Grammatical Analyses and Meaning of 2 Peter 1 - J Cloud PDF

**THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN THE DAILY LIFE OF GOD'S PEOPLE** **\~ *DESTRUCTIVE FORCE OF LOSING ONE'S CALLING* \~** **AN EXPOSITION OF 2 PETER** Beginning with the background of the book... **RECIPIENTS OF 2 PETER** This is Peter's final statement of the Spirit's instruction to His people through Peter: Written to those same believers in Jesus Christ to whom he had written in his prior instructive letter (1 Peter), with the same single, intense purpose in mind (2 Peter 3:1). That is, the epistles of 1 Peter and that of 2 Peter were written to the same people for the same purpose. 1 Peter forms the immediate background revelation for 2 Peter. These people were spread out over a wide region, which included Ephesus, Laodicea, Colossae, and Galatia, locations that were the direct object of other Scriptural writing as well. Thus, when Peter mentions Paul's writing of Scripture, these followers of Jesus Christ in the 1^st^ century were fully aware of that body of authoritative revelation which God had given through him. **THE MATURITY OF THOSE TO WHOM PETER WROTE** This must be held in mind while studying the marvelous revelation God gave Peter to write in 2 Peter: the immediate recipients were remarkably mature, Godly believers. These were not struggling with squabbles between themselves or with pornographic thoughts in their minds. They were "established in the present truth." Concerning their thoughts, their minds were described by God as "pure." They knew how to walk closely with God. They were not spiritual infants or "toddlers," tottering around in need of constant oversight. **Being steady in their walk with Christ, they had their "own steadfastness." Yet, this steadfastness was by no means invincible.** They were not beyond the reach of false ideas about God and about His design for life, as grown up in Christ as they were. **They could yet be tempted, especially with the temptation so powerful that it reaches into the human soul and latches onto the strength of the human heart.** Then the temptation is not only external but internal. It has an ally within the inner mind and will of the believer that is already yielded and willing, that is eagerly ready to be an accomplice to the falsehood that false teachers will introduce into the life of the believers. God warned about the human heart from ancient times, as when He spoke by Jeremiah around 600 B.C.: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (**Jeremiah 17:9)** The wickedness of the natural heart keeps the believers from being "out of reach" of the corruption of this world, no matter how far along in their walk they were. Thus, without the truth of God actively swaying the heart, all believers are susceptible and vulnerable to the powerful wickedness within and surrounding them, reinforced by cunning deception. Even Abraham "fell" to this deceptive spirit as a mature believer, when he heeded his wife's counsel to "go in" to Hagar. The truth recorded in 2 Peter would have preserved him from such deception. **THE IMMEDIATE 1^ST^ CENTURY IDENTIFICATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES** (αυτοπιστοι) **^16^** As also in **[all his epistles]**, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do **[also]** **[the other scriptures]**, unto their own destruction. "As in all *his* epistles" -- Peter was firmly conscious of Paul's **collective letters**. He had obviously read them, for he knew their content and spoke of that content knowledgeably. But, more, knowing that they were, indeed, "Scripture" (γράφη -- only used in the NT of those writings which originated wholly in God) raised them to a level in Peter's believing mind that far exceeded all other human writing that was accessible to him and even those writings which were beyond his access. That is, Peter placed utmost value in the writings of Paul due to his recognition of their inherent value as the perfect communication of the mind of God. He, too, read and studied them with reverence, not for Paul's sake, but for the person of God in whom the words originated. Thus, the letters of Paul carried the same authority and the same wisdom which established the book of Genesis or the book of Jeremiah in their places of absolute truth and authority. Peter understood this accurately and **viewed Paul's writings as the written revelation of God's truth and did so during Paul's life.** How was it that Peter and the other first century believers were able to identify the New Testament revelation at the dawn of its arrival? Who told them? Who took away all doubt? Was there an apostolic council to define the books that belong in Scripture? There was no need for any of these things, for they were all able to identify those God-breathed writings based upon the revelation of God's Spirit, which made all the words self-identifying and self-authenticating. No man's choice for or against them did anything to alter them. All that is God's Word bears all that He is, and it is this image and likeness to God found in them that self-separates them from all other words and writings. They rise up and declare *themselves* to be His Word, without the need of council or pope. Rather than passively sitting by while men pass judgment on them, the Words themselves search man's conscience in a way that only God can. They return judgment on all who judge them, with inherently righteous judgment. Thus, those written texts of the New Testament which came by God could no more be indistinguishable from the words and books of men