Part 1 - 2 Peter 1
Christ gave Simon the name of Peter. Peter means "rock". Apostle means "ambassador".
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Let's take the second part of verse 1 and pair it with Paul's quote in Romans 12: 1. "that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me."
As we can see from just these two statements alone, it is important for us to have the same faith and to encourage one another in that faith.
2: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
Peter also instructs us in 2 Peter 3:18 to grow in the knowledge of our Lord. "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."
People want automatic faith, grace and blessings without doing their part in getting to know Christ on a personal level. Faith comes with the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God comes with Bible study and prayer. He has given us these two ways to access true faith and to grow in it. We should seek His face to know Him better. Salvation is a free gift, but it requires some work on the part of the Christian to build, strengthen and maintain our faith.
It is vital to keep aware of what and whom you place your faith in. It is important to check what any man says to the one true authority, the Word of God. We are responsible in preventing ourselves from being deceived. Make sure that you pray for discernment and read the Word so that false teaching will not lead you astray; causing you to doubt and lose true faith. We should protect the knowledge of God which is revealed to us through the Holy Spirit.
3:as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
We alone do not "naturally" possess the resources to accomplish godly lives, God gives us the knowledge and power to live accordingly. We need the Holy Spirit to rule our flesh; therefore allowing us to grow in our knowledge of the Lord.
Jesus quoted in John 3:6, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
He goes on to say in John 14:17-23. "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves me will be loved by My Father. And I will love him and manifest myself to Him. Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."
Jesus wasn't paying lip service when He said He would come to us. He ascended to heaven, but He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside each believer. Since we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, this means Christ lives within us. If Christ lives within us, then we have the power we need to make positive changes and spiritually mature as we should.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
We were chosen by Him. We have worth because of what He does in our lives, not because of who or what we are. To allow Him to work in our lives to bring us all that He's promised us, then we must have knowledge of Him. As we see in the passage above in red, the Spirit is available to those of us who receive Him.
It is through knowledge of Him that we share in His divine nature and promises. 1 Corinthians 5:21 says, For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God through Him. His knowledge contains His goodness. At salvation we received His righteousness for giving Him our sin. It is up to us to take the steps to increase and maintain our faith.
We are advised in the following two Scriptures to put off the things of the world and of our flesh.
2 Corinthians 7:1 says, Therefore, having the promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
There are two parts to cleansing. Turning AWAY from sin and turning TO God. "Perfecting holiness" means to become mature and/or complete. We strive for this through studying His Word and praying. We must work at maturing our faith.
5: But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
Faith is more than just believing in certain facts that are presented to us. True faith results in action, growth in godly and moral character.
We receive these things from God's Word and acting on it.
Look at Colossians 2:3, in Him (Christ) who are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To know Christ, one must read of Him and put into practice what He says.
6: to knowledge self-control, to self-control perserverance, to perserverance godliness,
These are vitally important to the Christian character and must be exercised. Sin separates us from God's presence and if we never exercise self-control, for example, it can hinder our relationship with Him.
1 Corinthians 9:25, And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an unperishable crown.
Temperance is self-control and we see that mentioned again in this verse. Clearly, self-control is important. Many people are mislead by teachers/speakers promoting self-awareness and self-doctrines that lead only to temporary solutions and "perishable crowns" (earthly rewards that won't last.) Christians should strive for eternal rewards.
Galatians 5:22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
7: to godliness brotherly kindess, and to brotherly kindness love.
John 13:34-34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Romans 12:10, Be kindly affectionate to one another in brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
1 Peter 1:22, Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another ferverntly with a pure heart,
As is clear from the above Scriptures, truly loving one another does not come naturally for us. We are commanded to love one another in brotherly love and in kindness. We are not doing this if we are hurting one another through deceptions, bickering and complaining about one another. It can be hard when other believers come against us, but we still seek to forgive them and love them. We pray for God to handle and make right the situation. If a Christian has true love in their heart, such a one should make a practice of apologizing to others whom they have hurt. We should not use our hurts and selfish wants and needs to keep us from doing what is right. Love is unselfishness and unselfishness is putting others before ourselves and our wants, and doing it without complaint.
John 15:2, "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."
Colossians 1:10, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
9: For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Our faith must become a part of all we do. Our faith is visible through living as we are instructed by His Word. Are there fleshly things or even sins in which we need to rid ourselves of? For example; anger, selfishness, pride, hatefulness, deception, lust, idolatry of anything or anyone over God, the love of money, etc. The more of these things we hold on to, the harder it is for us to love everyone with a pure and sincere love.
James 2:14-17 (NLT), What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith, but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"-but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So, you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
The NLT commentary says it this way: "Our faith must go beyond what we believe; it must become a dynamic part in all we do, resulting in good fruit and spiritual maturity. Salvation does not depend on good deeds, but it results in good deeds. A person who claims to be saved while remaining unchanged does not understand faith or what God has done for him or her." ('Emphasis mine)
10: Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
Peter is challenging believers to do what is right and to strive to live in those qualities listed above. If we keep striving to become what the Word teaches us and not what false teachers would have us to believe, then we will please the Lord and He will keep us from stumbling. Some things do take longer to overcome than others, but if you are sincere in heart and trying, God will deliver you through the power Holy Spirit working through prayer and His Word. It is those things which we hold on to, those selfish things that keep us bound by them, that cause us to stumble.
Romans 8:28, And know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Jude 1:24, Now to Him that is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
11: for so an entrace will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 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. 13: Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14: knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
John 13:36, Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."
John 21:18-19, "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
2 Corinthians5:1, 4, For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
We should continually be refreshed on the basics of why we believe. Don't ever let the importance of the basics of Christianity elude you, even when you go to deeper levels of studying.
16: 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. 17: 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." 18: And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Matthew 17:1-6, Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one of You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Here Him!" And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.
Mark 13:26 "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the coulds with great power and glory."
19: 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;
Psalm 119:105, Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
2 Corinthians 4:6, For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:16, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."
20: knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21: for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:13, These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
Final Word: Be aware of false prophets and teachers. God's word is authoritive and whatever is taught should be supported by Scripture. Be rooted and grounded in His Word, in unity and faith so that you are not led astray by unsound doctrines and false teachings.
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