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Scripture Reading: 2 Pet. 1:1-11; 3:18
In the previous chapters we have seen something concerning the matter of life in the writings of John and Paul. The main ministries in the New Testament are those of John, Paul, and Peter, and the teaching in the New Testament is mainly based upon the writings of these three apostles. John’s writings occupy the beginning and end of the New Testament; the Gospel of John is at the beginning, and the book of Revelation is at the end. John stresses life and opens the way for life in his Gospel. He also ends with the matter of life in the book of Revelation. All of the apostles stressed the matter of life. Each of them had their unique way to present the same one thing — life. In this chapter we want to see Peter’s marvelous presentation of the divine life in his second Epistle.
According to 2 Peter 1:1-4 there are three great items which have been given to us by God: equally precious faith, the divine power, and the precious and exceedingly great promises. Faith is not of our works, nor of our endeavor or strife, but is God’s allotted gift to us (v. 1). God has also given us the divine power, which is the power of the divine life related to the divine nature. Furthermore, because God has called us to His own glory and virtue, He has given us His precious and exceedingly great promises to assure us, encourage us, strengthen us, and speed us on our way toward this goal.
God has allotted us, that is, given to us, equally precious faith. More than forty years ago I wrote a note alongside this verse in one of my Bibles, which says, “Although I cannot compare with the apostle Peter, I have something which is exactly the same as what he has — equally precious faith.” We have received this faith; it did not originate with us.
It is difficult to say what faith is, but it is very precious to us. Although faith is hard to define, we can say that we have it and that we cannot lose it. Faith has been put into us by God. Whether we are strong or weak, whether we stand or fall, from the day we received the Lord Jesus, faith remains with us always. Some young people, after receiving the Lord Jesus, may regret and wish that they could not believe anymore. Nevertheless, because they have believed into the Lord and have been captured by Him, they cannot get away from Him. They have been “hooked” by Christ. To believe is easy, but after believing, it is very difficult not to believe. A person can leave mere teaching or even disregard the Bible, but he cannot throw away this faith. This faith always remains with us and unconditionally binds us to Christ. Once we have it, we cannot lose it. This is why this faith is so precious. Faith is a seed sown into us which is divine and eternal. This faith is the foundation, the root, and the seed of our Christian life.
God has also given us the marvelous and mysterious divine power. God as the divine power passed through creation, redemption, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). This divine power is nothing less than the life-giving Spirit, who is God Himself as life to us in resurrection. The visible things of the creation came into being through God’s divine power. Redemption was also accomplished by God’s divine power. The one man Jesus could die on behalf of all men to accomplish an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12) because of the divine power. Today as the life-giving Spirit, He offers Himself to us as the divine power in resurrection. When we receive the Lord Jesus, the very Triune God enters into us as life in resurrection. This life in resurrection is the divine power, which is God Himself as the life-giving Spirit.
The divine power in 2 Peter 1:3 is the power of the divine life, and this divine life power has given us all things that relate to life and godliness. The things that relate to life are inexhaustible. They include the law of life (Rom. 8:2; Heb. 8:10), humility, wisdom, rejoicing, love, joy, hope, submission, goodness, meekness, kindness, long-suffering, and peace. Everything related to life has been given to us. The life power within the seed of a certain plant includes everything related to the plant. The life power within the seed includes the stem, branches, leaves, blossoms, flowers, and fruit of the plant. Within the power of the divine life as the seed in us are all the things necessary for the growth of the divine life. In the divine power are virtues such as love, patience, humility, kindness, and long-suffering. The divine power, the power of life, includes all things needed not only for life inwardly but also for godliness outwardly.
The third category of great things given to us by God is the precious and exceedingly great promises. The promises in 2 Peter 1:4 are mainly related to our spiritual life. These are promises for the inner life and the outward expression of life. One such promise is in Ephesians 3:20, which says, “To Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us.” This promise to do above all that we ask or think is not concerning the material things of the present life but concerning the spiritual things for the church life. The Lord is going to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think for the church life, according to the inner working power that operates in us. Other precious and exceedingly great promises are in Matthew 28:20; John 6:57; 7:38-39; 10:28-29; 14:19-20, 23; 15:5 and 16:13-15.
