God gave us to know Him; grace pertains to life and called us to His glory. We struggle through this life with diligence to enter the kingdom of heaven. This struggle is manifested in brotherly love.
“2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
(2 Peter 1: 2-11)
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
This translation is from The Orthodox Study Bible. You can download the iOS App from App Store. Or you can find it on Amazon in Kindle and Hardcover formats.
References
Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, Elk Grove, California. The Orthodox Study Bible. Nashville :Thomas Nelson, 2008.
