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We have seen that, in the progressing stage of God’s full salvation, the stage of transformation, the believers experience and enjoy the processed Triune God in His triune dispensing, they experience God’s redemption continuously, and they enjoy the dispensing of the divine Trinity in the divine transformation for the divine conformation. With this message we shall begin to consider the believers’ experiencing the dispensing of the divine Trinity corporately.
In the New Testament the kingdom goes with God’s salvation, and God’s salvation goes with the kingdom. However, we may pay attention to God’s salvation but not to the kingdom, regarding the kingdom as something strictly in the future. But the kingdom is related to our present salvation, for it is a part of God’s salvation. If we have not been saved, we cannot be in the kingdom. Likewise, if we have not entered into the kingdom, we have not been saved.
According to our natural, religious concept, repentance and regeneration are for us to receive salvation. But according to the New Testament, repentance and regeneration are mainly for us to enter into the kingdom of God. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, preached repentance for the kingdom. He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). At the beginning of His ministry, the Lord Jesus also charged people to repent because the kingdom of the heavens had drawn near (Matt. 4:17). John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus did not say, “Repent, for salvation is here.” Rather, they said, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” Furthermore, to Nicodemus the Lord Jesus said, “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). If we believe in the Lord, we shall be born again, and by being born again we shall enter into the kingdom of God. In John 3 the kingdom was already present, and every regenerated believer in Christ could enter into it. The New Testament indicates that repentance and regeneration through believing in the Lord are not first for salvation but for the kingdom. Nevertheless, as we have pointed out, God’s salvation and the kingdom are interrelated.
The kingdom is related both to the present and to the future. However, some Bible teachers say that the kingdom is a matter only of the coming age. They teach that Christ came with the kingdom and presented it to the Jewish people. Then these teachers go on to say that because the Jews rejected the kingdom, it has been suspended and postponed. According to these teachers, the present age is not the kingdom age but the church age. They completely separate the kingdom from the church. But the New Testament indicates that where salvation is, there the kingdom is. The New Testament also reveals that where the church is, there the kingdom is also. For instance, Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Because the context here deals with the church life in the present age, this verse is a strong proof that the church in this age is the kingdom of God. Furthermore, in Revelation 1:9 John says, “I John, your brother and joint partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus.” Here we see that John and the other believers were in the kingdom already for the exercise in tribulation and endurance. From these verses we see that the kingdom is present today. The kingdom is here with God’s salvation and with the church.
As believers, we have been regenerated into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). This means that our regeneration was the entrance into God’s kingdom. To be regenerated, therefore, is to enter into the kingdom of God. We have repented, we have believed in the Lord Jesus, and we have been regenerated into the kingdom. All believers in Christ have entered the kingdom of God by being regenerated into it.
In John 3:3 the Lord Jesus says, “Unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In verse 5 He goes on to say, “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” These words are a clear revelation that regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God. In order to enter into the kingdom of God, we need to be born again. There is no other way for us to enter into the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm which requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. Hence, for us to see or enter the kingdom of God requires regeneration with the divine life.
A kingdom is always related to life. The vegetable kingdom is related to the vegetable life, and the animal kingdom is related to the animal life. In order to share in a certain kingdom, we first need the life of that kingdom. If we did not have human life, we could not enter the human kingdom. Only human beings can participate in the human kingdom because only they have a human life. Likewise, if we did not have the divine life, the life of God, we could not enter the kingdom of God. Without the life of God we cannot share the kingdom of God. If we are to enter the divine kingdom, we must have the divine life. Because through regeneration we receive the divine life, the life of God, regeneration is the entrance into the kingdom.
The kingdom of God is not only the reign of God but also the divine realm or sphere. In order to participate in the reign of God and to be in the divine realm, we need the divine life. Only those who have the divine life can be in the divine realm and share the divine kingdom. Thus, we need to be regenerated that we may have the divine life, the life which enables us to enter into the divine realm and participate in the divine kingdom. No matter how good, clean, and pure our human life may be, it is not able to realize the things of the divine realm, and it is not qualified to enter into the divine kingdom. Only the divine life is qualified to be in the divine realm.
We were all born into the human kingdom. No one has ever been naturalized into the kingdom of man. The principle is the same with the kingdom of God. The divine life brings us into the kingdom of God. This is the reason the Lord Jesus says that we must be born into the kingdom of God. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God by learning or by being naturalized. We enter the kingdom of God only by regeneration.