After the basic categories of faith, the divine power, and the precious promises, there are also five groups of things for the experience of life in 2 Peter. First, we have all things that relate to life and godliness. Life is within, while godliness is without. Life is the inward substance, and godliness is the outward expression. Godliness, according to its New Testament usage, refers to our Christian living, our Christian daily walk. It is the outward expression of the inward life. It is a living that is the expression of God (1 Tim. 2:2). Godliness is God-likeness. The Christian life should be a life which expresses God and bears God’s likeness in all things. The divine power has given to us all things relating to our inward life and our outward living.
Second, through the promises we become the partakers, or enjoyers, of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Third, there are the spiritual virtues (vv. 5-7), which are the issue of the development of the divine life. These divine virtues are virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly love, and love. Fourth, God has called us not merely by His gospel, His grace, or His mercy, but He has called us by His own glory and virtue (v. 3). Fifth, there is the entrance into the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. Second Peter 1:11 says, “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to you.” The entrance is conditional; it will be supplied based upon certain terms and conditions.
In 2 Peter 1:5 Peter says, “For this very reason also, adding all diligence, supply bountifully in your faith...” The word supply in this verse can also mean “develop.” Develop is a better word because it implies growth. When a seed grows, it first develops the stem, then the branches, the blossom, and ultimately the fruit. We must develop seven items: in faith develop virtue, in virtue develop knowledge, in knowledge develop self-control, in self-control develop endurance, in endurance develop godliness, in godliness develop brotherly love, and in brotherly love develop love.
We have faith within us as the seed, we have the divine power, and we have the holy Word with its promises. Now based upon what God has given, Peter says that we must add all diligence. The manna in the wilderness is a good illustration of our need to cooperate with God’s giving (Exo. 16:4-5, 14-15, 21). Manna came each morning and had to be gathered early because it melted when the sun became hot. The manna was sent by God, but the children of Israel had to exercise themselves diligently to rise up early to go out and gather the manna. God could send the manna to the earth, but He would not put the manna directly into the mouths of the children of Israel. The children of Israel had to do their part. God is gracious, yet regardless of how gracious He is and how sufficient His grace is, we still need to exercise ourselves. The children of Israel not only had to gather the manna, but they also had to take it home and cook it (Num. 11:8; Exo. 16:23). God sent the manna, but He would not cook it for them.
God has given, but we must cooperate with His giving. Second Corinthians 9:10 says, “Now He who bountifully supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and cause the fruits of righteousness to increase.” God gives the seed and the fruit, and in between the seed and the fruit is much development. The development between the seed and the fruit is our responsibility. God gives the seed, but He would not sow the seed or till the ground. To sow the seed and till the ground is our part. Thus, Peter charges us to develop something out of the seed that we already have. On His part God has given us many exceedingly great things. Now we must do our part by adding all diligence. In Genesis 2:5 God did not send the rain, because there was no man to work the ground. God’s part needs our part. God has done His part, and now we must do our part to cooperate with Him.
Peter’s word is very mysterious, yet in this mysterious word are the secrets of life. The first secret is that all things relating to life and godliness are given to us as the seed of faith (2 Pet. 1:1, 3, 5). God has also given us all the promises. He not only gives us the seed and promises the rain, but He also causes the growth (1 Cor. 3:6) and the harvest (2 Cor. 9:10).
The second secret is that, realizing that God has given us everything, we must cooperate with God to do our part. God promises to do more, yet this promise is conditional, depending upon what we do. Many of the great promises are conditional. If we do something, then God will do something more. If we sow the seed, God will give the bread. If we sow the seed, God will send the rain. The further giving by God depends upon our cooperation. If we do not sow or till the earth, then there will be no rain, no growth, and no harvest.
The third secret of life is that, as we cooperate with God, we should not do anything outside of what He has given. We must develop what He has given. God has given us the seed. We must do everything to develop the seed by preparing the soil, sowing the seed, and watering the seed.
