The Epistle of Second Peter
Introduction
As we approach this wonderful letter of the Apostle Peter, I point our attention to a verse in the third chapter.
Second Peter 3:1 ¶ This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
From this one verse we discover who he is writing to. Since he calls it the second letter he is writing, it becomes obvious that the readers will be the same group to which he wrote his first letter. In other words, First Peter 1:1 … to God’s people now dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. (Philips)
Why have these people been dispersed all over Asia minor? And where have they been dispersed from?
We found as we covered Peter’s first letter, that all of these scattered believers had fled from Jerusalem. Persecution against the church broke out after Stephen preached a very inflammatory outdoor message to some very key Jewish leaders. They killed him for it. And antagonism against the whole Jerusalem church grew to the point that some of the believers began to leave Jerusalem, seeking safety.
As I understand it, the whole church did not disperse. None of the apostles left the area, and I am sure that, in a church of 20,000 or so members, many thousands of Christians stayed put in Jerusalem.
Of the thousands who fled from Jerusalem, most likely there were those who left earlier … and some hung on a bit longer.
Peter takes it on himself to write to these scattered Christians. Nowhere in either of his two letters does he lay blame for them running away from persecution.
Is it right or wrong to flee from persecution? As the Apostle Paul was completing his third missionary tour, he was warned numerous times not to go to Jerusalem. But he was carrying with him a sizable sum of money that had been collected to give to the poor christians in Jerusalem. He insisted on making the trip. He said, "What do you mean by unnerving me with all your tears? I am perfectly prepared not only to be bound but to die in Jerusalem for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 21:13 - Philips) His bravery and determination is commendable. In one of the letters that Jesus dictated to one of the seven churches of Asia, He commended the bravery of one of his servants.
"’I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (Re 2:13 )
Did Antipas have to die? Could he have escaped? We won’t know the answer to that until we see him face to face.
The migration of the Puritans aboard the Mayflower is an interesting history. The persecution against anyone who would not support the Church of England became very intense. The Anglican church hounded the Puritans, arrested them and imprisoned them for long periods of time. After quite an extended period of suffering, the leaders were able to send the first group of Christians, those who were younger and strong, to America, aboard the Mayflower. Their influence in the founding of schools and churches had a great impact on America starting out as a Godly nation.
However, I will repeat the question, is it a proper thing for Christians to run from persecution?
We have no direct answer for that in scripture. Peter does not even bring that subject up as he writes to the scattered believers.
Instead he instructs them how to live in a world where Christianity is not popular. He even included words to some of those who had become somewhat settled and had a bit of a negative attitude toward those who had failed to listen to their advice when they said, ‘Let’s get out of Jerusalem, now!’
These late comers probably left in such a hurry they carried almost nothing with them. I think some of the settlers could be heard saying, “The nerve of some people … they wouldn't listen to us … and now they expect us to take them in!” Peter said Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1Pe 4:9
So here we are reading Peter’s second letter to them. As we noted in our opening verse, Peter’s second letter is designed to ‘stir’ up their remembrance … another way of saying ‘I want to refresh your memories …’
So now that we know why he is writing, let's start at the beginning.
2 Peter 1:1 ¶ Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
I suppose some of those reading his letter have had periods of guilt due to their having not ‘stood up’ to face the persecution, but chose to leave, instead. Did they blame themselves for not having enough faith? Did they think that the apostles thought less of them for running away?
I think Peter could have that in mind as he writes To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. There is no ‘put-down’.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you may be a fairly standard and common greeting for the day, but it is loaded with warmth and love. Someone has said that we, too, need to practice giving a greeting to others that contains a blessing like this.
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
In his greeting he mentions God and Jesus. And this becomes his transition point to get into some very valuable teaching. He says, 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
Did you notice the phrase, ‘granted to us all things that pertain to life’ ?
It does not make any difference what our situation is. We can be in health or in disease. We can be wealthy, safe and secure or we can be enduring persecution. We can have the support of family around us, or we can be very alone. Whatever pertains to life, God supplies it through his divine power. And there is more to the phrase … and godliness. His divine power also supplies what we need to walk the walk of godliness.
But, in case you are wondering, exactly how does God accomplish this? Surely we do not just sit back and let it happen? No, we don't just sit back.
Here is our part. It’s up to come close to God and discover all we can about Him. Peter says that to acquire these things that pertain to life and godliness, we can only do so by our willingness to learn who God is. Peter said it will come about through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.
