2 Peter 1:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

NIV: His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

NASB: for 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.

CSB: His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

NLT: By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

KJV: 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:

NKJV: as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

Some Christians struggle with sin, spiritual weakness, and apathy. Are such people missing something? Have they been left unequipped by God? What have we not been given in order to lead the life God calls us to? Peter's answer is simple: We're not missing anything. We are fully equipped. But we have a choice about whether or not we'll really use those spiritual tools. This requires effort on our part.

How are we equipped? It didn't happen naturally. We weren't born with it. We didn't earn it through hard work or good behavior. For those in Christ, God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Like salvation, all of this was ours when we came to know God (through faith in Christ). As Peter will make clear, knowing God, the source of all life, is the only path to being fully equipped to live as God calls us to do.

And how does He call us? By His own glory and goodness, meaning "moral excellence." Jesus sets the standard for what is good and glorious, calls for us to follow, and fully equips us to make the journey.

2 Peter 1:3–15 urges Christians to understand that they are, right now, fully equipped to lead the life to which God has called them. Since they are equipped, they must use those tools through personal effort. They should strive to add Christ’s goodness and other powerful qualities to their lived-out faith. Growing in those qualities leads to a productive, effective life of knowing the Lord. Lacking Christ’s qualities leads to the opposite. Peter continues reminding the reader of what they already know, in order to keep stirring them up, to ensure they remember all of this after he has died (which will be soon).

Peter begins this brief letter to Christians by reminding them they are not missing anything they need to lead the good and godly lives they are called to. They must work, then, to add to their faith the goodness and qualities of Jesus. This requires effort, unlike eternal salvation which is not based on our work. Those who lack these positive attributes will live as unproductive and ineffective servants of God, nearly as blind as unbelievers and forgetting that their sins are forgiven. Peter, near death, insists that his eyewitness testimony about the transfiguration confirms that the prophecies about the Messiah are true. Jesus is coming back.

Peter begins his letter by urging his Christian readers not to be unproductive in their knowledge of Jesus. Rather, they should work to add all of Christ’s qualities to their lives. Then Peter begins to lay a foundation to support his attack on the false teachers in the church. He also introduces ideas supporting his declaration that the Day of the Lord is coming. Later chapters will use the background of this first chapter to support those arguments.

Apparently written shortly before his death in the AD 60s, 2 Peter may have been written to the same audience as 1 Peter, which was Christians scattered by persecution. Peter writes this letter to encourage Christians to live out the purpose of their lives in Christ. He warns readers to beware of teachers who claim to be believers, but present a false version of Christianity. And, Peter calls on all Christians to eagerly watch and wait for the return of the Lord.