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| Chapter 1 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as 3 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. 4 Thereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 ¶ And besides this, using all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, 6 and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, 7 and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Therefore brethren, give diligence all the more to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things ye shall never fall. 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 ¶ Therefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and are established in the truth present in you. 13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shown me. 15 Moreover I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 16 ¶ For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto 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 there came such a voice to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 18 And this voice, which came from Heaven, we heard when we were with Him on the holy mount. 19 ¶ We have also a more sure word of prophecy, unto which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts, 20 knowing this first: that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in olden times by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. |
The church is being attacked by wrong doctrine and teaching, Peter has written this letter to warn of the danger and how to overcome the problem. The emphasis is on having a full understanding and knowledge of God, living in the truth. Peter starts his letter with a short description of what it means to live the life of a Christian and then moves onto describing the false teachers. The best way to be able to recognize false teaching is to have a good understanding of the truth. v1-4 Christian life involves faith. v1 The writer clearly sets out his authority,Apostle and servant of Christ. Peter tells the reader that they have a "precious faith" through the righteousness of Jesus. This faith has not changed since the days of Peter because it is in the Son of God. Peter states the deity of Jesus from the first in this letter and then emphasis the title of Jesus, in 2 Peter 1:11; Jesus is God and Saviour, Lord and Saviour in 2 Peter 2:20, 2 Peter 3:2 and 2 Peter 3:18. Our standing with Christ today is exactly the same as it was for the disciples, our righteousness comes from God 2 Cor 5:21; Titus 3:5-7. When we trust Jesus as our Saviour we also obtain our righteousness, not earned in anyway but given by the grace of God, a free gift from God to us undeserving believers. 1 Peter 5:10. Because of this believers now all have peace with God, Rom 5:1 and the peace of God, Phil 4:6-7. v3 Our salvation starts with faith in Jesus but as we gain knowledge in Jesus then we feel and experience the power of God, note we cannot grow with our own power, we must use the power of God. Before we knew Christ as our Saviour we were dead, Eph 2:1-9, it is only through the power of Christ we can be raised to life. John 5:24. Now we are in the family of God through faith in Jesus and all our needs are there for us to take, we are "complete in Him," Col 2:10. Later Peter warns that the "False Doctrine teachers" try to add to this. v4 This faith depends upon the promises of God, not only has He given us all the power we need He has also given us His Word with His "great and precious promises" written down for us to take in and claim. Our Nature shows us what we need to eat, if we have the nature of God in us then we should desire the food of His Word. Consider 2 Cor 6:14-18. Because we have this divine nature then we are removed from the corruption of the world and the lusts it has. But, unfortunately, we do still have our old nature, the "flesh," and each believer can make provision for the flesh, Rom 13:14; 2 Peter 1:9. v5-7 Spiritual growth. None of us remains as a baby, we all grow, mature, so to our ‘new birth’ is just the beginning. Spiritual growth is not automatic, it requires a true relationship with God. It also requires a believer applying themselves to growth, Phil 2:12-13. v5-7 Peter lists seven characteristics of a believers life, they are not levels of growth though each will have some effect on the next condition, like a tree the branch depends upon the trunk and roots. Compare Gal 5:22-23 the fruit of the Spirit. v5 "Virtue," a good personal quality, honest, honour, rightness, excellence. A Christian gives glory to God because they have God’s nature in them, become more Christ like. Our "faith" will help us develop "virtue," and from virtue we are helped in developing knowledge, a growing knowledge, a practical knowledge not just a spiritual knowledge. Consider John 7:17. v6 "Temperance," self control, self-discipline. Consider some examples of self-discipline given by Paul, 1 Cor 9:24-27; Phil 3:12-16. v6 "Patience," long-suffering, self-control, able to handle the pleasures, pressures and problems of life. Patience does not develop automatically, it needs us to work on it. Consider James 1:2-8. v6 "Godliness," this means God-like, the original Greek also translated as ‘to worship well,’ have the right relationship with God and His people, a reverence attitude is part of this, seeking to do the Will of God. v7 "Brotherly Kindness," translated from the Greek ‘philadelphia.’ If we love the Lord then we must also love other believers, 1 Peter 1:22; Rom 12:10; 1 John 5:1-2. v7 "Brotherly Love (charity)," This is not normal love but agape love, a love which God shows to the sinner. Look at 1 Cor 13:1ff; Rom 5:5; Gal 5:22. v8 Our human nature cannot produce these special Christian features, they must come from God through His Holy Spirits action on a believers life, as we become more like Christ we give glory to God. We must make sure today that our nature is from God and not a copy of a preacher, church leader or a famous Christian, a common problem today. v8-11 Spiritual Growth. v8 Producing fruit. As we become more like Christ, then the Holy Spirit can use us to the glory for the Father, a better witness and service is possible. This fruitfulness only requires submission to God, no special gifts, just faith, anything needed will come from God. v9 Knowing what to eat allows our body to be healthy, we can even lose our sight if we eat the wrong things. The unbeliever is in the dark, Satan having blinded the person spiritually, 2 Cor 4:3-4. A lack of knowledge and commitment to Christ may also allow the believer to become blind spiritually, open to Satan, being led back to their old nature. A ‘blind’ believer cannot see the power and service of God, John 4:35. Consider the members of the Laodicea church in Rev 3:14-19, be warned. v10,11 Peter is saying that if we walk about with our eyes closed then we must eventually fall over something. However, a believer who is growing and becoming Christ like knows where the power, the guidance and the help is found, they know they are safe in Christ. Note, a person who claims salvation but shows little Christ like characteristics could be deceiving themselves and on the way to judgement. "Calling and election," 2 Thess 2:13-15. We do not preach "election," we preach the Gospel and call to repentance, but as God knows all things He also knows who will accept before they are offered salvation. Election is not an excuse for not growing in faith and knowledge, God can do anything, but He gave each of us a free will and we can reject Him. Consider Phil 2:12-15; 1 Cor 3:12-15. A believer starts with faith but that faith must develop growth or it is a ‘dead faith.’ and will be open to false teaching. v12-21 Remember and open your eye’s - wake up! False teaching finds an open mind in a believer who has not studied the Word of God, these people are often open to the ‘experience doctrines,’ v12-15 The foundation of the Gospel and the Church is Jesus, it was men and women who spread the Gospel message but we all die, leave our ‘tabernacle’ 1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:20. The Church and each local church must be built upon the foundation of Jesus, the Son of God. Peter had been told by Jesus when and how he would die, John 21:18, This could explain why Peter could sleep in the prison after his arrest soon after Pentecost, he trusted in the words of Jesus, Herod would not kill him, Acts 12:1ff. God was to decide when Peter’s work was finished. Jesus had told Peter he had a special task, to "strengthen your brethren," Luke 22:32, one of the reasons for this letter was obedience to this command. As he wrote this letter Peter knows that he will soon die, so he wants to make sure the Word of God teaching will be circulated. "Remembrance" of these things being the key word. John 14:26. A man may die but God’s Word will continue. v16-18 Peter was one of the witnesses of the life of Jesus, he was one of the apostles who saw the "Excellent Glory" at the transfiguration, heard the Father speak of His Son, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." v16 Peter said that they were not telling "fables," or myths, stories with no truth, their message does not rob believers of the truth. One of the false teachings was that the "Kingdom of Christ" will never come. See 2 Tim 4:1-5; Titus 1:10-16. v19-21 Compared with the times of Peter the world has improved, better medical, better communication as examples, yet the world is even more full of sin, the world is in darkness, but in this darkness God’s Word is able to shine, but so also is false teaching, Matt 7:15-23; Acts 20:28-35; 1 John 2:18-29. As the world deteriorates God’s Word is sure, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105; Matt 4:16. v20,21 This does not prevent each of us studying the Word of God, Peter is talking about the interpretation of scripture, it must come from the Holy Spirit, not the church leader. If a church leader gives a teaching which does not agree with other scripture, beware, all scripture must agree as it comes from the Holy Spirit. Especially watch for someone who produces a doctrine on just one or two isolated, separated verses, false teacher will often use this method to prove their teaching. The writer of the Word is the same as the voice Peter heard from heaven, down through the ages this voice has spoken through the mouths of His chosen holy men and women. Men will die but God’s Word lives for ever. The experience of men fades away, but God’s Word stands. Wake up and remember!!!! |
Easy English Translation
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