In verse 2 Peter goes on to say, “Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” The first part of this verse may also be rendered, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Grace and peace came to us through the God-allotted faith, which substantiates the life-blessing of the New Testament. This faith was infused into us through the word of God, which conveys to us the real knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. In the sphere of, by means of, the full knowledge, the increasing and increased knowledge, of God and of Jesus our Lord, the grace and peace which we have received will be multiplied.
The full knowledge of the Triune God is for our participation and enjoyment in His divine life and divine nature. It is in contrast to the killing knowledge of the human logic of philosophy, which invaded the church in its apostasy.
In 1:3 Peter says, “As His divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who has called us to His own glory and virtue.” Chapter two shows that this Epistle, like 2 Timothy, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude, was written in the time of the church’s degradation and apostasy. Hence, apostasy was the background of this book. The burden of the writer was to inoculate the believers against the poison of apostasy. God’s salvation is to impart Himself in His Trinity into the believers to be their life and life supply. This is God’s economy, God’s dispensation. The apostasy distracted the believers from the economy of God by leading them into the human logic of puzzling philosophies. It was not the exercise of partaking of the tree of life that gives life, but of participating in the tree of knowledge that brings in death (Gen. 2:9, 16-17). Thus the serpent deceived and seduced Eve (Gen. 3:1-6). In order to inoculate against this death-poison in his healing Epistle, Peter first prescribed the divine power as the strongest and most effective antidote. This provides the believers with all things related to the generating and supplying divine life (not the killing knowledge) and the God-expressing godliness (not the show of human wisdom). This rich divine provision, which is covered in detail in the following verses 1:3-11), is more than sufficient for the believers to live a proper Christian life and overcome the satanic apostasy.
In 1:3 the word “divine” denotes the eternal, unlimited, and almighty divinity of God. Hence, divine power is the power of the divine life related to the divine nature.
Here the word “granted” means imparted, infused, planted. All things which relate to life and godliness have been imparted to us, infused into us, by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, who has regenerated us and who indwells us (2 Cor. 3:6, 17; John 3:6; Rom. 8:11).
All things relating to life and godliness are the various aspects of the divine life, typified by the riches of the produce of the good land in the Old Testament. These are the substance of our faith’s substantiation allotted to us by God as our portion for our inheritance. Life is within for us to live, and godliness is without as the outward expression of the inward life. Life is the inward energy, inward strength, to bring forth the outward godliness, which leads to glory and results in glory.
The little word “as” at the beginning of verse 3 is significant. It indicates that grace and peace will be multiplied to us in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord as, or according to, the impartation of all things relating to life and godliness through the divine power. Grace and peace are multiplied to us according to what the divine power imparts to us. Without the imparting through the divine power there would be no way for grace and peace to be multiplied to us.
The word “through” in verse 3 indicates that the impartation into us of all the things of life is through the full knowledge of God, which is conveyed and revealed to us through His word. This becomes the faith (objective) in which our faith (subjective) is produced.