I don’t need anything else

2 Peter 1:3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

This is a part of what I was reading yesterday. It struck me how simple Peter’s message is in this verse. God has already given us everything we need for living a godly life. Now….there may be things God still needs to give us in future situations. There is certainly nothing wrong with asking for God to intervene in an illness or a crisis. We ought to pray for what people need and don’t have. But when it comes to what we need for living the Christian life- what Peter called “godliness”- we already have it. We have it all and we’ve had it all as long as we’ve known God through faith in Jesus.

Here’s a slightly longer excerpt. 2 Peter 1:3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises…

We were totally resourced for living as disciples when we came to know “him.” “Received” is past tense.

I bring up this passage because of conversations I have fairly regularly with people living as if God has not given them everything they need to be fully devoted followers of Jesus. In fact they act as if God plays games with us – as if we have to do something to get Him to notice us and then He will give us “the power” we need. There is a whole “revival” going on right now with people trying to figure out who to get “the power” so they can “live God’s best life now.” He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Now, look around you at the Christians you know. Listen to the sermons you hear. Get the feel of the kind of God and message that are coming into your life from the Christians around here.

I believe the reason the first church “turned the world upside down” was those believers knew they had “all they need to live like Jesus.” And they lived it. Meanwhile, today’s Christian is trying to get the secret, have the experience, receive the blessing and so on. Now is the time to live the life. We have everything we need for living a godly life. Let’s get on with it.