Lesson 3
Second Peter
Warning against dangers
facing the Church
1:2 May grace and peace be
multiplied to you all by means of the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Lord.
Summary!
1.
Peter states his desire for those he's writing to and in the wider sense
to all believers in every generation of the church age that grace and peace
would be multiplied in their lives.
2.
He uses an unusual or rare construction that is the optative mood to
express his desire.
3.
The reason is that the optative mood fits in with the prophetic aspect
of the epistle in that he realizes that with the coming reality of false
teachers in the church and the resulting defection from doctrine.
4.
This multiplication of grace and peace is tied directly to the
individual's understanding
of the word of God so that divine viewpoint is stored and ready
for illumination by the Holy Spirit for application. Psa. 119:9-11
5.
What's the example just noted from 1 Peter? Patient endurance under UNDSF results in
grace blessing in time and eternity.
6.
You must be faithful in both hearing, the intake phase, as well as
putting the principles of truth into operation as necessary. Jas. 1:22-25
7.
Peace is a spiritual blessing whereby we can have a relaxed mental
attitude and confidence in time even as the circumstances of life seem to be
against us.
8.
With max knowledge here referred to as epignosis and its application
nothing can disrupt your RMA because you have the divine viewpoint that is
needed to handle the situation you may be facing.
9.
It is only doctrine that can arm you to resist, to stand firm against the subtle
distortions and distractions presented by the false teachers that are out
there.
1:3 Expanding
the how or the mechanics of the multiplication of grace and peace
That is the DOA's for it to become a reality.
seeing that
His divine power - have here a subordinate causal clause that
is dependent on the main verb of vs:2 be multiplied
His
point here is that this can and will be a reality if you utilize the DOA's provided which he is stressing here.
divine (h` qei/oj) (also
in 1:4) godly or divine is used to refer to what comes from God here modifies
power, (du,namij) which
speaks of inherent operating power
This should remind us that nothing is impossible with God,
whatever He does must be in line with or consistent with His +R/J that is His integrity therefore must not violate His essence.
His divine power has granted
perf mid participle of (dwre,omai) much stronger word than the more common didomi for giving.
- means to grant, to bestow, to
give as a gift
to us (h`mi/n) dative plural ->
indicates what is given is for our advantage/benefit
- God has granted to us as Church age saints something
very valuable, something that can't be improved upon, all made possible flowing
out of salvation and our relationship with Christ in time.
everything pertaining to life and godliness,
- this brings into view the
spiritual blessings that accrue to the advancing believer of this dispensation
referred to in Rom
life (zwh,) this refers to f2, the provision necessary to pursue consistently the
intake of the Word of God, the logistics needed for living the new life in
Christ.
godliness eu = good seb = respect for what is noble (euvse,beia)
- speaks of a manner of life characterized by reverence
toward God and respect for the beliefs and practices related to Him
- Peter will point this out
that it depicts the pattern of life of the believer:
#1 -
1:3-8 speaking of the one who lives their life in the expectation, hope and
pursues epignosis
#2 -
2:9 will be provided the resources the spiritual assets to handle temptation
#3 -
3:11-14 the one
who lives their life in the light of His return
So the bottom line is that
godliness refers to a life of active obedience to the standards of God and
therefore is a synonym for the advancing believer who lives life applying the
truths of the Word.
through the
true knowledge (dia. th/j evpignw,sij) genitive case = speaks of
the means or agency for attaining the "all things" therefore is the mechanics
of
Him who called us aorist act ptc of (kale,w); the Him is Jesus Christ;
How did
He call us or anyone for that matter, through the Gospel message which is an
invitation to all, unfortunately only a few are persuade by the specifics of the Gospel and
believe.
by His own glory and excellence.
- glory (do,xa) dative
instrumental; refers to the divine essence
- excellence (avreth,) dative instrumental;
refers to moral excellence, virtue, preeminence
This is
an active concept and therefore refers to the display of His divine essence in
His grace, goodness, and poured out mercy in relationship with His own.
1:3 Because of His divine power (inherent operational power - OmPo) has granted to us (for our advantage) all
things pertaining to life and godliness through the means of full knowledge of
Him who called us by His own glory and virtue (essence manifested).
Summary!
1.
Due to Christ's unsurpassed and unique achievement in the 1st
advent, that is related to His cross work, we as believers
are the recipient of all things, the provision needed for life and for
godliness.
2. His OmPo
(inherent operating power) stands behind us as believers providing the DOA's to live our lives and bring glory to Him.
3. The
mechanic of understanding the nature and the extent of the DOA's
available to the believer (the all things) is to have the full knowledge of
Christ.
4. Only
through the consistent feeding on the Word will we attain the epignosis, the
full, complete knowledge of Christ needed for life and godliness.
5. This
epignosis that Peter refers to is not only the very source of divine viewpoint
but also the basis of divine guidance which results in the virtue of godliness
being reflected in the life.
6. The
all things pertaining to life brings into view the provision of living grace or
logistical grace which supports the advancing believer who desires to know the
Word so that they have that opportunity to pursue consistent intake of it. Lk 12:22-31
7.
Growing out of the consistent intake, the spiritual advance of the believer is
the all things related to godliness, that is, the character of Christ being
reflected in the life as the Word is lived out.
8. The
potential is there for every believer for the "all things" to accrue
to them in time.
- rem: it is God's stated desire
that all believers come to a knowledge of truth therefore He will make the
provision so that it is possible
9.
Persistent negative volition will neutralize the whole process and the
resulting realization of blessing in time and eternity.
This negative volition is
evidenced in several ways:
a.
failure to assemble consistently
b.
failure to concentrate on and believe the Word heard
c.
failure to apply the truth when the opportunity or need arises
- So
B.L. is that the whole process of realizing the provision and blessings of the
all things pertaining to life and godliness can be shut down by our volitional
choices.
- It is never due to the lack of available resources.