When we were regenerated, we were transferred into the kingdom of God. Colossians 1:13 tells us that God has “delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” We were transferred into God’s kingdom by being regenerated, and now we are in the kingdom of God. When we believed in the Lord Jesus and called on His name, the divine Spirit came into us, regenerated us, and caused us to be born into the kingdom of God.
After we have entered into the kingdom of God through regeneration, we need to go on to have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:5-11). On the one hand, we have entered the kingdom; on the other hand, we still need a rich entrance. We may use the birth of a child into a family as an illustration. By birth a child enters his family. Nevertheless, the child needs to grow and develop unto maturity in order to enter into the family in a full way. Birth is the initial entry into the family, but growth, development, and maturity produces a rich entry. The principle is the same with entering into the kingdom of God. The initial entry into the kingdom is regeneration, but the rich entrance is by our experiencing the full development of the divine life, a development revealed in 2 Peter 1:5-11.
Second Peter 1:11 says, “For so shall be richly and bountifully supplied to you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The bountiful supply we enjoy in the development of the divine life and nature will bountifully supply us a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord. It will enable and qualify us to enter into the coming kingdom with all the riches of the divine life and nature as our excellent virtues unto the splendid glory of God.
The eternal kingdom in 2 Peter 1:11 refers to the kingdom of God given to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Dan. 7:13-14), which will be manifested at His coming back (Luke 19:11-12). It will be a reward to His faithful believers, who pursue the growth in His life unto maturity and the development of the virtues of His nature, so that they may participate, in the millennium, in His kingship in God’s glory (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6). To enter thus into the eternal kingdom of the Lord is related to the entrance into God’s eternal glory, to which He has called us in Christ.
We may have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord because we have received of God’s divine power all things relating to life and godliness. Second Peter 1:3 says, “As His divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness.” In this verse the word “divine” denotes the eternal, unlimited, and almighty divinity of God. Hence, divine power is the power of the divine life related to the divine nature. The word “granted” here means imparted, infused, planted. All things which relate to life and godliness have been imparted to us, infused into us, by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit who has regenerated us and who indwells us (2 Cor. 3:6, 17; John 3:6; Rom. 8:11). The divine power has afforded us all things pertaining to the growth in life.
All things relating to life and godliness are the various aspects of the divine life typified by the riches of the produce of the good land in the Old Testament. These are the substance of our faith’s substantiation allotted to us by God (2 Pet. 1:1) as our portion for our inheritance. Life is within for us to live, and godliness is without as the outward expression of the inward life. Life is the inward energy, the inward strength, to bring forth the outward godliness, which leads to glory and results in glory.
The believers’ having a rich entrance into the Lord’s eternal kingdom is also related to their having received precious and exceedingly great promises for them to partake of, to enjoy, the divine nature. Second Peter 1:4a says that God “has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises, that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature.” According to this verse, God has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises for a specific purpose. This purpose is that through the promises we become partakers of the divine nature. Through the precious and exceedingly great promises, we, the believers in Christ, become partakers of His divine nature in an organic union with Him. To partake of the divine nature is to enjoy what God is. In order that we may enjoy all that He is, God will do many things for us according to His promises. This will enable us to enjoy His nature, what He is.
To be a partaker of the divine nature is to be a partaker of the elements, the ingredients, of God’s being. The divine nature refers to the riches of what God is. Whatever God is, is in His nature. Therefore, when we partake of the divine nature, we partake of the divine riches. Having received the divine life through regeneration, we must go on to enjoy what God is. When we partake of God, the aspects of what He is become our enjoyment. For example, we partake of His righteousness, holiness, kindness, love, compassion. This is to enjoy the constituents of the divine nature. God’s purpose in giving us the precious and exceedingly great promises is that we may become partakers of the divine nature.
As believers in Christ, we have the position, the ability, and the provision to become partakers of the divine nature. As we enjoy God’s nature, a part of this nature becomes our holiness, and other parts become our humility, love, kindness, and other virtues. Eventually these excellent virtues will consummate in glory.
In 2 Peter 1:5-11 we have the development of excellent virtues through the enjoyment of the divine nature for a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Second Peter 1:5 says, “And for this very reason also, adding all diligence, supply bountifully in your faith virtue, and in virtue knowledge.” The Greek word rendered “adding” literally means “bringing in besides.” Besides, along with, the precious and exceedingly great promises given to us by God, we should bring in all diligence to cooperate with the enabling of the dynamic divine nature for a rich entrance into the Lord’s kingdom through God’s fulfillment of His promises.
