II Peter 1:20-21 “What does it mean to you?”

The Bible is a complex book. Actually, that may be the understatement of the new millennium. Written thousands of years ago by people who lived in cultures that were very different from our own, it is not an easy book for us to understand even with a few dozen English translations. To understand the Bible takes work—hard work. You don’t have to be some genius or have a whole bunch of initials after your last name to be able to study the Bible, but you do have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and put forth effort. Peter writes in these verses some statements that should be considered paramount as one begins to study the Bible. The first question to ask about the Bible is not “What does this mean to you?”

The first question that we should ask, not about a specific text but about the Bible as a whole, is “Where did this book come from?” Friend, until you get that question answered and answered correctly you will be wasting your time trying to study the Bible. The Bible makes some pretty strong claims about itself and its truthfulness. Ultimately, though, all its claims rest on the fact that it came from God Himself. Peter tells us in verse twenty that we need to “know this first of all”. The Bible is the divine revelation of God and understanding that it is supernatural in origin is of prime importance. Of course, some liberal theologians would concede that the Bible “contains” the word of God. In other words, some of what is in the Bible is inspired, but not all of it. You have to dig through the uninspired stuff to find the inspired word of God. However, Peter refutes such an absurd by plainly stating that “no prophecy of scripture is of one’s own interpretation”.

Peter’s statement, therefore, covers the entire Bible not just parts of it. No one can say “Ok, I’ll give you that this is inspired and inerrant, but that passage certainly isn’t”. Sorry, liberal pundits. The entire Bible, all 66 books of it, is inerrant, infallible, and inspired. Furthermore, the Bible doesn’t represent the mere opinions of the men who wrote it in any place whatsoever. The words that we have handed down to us as scripture did not originate with any man and were not the author’s ideas. Peter says that the words of scripture are not “of one’s own interpretation”. This phrase has been interpreted by Bible scholars in different ways. Some folks believe that it means you must interpret scripture with scripture—that you can’t take a verse out of context. I would affirm that be true but I’m not sure that’s what Peter had in mind here. Other scholars say that the right to interpret scripture is not a private right and scripture must be interpreted by the church. However, since I’m not catholic I respectfully disagree with that statement. I believe the idea that Peter is trying to convey is that no scripture was ever written because some man discovered the truth for himself. The word translated “interpretation” is the Greek word “epilusis” (1955). The word has the meaning of untying something or loosening it. In other words, no person was able to write scripture because they unloosed the truth. The origin of scripture is not in the mind of man but rather it has its genesis in the mind of Almighty God. Therefore, as Peter writes in verse 21, we can be sure that we are hearing from God not from men when we read scripture because “no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will”.

How, then, did God get the words of scripture to us through these men? That is a reasonable question. If we’re to assume that the words we read are not just the ideas of the author the question that begs to be asked is “How did the words get from God to the parchment through the human author?” Peter answers that question in verse 21 when he says “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”. The Greek word “phero” (5342) is translated “moved” in this sentence. The word means to carry a ship along by means of the wind which would be an appropriate analogy considering that Peter says that the Holy Sprit moved these men. The verb is in the present tense which means they were continually carried along presumably while they were writing scripture. Again, this emphasizes the fact that the total of what the men wrote was scripture—not just parts of it. Secondly, the verb is in the passive voice which means the men did not initiate the action of being borne along but rather they were acted upon by an outside force, the Holy Spirit.

However, they were not mindless drones who wrote scripture in some sort of trance and were not conscious during the process. In fact, God used these human authors and their individual personalities to produce the exact words He intended to give us. Peter writes that these men “spoke”—they were the human instruments through which God produced His perfect revelation. The verb is in the active voice which means they carried out the action—they were the penmen for the scripture (or they dictated it to someone who wrote it down for them). However, they didn’t speak what they wanted to say or what the audience might want to hear. They spoke “from God”. While they each had different perspectives, personalities, and styles of writing, God was able to use those differences to have these men speak the exact words that He intended for us to hear.

Let us praise God for loving us so much that He revealed Himself in a book. By doing so, He made His message unchanging. In a world where so many people want to deny the truth, we who know the truth of scripture should proclaim it faithfully and boldly because it is not of human origin but it came from God. Because it came from God, our question should never be "What does this scripture mean to me" but rather "What does this scripture mean?"

II Peter 1:19b The Wait is Over

I can remember the anticipation of Christmas morning when I was a child. In my mind’s eye, I could see myself tearing into those boxes and I would imagine what those boxes held. Sometimes, I would know what was in the boxes but that didn’t make me anticipate opening my presents any less. In like manner, we know what a wonderful home God has prepared for us in heaven. We also know how miraculous it was that he saved any of us. While we praise Him and thank Him here on this earth, we are not yet completely redeemed. We still live in sinful flesh in a fallen world. As we read and study scripture, we can have the same kind of excitement and anticipation as a kid at Christmas. Peter encourages the believers that they too should remain faithful to the truths in scripture as they await full redemption in Jesus Christ.

Peter tells these believers that they would “do well to pay attention” to the word of God. The Greek word “prosecho” (4337) is translated “pay attention”. The word means to hold close to something or to keep your mind on something. It is so easy to allow our minds and focuses to drift from Christ and our relationship with Him. I know I have a job, family responsibilities, and other things that demand my time and rightly so. However, to be the kind of employee, husband, and father that I should be I need to constantly meditate on the word of God and the God of the word. I need the word to empower me to live a life that is pleasing to God.

Living a life that is pleasing is difficult because we live in a sinful world with temptations around us on all sides. I have stubbed my toe or bruised my shin on my than one occasion while I was walking through my house in the middle of the night to get something to drink or go to the restroom. That happened because it was dark. I can’t see very well anyway—put me in a dark room and I’m useless. The sin that permeates everything in this world makes this world a “dark place” to live. Max Lucado (ugh, I can’t believe I’m quoting him) made the point that the reason we see so many people hurt and hurting one another is because we’re trying to walk in the darkness without a light. Peter tells us where we can and should look for a source of spiritual light in this world. Peter says the word of God is a “lamp shining in a dark place”. God in His mercy has revealed Himself in His word and as Peter says in verse 3 this word gives us “everything [we need] pertaining to life and godliness”.

But what we have in the word of God is like a wrapped present. We read about our home in heaven. We read about our freedom from sin and temptation. We know what’s in the box under the tree, so to speak. But one day, finally, we will get to open those presents when the “lamp” gives way to the true Light as the “day dawns”. This world is not our permanent home. The darkness of this world will one day give way to the light of our Lord Jesus. When that day dawns, we will finally see what our hearts have been longing for when “the morning star arises in [our] hearts”.

What a glorious day that will be. No more sin. No more death. Praise God for our future redemption.

II Peter 1:16c-19a Is Seeing Really Believing?

When investigating a fraud, one has to rely on the evidence that one finds to piece together the facts of what happened. In addition, sometimes you can get lucky and find a witness who has first hand knowledge of what happened and is willing to “rat someone out”. For instance, a secretary who feels marginalized or who has been treated rudely by a supervisor might be willing to tell you about what that supervisor has been doing. We often give great weight to the testimony of eye witnesses and rightly so. Peter, in these verses, recounts for us his eye witness account of a remarkable event he, James, and John saw while Christ was here on earth. However, what we will find is that Peter has a remarkable perspective on his own eye witness account as he compares it to God’s word.

As I have said, notice that Peter refers to his own experience. He says in the last part of verse 16 “we [Peter, James, and John] were eyewitnesses of His majesty”. Of the twelve disciples, only these three saw firsthand Jesus transfigured and glorified here on earth (Matt 17, Mark 9, Luke 9). While certainly the miracles Jesus performed testified to His deity, these three men were the only ones to actually see first hand their Lord in all His glory. This was a special privilege for these men. In fact, Peter seems to be making just that point in this phrase. The word translated “eyewitnesses” is the Greek word “epoptes” (2030) which was used to describe someone who had been permitted to look firsthand at the secrets of the mystery religions of the day. Since Peter was probably writing to Christians who were being plagued by heretical teachers, it seems natural for Peter to remind them that while these false teachers claimed to have special knowledge that Peter himself had seen firsthand the God of the universe veiled in human flesh.

What happened, then, on the Mount of Transfiguration? From Peter’s perspective, we see that Jesus “received honor and glory from God the Father”. First of all, by having His glory revealed by God for these men to see, God demonstrated that Jesus had tremendous value (honor-Greek time’ [5092] value assigned to something). Further, the men observed Jesus’ “glory” (doxa-1391) which probably referred to His physical glorification on the mountain where “His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.” (Matthew 17:2). This wasn’t an illusion or a figment of their imagination. These three men saw something that no human being saw before or since. But they also heard the voice of God Almighty speak from the cloud and declare, in verses 17 and 18, the identity (“This is my beloved Son”) and faithfulness (“in whom I am well pleased”) of Jesus. Now, imagine what an awesome sight this must have been for these guys. Picture yourself there if you can able to actually view the shekhinah glory of Jehovah God. Certainly, we can understand why Peter was so bold in proclaiming the gospel after the resurrection. He saw Jesus in His majesty. He knew who Jesus was.

