“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:2-4)
Let’s follow the logic here. God’s power has granted to believers everything necessary for life and godliness. In other words, there is no reality we face which we as believers do not have what we need supplied by God's power (the same power that raised Christ from the dead no less!). This divine power is mediated through the knowledge of God, the one who called us by his own glory and excellence (not the techniques of man). By these realities (i.e. everything in 1:2-4), God has granted to us "His precious and magnificent promises." Stop and let that sink in; these promises are a treasure of great value, far greater than anything the world can offer. The purpose of granting these promises is so that we as believer may share in the divine nature, by which I believe Peter means that the Spirit who indwells us causes us to participate in the intra-Trinitarian love and joy that the Godhead has enjoyed from all eternity. This participation is only possible because we have escaped the corruption that is in the world fueled by our sinful desires.
From this rich text I would suggest several brief lines of application:
1. Do we really believe that God has given us EVERYTHING necessary for life and godliness, or merely most of what is necessary? We are all quick to run to the pseudo-wisdom of the world (i.e., psychology, marketing, self-help, etc.) because we often do not believe in the sufficiency of the power of God mediated through his precious and magnificent promises found in his Word.
2. Do we really treasure God promises as precious and magnificent? Do our actions reveal a delight in God and his promises that far outstrips our delight in lesser things?
3. Do we really experience the joy and love that the three persons of the Trinity share with one another on a daily basis? Do we seek this love and joy that the Father has willed, the Son has purchased, and the Spirit applies?
2 comments:
Dr. Harmon,
Excellent points. I appreciate your communication on the sufficiency found in God and His word. I fear these wonderful points are all too often being muted, even in conservative evangelical circles.
Zach Doppelt
thanks for directing our minds to this passage.
the reaction i often receive to the "everything" in this passage is often the same response i receive to the "no temptation" in 1 Corinthians 10:13. often we're willing to receive either principle in theory, but when it comes to our specific life and our specific situations...we see where our faith lies.
like you and zach have pointed out, i've always seen this passage as strengthening the doctrine of Scripture's sufficiency. yet, again i often get challenged by others to this effect. this baffles me, because:
a) Scripture remains a central theme of the entire book of 2 peter. (i would argue it may be the best book to turn to when defending the inspiration of Scripture from Scripture).
b) the "knowledge of God" is used so often by peter. it would seem it is clear we must search out God's revelation.
c) no matter what, we end up at the same place. the logical conclusion is where your question went. if we really believe God has given us everything, why do we dig other cisterns?
what a great text!
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