Walking Second Peter, Part 2

Part 1

What is the context?

So, what is the message? Peter tells us, so I don’t have to put words in his mouth, but allow me to highlight what I believe are some key phrases.

“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 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 if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” — 2 Peter 1:1-9, NIV

Verses 5 through 9 seem to be difficult to get through unless you consider what it is that Peter has actually said previously. Peter is saying that God, “has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us.“

I’m going to make a suggestion here. Just a suggestion. I’d encourage you to consider this before I move on to discuss anything else. Sometimes we mix up the context, and we put the cart before the horse. My suggestion is that Peter is starting with the horse, whereas our cultural approach through historic Christianity and its denominations (divisions) has been starting with the cart.

Part 3

Posted by: HarryTick™ on 13. December 2007, 04:06 |