Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
How do most people finish this phrase: “With friends like these…”? You probably said, “…who needs any enemies!”
But isn’t that rather sad? If this cliche is so well-known, it must be because so many people have experienced false or fickle friends. Maybe a lot of people have experienced what Christian Bovee noted: “False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade.”
I much prefer the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”
I think the apostle Peter would agree with Emerson.
Peter wrote his first general epistle to Christians who are interacting with worldlings. Peter calls Christians “aliens and strangers” because of citizenship is heavenly—we are simply sojourners on earth as we make our way to our home in Heaven. Along this journey, 1 Peter gives us invaluable wisdom on how to behave ourselves as citizens of Heaven.
Peter probably has this journey in mind when he addresses his second epistle: “To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” (2 Peter 1:1).
(All of the Scriptures in this post can be read by clicking here.)
“Precious” is defined here as highly esteemed. And when he says, “as ours” he is saying the saints in the Kingdom of God have equal honor with anyone who may have a title or a position of leadership in the Church. Paul would agree with Peter (see 1 Corinthians 3:5, 21-23; 12:27).
Peter emphasizes this point by using the phrase “dear friends” four times in this letter (2 Peter 3:1, 8, 14, 17). Let me give you another quote from Emerson: “God evidently does not intend us all to be rich, or powerful or great, but He does intend us all to be friends.”
Peter uses the Greek word agapetos—with the root word for servant-hearted love at the root. This makes me think about our precious faith that we defined as highly esteemed, because agapetos also means esteemed, highly valued, beloved.
Precious friends encourage us in our precious faith on our long journey as we travel toward Heaven.
(1) They encourage us to think wholesomely (3:1).
They pray for our minds, as Paul did for his friends at Philippi (Philippians 1:9-10), and they practice—or live out—what they preach (Philippians 4:8-9).
(2) They encourage us to have informed perseverance (vv. 8-11).
They help us look backward see how faithful God has been in past times and how trustworthy God is now, and then ask us, “What kind of man or woman ought you to be in this moment? How can you continue to persevere in holiness and godliness until the very end?”
(3) They encourage us to remain pure (vv. 11-14).
They prompt us to be looking forward in hopeful expectation, and they encourage us to make every effort to be pure. These things require the development of habits. Andrew Murray said the habits that keep us pure are formed over the long haul: “The entrance of divine truth into the mind and heart, the formation of habits and the training of character—these are not attained by sudden and isolated efforts, but by regular and unceasing repetition.”
Sometimes our precious friends have to speak a lovingly hard word to us (see Proverbs 27:6).
(4) They encourage us to remain on guard (v. 17)
They don’t want us to be disqualified in our race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27), so they come to our rescue if we do stumble (James 5:19-20).
Let’s make this something new:
With friends like these I can live a victorious, God-honoring, Christ-glorifying life!
Let’s be those precious friends to others who share in the same precious faith.
Check out all of the message in this series from the book of 2 Peter by clicking here.
►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎
Craig T. Owens 