So as we do our best to discover Him in His word, we discover that 4 ... he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
This would be a good time to compare what Peter is saying here, with what Paul said to the Corinthians, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2Co 5:17
Reading this verse one might think that the conversion experience of receiving Christ as Saviour has made everything new. Well yes, many things were made totally new. For instance, we passed from death into eternal life. Our past sin record was cancelled and we now start over on a new clean page. We had no hope but now our names are written in Heaven. We have a new outlook. We have new resources. We even have a new nature that does not like sin, and indeed, cannot sin.
But Peter says that we may become partakers of the divine nature. He is saying that we become more God-like as time goes by. But it is not just the passing of time that makes us more like God, it is what we are doing in our Christian experience as we pass our time. So Peter goes on to explain that we all had a starting point in our Christian walk. It all started with faith, placing our faith in Jesus as our substitute. He died in our place. He rose back to life. When we are made aware of the fact that we sin against God, we fall short of being good enough to go to heaven, but realize that God is making us an offer: If we will be sorry for and turn away from our self-centered sinful life and turn to Him, calling out to him to forgive our sins, knowing that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins, and ask for His mercy … He does just that. He forgives, adopts you into His family, and puts together the ‘formula’ that you need to grow up as a Christian.
So becoming more God-like, having a nature more like His, is a process of adding to our faith. Salvation (the new birth) is the beginning.
So, have you done that? You can do that right now. As a matter of fact you SHOULD do that before we go on. You can ‘pause’ this broadcast right now, confess your sin of not having trusted Jesus as your Saviour, call out for mercy and salvation …. and then continue watching this broadcast.
In order to grow and become more like our Father in Heaven we must, 5 … make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is quite a list. Let's make sure that we understand it. We are not sure if Peter intended for each item to be added in the order he gives them … or if he is just saying, “Add these things to your ‘faith’”, but the order does not matter. As we look at the list, we may do a little of both.
So first he says, “add to your faith (to your salvation) virtue. Courage. Manliness. In times of persecution, do not be satisfied with salvation only. Be ready to stand up and be brave. These words would strike home to many of these who had left Jerusalem in a hurry. Should they have stayed there? He is not implying that, but he is saying something in a most emphatic way. He said MAKE EVERY EFFORT to add courage. When we make every effort to do a thing … others around us will notice. When someone is studying to pass a test … people around them notice. When someone makes every effort to develop a muscular body … people notice how much time is being spent at the gym. When a Christian is making every effort to become more Christ-like, people will surely notice your time spent in the word, they will notice it in your conversation, they will see it in the friends you like to be with. When you MAKE EVERY EFFORT, it will be obvious.
So ‘virtue’ as it is used here in scripture, may not mean the same thing as it would in an English dictionary. But in the original language it carries the thought of spiritual courage before a hostile world.
Picture a new birth. A little baby needs some things immediately to survive in a new atmosphere. He has been fed before birth, but now he is breathing air that may contain germs. He is being handled by people who are not as sterile as his previous location. His whole new situation calls for growing stronger in many ways.
The difference in the Christian life is that the new born Christian, himself or herself, has to take on the responsibility to grow. Peter says … make every effort to grow. Virtue … spiritual courage, is needed to face temptations. The moment someone accepts Christ as saviour, that person becomes a target for Satan.
Expecting an enemy to show up is one thing. But what a person hopes to do when the enemy appears is another. Readiness to meet the foe involves knowledge. So Peter says, Add to virtue, knowledge. Picture Jesus, sitting somewhere in the wilderness, hungry. He has been expecting the devil to show up. Finally he does. Jesus is ready for him. Every temptation that Satan hurled at Christ, Jesus deflected it with an appropriate scripture. He knew the appropriate scripture. That is knowledge. Peter says, Add knowledge.
This makes perfect sense. If we were to stop at virtue (which is spiritual courage before a hostile world), we could end up with something like Paul said as he wrote to the Christians in Rome. He was talking about unbelieving Israel when he said, Ro 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Courage and zeal are closely connected. What we DON’T want, is to be filled with courage, running off in all directions, without a real knowledge of what we are doing.
Gaining knowledge involves study. And there are a variety of ways in which study takes place.
It can be done alone, in solitary. This would mean setting aside a place and a time to read through a passage of God’s word, meditate on it, analyse it by using various ‘helps’ in the form of commentaries etc.
Or it could mean studying together with someone, sharing your understanding of a particular passage and listening to other possible meanings.