However, Peter says even his personal experience is not the most powerful testimony of the truth. In fact, he says in verse 19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure”. The word “made” is added in the NASB. In fact, the Greek word order literally reads “We have the more sure prophetic word”. Do you realize how awesome that is? Peter is saying that what you and I have is a more reliable witness of the truth than even his own firsthand supernatural experience of seeing Jesus Christ glorified. What we have in God’s word transcends human experience and in fact sits in judgment on that experience. We have truth that doesn’t change, grow old, or become irrelevant. The scripture, Peter says, is a better witness of the truth than even the eyewitness of three men who saw and heard things that we who have the bible will never see or hear.

We should give praise to our God who has so richly blessed us by giving us His perfect word as His perfect revelation. Furthermore, we should hear Peter’s exhortation in this chapter to these believers to study the word as an exhortation to us as well. We cannot live for Christ without the empowering of the word of God as applied by the Holy Spirit.

II Peter 1:16b Motivation to Write Scripture II

One day, when I grow up, I’m going to be able to come up with really catchy blog post titles. Until then, I’ll write lame ones like the one above. Honestly, though, as you read verse 15-21 of this chapter you really see Peter’s passionate motivation to put into writing what he had taught these and probably other Christians. Peter knew he would die soon. As difficult as that would be for someone to come to grips with, Peter knew that when he was gone there would be false teachers who would try to lead these believers astray. Since he couldn’t be there for them, he did what he could. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote a letter which would become part of God’s perfect holy word.

As we see, Peter reminded them of the doctrine which they had been taught already. He taught from his authority in Christ (“We did not follow”) and he taught what he knew to be true (“cleverly devised tales”). Furthermore, he taught them about something they didn’t know already. He writes here that he “made known” to them certain truths. The word translated “made known” is the Greek word “gnorizo” (1107) which is related to the Greek word “ginosko” (1097) which means to learn or come to know. He revealed something to them that they had not previously known or been taught. It was these truths that he wanted to remind them of in the letter that he wrote. The false teachers came to these believers claiming to have more advanced or special revelation from God. Peter writes here to remind them that at a specific point in time in the past he had given them the knowledge of Christ. It was that knowledge that saved them. It was that knowledge they should cling to when harassed by false teachers.

But what, you may ask, was it that Peter taught them? What knowledge did he reveal to them? Peter answers this question in his next phrase when he says they made known “the power and coming” of Jesus. He had surely taught them that Jesus Christ was God in human flesh and that He displayed His power through miracles and wonders while ministering here on this earth. I would imagine Peter taught them about his being called to walk on the water with the Lord and how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Certainly as an eyewitness of the ministry of Jesus, Peter would have many thrilling examples of the wonders he saw while a disciple of the Lord. However, I think he had something else in mind when he wrote these words.

Peter uses a Greek word “parousia” (3952) here that is translated into English as “coming”. The word literally means “to come along side” or “a being near”. It is used 27 times in the New Testament. Of those 27 times, 17 (62.9%) refer to the second coming of the Lord Jesus. I believe Peter was thinking of this blessed hope as he wrote. Our Lord demonstrated His power as He worked miracles and as Paul writes in Romans 1 He was proven to be God when He was raised from the dead. However, it is the image of a conquering King coming to make a final war over sin and sinners that will conclusively show Him to be the King of kings and Lord of lords. To encourage these believers during the trails they would surely face as false teachers tried to lure them away, Peter reminds them of the “power and coming” of the Lord Jesus at His second coming.

Just as these believers were encouraged by Peter’s words as he wrote this scripture, we can take comfort too in the fact that our Lord will return. In His presence in heaven, we won’t have to worry about sin or pain ever again. Our Lord will return for us just as He promised. What a day that will be.

II Peter 1:15-16a Motivation to Write Scripture

Ok, the title of this post stinks. As even casual readers of this blog can attest, my post titles are pretty lame. However, as I studied through this section of scripture I couldn’t escape that this was the message Peter was giving these Christians-“I’m writing this because I know I’m not going to be here with you forever”. We can be thankful and rejoice that God inspired Peter and other men to write the words of scripture because we don’t have to use our intuition or our human brains to try to figure out how to relate to God. We can read and study His word and know the truth and that truth will set us free.

As we observed when we studied the previous two verses, Peter knew his time on earth was short. He was going to die and knew these people to whom he wrote needed a sure footing in the truth they had been taught to be able to reject the heresy that the false teachers who would come would surely teach. He says that “I will be diligent” in this endeavor. The word translated “diligent” means to have an intense motivation to do something and to follow that up with intense regular effort. It’s not just feeling like something is important but actually doing what you feel is important thereby putting feet to your faith. He is motivated to do this because he knows his “departure” to heaven is at hand. Because of this, he will not be around to personally remind them of the truth. By writing it down, he provided them with a reference they can use to check the message of someone who claims to be speaking for God. In this way, they could be good Beareans (Acts 17:11) and always have a plumb line of truth to measure a person’s teaching against. As an apostle, Peter was uniquely qualified to provide this repository of truth for them.

In fact, Peter goes on to remind these believers of why he was able to write these truths down for them authoritatively. First of all, Peter and the other writers of Scripture were either eyewitnesses of Jesus before or after the resurrection (Peter, Paul) or were penmen for eyewitnesses (Luke recorded accounts that he researched under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He was a companion of Paul’s). The writers of the New Testament were not looking back a hundred or so years after the events that are recorded but rather they wrote about things that happened in their lifetimes and that, in many cases, they saw first hand. As such, they “did not follow” (exakoloutheo-1811) other people’s ideas or philosophies. They didn’t go to some school to learn what they wrote about but they wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit from their own first hand experience. When Peter in verse 17 talks about being on the Mount of Transfiguration, he is not referring to an event that he has heard about or researched. He was there himself. He was another man’s disciple who parroted what his teacher said was true. He was a disciple of Jesus who reported what he saw with his own eyes and heard with his own ears.

Further, the message Peter and the other apostles brought was not born out of human wisdom. They were threatened, harassed, imprisoned, killed, and exiled for their testimony. Through that all, they consistently maintained the same story. Clearly, their motivation was to speak the truth not to change people’s minds with “cleverly devised tales”. The phrase “cleverly devised” translates a Greek word “sophizo” (4679) which refers to cunning wisdom. Some men in the culture of the day were called “sophists”. Sophist came to denote a class of itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in "excellence" or "virtue," speculated about the nature of language and culture and employed rhetoric to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others. Sophists claimed that they could find the answers to all questions. Peter and the other apostles were not trying to sell anything or convince people of their intellectual prowess. In fact, their motivation was to share the truth with men and women everywhere, proclaiming the good news and calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. What they spoke and wrote were not “tales” or myths but rather they gave their lives to preach the truth.

In short, they couldn’t and didn’t make this stuff up. They were the messengers and they spoke and wrote the message God gave them faithfully. You and I can be thankful for these men and follow their example by faithfully proclaiming the truths in scripture.

II Peter 1:13-14 The Heart of a Pastor Part II

Being a pastor is hard work. However, for those called to serve the church in that capacity there is nothing more rewarding than tending sheep for the Lord as an under-shepherd. As we read in the previous verse, a pastor is concerned for the spiritual growth of those under his care. Likewise, we read in these verses other reasons why a pastor is motivated to tend the flock of God.

First of all, observe with me why Peter wants to teach and exhort his fellow Christians. He says that “I consider it right”. While he does not serve under compulsion or as a hireling that doesn’t care about those under his spiritual care, Peter does recognize that he has a job to do. His obligation is to take care of these Christians, to encourage them, and to spur them on to spiritual maturity. Because he has been given this responsibility, he recognizes that he has a duty to perform. To fail in that duty would be to fail his Lord and Savior. I can only imagine that after his failure when Peter denied the Lord that he was particularly vigilant to make sure he was as faithful as he could be. He did not want to do the wrong thing and neglect his duty but rather he fulfilled his calling because he considered it “right”.

Secondly, we see Peter says not only why he serves as a pastor but what he does as a pastor. He says that he wishes to “stir you up”. Sometimes, as a Christian, it is easy to become complacent. In addition, we may be scared to enter the world and live the Christian life while being attacked for our faith. In either case, there may be times where we find ourselves tempted to be idle. Peter uses a word that is translated here “stir you up” that could also be translated “arouse from sleep”. The way it’s written in the Greek text it literally says that he intends to “continue stirring you up”. Sometimes we have to be told the same thing over and over again like children. However, a pastor who loves those whom he serves does not get tired of gently prodding the sheep in his care to spiritual maturity. In fact, Peter recognizes that is part of the job and indicates here that he is ready, willing, and able to do the job and encourage these believers to grow in their faith.

