An encouragement to know God and what He has done for us.
1. (1) Introducing a letter from Peter, to believers.
Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Simon was his given name at birth; Peter was the special name given to him by Jesus, to call this man to “rock-like” thinking and behavior.
This occurs in John 1:42. Jesus gave Simon the name “Cephas,” meaning “stone” (John 1:42) which is translated as “Petros” in Greek, and “Peter” in English.
When Paul says that he is a bond-servant of God, he is saying that he is willingly self-committed to permanent service of the Lord
Peter wrote to those who had the same salvation he had experienced, which he called “a like precious faith.” This faith was obtained, and not by the efforts of man but by the righteousness of our God.
2 Peter 1:2-4King James Version
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Grace and peace are two of the most precious of gifts we have from God!
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness: However, not only grace and peace – but also all things that pertain to life are ours through the knowledge of Him. Knowing God is the key to all things that pertain to life.
We will trust in the schemes and plans of men instead of the knowledge of Him. We will try knowing ourselves instead of the knowledge of Him. We need to come to the same place the Apostle Paul did, when he said that I may know Him (Philippians 3:10).
– that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
We come to knowledge of Him as we learn of Him through His Word, through prayer, and through the community of God’s people. This knowledge of God comes to those who are called. It is the knowledge that comes by experience – the experience God’s people have of God Himself.
God’s promises are both exceedingly great and they are precious, in the sense of being valuable.
Psalm 138:2 reminds us that God honors His word even above His name. We never have to doubt any promise of God. Instead we should let God be true but every man a liar (Romans 3:4).
That through these you may be partakers of the divine nature: This explains the value of these great and precious promises. Through these promises, we are partakers of the divine nature. Peter’s idea is similar to Paul’s idea of our glorious status as adopted sons and daughters of God (Galatians 4:5-7).
This is a remarkably generous and loving of God. He could rescue us from hell without even inviting us to be partakers of the divine nature. It shows how deeply God loves us and wants to share His life – indeed, even the divine nature – with His people.
2 Peter 2:5-7King James Version
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
We are partakers of the divine nature, but once we are made spiritual sons and daughters, growth in the Christian life doesn’t just happen to us. We are supposed to give all diligence to our walk with the Lord.
According to these Scriptures God wants us to have a well-rounded Christian life, complete in every fashion. We can’t be content with an incomplete Christian life.
We are called to give all diligence to these things, working in partnership with God to add them.
4. (8-9) How to use these qualities to measure our Christian walk.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Some may feel good that these qualities are seen in us from time to time. But Peter says they should abound in us.
He who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness: If we lack these things, it shows we have “eye trouble.” We are shortsighted, unable to see God, only ourselves. This makes us virtually blind, showing we have forgotten that we were cleansed from his old sins.
Perhaps this one has forgotten how bad he was, and how much he needed this cleansing. Perhaps this one has forgotten the great cost of this purging of sin’s dirty stain. Perhaps this one has forgotten how great and complete the cleansing is, making a once guilty sinner now as pure and as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).
Verses 10 & 11 NIV
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure: This shows how we can be sure that God called us, and that we are His elect. It is by doing these things spoken of in 2 Peter 1:5-7 (faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love). As we see these things in our life, we know that our lives are becoming more like the nature of Jesus. It shows that we are being conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).
– For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to beconformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
It is possible for an unsaved person to do many moral and religious duties. But the “these things” Peter wrote of are matters of the heart, and should be evident in all have been born again. Simply said, if we are called, if we are elect, then we are born again – and if we are born again, it shows in the way that we live.
For if you do these things you will never stumble: In pursuing these things we keep from stumbling. Continual growth and progress in the Christian life is the sure way to keep from stumbling.
The need to be reminded.
1. (12) Peter explains why he writes about things they have heard before – the basics of Christian living.
12 “For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.”
For this reason: Peter just wrote about the promise of entrance into the everlasting kingdom of God (2 Peter 1:11). Because coming to that kingdom is so important, it is helpful and necessary for Peter to remind you always of the basics of the Christian life.
b. I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know: Even though his readers did knowthe truth, in light of what was at stake – their eternal destiny – it was worth it to go over these ideas again and again.
For example, sports team going for the championship will practice the same fundamentals over and over again. They do this, even though they know the techniques, because they want the victory. For this reason, Christians should never get tired hearing the basics of the Christian life. We should rejoice every time Jesus Christ and His gospel and plan for our lives is preached.