And gaining biblical ‘knowledge’ can also take place by following the teaching of someone who has been gifted by God and is faithfully sharing it with others.
At any rate, studying the word and gaining biblical knowledge is something God approves of. Paul said to Timothy, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15) The word of truth must be ‘divided’ correctly. Many parts of the Bible are meant for a specific time, or people, or situation. We can only determine this by diligently studying the word. Paul also said this about the word; 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
In the above passage we see another way of ‘dividing’ the word of truth. We need to understand that some of it gives us solid teaching, while some of it ‘scolds’ us a bit, other parts correct wrong thinking and behaviour, and some passages are meant to be used for training us in proper Christian behaviour and conduct.
So, to spiritual courage we add knowledge. Then Peter says, add self-control.
The things that make up our natural physical lives need to be placed under wise self-control. Whether it is the food we eat and how much of it, what we choose to drink, the choice and cost of the clothes we wear, how long we sleep, the recreations we choose and the amount of time and money we put into them, the extent of credit we place ourselves under, and so forth, all need to come under a self-control that places ourselves and our choices under the authority and will of God. Jesus plainly tells us what our priority is to be: Seek first the kingdom God …. then all these other things will God supply. So we need to exercise self-control in order to live a balanced life … from God’s point of view.
After self-control, Peter says add steadfastness. Other translations use the word perseverance. It looks to me like this involves a commitment. We used to sing a song that simply says, ‘I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.’ When I sang those words as a young kid … they really meant something to me. But I have had to remake that commitment a few times.
Thus far Peter has said it starts with faith (salvation), and we add spiritual courage, Biblical knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, and now godliness.
The word godliness, could mean being like God in our behaviour and attitudes, and it can also mean having a deep respect for God. I will suggest we take it to mean both. But to deepen our respect and awe of Him, this means dwelling on His qualities. We can do this in worship. We can do this in purposely seeking out Who He is to us in scripture. A study of the names of God in scripture really helps us in our awe, respect and appreciation of Who He is to us.
Peter says, add brotherly affection with love. I don’t think Peter is saying, Wait til you do all these other things until you start showing brotherly love. This is an instance which shows us that these qualities that Peter tells us to add to our salvation, should, if possible, be added together instead of a lineup of ‘one after the other’.
If you can remember back to the beginning of our study of Peter letters, we saw an exchange of words between Jesus and Peter. Jesus was asking if Peter loved Him … and He used the word agápe. We noticed that Peter answered by saying that he ‘liked him as a friend’ by using the word ‘phileo’.
Now Peter is using both words together. He says add, brotherly affection with love. Literally it is ‘philadelphia agápe’. This represents a love that is a friendship with a commitment. Some friendships we fall into. We find ourselves together with someone we like. This is different. It is intentional. We form friendship bonds that we will not allow to be broken.
Peter sums up his list with these words; 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As believers we certainly want to be effective. We want to be ‘fruit-bearing’ disciples of Jesus. Peter mentions that we don't want to be unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It would be nice if we could leave it here on a positive note, but Peter goes on to give us a warning.
9 … whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
I wonder if Peter actually had someone in mind as he said these words? How incredibly sad to think that a Christian could get to the place where they have literally forgotten their salvation experience. Peter calls this blindness. Or at least extreme ‘nearsightedness’.
I hope I never come to the place where I get so blind that I don’t care about salvation any more.
But what does this mean if it were to happen? How do we prevent it? He has already said that we need to make every effort to diligently add these things.
So, to recap this section … Peter says,
Peter is implying that ‘falling’ is very bad.
Jesus has said, “For many are called but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:14)
The gospel call goes out. You heard it. You responded in sorrowful repentance, accepting the wonderful sacrifice of Jesus as your Saviour. When you responded to the gospel call, God saw your repentant heart and he chose you. This makes you ‘called and chosen’. The word chosen can be interchanged with ‘elect’. So Peter says, if you have not been adding these qualities to your salvation … take another look at your own history. Did you answer the call? Did you repent of your sin? Did you believe that Jesus died for you and rose again? Then He chose you to be one of His elect. By adding the things in Peter’s list you will never fall. And not only that 11… in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Isn't that something awesome to look forward to? Not merely, ‘an entrance’, but it will be a richly provided entrance!
Peter adds, 12 ¶ Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
All we can add to this is “Thank you Peter. We need reminding.”
And so, along with these scattered believers, may we be ever so careful to be adding and enhancing these qualities every day.
