Discussion Questions

The speaker contrasts a “scarcity mindset” (“scarcely saved,” “how hardly”) with Peter’s language of “abundance”; what picture of God is he trying to replace in us, and what specific habits or teachings have trained you to expect a “barely making it” Christian life? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What view of God is the speaker trying to replace when he talks about moving from “barely saved” to God’s “abundance”? What habits or teachings have trained you to expect a “just barely” Christian life?

In the three “how much more”/“good pleasure” passages the speaker cites (good gifts to children, ravens fed, “good pleasure to give you the kingdom”), what does God’s generosity look like in the teaching—especially in how He responds to asking, waiting, and need? JumpstartAnother way to ask: In the passages about God giving good gifts, feeding ravens, and gladly giving the kingdom, what does God’s generosity look like? How does He respond when people ask, have to wait, or are in real need?

Peter addresses “strangers scattered” and the speaker says, “If you are a Christian, you are a stranger and a pilgrim”; how would early Christians in Pontus/Galatia/etc. have understood being “strangers,” and what would have marked them as outsiders in daily life compared with what marks Christians as outsiders (or not) today? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What would it have meant for Christians in Peter’s day to be “strangers” and “pilgrims” in their towns? What makes Christians stand out as outsiders today—or what keeps them from standing out?

The speaker says “grace and peace be multiplied…through the knowledge of God,” and that greater understanding makes us “emboldened to move ahead and take life by the horns”; how does that definition of peace challenge the modern tendency to treat peace as mainly emotional calm or comfort? JumpstartAnother way to ask: The speaker says peace grows through knowing God and makes us bold to move forward. How does that challenge the idea that peace is mainly feeling calm and comfortable?

The speaker emphasizes “His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,” describing God as an unlimited “power bank”; what does this assume about God’s intentions toward obedience and transformation, and where do Christians practically deny this by living as if God is reluctant or resources are scarce? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness, what does that say about His desire to help us obey and change? Where do Christians live as if God is holding back or there isn’t enough help to go around?

In discussing “partakers of the divine nature,” the speaker ties it to hungering and thirsting for righteousness and being filled; what do you think Peter (and early Christians) meant by actually sharing in God’s nature, and how does this confront a “forgiven-but-unchanged” version of Christianity? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What do you think it means to “share in God’s nature,” and how would early Christians have understood that? How does that challenge a kind of Christianity that is “forgiven but still basically unchanged”?

The speaker claims Peter “assumes” his audience is largely free from lust/covetousness and then says we must “plug and repair the holes in our minds that leach away our mental and spiritual energy”; what “holes” most commonly drain believers today, and what would repentance look like at the level of attention, imagination, and desire? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What things most often “leak” your attention and spiritual energy today? What would repentance look like in what you focus on, imagine, and want?

Peter’s command “giving all diligence” is explained as marshalling “all your energy for the kingdom of God” because “you cannot live in both worlds at the same time”; what does that imply about divided loyalties that many evangelicals treat as normal, and how would your schedule/spending/entertainment expose which world you’re serving? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If we must give “all diligence” and can’t live in two worlds at once, what does that say about split loyalties many Christians accept as normal? What do your time, spending, and entertainment choices show about which world you serve?

The speaker’s concrete definitions and illustrations are sharp (virtue as discipline built through difficult people, temperance as not sampling everything at the banquet table, patience as “waiting cheerfully” in traffic or sleepless nights, godliness as “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” daily, kindness removing hard edges, love as pursuing others); which of these definitions most disrupts your current self-assessment, and what specific situation in your week would become a training ground if you took Peter’s list literally? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Which of the speaker’s definitions (virtue, self-control, patience, godliness, kindness, love) most challenges how you see yourself right now? What situation this week could become practice if you took Peter’s list seriously?

On “make your calling and election sure,” the speaker offers unsettling options: the Christian life doesn’t happen by itself, a good start doesn’t guarantee the end, and “future security…is contingent on our choices,” yet he also says there is “eternal security in Christ” when abiding; how does that tension challenge common evangelical assurance language, and what would a church culture look like that truly held both Peter’s warning (“blind,” “forgotten…purged”) and Peter’s promise (“ye shall never fall,” “abundant entrance”) without softening either? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do you hold together Peter’s warning that you can fall away and his promise of security when you abide in Christ? What would a church look like that takes both the warning and the promise seriously without watering either down?