2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as 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 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be par- takers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 And beside this, giving 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 neither be barren nor unfruit- ful 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 Wherefore the 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 ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 

MEMORY VERSE: Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. —2 Peter 1:10

 

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Besides obtaining the precious faith through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and power to partake of the divine nature; and escaping the corruption of this evil world, we must add to our faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.

 

WORD DEFINITIONS

 

2 Peter 1:1, “obtained like precious faith”: Taken hold of the same valuable confidence and assur- ance.

Ver. 4, “divine nature”: The basic principle of a holy heart and mind. “having escaped”: Been truly delivered. “corruption”: Decay and ruin. “lust”: Uncontrolled and impure appetites and desires.

Ver. 5, “beside this”: In addition to this. “add”: Fully and abundantly supply. “virtue”: Manliness and

excellence. “knowledge”: Scientific truths about God: His love, power, holiness, goodness, mercy, purpose, benefits, and blessings.

Ver. 6, “temperance”: Self control. “patience”: Strong and cheerful endurance. “godliness”: Piety; deep reverence and respect toward God.

Ver. 7, “brotherly kindness”: Fondness and affection toward others. The Greek word is “philadelphia”. William Penn named the city he established “Philadelphia”, meaning “The City of Brotherly Love”. “charity”: Divine love, affection, and inclination to be good and kind.

Ver. 9, “cannot see afar off”: Near-sighted, just limited to earthly, fleshly things.

Ver. 10, “Wherefore the rather”: For this cause do the better. “give diligence”: Make earnest effort.

Ver. 11, “For so”: Because by these things. “entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly”: You will have sure and unfailing opening to enter.

LESSON BACKGROUND

 

Our lesson today contains the extremely valuable counsels of one of Christ’s faithful disciples. Let us notice first to whom Peter was writing. It was to those who had obtained the identical faith that he possessed and it was obtained through the righteousness of Almighty God and His beloved Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Far, far beyond and more valuable and beneficial than all this fleeting world’s treasures is this glorious mine of everlasting riches that is ours to possess! Peter willed that grace and peace would be multiplied unto us according to what Christ’s divine power had given and supplied for us. It is through the personal knowledge and fellowship with Him who has called us from, and helped us to escape from, the vanity, pride and lusts of this ungodly world, that we can be partakers of His holy nature!

Peter counsels us to be very diligent to add—abundantly add—to the grace and salvation we have obtained through Christ. The first is virtue to add to our faith. In other words, be a man about your faith. Be full grown and fully developed in your confidence and trust.

Then we need to add to our manly faith knowledge. There are many valuable lessons and truths we must learn and be taught of through His blessed Word and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

To knowledge we need to add temperance. Temperance means self control. It involves the control of our mind and thoughts, control of our eyes and what we look at, and what we listen to with our ears. Then there is the control of our appetites, passions, and physical desires. Perhaps the most serious is the control of our tongue.

We also must add patience, which not only means the ability to wait, but the quality of cheerful endurance. “In your patience possess ye your souls” Luke 21:19).

We need then to add godly fear and reverence, and the last two vital ingredients of brotherly kindness and fervent love. Notice what Peter says of the importance of these things. To have them and abound insures that we will not be barren nor unfruitful in the Lord. And the final thought is having, by these things, an abundant entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour! Oh, the blessed recipe of goodness!

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

QUESTIONS:

 

1. To whom was Peter writing this wonderful epistle?

2. What did he desire to be multiplied to us and through what?

3. What has God’s divine power given to us?

4. Of what can we be partakers through His promises?

5. What seven things are we to add to our lives?

6. In what will these things make us to be fruitful?

7. In what condition is he who lacks these things?

8. What will having these things enable us to have?

 

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

 

Our lesson today is parallel to the counsel Paul gave in Philippians 3:7-11 concerning being able to attain unto the resurrection of the dead: “To win Christ, to be found in him with the righteousness of faith, to know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death [to die as Christ died].”

Peter gives the list of things that we should faithfully abundantly add to our faith. It will pay great eternal dividends to our souls if we will diligently work at applying these things to our hearts and lives! Each one of these things listed by Peter are unfailingly expedient and vital for us to have in our hearts and lives. It takes diligence and earnest effort and endeavor, with fervent prayer and petitioning to our gracious Heavenly Father through the gracious help of His Son at His right hand interceding for us. If we can fervently and prayerfully obtain these vital things working in our hearts and lives we will never fail to please the Lord, and we will have an abundant entrance ministered to us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour! Oh, the value and benefit that we can possess and enjoy in these blessings that God has provided us! But they do not come without us seeking earnestly in prayer and carefully guarding our conversation and ways of life and conduct. Oh, it will mean so much to our eternity bound souls to be able to have abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

 

In Jeremiah 29:11 it reads, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” How wonderful that God thinks of us in a good way. He has great and marvelous plans for each of our lives and expects us to endure till we experience a great end. Everything He allows to come our way is to build a relationship with us and draw us to His heart. He is preparing us to go to a beautiful place where we will dwell with Him eternally. He is earnestly desires for us to make it there successfully. He gave His life for us to be saved and sent His Holy Spirit to accompany us on our journey. He plans a grand entrance for us into His heavenly home. I imagine angels singing and our loved ones gathered around us eager to show us every beauty they enjoy. “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see”; when I look upon His face—the One who saved me by His grace. . .”

—Bro. James Bell