I hope you have taken the opportunity to read 2 Peter 1:1-12. There is so much here ... I cannot do this Scripture passage justice... I hope you will study it and dig into it for yourself & edify us further.
Let's start at the beginning where it reminds us that it is through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ that we have received this precious faith... It is not by our own works/good deeds but by His ... and it is precious!!! Let that soak in...all that Christ has done for you and is doing for you and will do for you... We have & serve an awesome & mighty God! Secondly, we can have an abundance of grace & peace through the knowledge (personal knowledge) of God & of Jesus our Lord! Praise Him!
And here is where we need to put forth all effort to know & understand all that God has given us in Christ! We are so blessed, loved and cared for... There is nothing & I mean nothing that He has not done for us or provide us with to live a holy & pure life upon this earth... He has given us everything we need to live godly lives! But in comes our part... do we seek after, pursue, follow, obey, use & employ all that He has given us to do so?
In verse 3 we are reminded that He has supplied us with all we need for life & godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his glory & goodness, not our own. First stated in v. 2 & repeated in v. 3, through in greek can be translate to "in" & knowledge in greek, "full knowledge"... would mean that in full knowledge we can have all of this... it is attainable as we grow in our knowledge, understand & relationship with the LORD we will be changed (transformed) to bear much fruit in our lives (See Gal. 5:22-25).
As a commentary pointed out to me on the life & godliness, you 1st need a spiritual life before there can be true godliness. Having knowledge of God is the first step to life (Jn. 17:3) & it is not by godliness that we attain life but by life that we attain godliness! (See Commentary Critical & Explanatory the Whole Bible). We are called by God to live for Him & His purpose, to live lives worthy of God (Rom. 8:28; 1 Th. 2:12), & in doing so He works all things out for good.
In verse 4 it mentions great & precious promises... Can you think about what a few of these are? How about eternal life for starters (Jn. 3:16), an eternal kingdom (2 Peter 1:11), the gift of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13), the promise that we will one day be made perfect (1 Jn. 3:2) like Christ and these are just a few... I am sure you can think of many more. We are through Christ & by the power of the Holy Spirit able to participate in the divine nature and in doing so escape corruption of the world ("moral decay"), caused by evil desires (lit. "lust"). By our relationship with the Lord we can & are enabled to do this... this growing relationship & how it changes us from the inside out is how we keep ourselves from being polluted by the world (James 1:27). We can participate in this divine nature, which means we can become more like Christ because we have as believers the: Promise of new birth - 1 Peter1:3 & 2 Cor. 5:17; Promise of God's protecting power - 1 Peter 1:5; Promise of God's enabling power - 2 Peter 1:3 That is a lot to think about summed up in just one verse! (Also check out 2 Peter 2:19-20; 1 Jn. 2:15).
It then further goes on to state that for this reason (v.4) we should add to our faith (belief & trust in Christ as our Savior)...
- Goodness- (lit., "moral excellency", or "virtue")
- Knowledge- (Spiritual knowledge which come through the Holy Spirit & is focused upon the person & Word of God). (See The Bible Knowledge Commentary) See also Col. 2:2-3.
- Self-Control- (having your passions under control)
- Perseverance- ("staying under" - used in the NT frequently to refer to steadfast endurance under adversity, not giving in or giving up)
- Godliness- (refers to piety, man's obligation of reverence toward God)
- Brotherly Kindness- (care & concern for others and their needs)
- Love - (agape- desiring the highest good for other's, the kind of selfless love God has shown to us).
It is interesting to note how each of these builds upon the other... We must first have faith that causes us to desire to live virtuous lives and seek to know God more... which is where Knowledge comes in, and this then gives us the tools we need to practice Self-Control and in doing so to Persevere, all culminating into a life lived for God, exhibiting godliness! These first five have to do with our inner life & relationship to God and the last two have to do with others... Because we have lives that love & honor God we are now able to love others, not just those that love us but to love others with a true & selfless love, desiring what is best (of the highest good) for their lives. (Check out the following verses in relation to the above: Heb. 10:36; Rom. 12:10; 1 Th. 3:12).
In verse 8 it goes on to talk about us having these qualities in increasing measure... In other words this is not a one day & we are done deal... it is a daily, on going, ever learning and drawing near to God... we will not know all, or be perfect until Christ's return. Verse 8 also states that these qualities will keep us from being ineffective & unproductive in our knowledge of Christ. For we can have a knowledge that bears no fruit (John 15:2)... The more we know the LORD the more we should desire to live lives worthy of the Lord & bear much fruit for His glory! And by seeking to add all the above (daily) we should bear much fruit. (see Col. 1:10 & Tit. 3:14).
However, if anyone does not have these qualities verse 9 then tells us they are nearsighted, blind and have forgotten that they have been cleansed from past sin. Christ did the work...walk in the light as He is in the light! See 1 John 1:7 & 9. Christ came and set you free from the darkness, He gave you spiritual sight, He came to set you free! (See Luke 4:18; Gal. 5:1; 1 John 2:11)
We are then encouraged in verse 10 to be all the more eager in living out our calling and election, that by doing this we will not fall. God is more than able to keep you from stumbling, submit your heart, life & will to Him! (Jude 24) He will bring you into His glorious presence cleansed/pure and with great joy! We have an eternal home with Him! (See v.11; 2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Peter 3:18). It is good for us to be reminded of these things (v.12) even though we may know them... it is good to remember & to let the Word do it's work in us daily... to let it sink deep into our hearts because we are eternal beings and we (should) live for an eternal purpose. What has been entrusted to us lives on forever (See 2 John 2).
In summary... Praise be to our LORD who has so richly blessed us in Christ... who has given us all that we need to know & love Him, and live fruitful lives ... Who protects us, keeps us and enables us as we go through life in this dark world. Who has given us a hope and a future... Do you get how incredibly loved and cared for you are!?! Oh I pray that you do... that you know deep down in your heart and soul the great love of God! He knows you by name... You are His, you are precious in His sight. Praise Him!!! (Eph. 1:3; Jer. 29:11; Eph. 2:4-10; Jn 3:16; Ps. 17:8; Zech 2:8)
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