Revelation 2

Revelation 2:1

Care for the Flock of God

1 Peter 5:1. When Christians live in a time of persecution and suffer because of that, a lot depends on how the relationships are among them. Therefore Peter continues his teachings with admonitions for elders (1 Peter 5:1-4) and younger people (1 Peter 5:5). When there are frictions between both groups, they will be an easy prey for the enemy who threatens them from the outside.

There has always been the danger of frictions between older and younger people, but in our time it is greater than in former times. In the past the authoritative relationships were clear and they were generally also respected. Nowadays authority is an almost ‘dirty’ word. Autonomy, the free will of man, seems to be the most valuable asset, also to Christians.

Changes in authoritative relationships are taking place rapidly. Younger people increasingly see older people with their opinions as old-fashioned and liberty limiting. Older people have the opinion that younger people only want to be revolutionary, without any respect for the good achievements of the former generation or generations. Each proposal for a change is rejected in advance, because it is experienced as a threat for the old achievements to which they want to hold on. If we are willing to listen to the teaching of Peter, then the frictions mentioned or even collisions and divisions will have no chance to have a detrimental effect on us.

Peter starts with the elders, that is, with those who have the greatest responsibility. If it comes to the relationship between elder people and younger people, the heart of the fathers must first be brought to the children and then the heart of the children can be dealt with to bring them to the fathers (Malachi 4:6). Although Peter speaks as an elder and therefore speaks with authority, he at the same time speaks as an elder to his fellow elders.

The term “elders” is not a title for a special class of people with an official position in the church who are appointed by others. An elder is someone who by age, experience and wisdom of life is able to lead believers. The word ‘elder’ therefore does not indicate an official position, but it indicates an older person. That also appears from the contrast with the ‘younger people’ in 1 Peter 5:5.

That doesn’t mean that each believer has the same responsibility. There are older believers whose walk of life enforces authority – that is quite different from demanding authority! – and who have the care of the church at heart. These are those to whom Peter is addressing. He not only does that as a “fellow elder”, but also as someone with two special characteristics, namely as a “witness of the sufferings of Christ” and as “a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed”. Peter can testify of the sufferings of Christ that came over Him when He was on earth (John 15:27). He is also a partaker of the glory of Christ that He will have in His kingdom, for he has foreseen that on the mountain of transfiguration (Luke 9:28-31).

1 Peter 5:2. As an elder and due to his education for his ministry, Peter fulfills the order of the Lord to take care of His flock (John 21:15-17). In the first place he does that by the means of this letter to the whole flock. In the second place he does that also by transferring his care now to the fellow elders or anyway by involving them in the care. He points out to the elders that it is about the flock of God. It is in no way their flock, as a church leader sometimes speaks about ‘my’ church.

It is also the flock that is among or with them and therefore not a flock that is beneath or below them. The elders themselves are also a part of the flock. A flock forms a whole. This is how it is with God’s people. The task of the elders consists of their supervision over the whole flock (cf. Acts 20:28) and not giving some sheep a preferential treatment. ”Shepherd the flock” consists of keeping it from dangers. Hereby you can think of the shielding from false doctrines. “Exercising oversight” implies that the flock is provided with nourishment, with what is encouraging and empowering to move on.

It is important that elders exert their spiritual authority in the right way and in the right mind. That will be the case if they fulfill the three conditions Peter mentions. They are to do it “voluntarily” and “with eagerness” and as “examples to the flock”.

Each of these conditions is in contrast to something of the flesh. ‘Voluntarily’ is in contrast to “under compulsion”. An elder must not be forced to do his task. To act compulsively or against your will is not fitting to a task of care, for then there is no love for the flock. It is about a service out of willingness. That is after God’s heart, for He also did not act out of compulsion, but out of love when He gave the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd. God loves the joyful shepherd (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:7).

The shepherd is also not supposed to work for sordid gain. The sheep are not there for him, but he is there for the sheep. Unfortunately, you see that the church has become a house of trade. Some church leaders cry out for money and promise a lot regarding health and prosperity. The gain that shepherds are striving for may also be in increasing prestige. The chief priests and Pharisees in the days of the Lord Jesus were seeking that, while they also were out for financial profit. They wanted to enrich themselves as much as they could to the detriment of the sheep. They were shepherds who were shepherding themselves (Ezekiel 34:2).

The opposite of that is the shepherd after God’s purpose. That shepherd is willing. Willingness is the attitude to help whenever it is needed, even when it is not asked with words. If a sheep deviates, he will go after it and bring it back. He is willing to abandon his own rest for that.

