In this message we shall continue the review of 1:1-4.
Second Peter 1:3 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.” The “all things” in this verse refer to all the aspects of the riches of the Triune God. These things pertain to the divine life, to zoe, not to the life that is for our pleasure. All things have been given, imparted, infused, into us so that we may live the divine life and also live out this life. The life is inward, but godliness is outward, for it is God Himself expressed.
In all of our living we should express God. We should testify of God and speak about Him. When God becomes our expression, this is godliness. In our conversation we should express God. If we are expressing God, surely we could not engage in gossip. We should have God in our being and also in our living. Our mind should be filled with Him, and the very fiber of our being should be constituted of Him. Then we shall have godliness, the outward expression of the inward life.
In 1:3 Peter uses the preposition “through” and says that the divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness “through the full knowledge of Him.” The impartation into us of all the things of life is through the full knowledge of God. This full knowledge is a deep, thorough, experiential knowledge.
The preposition “through” used in relation to full knowledge indicates that we need to pass through a process. If we have the practice of gossiping, this practice is an indication that we have not yet passed through the process leading to the full knowledge of the One who has called us. I do not think that if we have the full knowledge of the One who has called us to His glory and virtue, we shall waste our time gossiping.
The divine power has infused us with all things pertaining to life and godliness. However, this infusion, this impartation, requires that we have the full knowledge of God. If we do not pass through the process to gain the full knowledge, it will seem that what the divine power has planted in us has been in vain. The divine power is operating, but there is the need for us to cooperate with this operation.
Many Christians do not know anything about what the divine power has imparted to us. Likewise, many do not know that it is necessary for us to pass through the process to gain the full knowledge. There is the need for us to be trained by the Lord so that we may pass through the process to gain the full knowledge of the One who has called us. My desire in these messages is to help you pass through this process. We may use the illustration of a train and say that we are all on a train that is going through the passage of the deep, thorough, and experiential knowledge of the One who has called us.
In verse 3 Peter does not speak of the knowledge of God nor of the knowledge of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Instead, he speaks of the full knowledge of the One who has called us to His glory and virtue. Here Peter does not say that God has called us to heaven, nor even that He has called us to redemption or sanctification. In this verse Peter says that God has called us to His own glory and virtue. We need to have the full knowledge of this. We must not be content to know it superficially. We can know the One who has called us to His own glory and virtue only by passing through a long process. Regarding this, we should be like tourists taking a slow train ride through a beautiful countryside. Such tourists like to ride slowly in order to have a good view of the scenery. In like manner, we need to consider 1:1-4 thoroughly and slowly. You may read through these verses quickly again and again and not see anything. Therefore, as we read these verses, we need to consider carefully everything included in them.