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Tag: 1 peter

  • 2 Peter 1 – Know Christ’s Divine Nature

    2 Peter 1 – Know Christ’s Divine Nature

    Jesus Christ Lord God with cross

    Does Christ wield divine authority in your life?

    Second Epistle of Simeon Peter 1:

    ..seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

    For by these 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.

    2 Peter 1:3-4 Legacy Standard Bible

    Do you know God and Christ?

    The Apostle Simeon Peter — Cephas , Simon Peter — wants you to know the Divine nature of God [theos] and Jesus Christ [Christos].

    ..to you in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

    2 Peter 1:2b

    And most essentially these of the Divine nature [physis] above all knowledge (or full knowledge), rather than partial knowledge [gnōsis] of man — even a righteous man or one with wisdom — corrupted [phthora] by our own sinful nature.

    Note that by the unseen inspiration of the Holy Spirit in this scripture, the Apostle Peter in the opening of his second epistle had immediately claimed the authority of:

    ..  the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

    .. the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

    So to continue from when we introduced Peter in our introduction, the Apostle now writes to the church a second time so that all may be assured of their calling.

    our mutually possessive God and Savior

    How we long to belong to someone whom we love!
     
    A creature of fragile frame in God's image dare not approach the Almighty. 
    --

    Yet in JESUS, God touched man in a personal Way 
    — in Christ a new covenantal relationship for which we yearn endlessly, 

    forged in the love of God and our Lord.

    So Simon Peter, the Rock to whom Jesus looked to now build the church, assures believers and followers of The Way:

    And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.

    These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

    In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises..

    The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    2 Peter 1:4-5a,8 NLT

    But those who fail..
    The restored Apostle who had denied Jesus three times before Christ's sacrifice on the Cross cautions those who claim Jesus, yet fail in repentance:

    But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

    2 Peter 1 9 NLT

    Some in Adam have not seen the guarded gate of Eden reopened by Christ — God’s new election of saints called to return to the tree of life, mercifully clothed in righteousness through the perfect Sacrifice of our Savior and Lord.

    Apostolic Faith Defined through Peter’s Second Epistle

    The Apostle Peter — clearly in the Authority of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, here in his second epistle of Holy Scripture — commands discernment by the body of Christ – all pastors and every holy saint of the church called to grow in our faith.

    You have no doubt noticed that I have briefly skipped the answer Simon Peter provides to HOW our sanctification grows our faith.

    Peter’s progression in this list will help your personal discernment which the Apostle of Christ commands of those who love Jesus our Lord.

    7 Affections of Sanctification

    Growing Apostolic Faith Through Seeds of Holiness

    Before we look at the list, let’s glance at some terms of faith considering the connection made by the Apostle Simon Peter.

    Sanctification: Is Separation to the Service of God

    Psa 4:3; 2Cr 6:17–

    Torrey’s New Topical Textbook

    IF Christians are sanctified to God through the Lord Christ Jesus, THEN, Peter tells us, those saints will grow in the same holiness, rejecting the sin of our former self.

    The Apostle has already addressed sanctification. In fact, Simon Peter opens his first epistle to the saints with this bold greeting and claim in Christ:

    Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ..

    1 Peter 1:2a KJV

    Therefore the Apostle lists a general,

    ‘HOW TO ‘ grow or mature in your faith

    for the saints of God.

    And again,

    By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

    2 Peter 1:4 CSB

    For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness..

    add to your faith virtue,
    to virtue knowledge,
    to knowledge self-control,
    to self-control perseverance,
    to perseverance godliness,
    to godliness brotherly kindness,
    and to brotherly kindness
    love.

    2 Peter 1:5b-7 NKJV

    No single translation of these few verses seems sufficient in conveying the full-depth of the Apostle’s advice. Therefore let us take a few moments to allow the cleansing of Peter’s description to open our blind eyes.

    ADD these to your faith:

    Adjectives of Affective Faith:

    1. aretē
    2. gnōsis
    3. egkrateia
    4. hypomonē
    5. eusebeia
    6. philadelphia
    7. agapē

    Peter describes how we may diligently apply our new desires in Christ to our faith. You may have even memorized one English translation of these descriptions from the Apostle’s directive; however you may find insight into the richness of Peter’s list from adjectives in other translations.

    Remember: these all translate from Peter's written Greek - common to all of the first century Roman Empire.
    Adjectives beginning with KJV:
    VIRTUE

    moral excellence, goodness, worthiness

    KNOWLEDGE

    (insight, understanding)

    TEMPERANCE

    self-control,

    PATIENCE

    perseverance, patient endurance, steadfastness

    GODLINESS

    piety

    BROTHERLY KINDNESS

     brotherly affection, mutual affection, brotherly love

    CHARITY

    love, love for everyone, unselfish love, charity,  love itself

    source: BlueLetterBible.org – Bibles

    Neither Useless nor Unfruitful

    These affections are all good things. But more importantly to the Apostle’s evidence to ALL, all are Christian.

