2 Peter 1:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

NIV: and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

NASB: and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

CSB: godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

NLT: and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

KJV: And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

NKJV: to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

Here, Peter concludes a list of character qualities begun in verse 6. These are traits we must add to our faith, if we are to live with the goodness, or "moral excellence," in which God has enabled us to walk. This is the very goodness of Jesus. Verses 5 and 6 described certain spiritual attributes, which need to be taken on in a particular order.

Now Peter writes that we must add brotherly kindness, or affection, alongside godliness. The idea is that we become motivated to do good for each other. This is supposed to come from a sense of connectedness. This is the type of connection experienced in the closest of families. And, truly, our brothers and sisters in Christ are our family. Peter calls us to "make every effort" to develop a familial affection for each other. Hard as it may be at times, we should strive to really "like" each other, so that we want to do good for one another.

Then, finally, we come to pinnacle of these qualities: love. God is love, and the goodness of Jesus was motivated both by His love for the Father and His love for us. Peter's term for "love" here comes from the Greek root word agape, which refers to a selfless, sacrificial concern for the good of others. It makes sense, then, that our ultimate reason to do good is the same self–sacrificing love that Christ showed for us.

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.