around them than the Son of God standing among those men could be. For Him to be Himself was for Him to be separate from everything and everyone around Him in everything He said and did. When He acted, His actions needed no official proclamation to make them unmistakably of God. When He prayed, the Godly asked Him to teach them how to pray, for they saw in those prayers something far transcending their own. And that characterized everything about Him: transcendent God embodied in human form. His Words self-separated from the words of all other humans instantly, not over a process of time, by virtue of nothing but what they were as words directly bound to God Himself. So, it was with the written Word. **The term "other," λοιπός (**loipos, 3:15**) Peter used identifies a remaining section of a designated group,** as in "part of the team has arrived, but the ***rest*** are still traveling." So, this word communicated the remainder of a specified group. In the illustration of the "team" above, the "team" encompasses a defined group and "the rest" is any part of that group that is also part of the group. The meaning of Peter's word is identical to this concept, the Scriptures being the group or "team" and his use of "the other" or "the rest" placing Paul's writings together in the same group. Paul's writings were part of "the rest" of the Scriptures and were, then, definitively understood to be Scripture themselves. Thus, no question should remain concerning this matter. Peter and the vast number of other believers in the first century had no question about the collective books and letters of Scripture, those God-breathed writings the Holy Spirit had given. As part of his oversight of the flock spread abroad, Peter would have personally assured that this knowledge was firmly known by the believers. **The fact that in his second epistle Peter repeatedly and emphatically pointed the believers to the Scriptures as their light in the dark shows that they already knew what was and was not Scripture.** Remembering that this second epistle was filled with instruction in which the believers were already established (1:12), written as a perfect ***reminder*** of the instruction, not an ***introduction*** to it, it becomes evident that the believers knew full well that the epistles of Paul were God-given Scripture. **1 PETER CORRELATIONS** **(Correlations from 2 Peter back to the revelation given in 1 Peter)** A grammatical analyses of what Peter wrote leads to an accumulation of meaning, for one statement of truth coordinates with another and another and another to give a full knowledge of the truth. **ANALYSES AND MEANING OF THE TEXT OF 2 PETER 1:2-10** **Syntactical Layout of 2 Peter 1:2-8** **^2^** χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη \[ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ Θεοῦ, **^3^** ὡς πάντα ἡμῖν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ **^4^** δι' ὧν **^5^** καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δέ, σπουδὴν πᾶσαν παρεισενέγκαντες, \[you^p^\] ἐπιχορηγήσατε ἐν τῇ πίστει ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρετήν, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀρετῇ τὴν γνῶσιν, **^6^** ἐν δὲ τῇ γνώσει τὴν ἐγκράτειαν, **^7^** ἐν δὲ τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ τὴν φιλαδελφίαν, ^**8**^ ταῦτα γὰρ ὑμῖν ὑπάρχοντα καὶ πλεονάζοντα **^9^** ᾧ γὰρ μὴ πάρεστι ταῦτα, τυφλός ἐστι, **LIST OF KEY WORDS AND DEFINITIONS** "καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δέ" γὰρ **γινομαι** -- "become" (vs. ) -- to come into existence *("be-come" = "being-come" = "come into being")*. γινομαι, like ειμι, takes a nominative in the place of an object, for it is a verb of existence. Thus, its action has no "object" and no "recipient." **χαρις** -- "grace" (vs. 2) -- that which is freely given, non-obligatory, based on the choice of the giver to give **ειρηνη** -- "peace" (vs. 2) -- that state of total oneness, completeness, without diminishment of any kind and without harmful addition **επιγνωσις** -- "knowledge" (vs. 2,3,8) -- "knowledge that is actively and fully applied," this word is made up of three parts in Greek: the word ἐπί (on, upon, over), the word root γνω ("knowledge") and the suffix -σις (indicating a noun of action). Their combined sense is a "knowledge that is actively and fully applied," active knowledge "upon" knowledge, thus accurate and precise, knowledge in full development. **φθορα** -- "corruption" (vs. 4) -- corruption, the ruin of something which was before right and good through the introduction of tainting elements **σπουδη** -- "diligence" (vs. 5) -- broadly: describes that condition when all effort is invested, unreserved pursuit of a valued goal, eager and energetic exertion, undelayed action, taking up work with the care of one\'s whole heart, not merely consenting to another\'s request but personally and inwardly compelled to the work. **αρετη** -- "virtue" (vs. 5) -- selflessly excellent behavior[^2^](#fn2){#fnref2.footnote-ref}, determined and committed selflessness in fulfilling God's design; thus, actions that surpass normally acceptable behavior to become exemplary actions, actions clearcut in relation to what is right and good before God and man, actions distinguished by their excelling worth and value **γνωσις** -- "knowledge" (vs. 5) -- expresses both aspects of a search for knowledge and knowledge itself, encompassing all true knowledge as supremely contained in the Scriptures---the supreme body of knowledge given to guide all of man's "knowing." Knowledge, not as an end in itself or in