2 Peter 1:1-4 - “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of
Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by
the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be
multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 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. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent
promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
We spent this past week learning about who God is that we should serve Him. Here in these first four verses of 2 Peter we see several things about Him.
First, He grants us faith. Peter is writing this letter to "those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours". (also called "the faith") The five of us have each received this faith. But in order for us to have had received it, it had to first be offered.
He is righteous, but He is also a Savior. (Isaiah 45:21 "There is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior." Zechariah 9:9 "He is just and endowed with salvation."
We talked about that this week. How He is able to judge righteously, or justly, and also grant us mercy and forgive us of our sins because He already paid the penalty for them. And for that reason He is able to grant us salvation.
A few times in these verses he talks about the "knowledge of God". And as we know, this doesn't simply mean knowing some things about God, but rather having a relationship with Him. And through this "true knowledge" (relationship) He has, by His divine power (He is all powerful) granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Christ has granted every believer everything they need pertaining to eternal life. What He did is sufficient.
And He's granted all things pertaining to godliness. He called us out from the world. He called us to be separate (2 Cor 6:17) and He has given us the ability to be separate, to live godly on the earth.
He called us by His own glory and excellence. We were created for Him (Col 1:16) and now our calling will result in His ultimate glorification and excellence.
Now, because of all this, because of who He is and what He has done and because of our response, He has granted us promises that allow us to partake of His divine nature. He has actually given to us His own life. He has given us eternal life. Not only everlasting, which has no end, but eternal, which has no beginning either. God has given us these precious and magnificent promises because He offered us the way of escape, and we choose to accept.
We spent this past week learning about who God is that we should serve Him. Here in these first four verses of 2 Peter we see several things about Him.
First, He grants us faith. Peter is writing this letter to "those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours". (also called "the faith") The five of us have each received this faith. But in order for us to have had received it, it had to first be offered.
He is righteous, but He is also a Savior. (Isaiah 45:21 "There is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior." Zechariah 9:9 "He is just and endowed with salvation."
We talked about that this week. How He is able to judge righteously, or justly, and also grant us mercy and forgive us of our sins because He already paid the penalty for them. And for that reason He is able to grant us salvation.
A few times in these verses he talks about the "knowledge of God". And as we know, this doesn't simply mean knowing some things about God, but rather having a relationship with Him. And through this "true knowledge" (relationship) He has, by His divine power (He is all powerful) granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Christ has granted every believer everything they need pertaining to eternal life. What He did is sufficient.
And He's granted all things pertaining to godliness. He called us out from the world. He called us to be separate (2 Cor 6:17) and He has given us the ability to be separate, to live godly on the earth.
He called us by His own glory and excellence. We were created for Him (Col 1:16) and now our calling will result in His ultimate glorification and excellence.
Now, because of all this, because of who He is and what He has done and because of our response, He has granted us promises that allow us to partake of His divine nature. He has actually given to us His own life. He has given us eternal life. Not only everlasting, which has no end, but eternal, which has no beginning either. God has given us these precious and magnificent promises because He offered us the way of escape, and we choose to accept.
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