2 Peter 1:3-10

(2 Peter 1:3-10)

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:  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.  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  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. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

 

If I Peter covered the content of comfort and encouragement for external hardships and trials, II Peter emphasizes spiritual maturity to the Saints with warnings of false teachers (heretics) who have infiltrated the Church. Not to mention the early days of the writing of II Peter, after which chaos was caused by heresy ideas such as Gnosticism and Montanism, and proper knowledge of faith was needed to protect the church members from heresy. In Chapter 1, Section 2

 

『Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 』 The Greek word "epignosis", expressed as knowing, is a word for clear knowledge and recognition, not "general knowledge or simply knowledge of God," but "knowing God clearly." Thus, epignosis means knowledge derived through deep personal communication with God. That knowledge is that Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem all humans. So, those who are united with Jesus Christ have real life. This is true knowledge.

 

『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: 』 Through epignosis we learn that the Lord has given us everything that belongs to life and godliness, a precious and extremely great promise: the new life and the Second Coming of Christ, the new heaven and earth, and the eternal kingdom of Christ. The reason God has given us this precious and extremely great promise is to transform us from the desire to rot in the world to lust for "participants in the divine nature."

 

Only those whose image of God has been restored can acquire divine character. The image of God is the restoration of the spirit that died in Christ. Only those wearing the spirit body are possible. To wear the spirit body, you must take off the fresh body. You can't get the character of God while having a fresh body. The body of the spirit is not a change of mind, but a change of body. So, the saint's status changes. It changes from the people of the world to the people of the kingdom of God.. Peter told the Saints, ``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. And he said, "Strengthen your calling and choosing more strongly."

 

More specifically, in order for Christians to produce proper fruit, Peter was pushed: 『And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 』. He is telling people to do more based on God-given faith. This addition is not based on self, but on the basis of "I die every day."

 

『Virtue』means the virtue of Christ, and in Christ, it is to make the fragrance of Christ appear to people. Knowledge means the wisdom necessary to live God's will. Temperance, as opposed to physical desire and sexual abuse, points to the disorderly life of false teachers at the time. Patience means trusting God and enduring hardship and evil, hoping that God's promises will be fulfilled. Godliness means living in daily life according to God's will and denying self. Brotherhood is not just a family relationship, it is a fellowship of one brother or sister in the faith. The virtues for fruiting worthy fruit as mature Christians, or Christians, bear fruit with love based on faith.

 

The believer's faith is not through the believer. Faith from God comes to those who repent. It is entirely due to God's grace. God seeks to repent. There is no qualification, but God has pity on those who repent and calls them as children. It is only because the Saints deny themselves and carry the cross with Jesus. So, God gives this kind of grace to the repentant. The saint is the one who will rot away with lust before repentance, but because of repentance, God chose and called the saints, gave them all things that belong to life and godliness, qualified to participate in divine nature, and promised the eternal kingdom of Christ . The reason God chose and called the saints in this way is because he realizes why the saints are in this world, and wants to repent and return to the kingdom of God.