In addition, he writes in these verses how he intends to accomplish his task as a pastor. He says that he intends to stir them up “by way of reminder”. I read on a blog some time ago where a writer said that preaching the word of God was ineffective because “people have heard it all before”. In other words, his assertion was that the preaching of the truth was boring to people because they had heard all the truth of God that needed to be heard. Boy, am I glad Peter didn’t feel that way. We see here in verse 13 just as in verse 12 that Peter knows that he is going to have to remind his spiritual children about the truth. Brothers and sisters, you cannot over-learn the Bible. You and I could study for the rest of our lives and never exhaust all the wonderful nuggets of spiritual gold that God has given us in His word. We need to be reminded of the truth because as the hymn writer said:Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it
Seal it for thy courts above

Finally, we see Peter says when he intends to do this job of serving as pastor for these Christians-- Now. There is not a moment to lose because Peter realized his time on earth was short and growing shorter. He knew that he would not be able to always remind these dear people and exhort them to live faithfully because he could only do so as long as he was “in this earthly dwelling” (his physical body). I’m young enough that the thought of my mortality doesn’t really cross my mind too much. I do remember the first time I really considered it. The first time I held my sister’s oldest child I felt the sweep of history like I never had before. I realized for the first time that there was so much that went before me but more importantly that life would go on after me. Now that I have children of my own I’m even more acutely aware of the passage of time. Peter, at the time he wrote this epistle, was even more cognizant of the fact that there were fewer days ahead than there were behind. In fact, verse 14 seems to indicate that he had been given divine revelation from the Lord that he would die soon. Because of this, he wanted to remain faithful to his call to teach these Christians while he had the opportunity.

We should be thankful for godly men that serve as our pastors and who look out for our spiritual growth not out of compulsion or out of a motivation to make a quick buck but out of love for our Lord and for us. We can follow their example and Peter’s example even if we’re not pastors by being faithful to serve the body with our spiritual gifts as long as we are able.

II Peter 1:12 The Heart of a Pastor

Peter is, without a doubt, one of my favorite people in the Bible. I mean, the man reminds me of me so much it’s scary. Like me, he had a “foot shaped” mouth. It got shaped that way from always sticking his foot in it. Oh, he had moments of brilliance. For instance, in John 6:68-69, we read that “Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." However, later in that gospel, we read Peter saying that Jesus is not going to give him a foot washing unless He gives him a bath. He was too scared to admit to a servant girl that he was a disciple of Christ but then stands in the crowd at Pentecost and preaches boldly the truth that Jesus was not only the Messiah but also was God. As Peter lived and ministered to believers, he developed a tender heart for sheep. Jesus had called him to be a shepherd (John 21:15-17) and here, in verses 12-15 Peter displays his shepherd’s heart on his sleeve for all to see.
\
First of all, we should notice that Peter’s state of mind regarding these dear Christians as he writes to them. We read in verse 12 “Therefore, I will always be ready”. Peter admonished them to press on toward holiness in their lives in verse 11, and here is saying that he is ready to help them in that endeavor. This readiness is a perpetual state for Peter just as it would be for any shepherd. You see, a pastor develops a love for those in his care and is always on the lookout for danger just as a shepherd is constantly alert when tending his sheep. I firmly believe these almost paternal feelings are part of the spiritual gifting of a man who is called to be a pastor. Peter therefore declares that he stands ready as an ever vigilant watchman for those under his care. The word translated “ready” is the Greek word “mello” (3195) and it means to be sure or certain to do something. Peter is saying instead of laying down on the job and neglecting his duties to these believers he will be sure to always take his responsibility to them seriously. I should note that the King James and New King James Versions use a Greek text which says “I will not be negligent” (Greek amello-272). This is not the reading in the oldest manuscripts. Frankly, I wouldn’t freak out about this particular variant—it ends up meaning the same thing. If anyone wanted to argue this reading, they have more time on their hands than I do.

Second of all, observe his perception of these believers. He says that they “already know them”. By “them” Peter is probably referring to the treasure trove of spiritual truth that he has already expounded upon in the previous verses. He knew these Christians had been taught and that they had been taught true, sure doctrine. In fact, he uses a word for “know” (eido-1492) which, according to the author at Precepts-Austin, suggests fullness of knowledge rather than progress of knowledge or knowledge gained through experience. In other words, while these believers still needed to grow in the knowledge of Jesus to become more like Him, they had knowledge that had led them to saving faith and sound doctrine.

Further, he says they have been “established” (sterizo-4741) in that truth. The Greek word used here is the same one that Jesus used in Luke 22:32 when He told Peter that after Peter had been restored to “strengthen your brethren”. Therefore, the word seems to carry the idea of steadying something or setting it right-settling it. Peter is saying not only does his audience possess a head knowledge of the truth but that knowledge is also heart knowledge and they have a firm foundation because this truth, he says, “is present with you”. They have the knowledge and it has given them a bedrock of truth upon which to build their life.

Why then, would Peter feel the need to be sure to remind them? Because, as we will see in chapter 2, false teachers were on the move. While they can’t deceive a true believer, they can hamper the ministry of the church and lead weaker believers into sin that harms their testimony. Peter knew the danger they posed and because of his love for these sheep he wrote to encourage them and remind them of the truth they had been taught. Let us remind ourselves with careful study of God’s word of those same truths. By doing so, we will be more effective ministers for our Lord, Jesus Christ.

II Peter 1:11 Home at Last

To get into buildings where I am working I have to have an ID badge. That badge confirms my identity and demonstrates that I have the authority to be in the building to do my job. As Christians, our home is not in this world but is in heaven. We will be able to enter heaven but our right to enter there will come not because of what we’ve done or who we are but rather because of what Christ has done through us and who we are in Christ.

Observe with me that Peter says our entrance into our heavenly home comes “in this way”. Peter is referring to true believers who live authentic lives of faith. Some people might do a passable job of fooling other people but God sees, hears, and knows everything. You will not “pull the wool” over His eyes, my friend. People who claim to be Christians but do not progress in sanctification and do not become more Christlike may, in fact, not be saved at all. However, we can have assurance of our salvation as we grow in godliness and because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives we will “in this way” finally arrive at our heavenly destination. There will be those who want to enter but are not authorized and do not have permission. However, we will be able to enter into the joy of the Lord when we reach this destination.

Next, notice what a wonderful destination it is that God has prepared for us. This world will pass away. It is temporary and tainted with sin. However, we will live with Christ in an “eternal kingdom”. We will never grow old. There will be no death, sickness, sadness, or pain. If the thought of that kind of bliss lasting forever and ever doesn’t get you excited I just don’t what else to do. We should rejoice and take encouragement when we meditate on the wonderful home in heaven our God has prepared. Further, and most exciting to me, is the fact that it will be sinless. Satan is referred to as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31 and 14:30) and therefore in many ways this is his kingdom in a limited sense. However, the kingdom we will enter is that of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Because of His perfection and character, everything about this kingdom will reflect His nature. In fact, Revelation chapter 21 gives a soul-stirring description of our heavenly abode:

“1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them ,4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

Can I get an amen? Can somebody give God glory for what He has done? But wait, as the old Ginsu commercial used to say, there’s more. Our spiritual growth demonstrates that we are truly children of God and therefore have the right to enter this kingdom but lest we think that we have to work to earn our home in heaven Peter reminds us that this entrance “will be abundantly supplied to you”. First of all, the verb supplied is in the passive tense which means that we are the objects of the action being described not the initiators. In other words, this entrance is given to us not something that we have to work for or work at. The word “epichoregeo” (2023) is the word translated “supplied”. This word used to refer to someone supplying for the needs of a chorus like one used in Greek theatre. It carries with it the idea of being supplied well beyond the point of need—lavishly. In other words, we will not enter heaven by the skin of our chinny-chin-chin but we will have everything we need supplied for our entrance into our Savior’s eternal kingdom.

The people to whom Peter wrote probably found this to be very comforting and encouraging. They faced persecution and possibly death because of their faith. While you and I may not be that kind of danger we too can be encouraged to live faithful lives to the glory of God knowing that our faithfulness is a proof of the fact that we will enter heaven. We can give glory to God in our words and look forward to the time when we will be able to praise Him forever in heaven.

