1 This letter is from Simon Peter. I am a missionary of Jesus Christ and a servant owned by Him. I am writing to those who have received the same faith as ours which is of great worth and which no amount of money can buy. This faith comes from our God and Jesus Christ, the One Who saves. ² May you have more and more of His loving-favor and peace as you come to know God and our Lord Jesus Christ better.

Christians Are to Grow

³ He gives us everything we need for life and for holy living. He gives it through His great power. As we come to know Him better, we learn that He called us to share His own shining-greatness and perfect life. ⁴ Through His shining-greatness and perfect life, He has given us promises. These promises are of great worth and no amount of money can buy them. Through these promises you can have God’s own life in you now that you have gotten away from the sinful things of the world which came from wrong desires of the flesh.

⁵ Do your best to add holy living to your faith. Then add to this a better understanding. ⁶ As you have a better understanding, be able to say no when you need to. Do not give up. And as you wait and do not give up, live God-like. ⁷ As you live God-like, be kind to Christian brothers and love them. ⁸ If you have all these things and keep growing in them, they will keep you from being of no use and from having no fruit when it comes to knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But if you do not have these things, you are blind and cannot see far. You forget God saved you from your old life of sin. ¹⁰ Christian brothers, make sure you are among those He has chosen and called out for His own. As long as you do these things, you will never trip and fall. ¹¹ In this way, the road will be made wide open for you. And you will go into the holy nation that lasts forever of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who saves.

¹² You already know about these things but I want to keep telling you about them. You are strong in the faith now. ¹³ I think it is right as long as I am alive to keep you thinking about these things. ¹⁴ I know that I will soon be leaving this body. Our Lord Jesus Christ has told me this. ¹⁵ I will try to make a way for you to remember these things after I am gone.

¹⁶ We had nothing to do with man-made stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His coming again. We have seen His great power with our own eyes. ¹⁷ When He received honor and shining-greatness from God the Father, a voice came to Him from the All-powerful God, saying, “This is My much-loved Son. I am very happy with Him.” ¹⁸ We heard this voice come from heaven when we were with Christ on the holy mountain.

¹⁹ All this helps us know that what the early preachers said was true. You will do well to listen to what they have said. Their words are as lights that shine in a dark place. Listen until you understand what they have said. Then it will be like the morning light which takes away the darkness. And the Morning Star (Christ) will rise to shine in your hearts.

²⁰ Understand this first: No part of the Holy Writings was ever made up by any man. ²¹ No part of the Holy Writings came long ago because of what man wanted to write. But holy men who belonged to God spoke what the Holy Spirit told them.