls on his Christian readers to be diligent in practicing these things, not to see if they are saved, but to confirm to all who observe them that they are truly called and chosen (v. 10) to rule with Christ.

The ultimate blessing of fruitful Christian living, he writes, is that "entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you."(v.11)

That is, God will supply a wonderfully rich entrance to the kingdom that He has reserved for faithful believers. Faithful Christians are striving to achieve a victorious entrance into the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ rather than settling for a just-barely-made-it entrance.