The first few verses of the first chapter of 2 Peter tell us that God has given us all the things relating to life. How much I appreciate these verses! At the time of our regeneration God has given us all the various aspects of the divine life. We may say that regeneration brings in the richest deposit, for through regeneration God has deposited into us a full supply of His riches of life to be what we may call our “capital.” Because God has already given us all the things concerning life, what we need now is to develop what we have received, not to receive these things again. According to 2 Peter 1:3-8, in the initial item of life given to us, we need to develop the second item. Then in the second, we need to develop the third, and in the third, the fourth. We need to go on to further develop all the items of life, one after another, until we reach the eighth item. With such a development in life we will have a rich entry into the kingdom.
Even 2 Peter 1 is adequate to show us that Peter is in the line of life and that his ministry is a continuation of the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Peter had seen the Lord’s ministry when He was on this earth, and Peter continued in the same line.
In Peter’s fifth message recorded in Acts, he also spoke of life. When he related the story to the Jewish believers of how he saw the Spirit fall on those in the house of Cornelius while he was speaking, he concluded by saying that he realized that the Gentiles could also repent to have life (Acts 11:18). We should not consider that Peter’s ministry is something away from the line of life. Peter did not go away from the line of life. We always consider that it is John’s ministry, his Gospel and his Epistles, that is on the line of life. Surely John is on the line of life, but Peter is also on the same line.
Furthermore, I would say a strong word concerning the way Peter confirmed and recommended Paul’s ministry in the last chapter of his second book (2 Pet. 3:15-16). He told us clearly that in Paul’s writings there are some deep points that are hard for people to understand. The way Peter refers to “our beloved brother Paul” and highly commends Paul’s writings indicates that Peter was for Paul’s ministry. (See last paragraph of footnote 162 in 2 Pet. 3—Recovery Version.) Paul’s ministry is on Christ and the church, which is constituted of Christ, of the Spirit, and of life, that the church might be the expression of the Triune God. Therefore, by this confirmation and recommendation of Paul’s ministry you can see how much Peter’s part of the New Testament ministry is one with the Lord’s part and with Paul’s part.
John’s part of the New Testament ministry is also on the line of life. John’s first Epistle is simply marvelous. We all need to see that this is a book on life and on the divine fellowship of this divine life. First John unveils to us that in our experience and for our experience there are three points of the divine life: the fellowship, the anointing, and the birth. Because the training on John’s Epistles adequately covered these points, we do not need to say much here, but I would encourage you all to spend some time to study 1 John with the help of the notes of the Recovery Version and the Life-study messages. You need to saturate yourselves with these three matters of the divine life: the fellowship of the divine life, the anointing of the divine life, and the birth of the divine life.
Through the birth of this divine life, we have received a divine seed. The word seed is used by John in a particular way. In this divine seed are virtues, including the virtue to practice God’s righteousness, the virtue to practice God’s love, and the virtue to overcome sin, the world, and Satan. We need to remember that 1 John is on (1) the divine life, (2) its fellowship, (3) its anointing, and (4) its birth with the seed to provide us the virtues in three things—righteousness, love, and victory. If you get into these few points, the entire book will become your constituents so that you are constituted with this divine life.