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2 Peter 1:3–4
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (v. 3).
Having identified himself and greeted his readers, Peter turns immediately to the positive foundation of the Christian life before ever mentioning the false teachers who threaten the church. This ordering is significant and pastoral. Peter does not begin with a catalogue of errors but first establishes the sufficiency of what God has provided, for God’s “divine power has granted” to believers “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Nothing essential is missing. No additional secret knowledge is required; no hidden spiritual technique must be unlocked. In Christ, we possess all that is necessary.
This provision comes “through the knowledge of him who called us” (v. 3). The knowledge that Peter describes is not bare intellectual awareness, still less the speculative, esoteric knowledge that the false teachers prized. Peter is deliberately reclaiming the language of “knowledge” from those who would twist it. The Greek word that he uses (epignōsis) denotes the intimate, relational knowledge that comes from being united to Christ by faith. To know Jesus in this way is to have access to His power for holy living. This knowledge is therefore not an end in itself but a means by which the divine life flows into the believer. It stands in sharp contrast to the barren speculation of the false teachers, who boasted in knowledge that bore no fruit in godliness.
Verse 4 further explains that through God’s “precious and very great promises,” believers become “partakers of the divine nature.” Peter is not teaching that we are absorbed into God’s being or that we become divine in essence. Rather, those who have received the Holy Spirit and have been adopted as sons of God are being conformed to the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29). The moral attributes of God, including His holiness, love, patience, and goodness, are increasingly reflected in those who are indwelt by the Spirit, and the image of God that was marred by the fall is progressively restored.
This participation in the divine nature also involves an escape from “the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4). Sin’s dominion has been broken for those in Christ. The chains are loosened. The struggle with sin is not over, but the outcome of that struggle is no longer in doubt. The same divine power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in every believer, granting the resources needed for a life that honors God.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
We can be prone to search for what we do not already possess. But if we are in Christ, we lack nothing essential for faithfulness today. Rather than longing for some experience that we have not yet had, let us draw on the riches already given to us in the gospel and walk in the power of the Spirit who indwells us.
For further study
- Deuteronomy 30:11–20
- Galatians 2:20
The bible in a year
- Job 28–30
- Acts 13
- Job 31–36
- Acts 14