1 Peter 5:3. Elders are also not people of power. One can possess his own possession and exert power. But the church is not in possession of a man. Instead of ruling with a hard hand to make the flock behave in a desirable way, the shepherd will show how a sheep should behave. After all, the shepherd himself is part of the flock. Spiritual authority is in the example, not in the words that are spoken. Following the Lord does not mean commanding, but showing in practice what that means. The shepherd after God’s heart does not call from the rear the command: ‘Forward!, but he calls out: ‘ Follow me!’ and goes in front himself.

1 Peter 5:4. The prospect of a great reward is presented to the elders for their work. Their eyes are focused on the coming of “the Chief Shepherd”, that is the Lord Jesus. Peter is drawing the attention of his fellow elders to that, so that they may be encouraged to faithfully continue to do their often difficult and heavy task. It is a heavy order that can only be carried out with the view to the coming of the Lord and the reward that He has for those who have served in that way. All who have taken the lowest place on earth, will soon take the highest place with Him, distinguished from all others. Then they will be handed out “the unfading crown of glory” by the Chief Shepherd.

This particular encouragement for this often thankless task is certainly justified. Serving the believers is often harder than preaching the gospel to the unbelievers. Still this task is of great importance. Therefore the Holy Spirit led Peter to write these words. Let every older believer who has a task as a shepherd be encouraged by it and persevere in his task until the coming of the Lord in glory.

1 Peter 5:5. After this exhaustive word to the elders Peter addresses the younger men. He tells them to be subject to the elders. A lot will depend on the attitude of the elders. To develop spiritually sound, the younger men need elders to be subject to them because they give the good example to them. Though also elders are not perfect people. Younger men are inclined to use the mistakes of elders as an excuse not to be subject. But that is not the right attitude.

Each authoritative source that is established by God must be acknowledged. That doesn’t mean that they should be obeyed without consideration, but it means that there must be an attitude of subjection with those who are under this authority. The Lord Jesus subjected to His fallible earthly parents (Luke 2:51). It is an exercise for younger people to follow Him in this and to deal with the elders in subjection.

The enemy will do his utmost to cause a division between younger people and elders. He will try to cause them not to understand one another. But younger people and elders need each other. Elders have to serve younger men. When they do that, the younger men will want to be subject to them.

For both groups, this requires humility, to which all are now called. If you clothe yourself “with humility”, that is, if humility is your power of living, you will experience the blessing of it. He who is humble doesn’t pretend anything and due to that he will not encounter conflicts with someone else and definitely not with God. With Elihu you see a beautiful example of a younger man who takes the right place toward the older Job and his friends (Job 32:1-11).

However, if you oppose and try to fight for your own rights, God will oppose you. A spirit of pride is a direct attack on God’s right over man.

Now read 1 Peter 5:1-5 again.

Reflection: How do you as a young believer, look at older believers?

Revelation 2:2

Care for the Flock of God

1 Peter 5:1. When Christians live in a time of persecution and suffer because of that, a lot depends on how the relationships are among them. Therefore Peter continues his teachings with admonitions for elders (1 Peter 5:1-4) and younger people (1 Peter 5:5). When there are frictions between both groups, they will be an easy prey for the enemy who threatens them from the outside.

There has always been the danger of frictions between older and younger people, but in our time it is greater than in former times. In the past the authoritative relationships were clear and they were generally also respected. Nowadays authority is an almost ‘dirty’ word. Autonomy, the free will of man, seems to be the most valuable asset, also to Christians.

Changes in authoritative relationships are taking place rapidly. Younger people increasingly see older people with their opinions as old-fashioned and liberty limiting. Older people have the opinion that younger people only want to be revolutionary, without any respect for the good achievements of the former generation or generations. Each proposal for a change is rejected in advance, because it is experienced as a threat for the old achievements to which they want to hold on. If we are willing to listen to the teaching of Peter, then the frictions mentioned or even collisions and divisions will have no chance to have a detrimental effect on us.

Peter starts with the elders, that is, with those who have the greatest responsibility. If it comes to the relationship between elder people and younger people, the heart of the fathers must first be brought to the children and then the heart of the children can be dealt with to bring them to the fathers (Malachi 4:6). Although Peter speaks as an elder and therefore speaks with authority, he at the same time speaks as an elder to his fellow elders.

The term “elders” is not a title for a special class of people with an official position in the church who are appointed by others. An elder is someone who by age, experience and wisdom of life is able to lead believers. The word ‘elder’ therefore does not indicate an official position, but it indicates an older person. That also appears from the contrast with the ‘younger people’ in 1 Peter 5:5.

