If you’re a pastor, small group leader, youth minister, parent of young kids or anyone doing some form of teaching ministry, there’s a temptation you may be facing.

Well, actually, there’s probably more than one. But the one I have in mind is the temptation to move on from teaching the gospel. “Most of my people have been Christians for a long time—some longer than I’ve been alive. Perhaps we’re all just a little bored with me sharing the same message week after week?”

But there’s a reason why we keep coming back to the core message of the gospel time after time: it’s fundamental! The Apostle Peter certainly thinks it is. Let’s look at what he says in 2 Peter 1.

He starts by describing the people he’s writing to as “those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (v 1). Peter knows they are genuine Christians—he’s convinced they have the knowledge of Jesus Christ (vv 3, 8, 16). It’s the knowledge, he says to them, “by which [God] has granted to us his precious and very great promises” (v 4).

So well do they know the gospel, in fact, that they see its radical implications for their way of life. And Peter urges them to be “all the more diligent” (v 10) in pursuing that way of life. He describes what they should pursue in this way:

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (vv 5–7)

Peter then expresses to them how important “these qualities” are (vv 8, 9, 10) as a response to the precious and very great promises of God we have been granted.

Then—helpfully for us as leaders—in verses 12–15 Peter articulates his own ministry goal as their apostle:

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (vv 12–15)

Peter’s ministry to them may be coming to an end, but before it does he intends to make sure they can “recall” something “at any time” (v 15). What is it he wants them to recall? It’s “these things”. But what are “these things”?

The ESV is a little unhelpful to us at this point. In verses 8, 9 and 10 “these things” (ταῦτα) is translated as “these qualities” because Peter seems to be referencing the “qualities” listed in verses 5–7. But it should be noted that the Greek is “these”, and the addition of the word “qualities” is the translators’ attempt to make the things being referenced clearer. It’s a very justifiable translation in those three verses, based on the context. Peter does indeed seem to be talking about “these qualities” in verses 5-7.
 
The translators then continue that translation/interpretation in verse 12 when Peter says he wants to “remind you of these qualities” (τουτων). But then they switch to a broader translation (“these things”) in verse 15 (τουτων). 

However I want to suggest that they should have gone broader with “these things” in verse 12 too. Why?

• The ‘therefore’ at the start of verse 12 seems to follow on from Peter noting their future “entrance into the eternal kingdom” in verse 11. And what is it that ensures their entrance into that kingdom? Is it them exhibiting the “qualities” of verses 5–7, or is it their faith in the precious and very great promises of God? I think the latter. It could arguably be both, but certainly not be the qualities without the gospel.
• In the remainder of the chapter (vv 16–21) Peter ‘reminds’ them of the testimony that their faith is based on—a testimony about Jesus made by God himself and revealed in the Scriptures. That is, the gospel. The prophetic word. That’s what he reminds them of. Not so much the qualities.

So the “things” Peter is referencing in verses 12 and 15 are not limited to just the “qualities” he exhorts them to grow in but also includes the very gospel truths about Jesus to which those qualities are meant to be a response. He wants to remind them of the whole package: God’s gospel promises and our response.

Peter is utterly committed to reminding his readers of “these things”, even “though you know them” and “are established in the truth that you have” (see also 3:1–2). That is, just because they know these things (and have known them for a while), it doesn’t mean Peter will stop teaching and reminding them. Like the Apostle Paul, he wants believers to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard” (Col 1:23).

Which makes sense, right? In Jesus there is granted to us the precious and very great promises of God—promises that give us “entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:11). They are multi-dimensional promises we should never forget. But nor should we turn our backs on them by living in ungodly ways. If we forsake “the right way” (2:15) we put ourselves at risk of going “astray” from the precious promises. The better option is to live in ways that consolidate the gospel in our hearts and minds. We certainly shouldn’t “escape the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” only to get “entangled” in it again (2:20).

Knowing and recalling “these things” ourselves, like Peter we should then make every effort to help others to recall them—both the gospel and the right response.

So don’t give up reminding people of “these things”! Even if they tune out or roll their eyes when being told one more time about what God has promised them and how they should respond to it. Why? Because nothing else matters more.

As I write this, I’m visiting family in Canberra. When I do something my two-year-old granddaughter delights in—“Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear …” is a current favourite—she urges me: “Again?! ... Again?! ... Again?!” She doesn’t want me to stop.

Pray that the eye-rollers in your flock will one day recognise just how truly delightful the gospel is and start urging you: “Say it again! ... Say it again! ... Say it again!”