something else, but as a means of knowing God as its true end. **υπομονη** -- "patience" (vs. 6) -- *to (willingly) remain under God's design, regardless of difficulty or hardship,* expressing the condition of having the strength and maturity necessary to function under the burdens and pressures associated with walking in the design of God regardless of the hardships it brings. The word is made up of two words in Greek: ὑπό ("under") and μονη ("remaining") and combines to "remaining under." It describes bearing up and not collapsing under trial, and not seeking to prematurely offload the burden of that trial. That characteristic of heart that would rather be needy and burdened before God than carefree away from Him. God is wholly characterized by this "patience," therefore, the universe, which is His revelation, is *patient*. The sun, the grass, the power of gravity are on in accord with God; therefore, they do not strain against His design, though they groan because of man's corruptions that are contrary to it. They are content with His design, even under load, and that is the definition of "patience." (See Ecc. 7:8 where the Biblical Hebrew opposite of "patient" is not "impatient" but "proud in spirit," for it is pride that demands an "easy" load, seeing self as too important to bear a burden imposed on it.) **εγκρατεια** -- "temperence (vs. 6) -- literally "in-controlness" (as opposed to being out of control), acting under the control of wisdom rather than impulse, keeping emotions under the restraint of what is right before God for the good of others. **ευσεβιεια** -- "Godliness" (vs. 7) -- literally "well-worship" (from ευ +σεβω), descriptive of a worship that worships God aright throughout the whole of its person, a life that lives to promote God's worthiness even at cost of its own, a life that accords in great detail with what God has revealed about Himself **φιλαδελφια** -- "brotherly kindness" (vs. 7) -- literally "brotherly-affection," speaking of the emotional bond or "emotional love" that is to be present between Christians, brotherly care; that condition of heart that lacks resentment or ill-will, a lack of a begrudging spirit, a heart within that looks upon others in Christ with fondness, a characteristic that is always to be guided by the bounds of God's objective truth. **αγαπη** -- "love" (vs. 7) -- the overarching design of God for life, the consistent and selfless application of God's wisdom for the good of others at personal expense, never separated from but always controlled by the truth of God as a true expression of that truth **"καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δέ"** -- "and beside this" (vs. 5) -"now, even this very thing" or "now, even this exact thing" **γὰρ** -- a subordinating conjunction, *explanatory* **\ THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD FULLY LIVED OUT** **(An ever-increasing life of Godliness)** Humans naturally look at chapter 1 verses 5-7 as a recipe for personal deprivation, one detailed list of "no, no, no," or "do, do, do." In other words, humans naturally look at verses 5 through 7 from a perspective of loss, thinking that obedience to those activities described is necessary, though not necessarily desirable.[^3^](#fn3){#fnref3.footnote-ref} Fully becoming obedient to the life commanded in that passage seems impossible and unnatural, but these things must not be disconnected from the root that produces them (vs. 3-4), namely, sharing in the nature of God and its accompanying power**. These things are relished and cherished by the new nature, Christ's nature.** The impetus for their fulfillment is love and understanding. Without understanding, patience and knowledge and temperance lose their meaning. People view them as "supposed to's." Things they see as imposed on their life but do not hungrily desire or value in their own mind. Yet, such an attitude destroys them. No life abounds in these things that views them with such error! Without understanding, who could ever conceive of actually cherishing these characteristics? Patience for the sake of patience is not what God ever intended. God's rich mind and desires are revealed on the pages of those Scriptures containing 2 Peter chapter 1, as in all the Scriptures. There, those characteristics of selfless excellence, knowledge, in-control-ness, and remaining under difficulties willingly are revealed to be not mere human obligations but part of His own nature, His own God-nature, His own eternal existence and person, part of who He always has been and always will be, or, as the King James translators put it, they are part of His "divine nature." Because they are part of His nature, they have become part of ***our*** nature at salvation, for Christ's people "share" in His nature (θειας κοινωνοι φυσεως). They have what He has, in that they have become what He is in nature. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature...." They have been "quickened together with Him," meaning, made alive with Him, sharing in His resurrection and victory over their old, corrupt, selfish nature. They live with "all things that pertain to life and Godliness" already provided, *at hand* to overcome those emotionally charged desires that seek to take over and rush them into foolish actions and words. Yet, just as a human baby must learn to be a human, that is, learn to be what he is, just so a spiritual baby must learn to be what he is. When a human baby learns to walk, it is not becoming something that it is not but a grown up version of what is already is. **When a Christian learns to go "beyond the call of duty" in life in true ἀρετή, he is *not* becoming something different than what he is but simply becoming a grown up of what he already is**. The same goes for his growth in all those characteristics listed in 2 Peter 1:5. It must be remembered: this instruction was written to full-grown believers. They---yes, full-grown believers---are to give all their effort to adding these characteristics to their basic firmness in God. So, eager growth, not arrival, is the point of life in Christ. Intense, persistent, joyful growth. Each believer is to continually add more and more of these things to his life, so that he continually grows richer in them, no matter what stage at which he currently stands. He is not to allow his stubbornness to hamper or---worse---freeze the steady change of his life into the image of Christ. Verse 5 analyses: The translators of the Authorized Version translated the introductory words of this verse as "and beside this...." The words in Greek are "καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δέ." Elsewhere, they translated the core of this phrase (αὐτὸ τοῦτο) as "this very thing" (Rom. 13:6) and "the selfsame thing" (2 Cor. 5:5, 7:11), "this very thing" (Phil. 1:6). Further, \[add Boise' note\] The full transitional phrase Peter used can be broken down word by word in the following way: The summation of the meaning of this foundational phrase is this: **\"Now, even this exact (thing)\"** **This set of introductory words establishes that what verse 5 introduces is not a new matter but the exact same one begun in verse 2, the matter of plentiful grace and peace keeping the life of the believer richly satisfied and productive all through this fallen world.** The following layout highlights the demonstrative pronoun "these (things)" in this portion of the message: "These things" (verses 5-7) carry him along into new spheres of ability and usefulness. He becomes more and more adept at applying God's design, even under great hardship. He becomes less and less like himself and more and more like Christ, and as he grows, his spiritual discernment and intuition grows. **And this is a key point. His back is toward self, and he is travelling in the opposite direction of his former selfish desires and habits of life. He develops a growing taste for God's wisdom---*unselfish wisdom*. He not only endures the contradiction of this spiritual wisdom to his fleshly desires but rejoices in it. His growing taste for spiritual wisdom corresponds to a growing distaste for earthly wisdom, with its selfish tastes and ideas, so that the false teachers have no "lure" that he finds attractive.** They can dangle the flesh in front of him, they can dangle ignorance in front of him, they can dangle the easy life in front of him, they can dangle gluttony, they can dangle respectability, irresponsibility, they can dangle a cross-less life in front of him, but he does not "take the bait." Pornography, addictive substances, time-wasting, mind-wasting, senseless and useless activities, self-righteousness, license to live as you please...*these things are contrary to the direction of his whole life and concentrated effort.* His soul thirsts for God's pleasure, not its own, so the offers to live selfishly and "earthly" are disturbing to him, not attractive. After coming to Christ, because he is "giving all diligence to add to his firmness" these precious characteristics of God, he is kept safe, having a life whose grace and completeness are protected from ruin by corruption. Like a water skier able to stay on top of water with sufficient skill and speed, a believer is able to stay above the selfish corruption of the world by spiritual skill and momentum. Yet, if that momentum slows, he too will sink into self-centeredness, self-confidence, and the blurring of his spiritual discernment. Without knowing it, he too will become a proponent of things that are contrary to God, just like the world around him. **He will find himself disliking God, no, not directly but by the indirect and "conscionable" route of simply "being himself," neglecting diligent progression into the transformation of his practical life into Christlikeness.** That virtue which remains under burdens willingly (υπομονεη), He finds it personally distasteful. That is for those "patient types," of which he and his flesh are not. **Avoidance, not endurance, is his virtue, for not Christ, not love to others, but selfishness underlies his deepest values.** That virtue of "temperance"? He would rather follow, not control, his emotions. What would guide him if not feeling? He must be authentic\...to himself. Even his "strong principles" are governed by feeling, for he is so strong in them because he "feels" so strongly about them. Brotherly affection? The brethren are, indeed, "dear" to him, if they do not contradict him, slight him, or displease him in some other way. If they do, his emotions for them spoil. His affection for others is not stable, because it is based upon his own selfish perspective of the world. Affection lasts only as long as his unstable feelings dictate. **Since he does not love God's nature, he rejects conforming to it in his everyday character, and since he does not conform to it, he cannot love others, try though he might. He may not even attempt love, or if he does, his attempts at love inevitably end in strife and disappointment.