Second Peter 1:4 says, “Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature.” Here the fourth secret of life is shown. By partaking of the divine nature through the precious promises, we develop virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly love, and love by the growth in life (vv. 5-7). The precious promises are embodied in the divine word. By pray-reading the promises, we partake of and enjoy the divine nature, and by partaking of the divine nature, we develop in life. The more we pray-read the promises, the more we enjoy the divine nature, and the more we enjoy the divine nature, the more we grow and develop in life.
We must develop the faith within us. First, in our faith we must develop virtue. Virtue is the explanation of the excellencies of Christ. First Peter 2:9 refers to the virtues, or excellencies, of Christ. Virtue is the excellency of Christ expressed through us. It is the excellent expression of Christ. When anything of Christ is expressed through us, that is something excellent, and this excellency is virtue.
We can realize a kind of excellency with many brothers and sisters. With one brother, we may realize the patience of Christ. With a certain sister, we may realize the humility of Christ. These virtues are the excellent expression of Christ. We have faith as the seed within us. Now this seed needs further development and expression. This expression is virtue. According to my realization and experience, virtue means the expression of Christ. We must develop the expression of Christ in our faith. Our virtue is the expression of Christ in our daily life.
Virtue is a kind of power, the excellency which comes out of Christ. Mark 5:30 says, “Immediately Jesus realizing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, Who touched My garments?” Luke 6:19 says, “All the crowd sought to touch Him, because power was going out from Him and healing all.” Then in Luke 8:46 the Lord Jesus says, “Someone touched Me; for I perceived that power had gone out from Me.” In these portions power may be translated as “virtue” (KJV).
In virtue we must develop knowledge. Knowledge comes after virtue. If knowledge came before virtue, it would become a frustration to virtue. We need virtue to be developed first, then for further development of virtue, we need knowledge, the proper knowledge. Knowledge in 2 Peter 1:6 refers to the knowledge of Christ, that is, the knowing of Christ in a full and excellent way. The last verse of this book confirms this by saying, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (3:18). The full knowledge of Jesus Christ, knowing Christ in a deeper and fuller way, helps us to grow and develop. After knowledge, we must develop self-control. Self-control is a restriction. Self-control is toward ourselves, while endurance is toward situations and circumstances. Toward ourselves we need self-control, toward the environment we need endurance, toward God we need godliness, toward the brothers we need brotherly love, and toward the highest needs we need love, the nobler love. Faith is the seed, and love is the harvest. From faith to love there are seven stages of development by the growth in life.
The fifth secret revealed in 2 Peter 1 is that by enjoying the divine nature, we enter into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 11). To enter into the kingdom is a matter of growth. While we are growing, we are entering. The more we grow, the more entrance we gain. To enter into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus, we need to grow. If we reach the last step of development, we are fully in the kingdom. We should not think that if we are idle with no development after we are saved, we will enter into the kingdom of Christ. If we have this thought, we will be cheated. To enter into the kingdom is different from salvation. To enter into the kingdom we need the maturity of life, the full growth of life.
We have seen three main items in 2 Peter 1: the seed of faith, the divine power, which is the growing power, and the precious promises. God has given the seed, the growing power, and the promises that He will send the rain, the growth, and the harvest if we cooperate with Him. With God’s giving, we must be diligent to develop the seed of faith by taking the promises, by picking up His word. The best way to pick up His word is to pray-read the word. The more we pray-read all the promises, the more we enjoy the divine nature. As we enjoy this divine nature, we have the growth in life, the maturity in life, and the harvest of life. This maturity is the entrance into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. We all need to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Second Peter is a book on growth. Its last verse ends in this way: “Grow in the grace...” Chapter 1 reveals the way to grow. We have the seed, the growing power, and the promises that God will send the rain, cause the growth, and give the harvest. Now we need to develop the seed by taking His promises, by pray-reading the word of His promises, that we may enjoy His divine nature. By this we will be developed and grow step by step until we reach maturity. Then we will enjoy a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
