In Peter's writings, the believers' growth in the divine life also has its issues.
In the writings of Peter the first issue of the believers' growth in life is to enjoy the continual and daily salvation (1 Pet. 2:2b). We need to drink the milk of the word so that we may grow unto salvation. This is not the salvation from perdition, from hell; rather, it is the salvation in our daily life. To overcome our temper, especially in relation to our spouse, we need salvation. To be a husband or wife requires a great deal of salvation every day. Without experiencing salvation in many aspects, we cannot be a proper Christian husband or wife.
Every husband is a trouble to his wife. Every husband is a particular person who has particular traits. How much salvation the wives need! Every wife needs to learn to rely on God's salvation, not on her own cleverness, in dealing with her husband. We all need salvation.
Another issue of the growth in life is to be fruitful (2 Pet. 1:8). When we grow in life, we will bear fruit.
Peter in his first Epistle unveils to us that the Lord is a living stone and that we, by contacting Him, also become living stones (2:4-5a). We were created as pieces of clay in nature (Gen. 2:7a; Rom. 9:21), but by growing in Christ we become stones, transformed metabolically in our nature. These stones are suitable as materials for the building up of the spiritual house of God (1 Pet. 2:5b), which consummates in the New Testament priesthood of the gospel for offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God in our gospel preaching (1 Pet. 2:5c, 9). To preach the gospel is to tell out the sweet virtues, in a sweet way, of the Lord, who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
This kind of gospel preaching, as an issue of our transformation through our growth in the divine life, should be by a group of believers (not by some individualistic believers) built up into a priesthood (not some individualistic priests) as a corporate body of priests, carrying out the spreading of the Lord's glad tidings as a corporate testimony to the sinners in the world, in telling out the sweet virtues, such as love, lovingkindness, grace, light, forgiveness, redemption, salvation, etc., of the Lord in a sweet and delightful way. Surely this kind of victorious, vital, and corporate trumpeting of the good news from the heavens would be triumphant and successful. This is the goal which our vital groups should reach!