2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
This verse speaks about spiritual security. This is not a Calvinistic verse. In fact, it says just the opposite of a “once saved always saved” interpretation of salvation. The assumption is that by practicing the qualities of verses 5-7, a person is indeed secure because such a person is growing in Christ through faith. The opposite may be case, that by not practicing such things, a person’s calling and election are unsure. The key word is “diligent.” The Greek is the word “much more.” We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). Salvation requires faith leading to obedience. We must respond to God. Faith is always the human requirement for salvation. Our obedience to God confirms our faith and allows it to grow through all these virtues, resulting in perfected and matured love in the likeness of Christ, who is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). Our calling here likely refers to God’s goal for us to be remade into His divine image, from verse 4. The idea of election could refer to how God has predestined humanity to experience this life of holiness in Christ before the world was ever created (Ephesians 1:4). It is significant that all these ideas from passages throughout the New Testament lay out the gospel in clear terms. The call to new life in Christ is clearly Peter’s goal for his readers.
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