    For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

    2 Peter 1:8*9 NIV

    SO then, how must you act, justified sinner?

    Wherefore, the rather, brethren, (KJV)

    Peter leaves no doubt in the expected actions of believers.

    The Apostle addresses the brothers (as is customary in leadership — who teach their wives with the authority and compassion of Christ and will raise their children in the authority of God and Christ and Scripture).

    He opened his epistle leaving no question as to his apostolic authority in the Divine POWER of God — theios dynamis [v.3] — and Peter confirms Christ’s confirmation to we who are now elect in Him to become participants in Jesus’ Divine NATURE — theios physis [v.4].

    (After all, IF we are no longer like the unsaved sinners who we once were, then our Christ-like fruit of the Spirit will show His hope of eternal life in us.)

    Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

    For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    2 Peter 1:10-11 ESV

    Divinity and Trinity

    I would like to make a side-point concerning authority here which Simon Peter is about to address more fully as we proceed next time.

    First (as I just mentioned from varied English translations), Paul addresses the men of the church as was done in Greek, Roman and Jewish culture. In AD first century culture men, women and deities interacted in an order of hierarchy. Some men over others, some women over others, children under the authority of their mother or a servant woman under her authority — even Greek and Roman deities held unseen authority over men and women in designated areas of their lives and creation.

    As the Apostle has placed himself in this line of authority as both a doulos of DEITY — so Simon Peter also claims his delagated authority from ALMIGHTY GOD in the Person of GOD’s only Son Christ Jesus.

    The APOSTLE claims this obedience not to him personally, but as the personal slave of God sent to the world with the Gospel.

    The church cannot claim Christ while turning against GOD’s own commands.

    Peter’s Apostolic Gospel applies to ALL men and to ALL women who claim to be Christians.

    No claim of God while denying the written word of God in Scripture and instruction of an Apostle is true. Any christian claim of JESUS contrary to the Apostolic witness will not make a pastor, elder or bishop or any mortal man or woman a true Christian.

    Even JESUS, the Son of God, submitted to the will of the Father in everything and He promises to send the Holy Spirit as a counselor to those elected to eternal life in the New Covenant. 

    We cannot take time today to again address the Trinity.

    Am I numbered among God’s elect?

    R.C. Sproul reminds readers that Peter’s first epistle was addressed to the elect and notes that his second epistle with this important teaching, ‘drips theology.’

    So speaking of these affections we have just reviewed [2 Peter 1:5-7] Sproul writes:

    Yet he wants believers to be even more diligent about something else. There is an even greater priority, and that is the doctrine of election—not in the abstract but in respect to your own person.

    The most important question you need answered in your lifetime is this: am I numbered among the elect?

    ibid. p.195

    Consider the question in the mirror of God’s truth. Do YOU have the fruit of the Spirit shown in elected saints who turn to CHRIST?

    Any who lack such humble witness of Jesus to which Peter points in this epistle may be heretics — ravenous wolves, clothed in some other gospel of an anti-Christ.

    NEXT: The Will of a departing Apostle

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    Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel

  • They Stumble Because They Disobey – 1 Peter 2

    They Stumble Because They Disobey – 1 Peter 2

    The Apostle Simon Peter, who Jesus nicknamed, ‘the rock,’ warns the church about those who disobey God. He quotes scripture pointing to Christ as the cornerstone of the Temple and as a rejected stone causing some to stumble.

    As we suggested earlier in Apostates from Jude’s letter, these ‘religious’ opponents of Jesus often sway others to turn from the Lord. James also warns about Preaching to a Worldly Church, as do the Apostles.

    Peter reminds believers who hear his letter:

    For it stands in Scripture:
    See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and honored cornerstone,
    and the one who believes in him
    will never be put to shame.

    So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving,
    The stone that the builders rejected—
    this one has become the cornerstone,
    and
    A stone to stumble over,
    and a rock to trip over.

    They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

    1 Peter 2:6-8 CSB

    The Cornerstone in Zion

    stone wall "city of David" in Hebrew and English
    Zion צִיּוֹן

    Peter had witnessed the injustice to Jesus by Zion’s rulers first-hand. These same scornful men, a brood of vipers leavening the crowds of John the Baptist and Jesus – these arrogant religious scofferes pursued Peter and the Apostles, James and the church, and also Paul, Apostle to the gentiles.

    Peter quotes the prophecies of Psalm 118 and Isaiah, powerful imagery of the Messiah the Apostle had witnessed as he had entered Jerusalem with Jesus, who was crucified and then appeared alive after death on a cross.

