EVERYTHING WE NEED FOR LIFE AND GODLINESS / 2 PETER 1:3

(KJV) 2 Peter 1:3

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

The love of our heavenly Father, salvation through Jesus Christ, Christ’s intercession (pleading our case before God) for us in heaven, the inner presence of and baptism in the Holy Spirit, the companionship of other Christians and God’s inspired Word are sufficient to meet all of our needs for life and godly character development (Matthew 11:28-30; Hebrews 4:16; 7:25; 9:14).

1. No additional human wisdom, no technique or theory is needed to supplement or complete the message of God’s Word that reveals His perfect plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. The words of Jesus, along with the faith and teaching of those He used to communicate His original message as we have it in the New Testament, were adequate in the early days of the church to reveal God’s grace and meet the needs of the spiritually lost. The same message is just as adequate today. Absolutely nothing can offer more depth of insight or power to help people find true life than what God has already revealed to us through His Word. Jesus Christ alone in “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
2. If the message we proclaim today seems to be lacking or ineffective in any way, it is because our message is something less than the gospel – the “good news” and true message of Christ – as revealed in the Bible.
3. Part of Peter’s purpose in writing this letter may have been to combat an early form of the false teaching and philosophy of Gnosticism (from the Greek root gnosis, meaning “knowledge”). Those who held this belief argued that complete salvation came through a secret knowledge of some sort. The basic teaching was that “spirit” (the spiritual realm) is entirely good, while “matter” (the physical world) is entirely evil. This led to the belief that salvation was achieved through release from the body, which came not by faith in Christ, but by special knowledge. While this philosophy led some to its followers to practice extreme asceticism (denying and even punishing the physical body), it led others toward extreme sexual promiscuity and other physical indulgences because they believed that it did not matter what they did with their physical bodies. As long as they had the right beliefs, they felt that their physical actions did not affect them spiritually. This would fit some of the descriptions given later in the letter in relation to false teachers (2 Peter 2:10, 13-14, 18-19). Peter presents a hard and thorough challenge against this type of thinking. He makes it very clear that no other special knowledge is needed for true spiritual salvation.

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1. HOLY AND GODLY LIVES / 2 PETER 3:11
2. THE DAY OF THE LORD /2 PETER 3:10
3. SPOKE WITH A MAN’S VOICE / 2 PETER 2:16
4. ANGELS … SENT THEM TO HELL / 2 PETER 2:4
5. GUIDED BY GRACE ABOUT

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