2 Peter · chapter 1 of 3
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2 Peter 1 opens the apostle's farewell letter. Peter reminds believers that God's power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and urges them to add a series of virtues to their faith so that they will be fruitful. He declares that he will soon leave this body, defends the message by recalling that he witnessed Christ's majesty at the transfiguration and affirms that prophecy came as the Holy Spirit carried people along.
Peter writes near the end of his life, concerned that believers stay firm when he is no longer there. The letter is a pastoral testament, and the first chapter sets out its foundation: what God has already given, the Christian life that should grow and the certainty of the apostolic and prophetic word in the face of the false teachers who will come.
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, greets those who have received a faith as precious as his through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, and wishes them grace and peace in abundance (vv. 1-2).
His divine power has granted us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. Through these he gave precious promises so that we may share the divine nature, escaping the world's corruption. So Peter asks for diligent effort: add to faith virtue, to knowledge self-control, then steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. When these qualities increase, they keep believers from being unfruitful. Whoever lacks them is blind and has forgotten the cleansing from past sins. So they should confirm their calling and election; then they will never fall, and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided (vv. 3-11).
Peter says he will keep reminding them of these things, though they know them, as long as he is in his body, and he knows he will soon put it off, as the Lord showed him. He will see that they can recall them after his departure. They did not follow invented myths: they were eyewitnesses of his majesty, when he received honor and glory from God the Father and a voice from the Majestic Glory called him his beloved Son. Peter heard that voice on the holy mountain (vv. 12-18).
We also have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in their hearts. No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, because no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (vv. 19-21).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God's power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us. The Christian life does not depend on our own strength but on what God has already given.
God gave great and precious promises so that believers may become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by desire. It does not mean that we become divine, but that we receive a new life and a character like Christ's.
Peter affirms that they did not follow cleverly invented myths when they made known the power and coming of Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He appeals to the transfiguration to defend the truth of the apostolic message.
No prophecy came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The verse teaches the divine origin of Scripture and is often cited when speaking of its inspiration.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: As Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. — 2 Peter 1:1
Answer: Everything we need for life and godliness. — 2 Peter 1:3
Answer: So that we may become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world. — 2 Peter 1:4
Answer: Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love; the list ends with love. — 2 Peter 1:5-7
Answer: Being an eyewitness of Christ's majesty, when he heard the voice of God from the glory on the holy mountain. — 2 Peter 1:16-18
Answer: The Holy Spirit. — 2 Peter 1:21
2 Peter 1 encourages us to grow, not by our own effort but from what God has already given us. A group can review the list of virtues in verses 5 to 7 and ask which one needs the most attention. Peter does not speak of instant perfection but of steady growth that bears fruit.
The chapter also invites us to trust Scripture. Against ideas that change with fashion, Peter points to what was seen and to what was spoken by the Spirit. Reading the Bible regularly is like following a lamp in a dark place while we wait for the day to dawn.
2 Peter 1 sets the foundation of the letter: the grace God has given, the growth he expects and the reliability of the apostolic and prophetic word. Chapter 2 turns to warn about the false teachers who attack that word.
It does not mean that believers become gods or are merged into God's being. It means that through God's promises they receive new life and share his moral character, escaping the corruption of the world. It is a way of speaking about the renewal God works in those who are united to Christ.
The transfiguration of Jesus, when Peter, James and John saw his glory on a mountain and heard the Father's voice. The Gospels tell it in Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8 and Luke 9:28-36. Peter uses it as proof that his message does not rest on legends.
Christians understand it in two ways. Some think it means that no one should interpret Scripture on their own without considering the whole. Others think it refers to the origin of prophecy: it did not come from a prophet's own idea but from God, as the next verse says. In both cases it stresses the authority of Scripture.