** He ends up "giving up" on relationship after relationship. This is a manifestation of what Peter went on to write, that if "these things are existing in you and growing plentiful \[literal translation\]...ye shall never fall." He may not see it, but it is the lack of unreserved effort to add these things *believingly* to his firmness in God which leads to his constant falling into a harsh tongue, a resentful spirit, angry outbursts, filthy thoughts, bodily urges, and a general withholding of care for others. **His lack of grace and peace are traceable to a definitive source.** "If these things are existing and growing plentiful in your life," the conclusion is that you will always succeed on a personal level (even if they throw you in prison for it, like Joseph, or crucify you for it, like Christ). You will have the grace and completeness to see you through, to satisfy your soul in drought: "And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." (Is. 58:11)... On the other hand, while steadfast with God, he awakes with a desire for more patience and more knowledge; he moves through the day seeking more Godliness, not less. He ends the day desiring to love God and man more. These are not toys and games to him. He pursues them with all of his heart, with "all diligence." **His eyes are not nearsighted, focused on himself and what is around him. He can actually *see* far into history past and future, right into the invisible world, far out of sight, without the blinders of self-will. He is tutored by the Father, taught from morning to night, meditating constantly and joyfully in the Law of God *and doing it*.** ^**8**^ ταῦτα γὰρ ὑμῖν ὑπάρχοντα καὶ πλεονάζοντα **^10^** διὸ μᾶλλον, ἀδελφοί, **^11^** οὕτω γὰρ πλουσίως ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται ὑμῖν ἡ εἴσοδος **^10^** διὸ μᾶλλον, ἀδελφοί, **^11^** οὕτω γὰρ πλουσίως ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται ὑμῖν ἡ εἴσοδος How is it possible that a believer's "calling and choosing (ἐκλογὴν)" can be made firm? Does this not imply that his calling can be *in*firm? Weak? Uncertain? For, he did not say that if the calling and choosing are not made firm that they will be ***lost***. Something can be infirm and still exist. Just so, the believers true calling in the world can be infirm, weakened in some way, yet be a true calling from God and true salvation. What would "weaken" the believers calling? To answer this, the specific calling Peter is describing *must be clear*. The answer is found in his first letter of instruction. (His second letter was a continuation and reminder of the instruction in the first.) The calling is defined by the purpose conjunction "that" (ὅπως), for the purpose of showing forth His selfless excellences, those characteristics of His person that manifest how excellent His ways are and how praiseworthy He is. Here Peter used the same rare Greek word he would use again in 2 Peter, that word αρετη, translated in 2 Peter 1:5 as "virtue." Believers are not merely called to be forgiven of their sins and "go to heaven," but to manifest how valuable God's character is as modeled by their own lives on earth *before* they go to heaven. This is impossible without denying themselves and their "worldly lusts," for their natural desires constantly urge them to serve themselves and portray themselves. Thus, the next thing Peter went on to write after stating the purpose of the calling was the following: **1 Peter 2** The calling to represent God accurately in this world determines how each believer is to think, speak, and act in this world. It defines all the purposes of life for each of His children. It is truly "God's will" for each. It supersedes occupation, location, and marriage, in that it is to govern all of these things, and is the one constant and unchangeable principle of life. All other aspects of His will for man's life fall under this greatest of all aspects, to be *like* Christ in thought, word, and deed.[^4^](#fn4){#fnref4.footnote-ref} This is to consume man's time, thoughts, and cares. He must pursue this with his full resolve. This is what he was created for and without it he faces a lifeless life. So, what, then, does it mean to "make your calling and election sure"? When Christlikeness is the sure way a person is going to live, then their calling and choosing is sure. When they are definitely going to deny themselves as needed, definitely forfeit their own desires for the good of others, definitely going to respond patiently, definitely going to seek knowledge that God deems important, definitely going to remain in control, when their behavior is definitely excellent and their affection for the brethren is predictable, then they are making their calling and choosing sure. When their whole life manifests this frame of mind to live according to their new nature and not their old, then they are making their calling and election sure. They are overcoming the impulse for self-will and self-realization, those personal desires that spoil the picture of Christ in them (their calling!). Truly, all of this is possible with Christ living within, empowering a person to "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me," and to do it with joy. This "calling" involves many aspects, but all can be summarized with "become like Christ on earth." Thus, this calling appears repeatedly in Scripture in various context. For example: **1 Peter 2** Thus, suffering for doing good (not evil) is part of the believer's high calling toward which he is running. This is an aspect of that which is made sure by a life of unreserved conformity to Christ's ways in everyday life. In his second letter of instruction, Peter referenced this same calling with these words: "him that hath called us to glory and virtue," clearly demarking