II Peter 1:10b Blessed Assurance

I have never enjoyed revivals. I felt this way even before I realized I was a Calvinist. When I pastored Matthew’s Memorial Baptist Church, we didn’t have a revival the entire time I was there. I read a statement on another blog that totally crystallized why I feel about revivals the way I do. The author said some churches have a “pray this prayer and you’re saved” mentality and that they encourage people to always remember that day and never doubt. This has nothing to do with anything that we find in this verse in II Peter. I know there are people who went down in VBS and prayed a prayer when they were 8 years old or so who now live in open defiance of God’s word with hate, bitterness, lust, and greed in their heart. They have a false assurance of their salvation. Peter, in this verse, writes to these Christians about true assurance of salvation.

First of all, we should remember that our salvation is not something that we brought about by our choice or because we were smart enough to realize that we need a Savior to redeem us from out sins. Our salvation, as we observed in our last study of this verse, begins with God’s “calling and choosing” of us. Salvation started with God. His Holy Spirit empowers us to live out the Christian life but it is in our living of that life that we find our assurance of salvation. Peter writes in the second half of verse 10 that our assurance comes “as long as you practice these things”. The word “practice” is in the present tense. In other words, the development and exercise of “these things” (the virtues in verses 5-7) is a lifelong endeavor. This activity is quite frankly the toughest job you’ll ever love and you will never retire from it. The Lord was pleased to save me when I was 12 years old and I have grown in Christ since then, albeit not so steadily in my college years. I’m celebrating the 12th anniversary of my 25th birthday (or 36 according to my wife.) the 22nd of February this year and I feel like I have more to learn today than I did when I started my journey. I feel like the more I learn and know the more I realize how much I need to learn and know. As Christians, we are called to live in a manner consistent with the truths of the gospel. Of course we’re going to sin. We’re still living in a fallen world with fallen flesh that loves to sin better than anything. It is only through the strength given to us by God through the Holy Spirit and Bible that we are able to do this. In fact, it is a bigger surprise to me sometimes that I am able to live for the Lord than it is that I fail and sin. The questions we should ask as we read these inspired words given to us through the pen of Peter are “Am I living what I believe? Is the pattern of my life generally consistent with the truths taught in scripture? When I recognize sin in my life, do I confess and repent of that sin?” If you can answer yes to those questions I would say you’re probably practicing the truths Peter has taught. As you see these qualities and character traits grow, you can feel assurance that your profession of faith is genuine. You will have tangible evidence that you can rely on rather than some prayer mumbled when you were a child.

Peter further assures believers that their life of godliness provides a reason to feel secure in their salvation. He says that if you “practice these things you will never stumble”. Now, Peter uses some strong language in the Greek language that doesn’t really translate to English. In saying “never” Peter uses three Greek words: “ou” (3756) which is used for absolute negation of something, “”me” (3361) which is a less intense negation and “pote” (4218) which means never, not once, ever. In fact, following the word order of the Greek a person could translate the phrase “no not stumble never, not once, ever”. I think that’s a triple negative. Regardless of how you want to count the number of negatives in that phrase, it seems pretty clear that Peter is emphatically saying that a true believer, one who is living out his or her faith, will never fail away so as to lose their salvation. “Stumble” (ptaio-4417, to trip up) is in the aorist tense which points to a stumbling that is final and from which one cannot recover, as noted by Edmund Hiebert in his commentary on II Peter. This does not mean that a believer will never sin. What it does mean is that a person who has genuine saving faith will remain faithful in spite of all their minor slip ups and falls to the very end.

As we will see in the next verse, the end of the Christian journey is arrival at home in heaven. We can have assurance of our future home in heaven by the godly lives we live here and now. As Peter has noted, we do not live godly lives to earn our salvation but rather they are the proof of God’s work in our lives.

II Peter 1:10a Christian Growth and Assurance

I can remember when I got saved that I wasn’t discipled very well. I don’t say that as a fault to the church that I got saved in because on the whole Southern Baptist Churches don’t do a very good job of discipling new converts. One of my problems when I first got saved is that when I would sin I would feel as though I had lost my salvation and that I needed to get re-saved. Of course, we know as we read scripture that believers are eternally secure in Jesus Christ and cannot lose their salvation. However, there are other Christians who face the same problem I did and need assurance of their salvation. Peter, in this verse, teaches that we can as Christians have a strong assurance of our salvation. In fact, we can participate in giving ourselves that assurance.

Peter, as we noted in out study of the previous verses, has taught these believers that God has given them everything they need to develop and mature in their faith in His word. They have the tools so they should get to work and do the job. They should seek to exercise their godly characteristics with the help of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Those who do not progress spiritually are proving that they are either not saved or that their spiritual growth has been stunted. In light of these two alternatives, Peter says “Therefore, brethren”. He speaks to them in loving tones and reminds them that they should respond to the truth that he has taught them under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Instead of being like someone who is “blind or short-sighted” they should respond out of love as a result of the truth that has been revealed to them. Therefore, he gives them a command.

He tells them to “be all the more diligent”. The word translated “diligent” is “spoudazo” (4704). The word means to give regular, intense effort to a task—to work at something wholeheartedly. It was used to describe an athlete straining all the muscles in his body to win an event. Living a godly life is not going to be easy. To the contrary, it takes supreme effort and sacrifice. Instead of living a life of lazy Christianity, Peter calls these believers to exercise their spiritual muscles. The word is in the imperative in Greek. In other words, Peter isn’t making a suggestion here. This is a command. Don’t just sit there—let’s get to work, brothers and sisters.

What should we be diligent about? To what end should we exert this effort Peter has called for us to make? He says that we are to “make certain about His calling and choosing” of us. In the Greek, the phrase “make certain” is stated in such a way as if to say “you yourselves make certain”. We are called to begin and participate in the action. We are not to passively sit by but rather we are to be involved in obtaining this assurance Peter is speaking of in this verse. By exercising the godly characteristics that he mentions in the previous verses under the influence and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can have assurance of our salvation. Let’s face it, the qualities Peter describes in verses 5-7 and not things that are going to start showing up in our lives in increasing quantities on their own. If we see them, exercise them, and they are increasing it is due to the work of God in our lives. It doesn’t just happen on it’s own. We can tell in our own lives that we belong to God because of the kind of lives that we live.

While we can rejoice in the fruit we see in our lives based on the mighty work of God we can also be humbled when we recognize that our salvation and growth as children of God was not the result of our own choice to come to faith in Christ but rather it is a result of God’s “calling and choosing” us. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. Every human heart is bent on rebellion and does not want to nor can it come to God. We were the lost sheep. We were the lost coin. We did not go seeking for God but rather He called us to Himself for His own glory and because it was His will to do so. He chose us before the foundation of the world. Our salvation and growth as a Christian is ultimately the result of a Holy and Sovereign God who chose to show grace and mercy to creatures who deserved punishment in hell. Praise His holy name.

II Peter 1:8-9 The Necessity of Christian Growth

If a person is a Christian, they have been made alive spiritually. Until that point, their spirit is dead. Oh, they’re walking, talking, living, breathing being on the outside and every person that knows them or sees them would affirm that they are a living being. Truthfully, they are alive physically but the Bible teaches that they are completely dead spiritually. One of the clearest evidences of life in a person is growth. A baby grows and develops into a toddler and eventually grows into an adult. If you or I met a person that never grew or developed we would probably think that something was wrong. In much the same, a Christian who has not matured beyond spiritual infancy should be unusual. Unfortunately, that is not often the case. In fact, as Peter observes in these verses a lack of spiritual maturity should be a cause for concern.

Peter writes in verse 8 that a Christian should be indentified by godly living. He writes “if these qualities are yours and are increasing”. The qualities he speaks of are the ones listed in verses 5-7 of this chapter. He writes that these qualities “are yours” (Greek hurparcho [5225]-this means to legitimately possess something). Because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we are now enabled to live differently. These qualities are not something that we should hope for or strive for but they are qualities that we now possess in this present reality and we should live them. In fact, not only should we live them but they should be “increasing”. As we exercise these qualities we will see more of them and the more we see of them the more we should exercise them. As an apple tree bears apples a Christian should bear Christian fruit. Our fruit is evidence of being a Christian.

In fact, Peter makes that same point when he says these qualities cause us to be “neither useless or unfruitful” in our Christian lives. The word “useless” translates the Greek word “argos” (692). The word argon, one of the Noble gases on the periodic table, comes from this Greek word. The Noble gases are known as inert—they don’t react with anything. That is the basic idea behind this Greek word. Peter here is saying that a growing, maturing Christian will not be idle or inert. When we see people who need to hear about the love of God we will seek opportunities to share that love. We will want to be involved in ministry. There are no cheerleaders in the Christian faith—we’re all called to “get in the game”. Peter also says a maturing Christian will not be “unfruitful”. Jesus Himself said that if we abide in Him we would bear fruit (John 15:5). It is by exercising the qualities listed in verses 5-7 that we bear fruit. It is simply the natural outgrowth of being a new creature in Jesus Christ. However, Peter says that if someone claims to be a Christian and is not bearing fruit, there are two possibilities.

