2 Peter week 1

2 Pet 1:1-4 Sharing in the Nature of God

Why 2 Peter?   https://youtu.be/yi_LO42j0u4

Introduction

Today we are starting a new multiweek series grounded in 2 Peter. It was only after I had chosen the book that I fully realised why. Today, as in Peter’s day, the Church, in this case its Anglican expression, is threatened by false teachers, whilst this is hardly a new phenomenon, in the case of the diocese od Perth it has recently become very intense. The exact nature of the issue will become clearer over the weeks ahead.

The second letter of Peter has been called the “ugly stepchild” of the New Testament for two main reasons. First, it was not accepted as an apostolic book by the Western Church for several centuries[1], unlike traditional ancient letters it lacks the personal greetings and endings in which the recipients are clear, containing personal greetings, a health wish, etc. Secondly, its spiritual emphases are very different from Protestant spirituality. (But much alike Eastern Orthodoxy.) In 2 Peter the language of “knowledge” dominates that of “faith” and salvation is seen as deliverance from the corruption that comes from desire rather than a state of justification[2]. 2 Peter, uniquely in the New Testament, holds up the transfiguration as the decisive Christological event, and heretics are ungraciously condemned by the Return of Christ in a cosmic conflagration by fire.

None of these characteristics need disturb us, because Jesus is at the centre of this book, in which divine justice, and authority of God in Christ, first revealed in the transfiguration, take pride of place. Christ will be fully manifest in his soon coming that will purify and transform all of creation turning it into a home of righteousness. The false teachers, who occupy the central part of this book, deny there have ever been any apocalyptic divine interventions in creation, which is why Jesus has shown no sign of coming back. They conclude he will not return and bring the judgement.[3] However plausible arguments like these might have appeared to the Greek thinkers of Peter’s day, he sees them as absurd and dangerous.

2 Peter 1:1-4

Exposition

“Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ”

As a servant, or more literally, a “slave” of Jesus[4], Peter occupies an honourable place in the household of God and uses his apostolic vocation and authority to write letters[5].

“To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ[6]:”

The first believers had “obtained[7] a faith” by the active justice of Jesus. In other words, Christ is viewed as the ultimate cause of the faith of his people[8]. This is a faith which all believers share and so it is of “equal standing”, the same calibre, as the apostles. Being placed on a par with apostles with respect to faith might be a hard thing for us to accept, as we are often disposed to measure up, our level of faith with that of other, more mature Christians, in a negative way. This is the exact opposite of Peter’s message in a letter in which human faithfulness to the original message is a matter of great concern[9]. Faithfulness counts for a lot to God[10]. Peter begins his letter, not by warning about the dangers of defecting from following Jesus, but by testifying to Christ’s all sufficient saving power. Jesus himself is the power of the truth to preserve our faith through time. For Peter, Jesus is Saviour and God (1:1, 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18). To present Christ in this way is to point his readers to him in first place as the one God and Lord (Ex 20:3)[11], and away from the inducement of worshipping the emperor, who was commonly upheld as “god and saviour”. The use of “Saviour” in relation to Christ is more common in 2 Peter (1:1, 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18) than in other New Testament books.

When Peter says, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (1:2), he uses the traditional letter greeting (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3 etc.) meant to impart well-being and favour. But his reference to “the knowledge of God and Christ” points to a deep and unique inner knowledge that comes through the revelation of who Christ is for us (cf. 2 Pet 1:2, 3, 8; 2:20). It refers to coming to know someone for who they really are. Is Christ simply an idea in your mind or have you had this revelation? Conversion is the way to come to this powerful inner knowledge. The false teachers in chapter 2 present error as truth and so raise up the danger of leading away people from Christ who is truth itself (John 14:6; Eph 4:21). This has profound ethical implications for how people live. In this realm of knowledge there are committed and uncommitted ways of living. For instance, if someone was to be made aware of how you spend your time, what would they observe? Anyone who is not committed to personal Bible study and prayer as a foundational part of their life is a prime candidate for the sort of deception “peddled” by false teachers of the Word (2 Cor 2:17).

