True Knowledge Is A Gift From God Series

Lesson V

II. The Nature of True Knowledge (2 Peter 1:2-21)

Introduction:

1. A definition of “Nature” is Character

a. Thus we can say the “Character” of true knowledge

b. Synonyms for “Character” is “Quality, Makeup, Personality.”

1. Thus we can say the Quality or the Makeup, or the Personality of True Knowledge.

2. There are three parts to Lesson II.

a. True Knowledge is a Gift from God (2-4)

b. True Knowledge is a Growth in Experience (5-11)

c. True Knowledge is a Ground for Certainty (12-21)

A. True Knowledge is a Gift from God (verses 2-4)

KJV

v2) “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,” (v3) “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” (v4) “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

NIV

v2) “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (v3) “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (v4) “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Amplified

v2) “May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in (the full, personal, precise, and correct) knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (v3) “For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that (are requisite and suited) to life and godliness, through the (full, personal) knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).” (v4) “By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape (by flight) from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.”

The Message Bible

(2) Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.

(3) Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! (4) We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you--your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

Phillips Translation

(2) May you know more and more of grace and peace as your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord grows deeper.

(3) He has by his own action given us everything that is necessary for living the truly good life, in allowing us to know the one who has called us to him, through his own glorious goodness. (4) It is through him that God’s greatest and most precious promises have become available to us men, making it possible for you to escape the inevitable disintegration that lust produces in the world and to share God’s essential nature.

NLT

2) May God bless you with his special favor and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord better and better. 3) As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! 4) And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.

Note: Knowledge is “full discernment, or/and recognition”

1. Knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord is that instrument

a. By which “Grace and Peace is multiplied.”

1. Multiplied is from the Greek “plethuno” and it means

“to increase” or “abound”. (To be plentiful)

2. Peace is from the Greek “eirene” and it means

Prosperity, quietness, and/or rest.

3. Grace is from the Greek “charis” and it means

God’s benefit, God’s favor, and/or God’s Gift.

Explanation

1. The greater our knowledge (understanding, perception, acknowledgment) of God and Jesus

our Lord

a. Of who they are

b. Of our relationship with them

c. Of what they desire to do in us