2 Peter 1:3

2 Peter 1:3 ‘seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.'

‘seeing' -But the great mental hurdle faced by many Christians is that of doubt. Doubt in their own abilities, ‘I don't know if. can live the Christian life'. And especially, doubt in the Word of God, ‘I'm not sure if. can understand this book,. don't know if. can detect false teaching when. hear it'. One of the first things that Christians must become convinced of as they struggle against error, is that God has given them everything they need to win.

‘His divine power' -‘His' probably refers back to the last person mentioned, i.e. Jesus (2 Peter 1:2). ‘Divine'-THEOIS, ‘divine', from the word ‘theos', God. It is applied ‘to the godhead and everything that belongs to it' (Arndt p. 354). Hence we can have confidence in whatever God has given us, especially His Word. For it is the product of Divine Power. This verse reveals that Jesus is both very generous and also very powerful. His power cannot be frustrated. ‘In this human world one of the tragedies of life is that love is so often frustrated, because love cannot give what it wants to give…must so often stand helpless, while the loved one meets disaster.' (Barclay p. 350) But the power of Jesus hasn't been frustrated, He has actually given something to us.

‘has granted to us' -We actually have it right now!

‘everything' -Thus, let us hear no more about the Bible being an incomplete guide.

‘pertaining to life' -‘life real and genuine,. life active and vigorous, devoted to God' (Thayer p. 273) All that is necessary for true life and true religion. ‘Jesus Christ tells us what life is, and then enables us to live life, as life ought to be lived. He gives us the religion which is not withdrawal from life but which is triumphant involvement in life.' (Barclay p. 350) Notice that Jesus sets the standards for how to live. And His standard is not one which seeks to find the lowest common denominator (Matthew 5:20; Matthew 22:37).

‘godliness' -‘to be devout, denotes that piety, which, characterized by. God-ward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him.' (Vine p. 162) ‘of the duty which man owes to God, piety, godliness, religion' (Arndt p. 326). ‘the radical idea is worship rightly directed, right reverence' (Vincent p. 676)

Points to Note:

Every Christian has within their reach the resources to live. life which is pleasing to God. 2. ‘It is encouragement because it means that there is nothing extra to find out or gain access to what we have already obtained…The gospel is sufficient for us to meet God's requirements. If there is. major scientific, artistic, moral or philosophical question, or even. matter of personal decision-making, which the Bible does not address, then we have to assume that although it may be intriguing and important from. human perspective, it is irrelevant to the quest for. godly life. God has made his directions for life perfectly clear and sufficient…There will always be people who want to supplement the work of Christ with extra teaching, and convince us that we are living less than Christian lives, while their particular form of teaching is the ingredient missing from traditional Christianity. It takes different forms: Christ plus healing, Christ plus success, Christ plus prosperity…Simply by being Christians we have access to everything we need to live. life that pleases God. Those who want to add to that are false teachers. That sufficiency of Christ is good news. But the tremendous warning these words contain is that we have to face up to our accountability to him. We cannot blame God for not making us godly enough or not making his will clear enough, for we already have everything we need.. godly life is not something that only. few super-saints are destined to achieve…for Peter says it is well within the reach of the ordinary Christian. There is no point seeking. special secret of sanctification that will transform us into godly people in. faster way than ordinary Christian obedience…The Christian who is not godly has only one person to blame.' (Lucas/Green p. 48)

‘through the true knowledge of Him' -‘Through'-‘by means of, as the medium of attachment' (Alford p. 1672). ‘True Knowledge'-The same as the full knowledge mentioned in 2 Peter 1:2. (John 17:3; John 8:32). This true knowledge is found in God's revelation (John 17:17), the Bible. 1. Everything which pertains to life and godliness is found in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16). 2. The ‘true knowledge' isn't found in some ‘experience' or mystical encounter.

‘who called us' -Through the gospel message (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

‘His own glory and virtue' -‘by. glorious manifestation of His goodness' (TCNT). ‘Jesus calls men by His moral excellence..and the total impact of His Person.' (Green p. 63) ‘The selflessness of Jesus Christ in leaving heaven, becoming. servant, and taking the fashion of. man demonstrate and reveal his moral excellence, as does his sinless life on earth. He loved men even when they were sinners and gave himself for them (Romans 5:8).' (Hamilton p. 24) God's glory is seen in the fact that He wanted mankind to be saved. Behind the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and spreading of the gospel, lie God's glorious nature, which includes His love, mercy, patience, kindness, justice, impartiality, self-sacrifice and so on.