Second Peter 3:1 ¶ This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
From this one verse we discover who he is writing to. Since he calls it the second letter he is writing, it becomes obvious that the readers will be the same group to which he wrote his first letter. In other words, First Peter 1:1 … to God’s people now dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. (Philips)
Why have these people been dispersed all over Asia minor? And where have they been dispersed from?
We found as we covered Peter’s first letter, that all of these scattered believers had fled from Jerusalem. Persecution against the church broke out after Stephen preached a very inflammatory outdoor message to some very key Jewish leaders. They killed him for it. And antagonism against the whole Jerusalem church grew to the point that some of the believers began to leave Jerusalem, seeking safety.
As I understand it, the whole church did not disperse. None of the apostles left the area, and I am sure that, in a church of 20,000 or so members, many thousands of Christians stayed put in Jerusalem.
Of the thousands who fled from Jerusalem, most likely there were those who left earlier … and some hung on a bit longer.
Peter takes it on himself to write to these scattered Christians. Nowhere in either of his two letters does he lay blame for them running away from persecution.
Is it right or wrong to flee from persecution? As the Apostle Paul was completing his third missionary tour, he was warned numerous times not to go to Jerusalem. But he was carrying with him a sizable sum of money that had been collected to give to the poor christians in Jerusalem. He insisted on making the trip. He said, "What do you mean by unnerving me with all your tears? I am perfectly prepared not only to be bound but to die in Jerusalem for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 21:13 - Philips) His bravery and determination is commendable. In one of the letters that Jesus dictated to one of the seven churches of Asia, He commended the bravery of one of his servants.
"’I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (Re 2:13 )
Did Antipas have to die? Could he have escaped? We won’t know the answer to that until we see him face to face.
The migration of the Puritans aboard the Mayflower is an interesting history. The persecution against anyone who would not support the Church of England became very intense. The Anglican church hounded the Puritans, arrested them and imprisoned them for long periods of time. After quite an extended period of suffering, the leaders were able to send the first group of Christians, those who were younger and strong, to America, aboard the Mayflower. Their influence in the founding of schools and churches had a great impact on America starting out as a Godly nation.
However, I will repeat the question, is it a proper thing for Christians to run from persecution?
We have no direct answer for that in scripture. Peter does not even bring that subject up as he writes to the scattered believers.
Instead he instructs them how to live in a world where Christianity is not popular. He even included words to some of those who had become somewhat settled and had a bit of a negative attitude toward those who had failed to listen to their advice when they said, ‘Let’s get out of Jerusalem, now!’
These late comers probably left in such a hurry they carried almost nothing with them. I think some of the settlers could be heard saying, “The nerve of some people … they wouldn't listen to us … and now they expect us to take them in!” Peter said Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1Pe 4:9
So here we are reading Peter’s second letter to them. As we noted in our opening verse, Peter’s second letter is designed to ‘stir’ up their remembrance … another way of saying ‘I want to refresh your memories …’
So now that we know why he is writing, let's start at the beginning.
2 Peter 1:1 ¶ Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
I suppose some of those reading his letter have had periods of guilt due to their having not ‘stood up’ to face the persecution, but chose to leave, instead. Did they blame themselves for not having enough faith? Did they think that the apostles thought less of them for running away?
I think Peter could have that in mind as he writes To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. There is no ‘put-down’.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you may be a fairly standard and common greeting for the day, but it is loaded with warmth and love. Someone has said that we, too, need to practice giving a greeting to others that contains a blessing like this.
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
In his greeting he mentions God and Jesus. And this becomes his transition point to get into some very valuable teaching. He says, 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
Did you notice the phrase, ‘granted to us all things that pertain to life’ ?
It does not make any difference what our situation is. We can be in health or in disease. We can be wealthy, safe and secure or we can be enduring persecution. We can have the support of family around us, or we can be very alone. Whatever pertains to life, God supplies it through his divine power. And there is more to the phrase … and godliness. His divine power also supplies what we need to walk the walk of godliness.
But, in case you are wondering, exactly how does God accomplish this? Surely we do not just sit back and let it happen? No, we don't just sit back.
Here is our part. It’s up to come close to God and discover all we can about Him. Peter says that to acquire these things that pertain to life and godliness, we can only do so by our willingness to learn who God is. Peter said it will come about through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.