the call as one "to glory and virtue," to a life that is glorious and selfless, because it is like Christ's. The translators of the Authorized Version demonstrated their remarkable understanding in how they translated the Greek phrase behind the English words "to glory and virtue," namely, the Greek phrase διὰ δόξης καὶ ἀρετῆς. Normally, the preposition δία would be translated "through," but comprehending Peter's background message (1 Peter) and his proceeding message (2 Peter 1:5-11), they perceived that what He calls His people "through" is also what He calls them "to." They are called both *through* and *to* glory and virtue. Once again, is this falling related to falling from salvation, from a true relationship with God? In other words, can it be inferred from Peter's words that a believer can fail and lose his calling and election? Since the calling and election are not external but implanted in the very nature of the believer ("sharers of divine nature" θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως), this is not possible. Further, Peter himself was led by God's Spirit in the end of the epistle to add "from your own steadfastness" to the warning concerning falling: Peter did not fear that the believers would fall away from their salvation but from their own "στηριγμα." In ancient Greek, the word στηριγμα communicated *a state of being fixed to what is firm* and, therefore, *stable.* The word στηριγμα was used in its opposite sense by the addition of an α-negator: ἀστήρικτος, an adjective meaning *unstable and weak.* According to the great wisdom Peter had been given by Christ over the many years through which Christ personally trained him and the years of experience in working with God's sheep, Peter's pressing concern as he prepared to leave the flock was their vulnerability to losing their stability, their fixed relationship to what is firm. Peter knew that without unreserved commitment to growing up into the full wisdom and behavior of Jesus Christ the believers would veer from God's firm truth. They would be led to believe things that were not true. Their relationship to truth was not merely intellectual. It included their whole life. Their relationship to the knowledge of Christ would be determined by how they lived their lives, whether they lived under the constant guidance of that knowledge or whether they lived by the guidance of their own thoughts, desires, and conclusions. They could, indeed, **[fall]** short of this. This singular life of singular devotion is vulnerable to human stubbornness turning a human away from the difficulties of growing in Christ and submitting to His training and development of their character. Peter did not fear their leaving Christ but ceasing to fully follow Christ in their everyday lives and personal character traits. This, in turn, would lead to the blurring of their discernment, which the false teachers would certainly take advantage of. Men and women who walk in their στηριγμα, walking without question of Godliness in all of their lives, cannot be defeated. They will be in fellowship with one another and with Christ. They will have nothing to deceive, for they reject in themselves what false teachers are characterized by. They love selflessness and virtue (αρετη). They are rich in knowledge (γνωσις). They are in control (εγκρατεια). They willingly remain under difficulties (υπομονη). They worship God ongoingly, as a life of worship, the way He desires to be worshiped (ευσεβεια). They have genuine affection for other believers (φιλοδελφια), so that they do not retain resentment or hurts. They seek God's best for all (αγαπη). Because they have been supplying these things richly to their lives with all eager, unhesitating effort by the Spirit's working, these things will in return supply them a full knowledge of Christ and a life filled with grace and peace. Then, in the end of that life, it will supply for them a rich entrance into the eternal presence of God (vs. 11), not as if they earned it by a life lived but as those who handed their life over to the One who knows how to live it and let Him live it within and through them. He will receive the praise and the glory, which He shares with them in His grace. Thus, the meaning of "βεβαίαν ὑμῶν τὴν κλῆσιν καὶ ἐκλογὴν ποιεῖσθαι" that is, of making one's calling and choosing unquestionably sure is ***not*** left uncertain by the Spirit of God. Even in its very statement the Spirit supplied an explanatory clause, for it is followed by the word "for" (γάρ). By using the subordinate conjunction γὰρ---an *explanatory* conjunction---God provided man with the ability to become totally confident in the meaning of the previous clause. The content of the clause that follows γὰρ is the Spirit's own explanation: "For, while doing these (things), you shall absolutely never fall." By using a double negative ([οὐ μὴ]) with the subjunctive, the Spirit of God revealed that not falling is not only possible for the believer but made absolutely certain to him as he walks in full stride with God. He ***can*** successfully walk with God in this life. This is the explanation for why he should make his calling and election sure. Human self-will always produces a fall. Distraction and hesitation in the characteristics desired before God, indeed, void the blessing of not falling. Human self-desire is the essence of instability, yes, the thing that has destabilized the entire world. Everything has fallen! How surprising is it, then, that fulfilling one's own self-centered desires destabilizes a person on a personal level? On the other hand, how inspiring is it to know that normal human beings living on planet earth can successfully walk with Christ without falling?! Though transformed into "sharers" of God's nature, many believers do not richly experience the power of that changed nature. Their mind ceases to be renewed by the "true truth" of Christ and adopts human wisdom. **Suffering the same destruction in their relationships and homes and personal lives as the unbelievers, many believers have voided, not their calling, but its firmness.