Peter says in verse 9 that “he who lacks these qualities is blind (Greek tuphlos-5185). This is the same word Jesus used in Matthew 23:16 to describe the Pharisees and as it is used here it also means spiritual blindness. Peter is saying that if a person claims to be a Christian and they lack these qualities in their life one possibility is that they may not be a Christian at all. Perhaps you are reading this and outwardly people see some of these qualities and think you’re a Christian but you know deep in your heart you’re just putting on a show—an academy award performance. Brother or sister, let me exhort you that you might fool some people but you’re not fooling God. Peter declares here that someone who does not exhibit these qualities and is not growing in Christlikenes may, in fact, not be saved at all but they might, in all reality, be spiritually blind and unredeemed.

Peter says the second possibility is that the person is “short-sighted”. They can’t see past the nose on the end of their face. This person is saved but their spiritual growth is stunted. They are not progressing in holiness. They are not being obedient to the commands of the Bible and, quite frankly, are in a position where they are inviting judgment by God. God disciplines His children when they are disobedient. He disciplines them out of love. A Christian who is not growing is one who is not witnessing or studying the Bible. They are not involved in ministry is any substantial way. Their disobedience is a sin and God will judge that sin. However, Peter gives here the root cause of this lackadaisical approach to the Christian life. A person who does not grow in godliness is one who has “forgotten his purification from his former sins”. That is the key. You and I need to remember what God saved us from when He called us to Himself. Now, maybe you weren’t an outlaw and you might not have been that bad, comparatively. However, from God’s perspective you were an outlaw and you were incapable of saving yourself or making yourself right with God. You were doomed. You were helpless. You were God’s enemy. However, because God is so merciful and on account of His Son’s death, burial, and resurrection God saved you when you repented and placed faith in Jesus. If you ever need motivation to serve the Lord, I exhort you to remember what He saved you from. When you meditate on that, I believe you will be motivated to serve Him out of a thankful heart filled with love.

II Peter 1:5-7 The Goal of the Christian Life-Completeness in Christ Part II

I love watching football. My favorite team is the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. The team has some good players this year (John Parker Wilson, Tim Castille, Rolando McClain) and will, hopefully, contend for the National Title this year. However, what makes the team good is not these individual players but rather the fact that these players play together as a team. On both sides of the ball they are an 11 man monster. Their strength is in numbers—working together collectively they are able to achieve much more than they would if they were working as 11 individuals. The Christian, likewise, should seek to develop spiritually and use the virtues Peter lists in these verses in tandem to become all that God has called them to be.

Peter says, in verse 6, that a Christian should develop “self control”. It translates a Greek word “egkratia” (1466). The word literally means to have a grip on one’s passions. This virtue is important in the Christian life because, as Paul notes in Romans 7, we still live with our fallen flesh. In Galatians 5, he further describes our fleshly desires as being at war with our spiritual desires. Clearly, a Christian who is not able to “get a grip” on themselves runs the risk of doing something sinful. In fact, the book of Proverbs 25:28 describes someone who doesn’t exercise control over themselves as being like a city which has its walls broken down. If we are going to live lives pleasing to God, we must have self control in order to be able to choose God’s way over our way.

Further, we must be able to bear up under the pressures of having to live in this fallen world, enduring persecution, and standing firm. Peter describes this quality as having “perserverance” (hupomone-5281). The word literally means “to remain under”—under some sort of burden or circumstance. However, for the Christian, this endurance is not an Eyore-like resignation of muttering to oneself “Oh well, nothin’ I can do about it. Might as well get comfortable.” Rather, it is the resolute, determined mindset of one who is more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Our Lord Himself used this word in the parable of the sower in Luke 8 when He said "But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance “ The Christian life is not a sprint and in order to run with endurance (Heb 12:1) the race set before us, we must have the spiritual staying power to stay with it, no matter how hard or how long. Without this quality, we might succumb to the temptation to give up.

As we persevere to live for God in this world, we should live godly lives. Peter exhorts these believers to live godly and therefore in a manner consistent with their faith. God is a holy, righteous God and if we are truly worshipping Him with our lives we will want to live holy lives as well. By calling these Christians to “godliness”, Peter called them to live a life that outwardly reflected their true spiritual character. Make no mistake, godliness can be faked—there are tons of people in churches every Sunday that put on a good show and impress a lot of people but their godliness is only surface level. This outward character of godliness Peter calls for from these believers and from us as well is the result of a true inward spiritual transformation. This is not a Sunday go-to-meeting thing but rather should affect how we live our lives Monday through Saturday. It is godliness that permeates our lives when people are looking and when we’re alone. This true godliness is only possible with the power of the Holy Spirit.

When our lives are spiritually transformed by God’s indwelling presence, our affections and attitudes will be different toward people. First of all, within the church we will exhibit “brotherly kindness”. Jesus said that people would recognize us as His disciples by our love for one another. This love is described by the Greek word “philadelphia” (5360). This is the kind of love that a family would have for one another. Let me ask you something: is this kind of love something we see unconditionally practiced in churches today? Sadly, I think it’s not something that’s as common as the Bible says it should be. People in churches don’t even treat each other as friends sometimes much less as family. This kind of love should be the outgrowth of our relationship with God and through this love we should be able to be patient with one another because we love one another (Eph 4:2). However, not only should our treatment of those of our spiritual family be different, our treatment of all people should be different. Peter lists the final attribute in his list as “love”. This, as I’m sure you could guess, is agape love. This is he highest, most sacrificial form of love. This love seeks the good of the one loved with no regard for self. We should be willing and able to serve our fellow man, our neighbors, our community as a way to demonstrate God’s love. People should know we’re Christians because of how loving we are toward people. When we proclaim the truth, it should be proclaimed in love. When we confront sin, we should be confronting sin in love. When we serve, we should serve out of love. In fact, I submit to you that Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, listed this quality last because it binds all the others together. In fact, if we don’t have love, our lives really do not reflect the character of God because we do not love as we should.  Without that love, our witness is certainly incomplete.  With that love, we demonstrate clearly the character of God.

II Peter 1:5-7 The Goal of the Christian Life-Completeness in Christ Part I

I have played saxophone since I was in 5th grade. When I studied music in college, I found some things easier to do than others. I could play long, lyric, expressive passages pretty easily. Technical, fast material was more difficult for me. Successful musicians, on the other hand, are complete musicians. For instance, my saxophone teacher, Jack Sharp, could literally play or do anything musical. He was one amazing dude. His competence in one area complemented his skills in other areas and all his musical abilities worked together to make him a finely tuned playing “mo-sheen”. In much the same way, Peter exhorts believers to develop their spiritual skills so that they may be complete.

Notice the bedrock upon which these godly traits rest—Peter writes to that by applying all diligence “in your faith, supply moral excellence”. Peter calls out to those who “have received a faith of the same kind” (v 1) as he had. This has to be the starting point for any person to be able to live these godly characteristics. A person has to be convinced of the truth of the gospel and the word of God and that conviction must produce real change in the person’s life and character. Peter is not just talking about a head knowledge which might allow a person to make a 100% on a Jesus Pop Quiz. He is talking about a faith that was so strong that a person would be willing to face death for the truth they believed in. Furthermore, the faith he referred to was individual. He says “your faith”. The Church is a corporate organism—the Body of Christ. However, we are not saved corporately but individually. Each person that comes to faith in Christ and bows to Him as their Savior and Lord does so on their own knee. They submit to Him and place their faith in Him. No one else’s faith can save them but their own.

Peter calls for the believer to incorporate 7 characteristics with their faith. First of all, he calls for them to, along with their faith, “supply moral excellence”. The word translated “supply” is the Greek word “epichoregeo” (2023). This word was used at one point to describe someone with the responsibilities of providing for the needs of a large chorus like the chorus that was used for Greek plays. It carries the sense of providing lavishly well beyond the point of need. A Christian is to, alongside of their faith, exercise these other characteristics not one after the other but one along with the others. These are not beads on a string or checking off items on a shopping list whereby one item is placed in a spiritual shopping cart after another but instead the believer is to be like a well trained musician who while playing a technically challenging piece also plays the piece as beautifully as possible. Believers, therefore, supply these characteristics in concert with their faith as a symphony of praise to God the Father.

