Intro:
1. The Secret Service is a bureau of the U.S Department of Treasury. The Congress created the Secret Service in 1865 to fight the counterfeiting of U.S currency. It was not until 1901 after the assassination of President William McKinley that they were also assigned to protect the President.
The Secret Service is trained to spot counterfeit money, not by studying the counterfeits, but by studying the real thing.
2. Peter is dealing with the problem of false counterfeit teachers. He begins by focusing upon the truth, not by giving a detailed account of the teaching of the false teachers.
3. The Need to Acknowledge True Knowledge.
2 Peter 1:1-4 (NKJV)
1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 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,
4 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. For starters, Simon Peter had true knowledge. 2 Pet. 1:1
A. His Identity.
His mother named him Simon, but his Master named him Peter (Jn. 1:42). You can go to First Peter for more information on Peter.
Flynn, “Jesus first statement to Simon must have sounded strange. That was like calling a dwarf, Goliath! Andrew must have thought, “My brother a rock? Doesn’t he know how unstable he is?” But Jesus never uttered any hasty, ill-timed statements. This new name indicated that Jesus clearly understood Simon’s instability, and what He would make of Simon by his grace. Jesus saw Simon’s potential. We should never forget this oscillating, vacillating fisherman became the solid, steady apostle who dominated the first half of the Book of Acts.”
We also have our identity given to us by Him; we are called Christians, those who are Christlike. He calls us that not because of His confidence in us, but due to His confidence in His power to accomplish that!
Let us be clear, He not only knows the identity of the believer, He also knows the identity of the false apostles, prophets, and Christians (Jn.13:11/2 Tim. 2:19).
B. His Humility.
Where did it come from? From knowing Jesus! Lu. 5:7-8
On the other hand false teachers are marked by pride because they do not know God (Jude 8-10).
C. His Authority.
He is an apostle by the sovereign choice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mt. 10:1-2,5).
Simon Peter is the real deal! How do we know that he has genuine spiritual knowledge? Because he knows and is known by Jesus Christ, and demonstrates that Jesus was his everything – his identity; his motivation for humility; and his very authority.
Peter is a seasoned Christian, which means that he has been going through the process of being reduced to Jesus.
“The world I thought belonged to me,
Goods, gold, and people, land and sea.
Where’er I walked beneath God’s sky,
In those old days my word was “I”
Years passed: there flashed my pathway near,
The fragment of a vision dear;
My former word no more sufficed,
And what I said was “I and Christ.”
But oh the more I looked to Him,
His glory grew while mine grew dim;
I shrank so small He towered so high,
All I dared say was “Christ and I”
Years more the vision held its place
And looked me steadily in the face;
I speak now in humbler tone,
And what I say is “Christ alone!”
II. Furthermore, Subsequent believers have the same knowledge.
A. A Reception.
Obtained – Wuest, “Obtain means to “obtain by lot, to receive by divine allotment. The faith here is appropriating faith exercised by the believing sinner when he places his trust in the Lord Jesus. This faith is given in sovereign grace by God to the sinner elected [chosen out] to salvation, and is part of the salvation which is given him. It is given him, Peter says by divine allotment.” Jn. 1:12-13
False teachers do not talk about salvation that is received but one that is earned, sought after, worked for, and based on something upon which man must do. Jn. 6:28-29
B. A Reason.
by the righteousness of – the idea is that the reason for the “precious truth” is God’s righteousness.
Calvin, “He adds ‘in the righteousness of our God’ so that they will know that they have not obtained faith by their own effort or power, but that they have it by the sheer gift of God. The righteousness of God and the merits of man are opposed to each other. The righteousness of God is called the effective cause of faith because no one is capable of conferring it on himself.”
We can place our faith in Christ because of His righteousness which is then placed upon our account. 2 Cor. 5:21
By contrast the false teachers focus on their own righteousness (Rom. 10:1-4/Phil.3:1-9).
