Skip to main content

A Devotional Styled Study of 2 Peter

I'm posting the missing parts of my series on 2 Peter in four parts. So if you enjoy these you can go back and finish the rest. It is my hope that you will benefit from this study I wrote years ago. Enjoy!
 2 Peter, Verses 1-4
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  
Welcome to my devotional study of 2 Peter. Hopefully those that read this devotional will be blessed as we open up God's word. I will attempt to explain the text when I feel like that is required, but I will also make comments, offer commentary, and give insight as I do my own personal study on this book. I fully understand that I may make errors as I go through, and I welcome discussions and correction if needed. Here we go.
As we read this letter, we should be aware of the context. Peter is most likely writing this from a Roman prison and most likely written shortly before his execution. So, this would be Peter's last words to the Christians. I wonder what I would write if I knew I was going to die tomorrow and had one chance to get my final thoughts out. Knowing that these are Peter's final words helps me to get a sense of the importance of this letter.
2 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.  
Peter here does not mean to differentiate God, and Jesus. Apparently, in the original language, the words used for God and Jesus refer to the same thing, namely His divine power (v3). It is truly comforting to know that, as Christians, we have everything we need to live a Godly life. Peter describes this power as coming through "true knowledge of God." This phrase sets the tone for the rest of the letter. Peter's final words are mostly concerned with the preservation of the true message of God.
4 For by these (His own glory and excellence) 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.
This verse is a marvelous depiction of what happens to us when we become a Christian. It is important to know that he is not saying that we become a god, but that we get a taste of the divine when we are "born again" into a new life in Christ. This new birth allows us to escape the fallen (corrupt) world. A lot of meat in this opening statement, but we'll press on...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards In Plain English. (#1-10)

Jonathan Edwards is known as one of the greatest and most profound of American theologians. His writings have benefited many Christians throughout the years. I was impressed with these resolutions and so I have attempted to translate them into the language of the day. I understand that I may have missed Edward’s full meaning at some level, but I made every attempt to capture the essence of the original author and summarize in such a way as to benefit the modern reader. There are 70 resolutions in all. I have summarized the first ten here. I hope you enjoy these. ________________________________ 1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I mee...
4 comments
Read entire article

Removing Planks and Seeing Clearly

Is it ever appropriate to speak out about sin even though we all have sinned? Worded this way most of us would say, "sure!, of course. Especially if the Bible calls it sin."  And I would agree. What if I worded the question like this? "Since we have all sinned, and many of us sin terribly in secret, is it hypocritical to condemn the sin of someone else?" This one should make us all think a little more before answering.  I think Jesus spoke to this matter. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 7:1 ff “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?    You hy...
Post a Comment
Read entire article

My Thoughts On The Same-Sex Marriage Debate

The teachings of the Bible reveal to us that marriage was designed by God to be a “picture” of the relationship between Jesus and His “church” (his true followers.) He did this to show His love and devotion, and to illustrate His role as “head”. Those of us that embrace the Bible see marriage as one of the most important institutions created by God. Therefore we cannot and should not try to redefine it. To do so would distort God’s purpose in creating it. Marriage is one of the most explicitly described concepts in the bible. It only has one meaning. Ephesians 5:31-32 , which quotes Genesis 2:24 Opponents of same-sex marriage are often described as bible-thumping bigots that hate people who have embraced the homosexual lifestyle. This is a fallacy that attempts to paint an opponent with negative stereotypes in order to discredit them. While there may be a few people out there that can be described in this way, most are not. There are good reasons to oppose the homosexual agenda,...
Post a Comment
Read entire article