In verse 5 Peter urges us to supply bountifully in our faith virtue. What the divine power has given us in verses 3 and 4 is developed in verses 5 through 7. To supply virtue in faith is to develop virtue in the exercise of faith. The same principle applies to all the other items. The word “supply” in verse 5 actually means develop. Peter is telling us to develop what we already have. We have faith, and now in our faith we need to develop virtue.
The faith Peter mentions in 1:5 is the like precious faith allotted to us by God (v. 1) as the common portion of the New Testament blessing of life for the initiation of the Christian life. This faith needs to be exercised that the virtue of the divine life may be developed to reach its maturity.
Faith in 2 Peter 1 may be compared to a seed. In chapter one of 1 Peter the seed is the word with Christ in it as life. Here in 2 Peter 1 this seed becomes our faith, which is the like precious faith. This faith is one with Christ as the seed.
After a seed has been sown in the soil, it needs to be developed. The principle is the same with the development of the seed of faith. In our faith we need to develop virtue. Literally, the Greek word for virtue means excellency; it denotes the energy of the divine life issuing in vigorous action. If faith is regarded as a seed, virtue may be considered a root that comes out of this seed.
The virtue in verse 5 refers to that mentioned in verse 3, where Peter speaks of the One who has “called us to His own glory and virtue.” Furthermore, this virtue is related to the divine nature, which denotes the riches of what God is. The virtue in verses 3 and 5 is the issue of the experience of the divine nature in verse 4. When we partake of the divine nature, the different aspects of the riches of what God is, these riches become our virtues. God is love, light, holiness, righteousness, kindness. All these are God’s attributes. Each divine attribute is also a virtue. When we enjoy what God is, we enjoy His holiness. Then this holiness becomes a virtue in us and with us. The principle is the same with the enjoyment of other divine attributes.
The essence or element of virtue is contained in faith as a seed. This seed is actually Christ Himself, and Christ is God in all that He is. This Christ has become our inheritance. The response to, or the reflection of, Christ as the embodiment of God to be our inheritance within us is faith. Within faith as a seed are included all the divine attributes, all the riches of what God is. Because we have this seed of faith with the divine nature, we must go on to develop this seed. The first thing that comes forth in this development is virtue.
In 1:5 Peter also tells us to supply “in virtue knowledge.” Virtue, the vigorous action, needs the bountiful supply of the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (vv. 2, 3, 8) regarding the all things related to the divine life and godliness and the partaking of the divine nature for our enjoyment in the development described in verses 5 through 7. The knowledge which we should develop in our virtue includes the knowledge of God and of our Savior, the knowledge of God’s economy, the knowledge of what faith is, and the knowledge of the divine power, glory, virtue, nature, and life. Actually, this is the knowledge of all things related to life and godliness.
The knowledge spoken of in 1:5 is the full knowledge of God and of our Lord. We need a full knowledge not of the unprocessed God, the “raw” God, but of the processed God, the God who became a man through incarnation, who lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years, who died on the cross and was buried, who was resurrected, and who has ascended to the heavens. Incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are all a part of a long process. Because Christ has passed through such a process, no longer is He merely God with the element of divinity; He is also man with the element of humanity. Our Lord is both God and man; He has both the divine nature and the human nature. Moreover, He also includes the elements of human living, His all-inclusive death, and His life-imparting resurrection. We need to supply bountifully in our virtue this knowledge of the processed Triune God. Without such knowledge, we cannot have the development described in 1:5-7. It is not possible to have this development apart from the full knowledge of God.
We must have this knowledge developed in our virtue. It is not adequate to have virtue without knowledge. The knowledge in 1:5 is also a primary root that develops out of the seed of faith. Therefore, with virtue and knowledge we have the growth of the seed.
In 1:6 Peter continues, “And in knowledge self-control, and in self-control endurance, and in endurance godliness.” Self-control is the exercise of control and restraint over the self in its passions, desires, and habits. This needs to be supplied and developed in knowledge for the proper growth in life.
Once we have acquired knowledge, it is easy for us to become proud. For this reason, we need to develop in our knowledge self-control, which implies restriction. Along with the development of virtue and knowledge, we need the restriction that comes with self-control.
According to Peter’s word in verse 6, in our self-control we need to develop endurance. Self-control is related to the self, but endurance is related to others and to our circumstances. As to ourselves, we must have self-control, and as to our circumstances, no matter what they may be, we need endurance. In order to live a proper Christian life, we need endurance toward those around us and also toward our environment and circumstances.
In verse 6 Peter also says that in our endurance we need to develop godliness. Godliness is a living that is like God and expresses God. As we exercise control over the self and bear with others and with circumstances, godliness needs to be developed in our spiritual life so that we may be like God and express Him. The Christian life should be a life that expresses God and bears God’s likeness in all things.