Peter says that believers should supply along with their faith “moral excellence” which translates the Greek word “arête” (703). As I understand it from what I’ve been able to read, this word has the idea of completely fulfilling a purpose. For instance, it might be used of a good tool that was able to be used for a job or a plot of land that plentifully produced crops. It is used in verse 3 of this chapter to describe God who is of course complete, perfect, and whole. We should seek to display moral excellence by living the Christian life as we have been called to and empowered to by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, as Peter writes, we should seek to develop along with our moral excellence “knowledge”. Now, as we began to study this epistle we observed that there were those from outside the church that were claiming that you could start with Christ but to really be spiritual you had to uncover “secret knowledge” that, just coincidentally, they could help you discover—probably for a price. As Peter has said, and will say again, the Bible is the complete handbook of spiritual knowledge and “everything pertaining to life and godliness”. However, a person can have head knowledge of Jesus and be lost as a goose. They can know a lot or think that they know a lot and not know Him. And make no mistake, brothers and sisters, our knowing should result in our doing. If we are truly saved by our faith and we are doing our best to live out our faith then as we learn more about God and His word it will change the way that we live. If it doesn’t, we have a problem and we need to examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith.

While these 7 characteristics that Peter refers to are not added like links on a chain we can clearly see in this verse that they work together synergistically as we grow and mature in Christ. Praise God that He’s still working on me.

II Peter 1:5a You’ve got the tools, now do the job!

The first part of October at work was a lot of “Hurry up and wait” for me. I had a bunch of stuff that I needed to do but could not finish because I was waiting on the organization our team is auditing to get me some information. Finally, about 2 weeks after one guy said he would get a spreadsheet of information that I needed to me, I got some of the information in and was able to do more work. Just imagine, if you will, how my supervisor would have responded if I had just sat there and not worked. I suppose he might have said something like “What are you waiting on? You have everything you need to do your job so let’s get to it”. In much the same way, Peter has spent 4 verses telling us what God has provided for our spiritual development. In this verse, Peter begins to tell us what we should do as a result of that provision.

He writes in verse 5 “Now, for this very reason also”. We have been elected to salvation (“received a faith”), come to a true “knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”, been given supernatural power to live the Christian life (“His divine power has granted to us everything that pertains to life and godliness”), and the transforming power of God’s holy written word (v 4). Peter is therefore saying to us that in view of all this that God has given you your response should be to use what God has given. We now have to tools, let’s put them to work.

Notice that just because God has made provision for our spiritual development that we are not passive partners. Peter tells us we should begin by “applying all diligence”. The word translated applying is the Greek word “pareisphero” (3923) which means “to bear in along side, to introduce simultaneously”. God has provided the spiritual tools but it is our responsibility to use them. As the prince of preachers Charles Spurgeon was quoted as having said “God sends every bird his food, but He doesn’t throw it into the nest”. When God gave the children of Israel manna for food they still had to go out and gather it. God has lavishly provided for us all that we need but if we are going to grow spiritually we will have to go about “applying” the effort needed to grow. If we have truly been redeemed and professed saving faith in Christ we should live differently. Evidence of our conversion is seen in our application of the truths in scripture that we are able to understand as the result of the illumination of the Holy Spirit. As noted in the commentary by Jameson, Faucett, and Brown, this word tells us that we should be “introducing side by side with God’s gift on your part diligence”.

The word “spoude” (4710) is translated “diligence”. This word is similar to the one used in 2 Timothy 2:15 where Paul tells Timothy to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, correctly handling the word of truth”. Growing as a Christian toward Christlikeness is hard work. It will take intense regular effort. We can’t just sit around like bumps on a proverbial log and expect to become more like our Lord. We must add or our part. The word carries with it the picture of extraordinary commitment to a person or a cause. We should give our best effort to exercise ourselves toward godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). We can do this by studying our Bible, serving with our spiritual gifts, or encouraging and being encouraged and exhorted by other Christians. As a bible teacher once noted “Peter is calling for an attitude of eagerness and zeal, an abandonment of sluggishness and self-indulgence. Note Peter's addition of the little modifier all (pas = the whole amount or quantity, no holding back) to underline the comprehensiveness of the effort called for. Peter says this is so important that one's effort must be neither half-hearted nor selective. “Christ gave His all to save us. God has given us all we need to become what He has called us to be. Logically, we should give our all by “applying all diligence” in our struggle against the sins and enticements of this world as we seek to draw closer to God and become more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

II Peter 1:4c The Amazing Gift of God’s Word part III

As we continue to study this wonderful epistle, I think it’s a good idea to notice patterns in the text and think about how Peter organized what he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write. As Peter continues to extol the virtues of God’s holy word in this, our 3rd look at this verse, we notice that he has said that God uses this word to help us grow and develop spiritually and that His word has all that we need to know how to live a life pleasing to God. As we read the next several verses, we observe that this spiritual growth is not a passive activity but rather we should actively seek to become more godly. He finishes this exhortation in verse 11 when he writes “for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” That, brothers and sisters, is our goal. We’re not going to be here on this wretched, sin-filled earth forever. We’re going to arrive in heaven where our God is and be able to rejoice and sing praises forever. However, not everyone who names the name of Christ is going to go to heaven. In fact, as sad as it is, there are going to be people who were big-time church goers who are going to go to hell. Either because they were just faking and they knew it, or they will go because (this is the saddest case) tricked themselves into thinking they were really saved. These people are not going to arrive in heaven. As we look at this verse for the 3rd time, we need to keep in mind that those who “escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” were not all saved.

Peter, the last time we looked at this verse, gave us a look at our future in Christ. He said that we would become “partakers of the divine nature”. In other words, we as Christians will become more and more godly until we finally come into the glorious presence of Christ. That is our future. Here, he gives a look at our past. We who are Christians have come out of a situation much like a car being stuck in a ditch. We were stuck in a ditch of sin, as it were, and we were driving a little old 4 cylinder Honda Civic with bald tires. There was no way we could push, pull, or drive our way out. We were under the wrath of God for our sinful rebellion against Him. However, as Peter writes here, we “escaped” (apopheugo-668) thanks to the grace and love of our heavenly Father. The word means “to escape by flight”. At some point, in order for a person to be saved, they must repent of their sins. They have to come to an understanding of the danger their soul is in and turn to the Savior. Now, this is not necessarily repentance. At this point, the person doesn’t even have to have expressed saving faith. Peter is saying here that we as Christians escaped living a life of sin. However, fleeing a life of sin does not in and of itself prove that a person is a Christian.

All who are going to come to Christ and become partakers of the divine nature must flee “the corruption that is in the world”. Sin contaminates everything that it touches. Because we are still sinners even after we get saved sin is still enticing to us. While our New man wants to do the things that God wants us to do, our Old man is right there saying in a voice that sounds surprisingly like Lee Corso to me “Not so fast, my friend”. We must flee the decay of sin if we are ever going to mature into what God has called us to be. However, simply fleeing from the corruption that is in the world does not prove that someone is actually saved. Ray Boltz, in his interview where he announced his choice to live a life of perversion, said that he turned to the church and to Christianity to try to cure himself of his lust. I believe he probably, for a time, was able to escape that corruption in the world. In a sense, church probably became a sanctuary for him where he felt safe from the temptation of his sin. However, as we have seen in his announcement, simply fleeing the sin did not cure him of it. Why? Because our sin nature is an ever present foe in our bodies that causes us to lust after things that are against the will of God.

Peter writes that the corruption of sin is in the world “by lust”. Our desires and passions are naturally against God and His will. We have to deal with our sinful desires with the Holy Spirit’s help on a daily basis. There is no vacation from this war. We will never cease completely to lust after sinful things in our life. However, we who have escaped the corruption and repented of our sins can know, as Peter writes, that we will be able to grow spiritually and become more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

II Peter 1:4b The Amazing Gift of God’s Word part 2

I went to a funeral for a dear lady from our church yesterday. She was fairly quiet and not in very good health for the 3 years that I knew her. However, if you knew her at all you could tell how much she loved the Lord. She didn’t talk about her faith, she lived it. My wife had been going to that church for about 3 months and the church offered to throw us a baby shower. Not only did Mrs. Martha give us a gift at that shower but several times both before and after the baby was born she gave us little things. As I read this section of scripture in preparation to write this bit of commentary, I couldn’t help but think of Mrs. Martha. She was living proof of the life changing power of God’s word. As we study this scripture today, we should be convicted of that same power and encouraged to disseminate that truth at every opportunity.

Peter says, in the first part of verse 4, that God has given us “precious and magnificent promises”. Of course, we find these promises in the word of God. It is important to note further that Peter begins here to tell us an important reason why God chose to reveal Himself in a book to us. The power of scripture is supernatural and can totally change our lives. As we are confronted with the supernatural truth in scripture our sin is revealed and God’s holiness is proclaimed. Peter says in the latter part of verse “so that by them [the scriptures] you may become partakers of the divine nature”. The bible, then, is an agent of spiritual transformation in the life of the believer. I struggle with my temper, my pride, and unforgiveness. So when I read in Matthew 5 about having pride, being gentle, and forgiving people I am not only convicted but I am challenged to live in a manner that is consistent with my profession of faith. I don’t see the word of God as some legalistic code but rather as a model of what God is conforming me into—a picture of what Jesus looked like. This is a daily source of encouragement to me.

