Growing in Christ Part 4

2 Peter 1:2-4, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

I wanted to include all three verses for the sake of continuity, and now that we’ve done that, we can proceed to digging deeper and taking the passage piece by piece to see the truths it holds and the lessons it would teach us.

‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord’

One of the first things I noticed as I read through this passage is what it was Peter wished upon the brethren, and those who shared in like faith. It was not health, wealth, prosperity, or blessing, but rather grace and peace.

If we presume that Peter desired the very best for his brothers and sisters in Christ, if we presume that the blessing he spoke upon the brethren was the pinnacle of what he could wish for them, then we realize that grace and peace ought to be prized more than material possessions and other things which we tend to wish for ourselves and others.

The other thing worthy of notice in this handful of words is Peter implies that the way to multiplied grace and peace is through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

It is God who is the giver of grace, it is God who is the giver of peace, and as we grow in the knowledge of Him, as we grow in Christ, we likewise grow in grace and peace.

Multiplied grace and peace are inseparable from the knowledge of God. We cannot grow in one without growing in the other.

Any grace or peace which does not have the knowledge of God and Jesus as their foundation, are counterfeit, no matter how close to the real thing they might seem to be.
This is the danger of pseudo-doctrines which minimize or altogether do away with the need for Christ and the need for the knowledge of Him. There can be no grace or peace without Christ being at the center of our faith, our worship, and our faith.

‘As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness’

If some are having difficulty with understanding godliness or coming in possession of fullness of life, it is not because God did not make it available, or because He made it purposefully difficult for us to perceive. Peter reminds us that God’s divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

We’re not talking about a handful of things, most things, some things, or a few things, but all things that pertain to life and godliness were given to us by His divine power.

If what Peter says is true and we know it is because it is in the Word, then I find it strange that so many individuals today fall for newfangled doctrines and modernized teachings that contradict the tenets of Scripture, all the while talking themselves into believing that they’ve finally come to understand the things pertaining to life and godliness.

How can we have godliness absent God? How can we have life absent the source of all life?

Once again, it is only through God and in God that we can come to understand the deeper things, the profound things, the things pertaining to the fundamental questions of our existence, as well as define what godliness truly is.

Peter tells us that all things that pertain to life and godliness were given to us by God’s divine power, and so, if we have as yet not attained these things, we must be diligent in our searching, and tireless in our pursuit of them.

We know they are there. We know they exist. We know that in God and by His divine power they were made known to us.

God did His part. God gave us all things pertaining to life and godliness, but He will not force these things upon us. They are there for the taking, they are there for the understanding, not for the wise or learned among us, but for everyone who seeks after them with diligence.

If we are ignorant of these things it is not God’s fault. If we fall short in our knowledge of godliness or life, it is not because these things were not revealed and made known to us.

Yes, I know taking responsibility is a difficult and often times derided practice, but eventually, when we run out of individuals to blame, we come around to the man or woman in the mirror and are forced to own up to the reality that perhaps it is we who did not knock, and as such the door was never opened. It is we who did not ask, and as such the knowledge of life and godliness were not made known to us. It is we who were too busy with other things to press in, and desire a deeper fellowship, and as such we make do with the superficial, trivial, and ceremonial.

It’s not too late. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened. Ask and it will be given to you.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.