2 Peter 1 Bible Study

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The Second Epistle of Peter Chapter 1:1–21 Greetings 1:1 From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours.

At this time it was the custom for a person to put their name at the beginning of a letter whereas we would sign our name at the end. It is Simon Peter one of the original twelve apostles called by the Lord Jesus Christ.

He uses both his names, the one that was given him at his birth, Simon a shortened form of Simeon and Peter the name that Jesus gave him (John 1:42) meaning a rock or stone which corresponds to Cephas in the Syriac language. He may have well purposely used both his names to remind himself and his readers of what he was before he came to Jesus Christ, unsaved, and the change in his life after he became one of His disciples (2 Corinthians 5:17). Although he could claim the office and title of an apostle he simply calls himself the servant of Jesus Christ. He is not addressing his letter to any particular church or person but to all those who have entered into the same precious faith as he had.

There is only one faith (Eph4.5) that Jews and Gentiles share together the same faith in Jesus Christ which is the gift of God (Eph2.8). Jesus Christ gave Himself upon the cross for our sins through His atoning death so God is able to justify and pardon guilty sinners and impart His righteousness to all who believe (Romans 3: 22).

1:2 (NKJV) Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, God’s grace has no limits so what Peter desires for them is that they may increasingly know in their lives the fulness of His grace (unmerited favour of God) and the perfect heart peace that is ours through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Growth Promised by God's Grace 1:3 I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.

Through His divine power God has provided through Jesus Christ all that is needed for us to live a life that is well pleasing to Him, a godly life. The way to live this life has been made known to us through the One who

called us by His marvelous glory and excellence (James 1:18). It is the purpose of God to change us into the likeness of His beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29, 2 Cor. 3:18) 1:4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.

It is through His glory and by His divine nature that God has given to us His precious and great promises. It is by what He has promised that we may share His divine nature and this is how we escape the corruption that is in the world. We are to put on the new man and cast off the old (Eph. 4:23–24, Col. 3:10). God’s purpose is to continually change us from glory to glory until we become like the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). This work will be completed when we see him (1 John 3:20).

1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; Because God has made every provision for this work to be done in our lives on our part we must do all that we can by exercising our faith to grow in grace and truth and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to be more like Him day by day. This work is not done overnight it is an ongoing thing.

1:6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; The more we come to know God’s will so we become more accountable to control the way that we live before God and man. As we do so we will develop a patient endurance and steadfastness that will lead us on to godliness.

1:7–8 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.

With godliness will come brotherly love that will fulfill the Lord’s command (John 13:34–35) and a love for all men (Col. 3:14, Gal. 5:14). If these godly qualities continually grow in us then our witness and our lives will have an impact upon those that we come in contact with that will bring forth fruit for God’s glory.

Make Your Calling Sure 1:9 But concerning the one who lacks such things — he is blind. That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.

A Christian who doesn’t develop in this way is like a person who is shortsighted or blind he has a limited understanding of God. He or she has received Jesus Christ as Saviour but they fail to go on or grow in Him. There can be no standing still in our Christian life either we go forward or back. These people soon forget the experience they had when they came to Christ receiving forgiveness and cleansing from their sins and so become ineffective.

1:10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.

Having given a warning Peter now exhorts every believer to make an earnest effort to prove that they really are among those who have been called that they are Christ’s own. If they do so then they will never fall away (Heb. 2:1).

1:11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.

By keeping the faith and running the race until reaching goal an abundant entrance will be given into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 4:7)

Pay Attention to God’s Word 1:12–13 Therefore, I intend to remind you constantly of these things even though you know them and are well established in the truth that you now have. Indeed, as long as I am in this tabernacle, I consider it right to stir you up by way of a reminder, Even though those receiving his letter were not ignorant of the things he had been saying and was grounded in the truth he would nevertheless continually remind them of these things. In fact while he remained alive he considered it his duty to stir them up by way of a reminder.

1:14 since I know that my tabernacle will soon be removed, because our Lord Jesus Christ revealed this to me.

Peter knew that his life would soon come to an end in the way the Lord had foretold him that it would (John 21:18). Peter was to be executed and tradition tells that he was crucified upside down. Yet Peter sees this merely as a laying aside of his body, his temporary home, so that he might put on his eternal home in heaven (2 Cor. 5:1).

1:15 Indeed, I will also make every effort that, after my departure, you have a testimony of these things.

In writing his letters Peter was making certain that after his death there would be a permanent record of those things that he had heard and received from the Lord (Luke 1:1–2, 1 John 1:1–4).

1:16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur.

These things that Peter and others had testified of concerning the Lord Jesus Christ were not cleverly made up stories but they had made known to them what they had been eyewitnesses of the power of His teaching His death and the glory of His and of resurrection.

1:17–18 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: "This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted." When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Peter is referring to the time when he, James and John had seen the Lord transfigured before them, and a voice came from heaven that said "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 17:1–5).

1:19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts..

All that the prophets had said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ had been confirmed by all that they had seen and heard and could therefore be relied upon. We do well if we pay attention to this and continued to do so as we would to a light shining in a dark place that shows us the way (2 Cor. 4:6) until we have a full understanding

and the morning star rises in your heart. The Morning Star is what the Lord Jesus Christ calls Himself in Revelation 22:16 so this could refer to when Christ is formed in you (Gal. 4:19, Col. 1:27).

1:20-21 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet's own imagination, for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. The most important thing to recognize above all else is that the Bible is the infallible Word of God He is the author of it. The prophecy of scripture never came by the prophet’s own imagination but they spoke as God moved upon them by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16). Therefore, no one should have their own application to it. It is the Holy Spirit that gives the understanding of the Word of God (John 14:26, 1 John 2:27) There is a clear warning given in Revelation of the consequences of adding or taken away from the Word of God (Rev. 22:10) © Derek Williams & Mathew Bartlett 2015 Bible Studies Online UK www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk You may copy, print or distribute our studies freely in any form, just so long as you make no charges. Sign up today for our FREE monthly Bible study magazine “Living Word” Scriptures taken from the NET Bible www.bible.org