So as we do our best to discover Him in His word, we discover that 4 ... he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
This would be a good time to compare what Peter is saying here, with what Paul said to the Corinthians, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2Co 5:17
Reading this verse one might think that the conversion experience of receiving Christ as Saviour has made everything new. Well yes, many things were made totally new. For instance, we passed from death into eternal life. Our past sin record was cancelled and we now start over on a new clean page. We had no hope but now our names are written in Heaven. We have a new outlook. We have new resources. We even have a new nature that does not like sin, and indeed, cannot sin.
But Peter says that we may become partakers of the divine nature. He is saying that we become more God-like as time goes by. But it is not just the passing of time that makes us more like God, it is what we are doing in our Christian experience as we pass our time. So Peter goes on to explain that we all had a starting point in our Christian walk. It all started with faith, placing our faith in Jesus as our substitute. He died in our place. He rose back to life. When we are made aware of the fact that we sin against God, we fall short of being good enough to go to heaven, but realize that God is making us an offer: If we will be sorry for and turn away from our self-centered sinful life and turn to Him, calling out to him to forgive our sins, knowing that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins, and ask for His mercy … He does just that. He forgives, adopts you into His family, and puts together the ‘formula’ that you need to grow up as a Christian.
So becoming more God-like, having a nature more like His, is a process of adding to our faith. Salvation (the new birth) is the beginning.
So, have you done that? You can do that right now. As a matter of fact you SHOULD do that before we go on. You can ‘pause’ this broadcast right now, confess your sin of not having trusted Jesus as your Saviour, call out for mercy and salvation …. and then continue watching this broadcast.
In order to grow and become more like our Father in Heaven we must, 5 … make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is quite a list. Let's make sure that we understand it. We are not sure if Peter intended for each item to be added in the order he gives them … or if he is just saying, “Add these things to your ‘faith’”, but the order does not matter. As we look at the list, we may do a little of both.
So first he says, “add to your faith (to your salvation) virtue. Courage. Manliness. In times of persecution, do not be satisfied with salvation only. Be ready to stand up and be brave. These words would strike home to many of these who had left Jerusalem in a hurry. Should they have stayed there? He is not implying that, but he is saying something in a most emphatic way. He said MAKE EVERY EFFORT to add courage. When we make every effort to do a thing … others around us will notice. When someone is studying to pass a test … people around them notice. When someone makes every effort to develop a muscular body … people notice how much time is being spent at the gym. When a Christian is making every effort to become more Christ-like, people will surely notice your time spent in the word, they will notice it in your conversation, they will see it in the friends you like to be with. When you MAKE EVERY EFFORT, it will be obvious.
So ‘virtue’ as it is used here in scripture, may not mean the same thing as it would in an English dictionary. But in the original language it carries the thought of spiritual courage before a hostile world.
Picture a new birth. A little baby needs some things immediately to survive in a new atmosphere. He has been fed before birth, but now he is breathing air that may contain germs. He is being handled by people who are not as sterile as his previous location. His whole new situation calls for growing stronger in many ways.
The difference in the Christian life is that the new born Christian, himself or herself, has to take on the responsibility to grow. Peter says … make every effort to grow. Virtue … spiritual courage, is needed to face temptations. The moment someone accepts Christ as saviour, that person becomes a target for Satan.
Expecting an enemy to show up is one thing. But what a person hopes to do when the enemy appears is another. Readiness to meet the foe involves knowledge. So Peter says, Add to virtue, knowledge. Picture Jesus, sitting somewhere in the wilderness, hungry. He has been expecting the devil to show up. Finally he does. Jesus is ready for him. Every temptation that Satan hurled at Christ, Jesus deflected it with an appropriate scripture. He knew the appropriate scripture. That is knowledge. Peter says, Add knowledge.
This makes perfect sense. If we were to stop at virtue (which is spiritual courage before a hostile world), we could end up with something like Paul said as he wrote to the Christians in Rome. He was talking about unbelieving Israel when he said, Ro 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Courage and zeal are closely connected. What we DON’T want, is to be filled with courage, running off in all directions, without a real knowledge of what we are doing.
Gaining knowledge involves study. And there are a variety of ways in which study takes place.
It can be done alone, in solitary. This would mean setting aside a place and a time to read through a passage of God’s word, meditate on it, analyse it by using various ‘helps’ in the form of commentaries etc.
Or it could mean studying together with someone, sharing your understanding of a particular passage and listening to other possible meanings.
And gaining biblical ‘knowledge’ can also take place by following the teaching of someone who has been gifted by God and is faithfully sharing it with others.