** Their life becomes a false witness to the saving power of Christ, like a false advertisement. Some true believers reach the point that their lack of hunger and thirst for the things of God results in such loss in their lives that the question of whether they are even born again arises. Yet, it is not their birth that has been destroyed. It is their walk. MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS, ADDITIONS, AND BLIPS UNDER CONSIDERATION: After Peter went to be with Christ, the end-times philosophy of play and earthly pursuits crept into the lives of God's people. Personal pleasure, rather than God's pleasure, became the driving force in many minds...all done in the Name of God. Eventually, this led to the rise of the age of pontific authority and on to the present age of entertainment-worship. Somehow, Satan has found it easy to convince believers that a life of self-will is innocent and even fun-loving, or at least justified, while it is nothing but anti-Christ. Christ did not come playing and calling people to play. Those believers in the early churches continuing in Christ were characterized by continuing "stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." They got together at each other's houses for substantive matters. What attracted their conversation was not what was happening at the local theater or sports arenas, which were both amply represented in 1^st^ century life. They did not get together for games but for affectionate conversation related to the apostles' instruction (the Word of God), often over a meal, and for mutual prayer. The loss of these precious things among God's people corresponds to the corruptions increasingly overtaking them, both in private and in public. Proverbs 2:10 corresponds to 2 Peter 1:5-10, with verse 10 corresponding to verses 5-7 and verse 11 corresponding to verses 8-10. Perhaps "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees" is summed up in the following points: 1. The Pharisees fulfilled their lusts with a cover of superior religion (maximal religious appearance -- appearance of a focus on not being a part of this world) 2. The Sadducees fulfilled their lusts with a cover of humanism (secularity) and authenticity (minimal religious appearance -- focus on being a part of this world) 1. Pharisees -- Maximum Religion for personal advancement 2. Sadducees -- Minimum Religion for personal advancement **2Pet. 3:1** This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: ^2^ That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, ^3^ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 2 Peter 3 ^1^ Ταύτην ἤδη, ἀγαπητοί, δευτέραν ὑμῖν γράφω ἐπιστολήν, διεγείρω ὑμῶν ^2^ μνησθῆναι τῶν προειρημένων ῥημάτων ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν, ^3^ τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες, First, **The calling and choosing is to display the manifest value and selfless excellence of God\ **The following two are key passages to understanding what the calling is: That is, destroy the truth of Christ by destroying what represents it: the life of God's people. 1. "sure" 2. The calling: to show to the world a real likeness of what God is like a. God is love b. God is in control; He is not rash or erratic; c. God is patient; He waits for the right time for everything; He does not shy away from hardships; d. God is selflessly excellent in all that He does; e. God is consistently these things and God is abundantly these things, to their final degree He is these things, without taint of anything contrary to them. This explains what it means to make one's calling and choosing firm. 1. "Sure" in relation to others 2. "Sure" in relation to the threat of false teachers (Who lead to a fall---life fails and testimony fails \["by reason of whom the way of truth evil spoken of"\]) Who will seek to destroy the grace and peace (fall back into living by human ideas and convinced of Biblical things that are not Biblical, driven by our passion rather than sure knowledge) Onlookers: this is a life of grace and completeness, not missing anything Owner: continual grace and sense of completeness A deficient life that is characterized by a lack of grace (deprived of grace) The calling and the choosing is to be like Christ in this world in a growing clarity. Since glory and virtue were the mediums of the call (i.e. using glory and virtue as the message, as "Come to glory and virtue!"), the KJV translators used "to" to translate δία in verse 3, showing their remarkable grasp of Peter's writing and ability to communicate it effectively in translation. This also explains why some texts changed δια to ιδια (1 letter change) and a dative instead of a genitive. I only found two instances of καλέω used with δία: The single lie: Romans 1:25 "Fight the good fight of faith" = fighting this lie everywhere it is found, manifesting Christ as preeminent God had already moved Peter to write about the calling: "the One who called us to glory and virtue" (vs. 3), identifying God as the One calling, and the purpose of the call, namely, "glory and selfless