Peter’s first step in dealing with the dangers of false teaching is not to start arguing with it head on, but to remind his readers about how much God has already done for them. This is why the theological centre of the letter is the next section (vv.3-18), which focuses on God’s gift, promise, call and election. Grounding his audience in these things will impart to them assurance and stability.

“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,”

How great is God’s “divine power”?? This is the sheer attractive, compelling beauty, glory and authority of God’s own inner life opened up for us in Christ, that first came to us through the preaching of the gospel and drew us irresistibly to himself[12]. Every believer knows in their secret heart that the call of the Lord on their lives is an expression of what theologians call “irresistible grace”. Peter later testifies that this is “the coming in power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:16), a visitation of God to the earth and to each of us which is radical, apocalyptic, and, in the light of the death and resurrection of Jesus, a world undoing and world re-creating event. The apostle now goes on to speak of the impact of this visitation from another world in the strongest of terms. The impartation of “life and godliness” this has brought us means a godly life. Living a “godly life” means living in a way that pleases the Lord. We should aim unembarrassingly for such a style of life (Ps 86:2; 89:19; 149:1, 5, 9; 2 Cor 1:12; 7:9; 1 Tim 2:2; 2 Tim 3:12; Tit 2:12; 2 Pet 2:9), not only for ourselves, but for others. In an election season we should be praying according to the instructions of Paul, “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Tim 2:2). We must focus on the reality that it is Christ’s own life of “glory and excellence” which has the ability to change our lives[13].

“by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

God’s power is wholly and fully communicated through “his precious and very great promises[14]” which are completely sufficient to enable godliness of life. This power isn’t some sort of mystical understanding that comes to a person through long meditation, it is a gift of grace. We have, according to Peter “escaped (past tense) the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire”.   The “sinful desire” is the lustful longing that possessed Adam and Eve in Eden when they could not stop themselves from reaching out for the fruit which Satan promised would bring eternal life (Gen 3:1-6). John calls this “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1 John 2:16). Such a desire is a terminal condition which imparts a sense to the sinner of the finiteness of life. If we long for those things God does not want us to have, we cannot possess a wholesome sense of eternal life. I said to a close Christian friend suffering from terminal cancer recently, “Your longing to bring glory to God needs to be stronger than your desire to keep on living. Then you will have a sense of living forever, and ever.”

What does Peter mean by telling us that through God’s “very great promises” we become “partakers of the divine nature”[15]. [There isn’t any “let’s look at the Greek more closely” for a better understanding here.[16]] The best and only true way of understanding how a human being shares the nature of God is in terms of our faith-union with Christ[17]. By grace and promise we become more at home in the world of God than in the world of human beings[18]. As by grace Jesus took on a human nature and raised it into glory through death-and-resurrection, so by grace ordinary mortal beings become more and more Godlike, more and more perfect in Christlikeness (Heb 11:40; 12:23; James 1:4). As Jesus never ceased to be a creature in becoming more and more like his heavenly Father, we never cease to be creatures in becoming more and more like him. How does this happen? The answer is as old as the way God has dealt with humanity, by reading the Bible daily and systematically, praying, not just for our needs and those of loved ones, offering to God confession, praise, and worship. Not to do these things freezes spiritual growth and open us up to deceiving spirits. Since I am your pastor and responsible to God for the care of your souls[19] I must ask you some personal questions, especially since some people who heard my sermon online from last Sunday asked about whether the books I mentioned were worth reading. What is the last devotional book you read and how has it helped you become more like Jesus?  If you are not sharing ever more intensely in the divine nature, which is the reason why you were in fact created, what is the point of your existence? When I started to read the Scriptures by myself 50 years ago I knew this was exactly the issue for my future. Nothing has changed and will ever change.

Conclusion

Jesus said we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”. And he went on to exhort us, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 5:14-16). If it is true, as people keep on saying, the world in getting darker and the culture more ungodly, such dark ungodliness is a sure sign that the people of God are living below the potential of the high call we have in Christ (Phil 3:14). Obviously, the sort of works that he expected us to perform are of such a quality of “glory and excellence” (2 Pet 1:3) as to be recognisable as having an origin from beyond this world. This is something to which we must urgently direct the rest of our lives.