    I shall not die, but live,
    And declare the works of the Lord.
    The Lord has chastened me severely,
    But He has not given me over to death.

    Psalm 118:17-18 KJV

    Two Herodian kings could not kill Christ and religious apostates who had turned against the Lord could not keep Jesus in the grave! Though the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey triumphant as a king, His victory is that over sin and death by His Holy and Perfect Sacrifice on a Cross.

    Christ the Cornerstone

    Perhaps you know some lyrics from the 19th century hymn, The Church’s One Foundation, which shares this same imagery.

    The church's one foundation 
     Is Jesus Christ her Lord; 
     She is his new creation 
     By water and the Word... 

    Mid toil and tribulation, 
     And tumult of her war, 
     She waits the consummation 
     Of peace forevermore...

    The Apostle’s first letter to the church points back to the scripture of Isaiah, who states that the Lord’s foundation is firmly placed.

    “Surely My hand founded H3245 the earth,
    And My right hand spread out the heavens;
    When I call to them, they stand together.

    Isaiah 48:13 NASB – Strong’s reference H3245 – יָסַד

    In Scripture familiar to Peter’s first century readers, Isaiah chastises religious leaders who claim the Lord, but turn to a covenant with sin and death.

    Isaiah 28

    14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
    who rule this people in Jerusalem!

    … for we have made lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”

    Isaiah 28:15c ESV

    Peter quotes the LORD God from scripture in his accusation against those who turn from Christ Jesus.

    Isaiah 28:16 Therefore the Lord God said:
    “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
    a tested stone,
    a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
    the one who believes will be unshakable.

    Is your faith in the Lord unshakable?

    The church is Christ’s followers; saints all, every living soul gathered in His Holy Name. Peter refers to the faithful as living stones.

    No building of earth – not a Temple or grand Cathedral; but saved souls as living stones, placed by the Creator next to Christ our cornerstone. Unshakable – to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    How firm is your foundation in the Lord?

    Peter shows us to be as unhewn but useful stones for the Lord’s holiest of Temples, the Living place of worship to the LORD founded in Christ.

    Isaiah 28:17-18

    “I will make justice the measuring line
    And righteousness the level;
    Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
    And the waters will overflow the secret place.

    “Your covenant with death will be canceled,
    And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
    When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    Then you become its trampling place.

    Surely Christ has cancelled our covenant with death by His Sacrifice on the Cross.

    Peter’s Guidance for the Church

    Peter opens his first letter to the church: “To those chosen” or “To those who reside as aliens” or “To God’s elect, exiles scattered.. or “To the pilgrims of the Dispersion.

    These living stones are not recognized in this world as the church the Lord creates for true and eternal worship.

    Are you one who does not stumble?

    The world, even your neighbors, will treat you as aliens and attempt to shake your faith. Christians are as unwelcome in our 21st c. culture as the recipients of Peter’s first century letters to the church.

    In Jesus, Peter reminds us, our faith is solid – a firm foundation, level and straight. Peter precedes this call to the church from scripture with a firm exhortation meant to keep us from stumbling.

    Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

    1 Peter 2:1 CSB

    1 Peter 2:

    4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    Do you stumble when you encounter Christ?

    How could you stumble? Or how will the faithful help you to keep from stumbling in your witness of Christ Jesus?

    By the plumb line of Christ’s righteousness in your works:

    • You no longer show malice [ill-will, wickedness, depravity, evil,trouble] toward others.
    • Of course you no longer use deceit, a key tool of Satan, to mislead any.
    • Christians more than most receive the world’s indictment of hypocrisy where Jesus is just a false mask taken on and off as we please.
      • If all the world’s a stage, then all wear the masks of hypocrisy.
    • Envy also shows a worldly desire over our hope for eternal riches in Christ.
    • All slander [backbiting] must stop in redeemed Christians.

    The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People

    Peter’s call to Christians, so clear to those introduced to Christ as a ‘chosen generation’ to proclaim the Gospel, bears repeating {from the NKJV} 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

    4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    Now you are God’s people

    9 But you are a chosen generation… called out of darkness.. (the darkness of sin).

    Christ, the Cornerstone, called you into His Living Light, though you were once dead in your sins. Peter reminds the faithful saints called and hewn by Jesus into living stones:

    Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

    1 Peter 2:10 CSB

    Peter will continue to guide the church in our actions with each other and with others. Even some worshiping with us stumble, preferring our own easy grace, rather than be held accountable to our reshaping for a firm and level foundation formed by Christ Jesus.

    I have begun the first letter of Peter from his challenging scriptural call to faithfulness in the second chapter. Next, we will return to the Apostle’s encouraging opening in chapter one, God-willing.

    To be continued...