At any rate, studying the word and gaining biblical knowledge is something God approves of. Paul said to Timothy, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15) The word of truth must be ‘divided’ correctly. Many parts of the Bible are meant for a specific time, or people, or situation. We can only determine this by diligently studying the word. Paul also said this about the word; 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
In the above passage we see another way of ‘dividing’ the word of truth. We need to understand that some of it gives us solid teaching, while some of it ‘scolds’ us a bit, other parts correct wrong thinking and behaviour, and some passages are meant to be used for training us in proper Christian behaviour and conduct.
So, to spiritual courage we add knowledge. Then Peter says, add self-control.
The things that make up our natural physical lives need to be placed under wise self-control. Whether it is the food we eat and how much of it, what we choose to drink, the choice and cost of the clothes we wear, how long we sleep, the recreations we choose and the amount of time and money we put into them, the extent of credit we place ourselves under, and so forth, all need to come under a self-control that places ourselves and our choices under the authority and will of God. Jesus plainly tells us what our priority is to be: Seek first the kingdom God …. then all these other things will God supply. So we need to exercise self-control in order to live a balanced life … from God’s point of view.
After self-control, Peter says add steadfastness. Other translations use the word perseverance. It looks to me like this involves a commitment. We used to sing a song that simply says, ‘I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.’ When I sang those words as a young kid … they really meant something to me. But I have had to remake that commitment a few times.
Thus far Peter has said it starts with faith (salvation), and we add spiritual courage, Biblical knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, and now godliness.
The word godliness, could mean being like God in our behaviour and attitudes, and it can also mean having a deep respect for God. I will suggest we take it to mean both. But to deepen our respect and awe of Him, this means dwelling on His qualities. We can do this in worship. We can do this in purposely seeking out Who He is to us in scripture. A study of the names of God in scripture really helps us in our awe, respect and appreciation of Who He is to us.
Peter says, add brotherly affection with love. I don’t think Peter is saying, Wait til you do all these other things until you start showing brotherly love. This is an instance which shows us that these qualities that Peter tells us to add to our salvation, should, if possible, be added together instead of a lineup of ‘one after the other’.
If you can remember back to the beginning of our study of Peter letters, we saw an exchange of words between Jesus and Peter. Jesus was asking if Peter loved Him … and He used the word agápe. We noticed that Peter answered by saying that he ‘liked him as a friend’ by using the word ‘phileo’.
Now Peter is using both words together. He says add, brotherly affection with love. Literally it is ‘philadelphia agápe’. This represents a love that is a friendship with a commitment. Some friendships we fall into. We find ourselves together with someone we like. This is different. It is intentional. We form friendship bonds that we will not allow to be broken.
Peter sums up his list with these words; 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As believers we certainly want to be effective. We want to be ‘fruit-bearing’ disciples of Jesus. Peter mentions that we don't want to be unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It would be nice if we could leave it here on a positive note, but Peter goes on to give us a warning.
9 … whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
I wonder if Peter actually had someone in mind as he said these words? How incredibly sad to think that a Christian could get to the place where they have literally forgotten their salvation experience. Peter calls this blindness. Or at least extreme ‘nearsightedness’.
I hope I never come to the place where I get so blind that I don’t care about salvation any more.
But what does this mean if it were to happen? How do we prevent it? He has already said that we need to make every effort to diligently add these things.
So, to recap this section … Peter says,
- After salvation - add growth in each of the areas in his list.
- Growth in these areas will make you effective for God.
- To not have these qualities in your life puts you in the position of forgetting Christianity altogether.
Peter is implying that ‘falling’ is very bad.
Jesus has said, “For many are called but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:14)
The gospel call goes out. You heard it. You responded in sorrowful repentance, accepting the wonderful sacrifice of Jesus as your Saviour. When you responded to the gospel call, God saw your repentant heart and he chose you. This makes you ‘called and chosen’. The word chosen can be interchanged with ‘elect’. So Peter says, if you have not been adding these qualities to your salvation … take another look at your own history. Did you answer the call? Did you repent of your sin? Did you believe that Jesus died for you and rose again? Then He chose you to be one of His elect. By adding the things in Peter’s list you will never fall. And not only that 11… in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Isn't that something awesome to look forward to? Not merely, ‘an entrance’, but it will be a richly provided entrance!
Peter adds, 12 ¶ Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
All we can add to this is “Thank you Peter. We need reminding.”
And so, along with these scattered believers, may we be ever so careful to be adding and enhancing these qualities every day.