Martin Luther, “In righteousness, which God gives, He excludes all human righteousness. For through faith alone we are justified before God; and therefore faith is called the God-righteousness, for it avails nothing before the world, yea, it is even condemned by the world.”
C. A Result.
The result of knowing Christ is that grace and peace is being multiplied.
Knowledge – “This term used here for knowledge isn’t referring simply to academic scholarship. It signifies a knowledge that comes only from intimate fellowship with the Lord. Because the more we can comprehend the meaning of who Jesus Christ is, the more we can understand the meaning of grace and the experience of peace.” [Swindoll]
MacDonald, “How can these blessings be multiplied? It is in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. The better we know God, the more we experience grace and peace.”
False teachers know nothing of real grace and peace because they know nothing of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Notice he says to “those” who have obtained “like” precious faith with “us.” The “use” here is either (1) the apostles; (2) the Jewish saints; or (3) both. Either is possible and both are true.
Personally I believe that Peter is saying subsequent believers have available to them the same intimate personal relationship with Christ as the apostles.
Wiersbe, “It means that our standing with the Lord today is the same as that of the Apostles centuries ago. They had no special advantage over us, simply because they were privileged to walk with Christ, see Him with their own eyes, and share in His miracles.
It is not necessary to see the Lord with our human eyes in order to love Him, trust Him, and share His glory.” I Pet. 1:8
III. Finally, the Substance of our knowledge.
A. His Power…Christ. V.3
1. Source – His divine power… Phil. 4:13
2. Sovereign grace – has given…
3. Scope – to us all things pertain to life and godliness…
a. Given to All – all believers; apostles and non-apostles; Jews and Gentiles; etc.
b. Given All things – that (1) pertaining to Salvation [life]; and (2) pertaining to Sanctification [godliness].
4. Sphere – through the knowledge of Him.
a. The Beckoning – He called us…
b. The Basis – His glory; His goodness [virtue]…
Knowing God is power! Dan. 11:32
Tozer, “It is hard for us sons of the Machine Age to remember that there is no power apart from God. Whether physical, intellectual, moral, or spiritual power is contained in God, flows out from Him and returns to Him again.”
B. Based on His Promises. 2 Cor. 1:20
1. The Provisions.
Great – because they come from a great God…
Precious – because of their value to us…
Herbert Lockyer in his book, All the Promises of the Bible, has 7,487 promises covering every possible need we could have.
2. The Participation.
Partakers of the divine nature – some take this to refer to our new nature. I believer that it refers to our partaking of His Divine nature, in that, the Holy Spirit is in us. (Rom.8:9/Gal.2:20). This does NOT mean we become some sort of God, but that God lives inside us.
3. The Purification.
From this polluted world which again is a contrast with false teachers who seek to turn the grace of God into a license to sin. Jude 4/Gal.1:4/2 Cor.7:1/I Pet. 1:15
The selling card of the false teacher is that something needs to be added to our lives, some secret knowledge or power, which they can give you. The truth is we have all we need in Christ.
Like a baby is born with all it needs, to grow is not to get something but to discover what they already have. A baby for example already has legs from birth on. You don’t go to the doctor and screw legs on when they are ready to walk – no they simple discover that they have legs and learn there are a better way to get around then dragging them behind them! Spiritual growth is not getting something more or new from God, but discovering what we already have and beginning to use what we have.
Con:
1. We need to Acknowledge true Knowledge, so that we will recognize that which is false.
2. To do that we don’t need to study every cult and false religions on the planet. All we need to do is Study Christ as found in the written Word of God.
3. D. L. Moody use to say, “The best way to show a stick is crooked, is not by arguing about it or seeking to show the crookedness of it, but by laying a straight stick alongside of it.”
Jesus Christ is our straight stick – enough said!
Johnny Palmer Jr
www.strugglingthruscripturs.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/profile.aspx?userurl=pastor-palmer