excellence." Christ has called out people to Himself, to "come out from among them and be ye separate, sayeth the LORD," separate from corrupting - A heart that lives by selfless principle within shows up as a life ready to go beyond others A heart that lives by selfless principle in secret shows up in public as excellent. Excellence cannot be hidden, though it starts off hidden in the heart, for the heart chooses the firm principles of God's design in its secret resolve before the life manifests those choices in the difficulties of life. This is the source of truly excellent behavior. "truth in the inward parts" thinking and acting on human urges, nor did He call humans to think or act by their own personal urges, but to flee those impulsive desires in order to follow love to God, first, and then to man. Christ did not come to fulfill human lust but to destroy it and replace it with a supreme love of eternal things, *His things*. Nor is a life that denies fun and games or entertainment necessarily a life free of self-will. Those who deny themselves and others the most may be the most given to their lusts. Their controlling, domineering attitudes reveal that the self-will they reject in others is controlling them as well. That is not to say that their goodness gets the glory, for all they have done is yielded to the work of God, from whom and to whom are all things. God's commandments are the source of the strength of God's people: **Deut. 11:8** ¶ Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; ::: {.section.footnotes} ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. ::: {#fn1} *Sarah giving Hagar, Hagar's arrogance, Sarah expelling Hagar* -- all expressions of "fleshly lusts" \[τῶν σαρκικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν\], which warred against the souls involved.[↩](#fnref1){.footnote-back} ::: 2. ::: {#fn2} **αρετη** -- selflessly excellent behavior, determined and committed selflessness in fulfilling God's design; thus, actions that are clearcut and unmistakably beyond what is demanded of an individual. Actions which do not accommodate self or use actions that are secret excuses to get one's way. It describes actions distinguished by their clearcut excellence, actions that are not merely average or that merely check off the right boxes, actions in which the heart of a man is spirited by truth, propeled far beyond what is required of him. He is enabled by Christ to deny himself and his natural propenseties for attention or praise or self-preservation, which compel him to endure far more than others would in his situation. Living by firm principle, not whim. While the idea of "virtue" and "selflessness" sound attractive and are attractive, they are very costly and difficult. This is what keeps most humans from living a purely virtuous life. While the cost may include physical hardships, responsibilities, risks, and mental complexities, the main cost is in the affections of the heart, for excellent behavior does not begin on the outside. It begins with the work of God within. There, in the heart, secretly, the person chooses to value God and His principles above everything else. By this, the person is enabled and led by God's Spirit. Thus, the cost of excellence is paid in the heart before it is paid by the life. That is where excellence is born. Selfless excellence is rooted secretly in God, rising above personal preference or desire. It lays down its life inside at the feet of Christ before it does so outside. To deal with inward, secret selfishness is to deal with all selfishness. Further, this excellent behavior does not grow up in a night. It is an accumulation of full commitment in the daily moments of life, a constantly renewed choice to follow His design and not personal preference. Consider these examples: None of these actions arose out of thin air. They were rooted in hearts well-prepared to choose ***not*** what was personally pleasing but what was pleasing to God Himself. This gave them tremendous boldness and wisdom in life..[↩](#fnref2){.footnote-back} ::: 3. ::: {#fn3} These activities seem to run contrary to both what is easy in life but what is pleasant and joyous. Yet, this corrupted view must be rejected outright. Such a view is a destroyer of truth, a truly satanic view, unquestionably false and misleading. The truth will always stand true, and the truth is that the activities described in verses 5-7 are perfect and good *in every way*. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." When based on the foundation of verses 3 through 4, they are the recipe for grace and completeness in all of life. **They are the fulness of life, not its deficit, a means to its completion, not its impoverishment.** [↩](#fnref3){.footnote-back} ::: 4. ::: {#fn4} God's call communicates God's will, for He calls people to do what He desires them to do, i.e., His will. This calling, then, is truly "the will of God" for man's life. Each believer, before seeking an individualized knowledge of God's will (as involving occupation, location, and marriage) must seek the primary will of God as disclosed unmistakably in Scripture for each human. This primary will of God is encompassed in His perfect commands for the life of each human. These commandments, with His body of instruction revealed in Scripture, are to be the primary focus of each human. From them and through them the other "personalized" aspects of God's will are discovered.[↩](#fnref4){.footnote-back} ::: :::

Grammatical Analyses and Meaning of 2 Peter 1 - J Cloud PDF

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