In contrast, the false teachers then and now have always found the Bible to be. burden rather than. great resource. Listen to the following comments: ‘They had started to argue that Christian theology and morality should develop and grow over time, and that it should lose some of what they might have called its primitive judgmentalism. Peter is firm in reply. No, he says, the Jesus who will return to judge will measure us by the standards he has left us and which he has equipped us to fulfill.' (Lucas/Green p. 50)

1 Peter 1:4 ‘For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.'

‘For by these' -i.e. through His glory and virtue.

‘granted to us His precious and magnificent promises' -‘Precious'-a great worth or value. ‘Magnificent'-‘of great moment, important' (Thayer p. 395) ‘Through his might and splendor he has given us his promises, great beyond all price.' (NEB)

Points to Note:

The false teachers were promising an illusion (2 Peter 2:19). Everyone promises something. But Jesus actually promises something real and lasting. His great promises include the promise of eternal life, forgiveness, adoption in the family of God, fellowship with God, and so on. These promises would especially be great for Gentiles, for they had been excluded from God's promises in the past (Ephesians 2:11). See (Galatians 3:29; Titus 1:2; James 1:12).

‘in order that by them' -through these promises or through the fulfillment of these promises. Many of these promises (such as forgiveness of sins, fellowship with God, being. child of God) had to be fulfilled before we could become partakers of the divine nature. In addition, these promises also give us the incentive to serve God.

‘partakers' -‘sharer' (Thayer p. 352); ‘one who takes part in something, companion' (Arndt p. 439)

‘of the divine nature' -‘participate in the divine nature' (TCNT). The word ‘nature' includes the idea of ‘disposition'.

Points to Note:

What. breathtaking statement! It doesn't mean that we will be God. Rather, all the qualities listed in the following verses (2 Peter 1:5-8), compose the divine nature. The disposition or attitude that Christians are to assume, is. disposition patterned after God. (Luke 6:36; Matthew 5:48; John 13:14; John 13:34; John 17:21; Ephesians 4:33; 2 Peter 5:25; Colossians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Peter 2:21). 2. Wow! Consider the potential within every one of us. We don't have to be weighed down by lusts, bitterness, bad attitudes, etc…We can reflect the glory of God with our lives and our attitudes.. can think properly.. can behave in. way that brings honor to God.. can live an unselfish life. 3. The new man that the Christian is to become is really nothing more than man as God intended (Ephesians 4:24). 4. As. Christian we can become what God originally wanted man to be. 5. Only in Jesus Christ can. person ever reach their true human potential for goodness. 6. Notice the honestly of the Bible. The Christian isn't absorbed into Deity, and neither is the Christian inherently. divine person. Rather, man has potential for evil and good. God is giving you the chance to reach your potential for goodness-will you accept that offer?

‘having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust' -1. Don't underestimate the influence of the world! (1 John 2:15) 2. ‘Corruption'-the moral and ethical decay. ‘World'-society which is alienated from God. 3. ‘by lust'-the desire for what is forbidden. Selfish desire can take what is good and wholesome and turn it into something which is rotten (Galatians 5:19). See also Romans 1:24; Ephesians 4:22; 1 Timothy 6:9; Titus 3:3; 1 Peter 2:12.

Points to Note:

Trying to fix the problems of the world, trying to make this life an utopia, is. feat destined for failure. Trying to reform the institutions of society without converting the people in those institutions is. vain task. 2. Pollution and over-population have never been the most serious problems of any society. Rather, greed, lust, selfishness, etc…are the root problems. 3. This statement is also directed against the false teachers who tried to downplay sin (2 Peter 2:19). ‘Sin but gives to this amazing grace fresh opportunities to operate and to abound. But for any man to speak like that is simply to show that…. He wants to sin.' (Barclay p. 351) 4. ‘God does not call us to seek him on. higher, non-material plane by out-of-the-body experiences, transcendental meditation or visions, shaking off the supposed limitations of our bodies..Peter calls Christians to live out the new relationship with Jesus Christ in practical obedience today…We do not pretend to be perfect, which would make his promises unnecessary; or say that we do not need to be perfect, and so make his promises cheap and tawdry. Instead, we can say that we will be perfect, and that makes them very great.' (Lucas/Green pp. 53-54)

Carefully note that we will never become gods. We were created by God (Genesis 1:26) and will always be. created being. We will never reach. point at which we are independent of God. We fell, not from some god-status in heaven, but from. position of full humanity on earth. Our enemy is not this physical world or our physical bodies, rather, our enemy is sin/selfishness. The material world isn't evil, rather, selfish attitudes and selfish actions are. The answer, is not. mystical escape from this physical world, but rather. determination to live for God and not for ourselves. We should be able to see the futility of such things as transcendental meditation or other supposed mental and intellectual ways of escape. Sin starts in the MIND FIRST! (Mark 7:20)

The Productive Christian: