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Remember that Peter’s first letter was to instruct Christians how to interact with non-Christians, but his second letter is about Christians interacting within the community of faith. It’s a precious faith that we share with precious friends. Our dear friends encourage us to think wholesomely, have informed perseverance, remain pure, and stay on guard until the very end.
You can sense Peter’s longing for his dear friends of the faith to grasp this. He even says in this letter that it is his second letter to keep reminding the saints about the richness in Jesus, and he says as long as he has breath in his lungs he will keep on reminding us (2 Peter 1:12-15).
(Click here to see all of the Scriptures in this post.)
Peter uses an almost identical greeting in both letters: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2). This sentiment of linking grace and peace was almost universal, with all but five New Testament books greeting their audiences with the dual blessing of grace and peace.
Let’s talk about these dual blessings.
James Thayer defines this Greek word for peace: “According to a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.”
This means that Christians who have put their faith in Jesus as their Savior have peace with God (Romans 5:1), and that peace guards our hearts against all fear (Philippians 4:7).
The other blessing in Peter’s greeting is grace (see also Romans 5:2). This is—quite simply and quite profoundly—God’s favor toward us. God’s grace is unearned by our efforts, undeserved despite our sins, and unending for all eternity. And it comes coming in wave after wave (see John 1:16; I especially like it in the AMPC).
Peter’s greeting in his second letter adds a phrase from his first letter: “…through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” It’s fitting that this is in his second letter, showing he is still growing in his knowledge of Jesus.
We don’t get more grace and peace through knowledge, but we realize and can apply more grace and peace through this growing knowledge. The tap of God’s blessing is already open full—no more can come out. As we grow in the knowledge of this, we find it increasingly precious and valuable.
The Greek word for knowledge here is epignosis. This is knowledge through personal experience.
I once worked with a man who was a retired Air Force officer. Before flying one mission, he walked into the flight control building—a huge hanger-like structure—where dozens and dozens of personnel sat staring at screens to forecast the weather.
Lou asked a private for the forecast: “Sir, you have clear skies and excellent visibility for your mission,” he dutifully reported.
“Private,” Lou shouted, “on your feet!” The young man snapped to attention. “Follow me,” Lou ordered and began marching toward the door of the hanger. When they got there, Lou ordered the private to open the door, step outside, close the door behind him, and not to re-enter the hanger for 60 seconds.
One minute later that private stepped back inside and stood before Lou dripping wet. “Now, private,” Lou demanded, “what is my weather forecast.”
“It looks like rain, sir,” the young private reported.
Epignosis is not book knowledge about Jesus, but personal, intimate, experiential knowledge of Jesus. That Air Force meteorologist only knew about weather from his radar screen, but once he got drenched outside, he knew of the weather conditions from personal experience.
Peter says this epignosis is ours (2 Peter 1:3-5).
There’s only one thing that keeps us from growing in our knowledge of God’s abundant grace and peace: Complacency. In v. 5, Peter says we are to “make every effort.”
It’s not our effort that brings God’s grace, but it is our effort that allows us to know His grace—to know Jesus personally. Notice the progression:
- (v. 3) Christ’s divine power has give us everything we need by His own glory and goodness
- (v. 4a) Through these gracious gifts He has given us His great and precious promises
- (v. 4b) Through His promises we can participate in His divine nature
- (v. 5) For this very reason, we are to bring our best effort, our diligent interest, and our total attention
Peter concludes his letter exactly as he starts it: Keep growing in your epignosis (3:18).
The more you grow in epignosis, the more intimate knowledge you will have to encourage your dear friends of the faith—
And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life. (1 John 5:20 NLT)
Then like Paul, we can pray for ourselves and for our dear friends for a continual growing in this intimate knowledge of Jesus (see Ephesians 1:15-19).
Check out the other messages in this series from 2 Peter called Friends of the Faith.
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Craig T. Owens 