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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Obligations Imposed upon the Believers by the Rich Promises of God.
God's promises and the Christian virtues:
v. 3. 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;
v. 4. whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
v. 5. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
v. 6. and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness;
v. 7. and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.
Peter assumes from the outset that his readers are, without exception, believers, that they have all become partakers of the grace and peace of God through faith. Upon this fact he bases his entire discussion: Forasmuch as His divine power has given us all things that are necessary for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that called us by His glory and divine virtue, through which He has given to us the precious and greatest promises, that by means of these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world in lust. The apostle enumerates some of the wonderful gifts of God, as the Christians are enjoying them. It is God, whose divine power, working through the Gospel, has freely given us, donated to us, everything that serves and aids us in the new spiritual life, as it shows itself in godliness. His grace and mercy is so full and complete that there is nothing missing which might serve our spiritual needs. God presented us with all these wonderful gifts by working the saving knowledge of Himself in us, when He called us through the Gospel. The knowledge of God which the natural man possesses is at best one which makes Him fear the almighty power of the great Lord of the universe. But we have learned that God is our kind, merciful, loving Father in Christ Jesus. To this knowledge of faith God has brought us through the glory and virtue that is peculiar to Him, through His majesty as well as through His unassailable perfection, through His goodness, kindness, mercy, and grace, 2Ti_1:9; Rom_3:25-26. At the same time, and through the same perfection of His essence, God has imparted to us another gift, namely, the precious, the immeasurably great and beautiful and incomprehensible promises. His purpose in doing this was and is that He might so strengthen our faith as thereby to make us partakers of His divine nature, to give us the spiritual power to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created us. It is in this way that we are enabled to be consecrated to Him and to flee from the corruption, from the degeneration, decay, and death which is in the world and is brought about by the evil lust, by the natural deceitfulness of the human heart in consequence of sin. Thus all the benefits of conversion and sanctification are here briefly outlined, in order to give a solid foundation to the appeal which the apostle is about to make.
For since these facts are as stated, therefore Peter has every reason to continue: But for this very reason use all your diligence and exhibit in your faith virtue; and in your virtue, knowledge; in knowledge, self-control; in self-control, steadfastness; in steadfastness, godliness; in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, universal love. The apostle delineates the growth and the expansion of the Christian's life of sanctification as a gradual, but steady progress. Because they are enjoying such wonderful gifts of God in spiritual blessings, therefore the believers will naturally contrive in every possible way, by the application of all zeal and diligence, to give evidence of the divine nature that has been recreated in them. Faith is the root from which all virtues and good works proceed as the rich fruits of spirituality. Faith will bring virtue, manly courage, and strength, that attitude of mind which will seek to please the Lord in all things. This attitude is accompanied by knowledge, understanding of that which pleases the Lord, insight, circumspection, discernment, Christian wisdom. This, in turn, is shown in the proper self-control, not a mere product of fear and slavish submission to authority, but the willing, deliberate ruling of the body and all its members, and of the mind and all its faculties, in accordance with the will of God. This cannot be a matter of mere whim or caprice, of an occasional good thought or deed, but it must be done with patient endurance and steadfastness, in spite of all temptations from within and without. This will next result in godliness, in a life which will at all times and in all conditions be pleasing to the Lord. The chief outward evidence, moreover, of godliness is brotherly love, affection toward the brethren of the same Christian congregation or community. And this love is to extend also beyond the immediate neighborhood and interests and show itself toward all men, even toward the enemies, See 1Th_3:12; Gal_6:10. What a high ideal for the Christians to hold before their eyes at all times!