Established in the present truth: Established is the same word translated strengthen in Luke 22:32, when Jesus told Peter “when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Here, Peter fulfilled that command of Jesus. He would establish and strengthen us by reminding us of the basics of the Christian life.
Luk 22:32 NKJV – 32 “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to [Me], strengthen your brethren.”
2 Peter 1:13-14King James Version
13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
I think it is right: Because of what is at stake, Peter knew it was right to remind people constantly, especially because he knew that the days of his earthly life were soon coming to an end. Therefore, we also should repeat our studies of the Scriptures.
Shortly I must put off my tent: Peter considered his body no more than a tent. A tent is a temporary place to live. Tents should be taken care of, but you wouldn’t invest large resources into fixing up a tent. You save your real resources for a more permanent place to live. Our more permanent place to live is heaven, and we should invest more in heaven than in our tent – our physical body.
How did Peter know that shortly I must put off my tent? Perhaps it was because Peter was simply getting old. Perhaps it was because the flames of persecution were getting hotter around him. Church history tells us that Peter did die a martyr, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed him (John 21:18-19).
John 21:18-19New International Version
18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
This shows that Peter believed that the prophetic words of Jesus were to be fulfilled literally. Jesus showedPeter that he would die a martyr, and he believed it – even if he might have wished it were only symbolic.
3. (15) Peter prepares for the future.
Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.
a. I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder: Peter put this reminder in a letter, so the people of God would have a constant reminder even after his departure.
b. After my decease: Peter seemed aware of the significance of the passing of the apostles and the need to preserve the authoritative teaching of the apostles and prophets. The written teaching of the apostles and their associates, is the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20) preserved by God for all generations.
Ephesians 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
16-17 “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”
Peter solemnly declared that the testimony of the apostles – testimony they endured torture and gave their lives for – was not based on clever fables or even half truths, but on eyewitness testimony; that they were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Eyewitnesses of His majesty: When did Peter eyewitness the majesty of Jesus? There were many occasions, but one probably stuck out in his mind: the transfiguration of Jesus, recorded in Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:1-9, and Luke 9:28-36. We know this because Peter quoted here what God the Father said to Jesus at the Transfiguration: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
i. At the transfiguration, Jesus was transformed in glory before the apostles, not merely changed in outward appearance. The effect was extremely striking; Jesus became so bright in appearance that it was hard to look at Jesus. He shined like the sun (Matthew 17:2).
– and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
c. This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: At the transfiguration the Father spoke from heaven to declare His approval of and joy in God the Son. As Peter wrote this, we sense the words were still ringing in his ears because at the transfiguration he made the mistake of making Jesus equal with Moses and Elijah, who appeared along with Him.
And we heard this voice which came from heaven: It was awesome for Peter and the disciples to see the transfigured, glorified Jesus. It was awesome for them to hear this voice … from heaven. Yet the experience itself did not transform their lives. Only being born again by the Spirit of God did that, giving them boldness beyond measure. The transfiguration was awesome, but it was a passing experience until they were born again.
2. (19) The evidence of fulfilled prophecy.
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
Peter’s experience at the transfiguration was amazing. But the testimony of God’s word about Jesus was even more sure than Peter’s personal experience. The fulfillment of the prophetic word confirmed is a certain, reliable testimony of the truth of the Scriptures.
The phrase: As a light that shines in a dark place: is prophetic and confirmed, and that it is as a light that shines in a dark place, something we should cling to until the day dawns and Jesus returns.
3. (20-21) Principles for prophetic assurance.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
No prophecy of Scripture is of any privateI’m interpretation: Even in Peter’s day enemies of Jesus twisted Old Testament prophecies, giving them personal and bizarre meanings attempting to exclude Jesus from their fulfillment. But Peter says that prophecy is not of any private interpretation; its meaning is evident and can be confirmed by others.
Prophecy never came by the will of man: It is wrong and invalid to twist prophecy to our own personal meaning, because prophecy does not come from man but from God. It does come through holy men of God– but only as they are moved by the Holy Spirit.
c. As they were moved by the Holy Spirit: the ancient Greek word translated “moved” has the sense of carried along, as a ship being carried along by the wind or the current (the same word is used of a ship in Acts 27:15, 17). It is as if the writers of Scripture “raised their sails” in cooperation with God and the Holy Spirit carried them along in the direction He wished.
