The second crucial point in verse 2 concerns the words “in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” As in verse 1, the preposition “in” here means in the sphere of or by means of. According to verse 1, the allotment of the precious faith was given to us in the sphere of a twofold righteousness and by means of this righteousness, the righteousness of our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Now in verse 2 we see that grace and peace also come to us in a sphere and by a particular means—the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. In verse 1 the sphere is a twofold righteousness, and in verse 2 the sphere is the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. The full knowledge of the Triune God is for our participation in and enjoyment of His divine life and divine nature. It is not a mere doctrinal knowledge; it is an experiential knowledge, a knowledge that is full.
The Greek word rendered “full knowledge” is composed of the word gnosis plus the prefix epi, which means upon. This word indicates a thorough, experiential knowledge. This kind of knowledge is not superficial or general. Rather, it is a knowledge that is deep, thorough, and experiential. As we have pointed out, this is not simply a mental knowledge; it is experiential knowledge in our spiritual understanding and apprehension. The full knowledge of God and of Christ is a deep, practical, thorough, and experiential knowledge of God and our Lord. This full knowledge is both the sphere in which and the means by which the Triune God can be enjoyed by us in order that we may have a peaceful situation with Him and with all men.
In verse 2 Peter does not say simply that grace and peace will be added to us; he speaks of grace and peace being “multiplied in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” In his Epistles Paul does not say anything about grace and peace being multiplied to us. The words “to you” in this verse indicate that grace and peace come to us. After grace and peace come to us, they will be multiplied in the sphere of the full knowledge of God and our Lord and by the means of this full knowledge.
Grace and peace have come to us through the God-allotted faith, which substantiates the New Testament inheritance. This faith has been infused into us through the word of God, which conveys the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. In the sphere of and by means of this 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 punctuation of 1:1-4 indicates that these four verses make up one long sentence. In verse 3 we have the continuation of the thought in verse 2: “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.” Verse 3 begins with the word “As.” This word is a literal translation of the Greek. The King James Version says, “According as,” and both the American Standard Version and the New American Standard Version adopt the rendering “Seeing that.” The King James Version says grace and peace be multiplied through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord according as His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. The American Standard Version indicates that grace and peace are multiplied in such a sphere, seeing that the divine power has granted to us all things.
In verse 3 Peter speaks of “His divine power.” The pronoun “His” is singular, but in verse 2 there are two antecedents of this pronoun—God and Jesus our Lord. If we study the Word carefully and properly, we shall pay attention to the fact that in verse 2 we have two antecedents for the singular pronoun “His” in verse 3. This indicates that our Lord Jesus is God Himself and that our God is actually the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, Peter would have said, “As Their divine power has granted to us all things.”
We have seen that grace is multiplied as, or according as, His divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness. 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. All things relating to life within and godliness without have already been given to us by the divine power. Now grace must be multiplied according to the giving of this divine power.
In addition to this, we have been given “precious and exceedingly great promises” (v. 4). The New Testament contains many promises. Through regeneration, we have the divine life with the divine nature. Furthermore, all things pertaining to life and godliness have been given to us by the divine power. In addition, we have the promises in the New Testament. It is by these promises that we may become partakers of the divine nature.