Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

1. The first part of vs. 2 is identical to 1Pe 1:2b (charis humin kai eirênê plêthunthein) even though 1Pe 1:2b is translated by the NASB as, “May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure”

2. Grace is used some 8 times in 1 Peter (1Pe 1:2,10,13; 3:7; 4:10; 5:5,10,12) but only two times in 2 Peter (2Pe 1:2; 3:18).

3. “Grace” (charis) is God’s unmerited favor toward sinners. God’s grace began before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4). Grace is a gift granted to the elect so that he exercises faith in Christ (2Pe 1:1) and thereby receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Rom 3:24; Eph 1:7; Tit 3:7; 1Pe 1:10). Grace continues in the believer’s life in the process of sanctification (2Pe 3:18).

4. “Peace” (eirênê) is the result of having been justified by God (Rom 5:1) and of trusting fully in God through prayer (Php 4:6-7). Christ Himself is the believer’s peace in reconciling all things (Eph 2:14-15; Col 1:20).

B. Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ (2)

1. The English root “know” (knowledge) is a theme in Peter’s second epistle using it some 17 times. The particular word in vs. 2 comes from the Greek word epignōsis (used 4 times 2Pe 1:2, 3, 8; 2:20) and means to fully recognize or fully know. It is more intensive. than gnōsis, knowledge, because it expresses a more thorough participation in the acquiring of knowledge on the part of the learner (Word Study Dict.).

2. The knowledge then referred by Peter would be more than a general knowledge about God, but a fuller knowledge whereby a believer has entered into a personal relationship with God and is growing in the knowledge of God.

3. What make this knowledge a full knowledge is the fact that it understands that “Jesus our Lord” is the only way to God (Joh 14:6) is also God Himself (Joh 1:1), and is Savior (2Pe 1:1, 11*; 2Pe 2:20*; 2Pe 3:2, 18*) and Lord (2Pe 1:2, 8, 11, 14, 16; 2:20; 3:28).

4. The ascription of Lord to Jesus is first a name of deity (Isa 45:18, 21-23) as well as a name of highest status and rule (Php 2:9-11).

II. EFFICACY OF DIVINE PROMISES (1:3-4)

A. Bestowment of Grace by Divine Power (3)

1. Grace has been multiplied to the believer, especially in reference to the divine promises that have been bestowed upon the believer.

2. God and only God has divine power. Man has “power” (dunamis – general strength or ability God’s dynamic power, Mat 25:15; Heb 11:34), but God has dynamic power ascribed to Him alone (Mat 22:29; Rom 1:16).

3. Therefore, God’s power is dynamic because it comes from His “divine” power (theios – attributed as belonging to deity cf. Act 17:29).

4. This divine power has “granted” (doreomai – a gift or bestowment) grace upon the believer. Therefore, God’s grace cannot fail for no one can thwart God’s divine power.

B. Grace Necessary for Life and Godliness (3)

1. The particular grace that Peter was referring to was the grace necessary for life and godliness.

2. It is not just some things that are necessary for life and godliness, but he includes the word “everything” (panta) necessary for life and godliness.

3. The believer need not despair of not having the Lord’s aid in every situation. Nor should the believer preoccupy his time begging God for more blessings, for he has been given everything necessary and has been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3).

4. Life and godliness would include every scenario that all believers will face in all their lifetimes.

a) “Life” (zōê – physical life, Rom 8:38, spiritual life, Joh 5:26) would include living life spiritually through all of life’s difficulties as well as security of eternal life.

b) “Godliness” (eusebia – lit. “good worship,” reverence and duty toward God). Godliness would include the believer’s attitude of worship toward God, especially as it plays out in godly behavior in every aspect of life.

c) The believer has been given everything necessary to live the Christian life and progress in sanctification.

5. Life and godliness define the realm of sanctification, the living of the Christian life on earth to the glory of God between initial salvation and final glorification. With the gift of new life in Christ (John 3:1516; 5:24; 6:47; Titus 3:7; 1 John 2:25) came everything related to sustaining that life, all the way to glorification. (MacArthur).

6. That is why believers are eternally secure (John 6:3540; 10:2829; 2 Cor. 5:1; 1 John 5:13; Jude 1, 2425) and can be assured God will empower them to persevere to the end (Matt. 24:13; John 8:31; Heb. 3:6, 14; Rev. 2:10), through all temptations, sins, failures, vicissitudes, struggles, and trials of life. (MacArthur)

C. Through the True Knowledge (3)

1. Peter mentions “knowledge” (epignōsis – full knowledge) again, except that the NASB adds “true.” It is through this full knowledge or true knowledge of God that the believer understands how he is to live and be godly in all circumstance.

2. Even for the believer to know exactly what godliness is and how he is to demonstrate it in this life, he must fully know the true nature of God.

3. This is not the believer’s imagination of what God is like. Rather this is a full knowledge of what God has truly revealed about Himself, His perfections, and His ways from His Word.

D. Him Who Called us (3)

1. It goes without saying that a person must know Christ as Savior before he can receive any of these blessings. These blessing are only for believers. There are no gimmicks or rituals by which the unsaved (or saved for that matter) are able to know God. Christ, and Christ alone indeed is the only way to the Father (Ac 4:12).

2. The believer’s knowledge is of the one who described as “of Him who called us.” The believer (elect) has been called by God with an efficacious call to which he will come (Rom 8:28, 30; 1Co 1:9; Eph 4:4; 2Ti 1:9; 1Pe 1:15).

3. There is also a general call to all men by which men can and do resist to their own destruction (Mat 22:14).

E. By His Own Glory and Excellence (3)

1. God called us ultimately for His own glory. God’s glory, not man, is the center of God’s plan of salvation (Rom 9:23; Eph 1:6, 12, 14).

2. God receives glory when He saves undeserving sinful men and sanctifies them into godly saints who live for God’s glory.

3. God’s excellence is His divine perfections and attributes. “Excellence” is the Greek word aretê and means virtue in reference to man. But in reference to God it refers to God’s moral excellence and nature. God is the divine superlative in all of His perfections and attributes. He is the divine standard for all created beings.

III. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. They had received a great endowment of grace, and this at once made them capable of acting out the lofty pattern of character immediately depicted, and laid them under obligation to do. Schaff.

B. It is the full and true knowledge of God that saves the sinner and sanctifies the believer. This full and true knowledge is found only in the Scriptures upon which the believer renews His mind. This clarifies the knowledge of God and knowledge of God’s ways for the believer.

2Pe 1:3 refutes many movements within Christianity which seek a second or additional spiritual blessing for life and godliness (Charismatic Movement, Christian Mysticism, Contemplative Prayer, Keswick Higher Life, Sinless Perfectionism).

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516