Peter doesn’t just say that the bible is a tool God uses to transform us but also he tells us what that transformation involves. In other words, what is happening in our lives as we are being transformed? Peter says that “you [and I] may become partakers of the divine nature”. First of all, Peter tells us that this transformation is a process. We are not going to be conformed to the likeness of Christ completely until He comes to take us home as He did my friend Mrs. Martha this past week. However, as Christians, we will grow spiritually while living in this world. Peter uses a Greek word “ginomai” (1096) which is translated “may become”. The word, as it is used in the New Testament often has the idea of growth or process. You and I are always going to be works in progress while living in this world. The song our children sing “He’s still working on me” is applicable to us whether we’re 7 or 73. I think of my dear friend Mrs. Martha again as I meditate on this truth. She was 70 years old before she got saved. When she started going to our church she told her daughter “I’m not a sinner so I couldn’t need a savior, right?” She had a lived a good life by human standards—probably better than some Christians. However, when the Lord opened her eyes and began to draw her to Himself as she listened to the preaching of His word, she came to recognize her sin and to repent and truth Christ as her Savior. From that point, as she studied the word of God, she grew spiritually. She did not fully become everything God had saved her to be until the day He took her home to glory. However, she did mature as a Christian. In that sense, it could very well be said of her that she was in the process of becoming and that process was due in part to the precious word of God.

Peter further tells us what we’re going to look like when this transformation is finished. He writes that we will be “partakers of the divine nature”. This phrase was used in the pagan religions of that day and expressed the idea of man becoming divine. In other words, man could become not just like a god but could in fact himself become a god. Peter takes this Hellenistic concept and uses it to describe the spiritual growth of a Christian. Peter here does not teach that men can become god’s in their own right. There are attributes of God that are not communicable—we cannot posses them. He is the source or cause for His own existence and has life in Himself. As John Gill notes in his commentary on the bible:

“the nature, perfections, and glory of God, are incommunicable to creatures; nor, hypostatically and personally, so as the human nature of Christ, in union with the Son of God, is a partaker of the divine nature in him; but by way of resemblance and likeness, the new man or principle of grace, being formed in the heart in regeneration, after the image of God, and bearing a likeness to the image of his Son”

The word Peter uses for divine further evidences that there is a difference between God and man even though man is now a new creature in Christ if he is a Christian. Peter refers to the “divine nature”. The word “divine” translates a Greek word “theios” (2304) which does not refer to God’s essence in totality but rather an attribute of God such as, in this context, His holiness. No where does scripture teach that you and I are going to be gods ourselves but rather that you and I now have the Spirit of God living within us and we can become like God. Spiritually, we are transformed to be more like God as we submit to the truths found in His word. Because of the life changing truth of God’s word, we should give Him thanks and praise.

II Peter 1:4 The Amazing Gift of God’s Word

In II Kings chapter 22, Hezekiah, the king of Judah, made a horrible discovery. He found out that he and his people had not been living according to the word of God. They had sinned and were in a position where they had they been judged they would have all been completely guilty. What makes this situation all the more pitiful is that, for years, the book of the law had been lost in the temple. They didn’t have God’s word so they had to try to figure out for themselves what they should or shouldn’t do. Can you imagine how nerve wracking that would be? We, especially those of us in the United States, take for granted having our bibles. Many of us own more than one copy of the bible. We know what God says and what He wants. Can you imagine having to try to relate to God without His perfectly inspired word to guide you? Other religions have sacred books but none of them are as historically validated or completely consistent as our bible. People that worship gods of wood, rock, or natural phenomenon have to guess what they are supposed to do. God, in His love, has revealed Himself in the pages of scripture. As Peter writes in verse 4 of chapter 1 here in II Peter, we should be thankful and give reverence to the word of God.

God did not have to reveal Himself to us in a book. In doing so, He has blessed in ways that I don’t think we as Christians spend enough time contemplating. By revealing Himself in a book and providing the overwhelming evidence to the reliability of that text, God has made His message changeless and timeless. Truly, the bible is an amazing gift from God. Peter says here in this verse “For by these (His glory and virtue mentioned in the preceding verse) He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises.” God lavishly bestowed on us a tremendous gift in giving the bible to us. Peter reiterates that idea when he says that God “granted to us” His promises which we know are revealed in Holy Scripture. The word translated “granted” is the same word used in verse 3 for “granted”—the Greek word “doreomai” (1433). It has the idea of giving in a lavish sense. Truly, but giving us His word so that we can read and study it God has given us the gift of knowing Him in a powerful way. We now, through the Bible, have a roadmap to follow as we try to walk worthy of the calling to which we were called, as Paul writes in Ephesians.

We should note further that the bible is not just a collection of wise sayings and suggestions about how to live in this world. In fact, Peter says here that God’s declaration to us, the bible, reveals “His…promises”. What amazing assurance that should give us. The same God who created the universe out of His spoken word and prophesied things before they happened because He was sovereign in His control of the universe and would, therefore, bring them to pass has given us promises. Since He has demonstrated Himself to be completely faithful in everything He has ever said, we can trust these promises as completely reliable. The word translated “promises” is the Greek word “eppagelma” (1862) and refers to a promise voluntarily or spontaneously made in contrast to one made in response to a request. In other words, God took the initiative in revealing Himself to mankind and giving us His promises. Now that He has given His promises we know that He will keep them because, as the writer of Hebrews writes, it is impossible for God to lie.
Peter further explains to us the worth of the word of God. He calls these promises of God “precious”. The Greek word used here is “timios” (5093) and it means something that is valuable, highly prized, costly, or desirable. In my humble estimation, this word describes the word of God perfectly. It is an endless treasure of spiritual riches. I once heard a preacher say “You could dig the mine of the Bible all your life and never exhaust its spiritual riches”. Obviously, something as precious as God’s word should motivate us to invest ourselves in it—our time, our intellect, our passion.

Finally, we should observe that Peter describes the supremacy of the word of God. He calls these promises not only precious but also “magnificent” (Greek “megistos” [3176]). This word is the superlative of the Greek word “megas”. In other words, there is nothing higher than God’s precious promises in the bible. The false teachers who were troubling the church that Peter wrote to here said that there were levels of spiritual truth that only they could teach. This special knowledge would lead to a higher level of spirituality. Peter, here, says that the highest and most excellent spiritual knowledge available is in the bible. God revealed it and it is therefore backed by the holy, perfect, changeless character of the God of the universe. Because of this, it is highly valuable and is the highest revelation of truth in existence. Praise God for the glorious gift of His word.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

II Peter 1:3 The Blessing of Knowing God Part II

On Saturday mornings when I was a child, there was a program that came on between cartoons called “School House Rock”. One of the lyrics in the theme song said something like “It’s great to learn ‘cause knowledge is power.” I believe Peter would agree with the people who wrote that. In fact in the first part of this verse, that “He [God] divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” The method God used in directing His divine power to give us these gifts was the “true knowledge of Him”. We observed how blessed we are that God chose to reveal Himself through us in His word and how that revelation gives us the power we need to live godly lives. However, that is not the only blessing that comes from knowing God. In fact, as we’ll see today, the blessing of knowing God extends to include everything involved in our salvation.

First of all, it is important for us to realize that God is sovereign regarding the offer of salvation. We are told throughout the bible that no person is seeking after God. For instance, as David writes in Psalm 53:1-3 “There is no one who does good.2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is anyone who understands , Who seeks after God.3 Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.” Therefore, God has to take the initiative in saving us. Peter says here that it is not man who seeks God, but rather it was God “who called us”. Peter, since he is talking to fellow Christians, is referring to the call to salvation. The bible teaches us quite a bit about this call and, more importantly, that this call is not heeded by everybody. In John 10:27, Jesus says “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” The fact is that if we respond to the gospel message and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit it is not due to our figuring things out or being more spiritually sensitive than other people. We respond because we are His sheep. We were the lost sheep who had wandered astray and, as a friend of mine has observed, lost sheep don’t go looking for shepherds.

Some people argue that teaching the sovereignty of God in salvation isn’t fair. Since God is in control of everything, how is it fair for Him to condemn anyone since it is His call that draws His sheep to Him. Why doesn’t He just elect everyone to salvation? However, that is the wrong question. The question that should arise in our minds is, “Since salvation is solely due to God’s initiative in spite of our rebellion and sinfulness, why does God save any of us?” Peter here gives us the answer. He called us, Peter says, by “His own glory and excellence”. The Lord’s “glory” (Greek-doxa 1391) is the expression of how wonderful and glorious He is. His glory never fades, never changes, and reveals Him to be the perfect, holy, righteous God who alone is worthy of our praise. The Greek word “doxa” not only refers to splendor or brightness but, as noted in Thayer’s Greek Dictionary, includes how others perceive Him. Certainly, those of us who have been called to salvation would say that we have found Him to be as good as His word. We praise Him and worship Him as our Savior and Lord. It is to His own glory, therefore, that He saves us. It also reveals His inner character. Peter says He called us by not only His glory but also His “excellence”. The word translated “excellence” is “arête” (703) and in Greek that word refers to moral excellence or virtue. God, in saving us, demonstrates the highest moral excellence. As Paul observes in Romans 3:25-26 “This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Therefore, He remained completely just in requiring punishment for sin. By doing so, He justified us who were sinners by punishing His Son on our behalf.

