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10 Wherefore «he rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an entrance shall be minis tered unto you abundantly into the everlast ing kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. GOLDEN TEXT: “ Whereby are given un to us exceeding great and' precious prom ises; that By these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the cor ruption that Is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. 1:4). DEVOTIONAL READING: Col. 3:12-17. Outline and Exposition I. T heir P rovision (1-4) P ETER WROTE as a bon(J servant —a relationship belonging to every Christian. The w o r d “apostle” per tains to Peter’s official position. Each believer has a different position in the Body of Christ. Peter wrote to those “that .have obtained like pre cious faith” ; he is not here instructing one as to how to obtain it. What they had o b t a i n e d had come to them through the righteousness of God, that is, righteously. Justice demanded and g r a c e provided full satisfaction for Godjs law. Peter desired that grace and peace should be multiplied in the believers. This i n c r e a s e is possible through Christ, because, in Him, God hath granted all things that pertain to life and godliness. Moreover, God provides for the be liever “exceeding great and precious promises” (v. 4). Hence, by the right eousness of God, the believer has come to p o s s e s s precious faith, by the knowledge of God he increases in grace and peace, -and by the promises of God he comes to possession of the divine nature and freedom from the world’s corruption. It; T heir P ractice (5-7). It is not more or better faith1that is needed, but a building of one’s life upon the faith already given. Peter mentions seven graces to be added to faith: first, virtue, or courage in living out the truth that is known; second, knowledge, or the experience of the truth being lived out, and such knowl edge does not come apart from the virtue to which it is added; third, tem perance, or self-control, or poise, in h o l d i n g to the truth experienced; fourth, patience, or steadfastness in the experience of the truth, not mere resignation, but active ^siding with God; fifth, godliness, or likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ; sixth, brotherly kindness, or love of the brethren, in spite of what they are and some times do; and seventh, •charity, or love in its general application, ex tending to all men, even as “God so loved the world.”
It will be noted that these graces begin with faith and end with love. Their manifestation indicates Chris tian growth. III. T heir P rofit (8-11) If these things be p r e s e n t and abound they “make you . . . neither Barren nor unfruitful in the knowl edge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This fruitfulness is the result of giving dili gence to the matter of growth in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. This word “ barren” means “idle” ; there must be activity if fruit is to be obtained. Again, “these things” will remedy the spiritually blind (v. 9). The word means shortsighted, or “seeing only what is near” (R. V.L Luther trans lates it, “blind and tapping with his hands.” In the individual who is spir itually shortsighted there may be life and some p r o g r e s s made, but the progress is slow and uncertain. The person never sees, spiritually, what is afar off; he does not behold the glories of the unseen, and therefore is always mourning about the loss of the things of the world. The remedy for this con dition is the adding to one’s life of “these things.” Moreover, “these things” will bring certainty of assurance. The believer, having “these things,” will not be occupied so much with his past sins as with his present and continuing deliv erance. Furthermore, “these things*” will be a guarantee against backsliding (v. 10). The only safeguard against back sliding is continuous growth in grace, and such growth comes by the addi tion of “these things.” Finally, “these things” will give to their possessor an abundant entrance into “the eternal kingdom” (v. 11, R. V.) of the Lord. Entrance into the Father’s house is the portion of all Christians, but entrance into the king- ^on) speaks of fitness to occupy the positions that are waiting there. Points and Problems 1. "Simon Peter, a servant" (2 Pet. 1:1). The word “servant” really means bond servant or slave. Peter counted it a privilege to be a bond servant of Jesus Christ. For us the words “slave” and “slavery” speak of evil things,
and our English translators have avoided these literal words; however, the words suggest some very precious truths. There, is the truth of complete ownership. A slave and his entire possessions, his soul excepted, be longed to his master. He even had the brand of his master upon his body. Paul referred to this fact in Galatians 6:17.' Thus the Christian belongs , to Christ—body, soul, and spirit—and he should bear about in his life the “marks” of the Lord Jesus. There is also the truth of full obedi ence. The slave was bound to do his master’s bidding. Likewise the Chris tian is bound to obey his Master un reservedly. For their obedience, the slaves of Peter’s day received little or no reward. In contrast, the bond servants of Jesus Christ will be re warded abundantly according to their faithfulness in the day of His ap pearing. 2. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord" (v. 2). The word “knowledge” is one of the key words of this Epistle. Peter, who had now grown mature in the Lord, knew full well the value of the knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ. In the three chapters of his second Epistle we find this word (in two forms in the Greek) seven times (2 Pet. 1:2, 3, 5, 6, 8; 2:20; 3:18). Every thing the Christian possesses comes through a proper knowledge of God. “Grace” and “peace” are multiplied to the believer through “ the knowledge of God,' and of Jesus our Lord.” Fruit ful living is “in the knowledge of our Lord” (1:8). Escape from the pollu tions of the w o r l d is through “the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2:20). No wonder Peter closes the Epistle by exhorting his readers to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (3:18). 3. "Whereby are given unto us ex ceeding great and precious promises" (v. 4). There are five characteristics of God’s promises set forth in this verse: (1) They are great. (2) They are precious. (3) They are numerous. (4) They are life-giving, “that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” (5) They are liberating, “hav ing escaped [as a prisoner] the cor ruption that is in the world.” 4. "And besides this, giving all dili gence, add to your faith virtue" (v. 5). Nothing is said about adding faith. Believers already have that. But hav ing faith, they ought to manifest the various graces of the Spirit, and give evidence to the world that they are truly born from above. The term “add” literally reads, “In your faith supply virtue.” “Starting with faith as the foundation of all, let the other excel-, lencies and virtues be r i c h l y and y
and as an apostle. The term “ bond servant” indicates his own personal relation to Jesus Christ
BLACKBOARD LESSON
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