Peter tells us that God, in 2 Peter 1:3 “has bestowed on us all things that are necessary for life and godliness” and then says in 2 Peter 1:4 “he has bestowed on us his precious and very great promises, so that through these you may become sharers of the divine nature”. But we are born into this world where people are described as being in 2 Peter 2:12 “like irrational animals born only with natural instincts for capture and killing” and many in 2 Peter 2:19 “are slaves of depravity”. It is only by, in 1 Peter 5:12 “the true grace of God” that we can be free and come into the, in 1 Peter 2:2 “royal priesthood” that God has for us.
Shepherd the Flock of God Among You
This is the True Grace of God
1 Peter 5:12–14
The purpose of Peter’s letter is written in his closing comments in
1 Peter 5:12b I have written to you briefly to encourage you and to attest that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
This grace that Peter talks about is “a living hope” in 1 Peter 1:3 and “an inheritance” in 1 Peter 1:4. He tells them to “be holy” in 1 Peter 1:15 and to “long for the unadulterated spiritual milk” in 1 Peter 2:2 because they “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s possession” in 1 Peter 2:9. So, he says, “do good” in 1 Peter 3:11 because in
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
When Peter closes with “This is the True Grace of God”, “The word this is best understood to refer to the entire way of life described in the letter as a whole. The entire Christian life is one of grace—God’s daily bestowal of blessings, strength, help, forgiveness, and fellowship with himself, all of which we need, none of which we ever deserve. All is of grace, every day. From continual trust in that grace and from continual obedience empowered by it Christians must not move: rather, they must stand fast in it—until the day of their death.”1
And Peter wrote this to, in the introduction in
1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen who are residing temporarily in the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
These were all of the “dispersion”, those that had escaped the persecution in Jerusalem and moved North. These are also regions Paul had covered in his missionary journeys, yet wherever Christians go, we carry this God kind of life that is foreign to the way of the world.
You May Become Sharers of the Divine Nature
2 Peter 1:1–7
Peter makes profound statements in the opening of this letter. He says “his divine power has bestowed on us all things that are necessary for life and godliness” in 2 Peter 1:3 and then says “he has bestowed on us his precious and very great promises, so that through these you may become sharers of the divine nature” in 2 Peter 1:4.
Peter says that God “has bestowed”, that means that God has provided something for us, he has given something to us. And what he has given is “all things that are necessary for life and godliness” so there isn’t anything we need that we can’t have. But even better than that is we “may become sharers of the divine nature” because God has given us his Holy Spirit. We simply apply the knowledge of Christ with diligence and let the supply of the Holy Spirit rule in our hearts and minds bringing forth the fruit in 2 Peter 1:5-7.
Make Your Calling and Election Secure
2 Peter 1:8–15
This is My Beloved Son
2 Peter 1:16–21
The Lord Knows How to Rescue the Godly
They Have Escaped From the Defilement’s of the World
2 Peter 2:12–22
The way of the world comes naturally to a man in his fallen state. They are described as “like irrational animals born only with natural instincts for capture and killing” in 2 Peter 2:12 and “having eyes full of desire for an adulteress and unceasing from sin” in 2 Peter 2:14. These draw others after themselves “by speaking high-sounding but empty words, they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness” in 2 Peter 2:19 “although they themselves are slaves of depravity” in 2 Peter 2:19.
Yet “through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in 2 Peter 2:20 they were set free and “escaped from the defilements of the world”. But not all continue in “the holy commandment that had been delivered to them” in 2 Peter 2:21. How is it that someone could taste the goodness of God “and have known the way of righteousness” and turn back. But isn’t this what happened with Satan? He was in the presence of God, and yet, he turned away.
Study Verses
- 1 Peter 5:12–14 This is the True Grace of God
- 2 Peter 1:1–7 You May Become Sharers of the Divine Nature
- 2 Peter 2:12–22 They Have Escaped From the Defilement’s of the World
Today’s Reading
- 1 Peter 5:1-14
- 2 Peter 1:1-21
- 2 Peter 2:1-22
References
- 1. Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, p. 208). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.