As we have seen in this verse, knowing God not only blesses us in this world because we know Him through His word but also we are blessed in eternity by having been called to salvation. Why did He save us? To demonstrate to everyone that He is worthy to be praised and holy beyond compare. Praise God for His sovereignty in salvation.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

II Peter 1:3 The Blessing of Knowing God

In 2003, I found out I was going to be a daddy. It was at the same time one of the happiest and scariest days of my life. I was excited at the prospect of being a father but also scared at the idea of having that much responsibility. I was working at the time for a call center doing technical support and I knew it was not a good enough job as far as pay and benefits. Therefore, I went back to school to study accounting. With the knowledge I gained, I was able to get a better job here in the Nashville area so that I could do a better job taking care of my family. The knowledge I gained improved my life. In a much more significant way the knowledge of God that I have acquired over the years since He graciously chose to call me to salvation has improved my life infinitely more. As we study this verse today, we will see that in contrast to false teaching and counterfeit knowledge, true knowledge of God is the greatest spiritual blessing we could receive.

I think it is important for us to notice that Peter writes in verse 3 that the spiritual blessings we are given come to us “…through the true knowledge of Him…” This “true knowledge” (Greek “epignosis” 1922) is not special, mystical knowledge that comes through human effort or contemplation as the false teachers who pestered these believers asserted. Rather, the knowledge that Peter refers to come as the result of God taking the initiative to reveal Himself to humans by the process of divine revelation. Peter says in the beginning of this verse that the source of our spiritual blessing from God is “His divine power”. The word divine translates the Greek word “theios” (2304) and it describes an attribute of God rather than His character in its essence or totality. In other words, we do not become little gods as some false teachers today proclaim. We become more like Jesus as we learn more and apply what we’ve learned but we are not going to ever be God. The source of His revelation was not only a revelation of His attributed but also a revelation of His supreme might. Peter uses a word “dunamis” (1411) which is translate here as “power”. The Greek word “dunamis” is the root word of dynamo, dynamite, and dynamic. It implies the ability to do something. God, in His power, reveled Himself to Moses who wrote the 1st five books of the Old Testament. Throughout the Bible, God took the initiative to reveal Himself to people until finally He revealed Himself in the perfect, Holy Scriptures. He revealed things that were going to happen before they happened. He comforted the hearts of the sorrowful. He proclaimed His holiness and the penalty for sin. He did all of this according to His “divine power” when He revealed Himself in Scripture. In fact, His divine power still works through scripture today as He continues to convict people of their sins and draw them to Himself.

Peter goes on to describe the scope of the blessing we have from God. He says that God’s divine power has given us “everything that pertains to life and godliness”. The Christian does not lack the resources needed to live a life pleasing to God. God has held nothing back. In the context in which Peter wrote this, we should remember that the false teachers were telling people that there was special or secret knowledge that they needed to really be godly. You could almost say it was the Bible plus other stuff. Peter is saying here that God’s revelation is complete and that a believer, having that revelation, does not posses an inferior or second class knowledge for which some sort of additional education is needed. Peter says that God has given all believers “everything” needed for “life and godliness”.

I once heard someone say that “When all else fails, read the instructions”. The Bible was not just given so that we could fill up bookshelves and blogs writing about it or so preachers would have something to do between rounds of golf. God revealed Himself in scripture so that you and I would know how to live. More importantly, as Peter write, we will know how to live a godly life. We see the holiness and righteousness of God. We read about the punishment for sin. We see the mistakes of men and women in scripture who failed to make God honoring choices as an example of what not to do. Finally, we see the times when people made choices that honored the Lord and we are encouraged to follow in their footsteps. Throughout the pages of scripture, we see practical admonition and examples, both positive and negative, that apply to our everyday life. As we read and study scripture, we see that we do truly have “everything pertaining to life and godliness”. We can praise God that He took the initiative to reveal Himself to us by “His divine power”.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

II Peter 1:2 A Prayer for Fellow Believers

As we noted previously, this epistle could very likely have been written to the same group of believers as I Peter. His primary purpose in that epistle was to encourage them as they faced persecution. This epistle seems to be directed more at strengthening the believers against false teachers and their false doctrine. Just as the Christians in that day dealt with heresy, we also see destructive doctrine creep into the church today. We have to constantly be on guard and study to show ourselves approved to God (2 Timothy 2:15). In his salutation to these fellow Christians, Peter gives us a reminder of the reliable source of truth. If we use that truth as the foundation of our convictions we can be sure that we have a solid foundation.

First, in verse two, Peter prays for them to receive spiritual blessings from God. Notice that in verse 2 he prays for “Grace and peace”. The word “grace” translates a Greek word “charis” (5485) which is used frequently through the epistles. Grace is the act of God giving us unmerited favor. Because of His mercy we don’t get what we in fact deserve. By His grace, we get what we don’t deserve. I led a Bible study Sunday night where we discussed the purpose of evil in the world. One of my friends, Ben, made an excellent point that we need to remember who we are in Christ and that anything good that we get is in spite of ourselves. Even as redeemed saints of God we are still sinners. If God were to have given us justice we would split hell wide open. The fact that He doesn’t give us justice demonstrates His mercy. However, He doesn’t leave us in the mire of our own sin. He cleanses us, redeems us, and adopts us into His family. We could never earn that. Through our own efforts, we would never be able to pull ourselves up by the boot straps and have “Our Best Life Now”. God gives us grace by electing us and calling us into a love relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus in spite of our inherent sinful nature and our willful disobedience.

This grace that God shows us is the bedrock for the second thing Peter prays for in this verse. He also prays for “peace” (Greek “eirene” [1515]). The literal meaning of this Greek word is “to join” or to make whole. Something is out of sorts and when it is mended there is “peace”. Jesus promised the disciples He would leave them a supernatural peace that was not the same as the peace offered by the world (John 14:27). The peace we have is rooted in the grace that God has shown us. If God saved us in spite of our sinfulness based solely on our faith in Jesus Christ and our repentance from our sins there is literally nothing in this world that we have to be afraid of. Prior to coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, we were enemies of God (Col 1:21). Now, through the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we have ‘peace”. This peace is permanent and is not dependent on our circumstances. It is not rooted in anything in this world but in fact is heavenly in origin.

Furthermore, observe with me that Peter prays for an abundance of the gift. His prayer is that this grace and peace would be “multiplied” to these believers. According to Robertson’s Word Pictures, this Greek verb (“plethuno”-[4129]) is in the first aortist passive opiative. In other words, this is Peter’s wish for the future and he is wishing that God would give this grace and peace to them. When you think about the purpose of this epistle, it kind of makes sense. He is writing to warn them about false teachers and their teaching. He would logically want to pray for God to provide His favor toward them as they stand against these false teachers and peace for them during that conflict. He doesn’t just pray for enough to get them through this period, he prays for an abundance.

Finally, Peter acknowledges the source of the gift. He says the grace and peace will be multiplies “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”. One form of heresy that was present in some form in the early church was Gnosticism. According to this false teaching, there was secret knowledge (gnosis) that one had to learn to achieve a religious experience or be saved. However, Peter here reminds these believers that the root of their unmerited favor from God and the peace they have from Him is rooted in their “knowledge” which translates a Greek word “epignosis’ (1922). The prefix “epi” intensifies the word so it would probably be better to understand it as meaning “full knowledge” or “complete knowledge”. In other words, there are no spiritual truths that exist apart from Jesus Christ. We have the full revelation of God through the Word made flesh just as we have the full revelation of Jesus Christ in the written Word of God. Peter makes the same point when he says that this knowledge is of “God”. Until we understand that there is a sovereign Creator who is holy, perfect, and glorious beyond compare and that there is none like Him we can’t really understand the depth of our sin. Peter says also that the knowledge that provides grace and peace is of “Jesus our Lord (kurios-2962)”. In Christ, we see not only God’s perfect holiness in punishing the sins of all believers on Calvary but also God’s mercy in that He now credits Christ’s righteousness to our account.

With a full knowledge of God and a full knowledge of Christ we certainly do have grace and peace. As we grow in our knowledge and become more conformed to the likeness of our Savior we will experience even more grace and peace. What a wonderful blessing.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.