In verse 7 Peter concludes, “And in godliness brotherly love, and in brotherly love love.” The Greek word rendered “brotherly love” is philadelphia, composed of phileo, to have affection for, and adelphos, a brother; hence, brotherly affection, a love of delight and pleasure. In godliness, the expression of God, this love needs to be supplied for the brotherhood (1 Pet. 2:17; 3:8; Gal. 6:10), for our testimony to the world (John 13:34-35) and for the bearing of fruit (John 15:16-17).
The Greek word for love in verse 7 is agape, the word used in the New Testament for the divine love, which God is in His nature (1 John 4:8, 16). It is nobler than phileo; it adorns all the qualities of the Christian life (1 Cor. 13; Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:13-14). It is stronger in ability and greater in capacity than human love (Matt. 5:44, 46), yet a believer who lives by the divine life and partakes of the divine nature can be saturated with it and express it in full. Such a love needs to be developed in brotherly love, to govern it and flow in it for the full expression of God, who is this love. Faith may be considered the seed of life, and this nobler love, the fruit (2 Pet. 1:8) in its full development. The six developments in between are the stages of its growth unto maturity.
In 1:5-7 we have the development from faith to love. This development includes virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, and godliness. Eventually, we have the full development and maturity from the seed of faith, through the roots of virtue and knowledge, the trunk of self-control, and the branches of endurance and godliness, to the blossom and fruit of brotherly love and love.
In 1:8 Peter goes on to say, “For these things, existing in you and abounding, constitute you neither idle nor unfruitful unto the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “These things” refer to all the virtues covered in verses 5 through 7, from faith to love. The Greek word for “existing” is huparcho. It denotes the existence of certain things that belong to someone from the beginning and thus become his rightful possession to the present. This indicates that all the virtues mentioned in verses 5 through 7 are the possession of the believers and exist in them forever through their experience of partaking of the divine nature in all its riches.
Peter speaks of these virtues not only existing in us but also abounding. The divine virtues are not only existing in and possessed by the believers, but are also abounding and multiplying in them in the development and growth of the divine life. All the virtues already exist in the seed, and now they are waiting for the opportunity to abound. In order for the virtues in the seed to abound, the seed needs to be sown in the soil and then grow and develop until it blossoms and bears fruit.
Peter says that if these things exist and abound in us, they shall constitute us neither idle nor unfruitful unto the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This indicates that the virtues of the divine life and nature are the constituents, the elements, of our spiritual constitution, our spiritual being, making us persons without the elements of idleness and unfruitfulness. Whereas idleness and unfruitfulness are constituents of our fallen being, working, the energizing of life, and fruitfulness are the constituents of our spiritual constitution. Peter’s use of the word “unfruitful” in verse 8 indicates that what is covered in verses 5 through 7 is the development of the growth of the divine life unto its maturity.
Second Peter 1:9 and 10 say, “He in whom these things are not present is blind, being shortsighted, having forgotten the cleansing of his past sins. Wherefore, brothers, be the more diligent to make your calling and selection firm, for doing these things you shall by no means ever stumble.” Here to be diligent is to develop the spiritual virtues in the divine life, to advance in the growth of the divine life. This makes God’s calling and selection firm.
If we are diligent to develop the virtues mentioned in verses 5 through 7, we shall confirm, make sure, our calling and selection. We shall never doubt that we have been called by God and selected by Him. However, some may question whether God has chosen them. The reason for doubt concerning this matter is the lack of the virtues listed by Peter. But if we develop these virtues and are constituted of them, we shall have the confirmation that we have been called and selected. This is to make our calling and selection firm. Furthermore, in doing these things we shall never stumble, because we have been thoroughly constituted.
Verse 11 indicates that, as a result of developing the divine seed unto maturity, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to us. In this eternal kingdom we shall not be subjects — we shall be kings. But in order to be kings in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we need maturity in life.
According to Peter’s word in 1:5-11, to grow to maturity is to develop what we have already received. We have been allotted the like precious faith, and this faith is an all-inclusive seed. All the divine riches are in this seed, but we must be diligent to develop them into virtue. Then we need to develop in our virtue knowledge; in knowledge, self-control; in self-control, endurance; in endurance, godliness; in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, love. By developing these virtues we grow, and eventually we shall reach maturity. As a result, we shall be full of Christ, and, in Paul’s words, we shall arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Then we shall be qualified and equipped to be kings in the coming kingdom. We shall have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
