1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us
in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
1:2 Grace to you and peace be multiplied
in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
Christian Maturity Produces Fruitfulness
1:3 seeing that his divine power has granted to us
all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory
and virtue;
1:4 by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great
promises;
that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.
1:5 Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence,
in your faith supply moral excellence;
and in moral excellence, knowledge;
1:6 and in knowledge, self-control;
and in self-control patience;
and in patience godliness;
1:7 and in godliness brotherly affection;
and in brotherly affection, love.
1:8 For if these things are yours and abound,
they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful
to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9 For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near,
having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.
Christian Maturity Produces Assurance of Salvation
1:10 Therefore, brothers,
be more diligent to make your calling and election sure.
For if you do these things, you will never stumble.
1:11 For thus will be richly supplied to you the entrance
into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Discussion Questions
What knowledge is essential to your growth as a Christian?
What are the promises spoken of in vs 4?
vs 4 What causes the corruption found in the world?
vs 5-7 What are examples of each of these character qualities?
vs 8 Why will these make you effective and productive in your knowledge
of Christ?
And what does it mean to be effective and productive?
vs 9 Why does the lack of these qualities indicate that a person has
forgotten that he had been cleansed from past sins?
vs 10 How can you make sure that you are saved? (How is this different
from salvation by works?)
vs 11 Does this imply that some will receive a not-so-rich welcome
into heaven? How might this play out in an awards ceremony?
Comment
Introduction
The book of 2Peter is all about how people who have only a surface knowledge
(epignosis) of Christ should progress in the faith. Yes, he is speaking
to "Christians", but not all "Christians" have been born of God. You shall
know them not simply by what they say, or what they call themselves, but
by their fruits - the outworkings of their faith.
A key word in 2Peter is the greek word "epignosis". "epi" means "surface",
and "gnosis" means "knowledge". This is a surface knowledge best
translated "knowing about". In contrast, the word "gnosis" alone refers
to relational knowledge - knowing someone personally. (For details see
the comment on verse 20-21 in the 2Peter
2 study guide)
Knowing about Christ and the way of righteousness is essential to salvation,
a fact which should not be detracted by the more experiential aspects of
the faith. Though knowing Christ personally is the goal, yet this cannot
be achieved without first knowing about Him as described in the Bible by
the apostles. (Else each may be in danger of making their own personal
"Christ" in their own image.)
A problem is that today the way in which the gospel is preached, repentance
is often communicated as simply being optional. And the kind of "faith"
that is communicated is often not actually of saving value, being non-application
oriented and not born of conviction. Thus there may be little correlation
expected between one's belief and one's behavior among modern "Christians".
But this was not true of the way the gospel was preached in the past.
vs 5-7
2Peter 1:5-7 Virtues
Paraphrase
goodness
Having believed, make up your mind to develop and apply Christian virtues.
knowledge
But do so based on proper information.
self-control
And having inferred applications from the Bible, control yourself to
go out and actually do them.
perseverance
And don't do them just once, but develop applications that will become
part of your lifestyle.
godliness
And having attained such, never forget that God is the source of your
life and that your behavior, no matter how virtuous, is ungodly unless
God is central to it.
brotherly kindness
And now you are ready to help other Christians come to the point where
you are.
love
And add to your discipleship ministry a genuine concern for the real
needs of others in general.
vs 9 In the process of the God developing saving faith in people,
Christians will repent from their old sinful habits and experience a degree
of deliverance. This is the "purging of old sins" that Peter is referring
to. It is not speaking of justification, but of purification. A person
who is purified of old sinful habits is not necessarily one who is justified,
but rather is in the process of God developing in him saving faith as he
cooperates with the Holy Spirit in repenting. But just as the example of
the end of chapter 2 reveals, such people may end up being condemned if
they fall away from the path to righteousness.
"If they have escaped the corruption of the world by
knowing (epignosis = "knowing about") our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the
end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better
for them not to have known (about) the way of righteousness, than to
have known (about) it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command
that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns
to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing
in the mud." 2Peter 2:20-22 (niv)
I infer that such people, while having been followers of Christ,
had never actually been born of God based on the following:
They are overcome contrary to 1John 5:4
They fell away contrary to 1John 2:19
They did not become new creatures contrary to 2Cor 5:17
They are worst off at the end than before they heard the gospel contrary
to John 5:24
Furthermore in using the word "epignosis", it speaks of them knowing about
Christ and the way of righteousness, but never uses "gnosis". It never
speaks of them knowing Christ or the way of righteousness personally.
And finally those in verse 9 here "forgot" their former purging. Implying
they went back to living a lifestyle of sin contrary to 1John 3:9
vs 10 "Make your calling and election sure"
"In the great majority of cases in all time hitherto, the saints have
had no personal and clear revelation of their being saints, and no evidence
of it, except what they gather from an experience that in their view accords
with the Bible description of the character of the saints. When Peter addressed
his epistles to the elect saints, for example, although he regarded the
elect as certain of salvation, yet he did not distinguish and address individuals
by name; but left it for them to be satisfied of their own election and
saintship, by their own consciousness of possessing the character that
belongs to the saints. He did not reveal to any one in particular the fact
of his own election. This was for the most part true of all the letters
written to the churches. Although they were addressed as a body, as elect,
and as saints, yet from this they were not to infer, that they were all
saints or elect, but were to learn that fact, and who were real saints,
from their conscious character." Charles Finney
One's assurance of salvation should be a function of the outworkings of
one's faith. If such outworkings are revealed to be deficient, then one
should not be so sure of their salvation status. This is consistent with
Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians "Examine yourselves to see whether
you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus
is in you-- unless, of course, you fail the test?"2Cor 13:5
(niv) Thus to make one's elect status more certain, one should develop
an application oriented faith as characterized by the virtues listed in
verses 5-7.
2Peter 1:1-11 RAP
2:1 Peter an apostle and servant of Christ
To those who obtained a faith so nice
So precious to us it affects our behavior
By the righteousness of our God and Savior
3 May grace and peace to you abound
As in the knowledge of God it may be found
His power has given all we need
For a godly life, if we heed
To our knowledge of Him who called us by His glory
And His goodness too, just as in the story.
4 Through these He has given promises so great
So that in God's nature you may participate
And escape the corruption the world inspires
Which are caused by evil desires
5 For this very reason try very hard
To add goodness to your faith just like God
6 And to your goodness knowledge also self-control
7 Perseverance and godliness add to your soul
And be kind as brothers like your Father above
And last but not least you must add love
8 If these qualities in you grow
They will make you fruitful from what you know
9 But if one has not one of these kind
He is nearsighted and even blind
For wasn't the point to be cleansed from sin?
And doesn't he now call Jesus kin?
10 Be careful to make sure your call
For if you do these things you will never fall
11 And you will receive a rich entry
Into the kingdom (maybe this century!)
2Peter 1:1-11 RAP