That doesn’t mean that each believer has the same responsibility. There are older believers whose walk of life enforces authority – that is quite different from demanding authority! – and who have the care of the church at heart. These are those to whom Peter is addressing. He not only does that as a “fellow elder”, but also as someone with two special characteristics, namely as a “witness of the sufferings of Christ” and as “a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed”. Peter can testify of the sufferings of Christ that came over Him when He was on earth (John 15:27). He is also a partaker of the glory of Christ that He will have in His kingdom, for he has foreseen that on the mountain of transfiguration (Luke 9:28-31).

1 Peter 5:2. As an elder and due to his education for his ministry, Peter fulfills the order of the Lord to take care of His flock (John 21:15-17). In the first place he does that by the means of this letter to the whole flock. In the second place he does that also by transferring his care now to the fellow elders or anyway by involving them in the care. He points out to the elders that it is about the flock of God. It is in no way their flock, as a church leader sometimes speaks about ‘my’ church.

It is also the flock that is among or with them and therefore not a flock that is beneath or below them. The elders themselves are also a part of the flock. A flock forms a whole. This is how it is with God’s people. The task of the elders consists of their supervision over the whole flock (cf. Acts 20:28) and not giving some sheep a preferential treatment. ”Shepherd the flock” consists of keeping it from dangers. Hereby you can think of the shielding from false doctrines. “Exercising oversight” implies that the flock is provided with nourishment, with what is encouraging and empowering to move on.

It is important that elders exert their spiritual authority in the right way and in the right mind. That will be the case if they fulfill the three conditions Peter mentions. They are to do it “voluntarily” and “with eagerness” and as “examples to the flock”.

Each of these conditions is in contrast to something of the flesh. ‘Voluntarily’ is in contrast to “under compulsion”. An elder must not be forced to do his task. To act compulsively or against your will is not fitting to a task of care, for then there is no love for the flock. It is about a service out of willingness. That is after God’s heart, for He also did not act out of compulsion, but out of love when He gave the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd. God loves the joyful shepherd (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:7).

The shepherd is also not supposed to work for sordid gain. The sheep are not there for him, but he is there for the sheep. Unfortunately, you see that the church has become a house of trade. Some church leaders cry out for money and promise a lot regarding health and prosperity. The gain that shepherds are striving for may also be in increasing prestige. The chief priests and Pharisees in the days of the Lord Jesus were seeking that, while they also were out for financial profit. They wanted to enrich themselves as much as they could to the detriment of the sheep. They were shepherds who were shepherding themselves (Ezekiel 34:2).

The opposite of that is the shepherd after God’s purpose. That shepherd is willing. Willingness is the attitude to help whenever it is needed, even when it is not asked with words. If a sheep deviates, he will go after it and bring it back. He is willing to abandon his own rest for that.

1 Peter 5:3. Elders are also not people of power. One can possess his own possession and exert power. But the church is not in possession of a man. Instead of ruling with a hard hand to make the flock behave in a desirable way, the shepherd will show how a sheep should behave. After all, the shepherd himself is part of the flock. Spiritual authority is in the example, not in the words that are spoken. Following the Lord does not mean commanding, but showing in practice what that means. The shepherd after God’s heart does not call from the rear the command: ‘Forward!, but he calls out: ‘ Follow me!’ and goes in front himself.

1 Peter 5:4. The prospect of a great reward is presented to the elders for their work. Their eyes are focused on the coming of “the Chief Shepherd”, that is the Lord Jesus. Peter is drawing the attention of his fellow elders to that, so that they may be encouraged to faithfully continue to do their often difficult and heavy task. It is a heavy order that can only be carried out with the view to the coming of the Lord and the reward that He has for those who have served in that way. All who have taken the lowest place on earth, will soon take the highest place with Him, distinguished from all others. Then they will be handed out “the unfading crown of glory” by the Chief Shepherd.

This particular encouragement for this often thankless task is certainly justified. Serving the believers is often harder than preaching the gospel to the unbelievers. Still this task is of great importance. Therefore the Holy Spirit led Peter to write these words. Let every older believer who has a task as a shepherd be encouraged by it and persevere in his task until the coming of the Lord in glory.

1 Peter 5:5. After this exhaustive word to the elders Peter addresses the younger men. He tells them to be subject to the elders. A lot will depend on the attitude of the elders. To develop spiritually sound, the younger men need elders to be subject to them because they give the good example to them. Though also elders are not perfect people. Younger men are inclined to use the mistakes of elders as an excuse not to be subject. But that is not the right attitude.

Each authoritative source that is established by God must be acknowledged. That doesn’t mean that they should be obeyed without consideration, but it means that there must be an attitude of subjection with those who are under this authority. The Lord Jesus subjected to His fallible earthly parents (Luke 2:51). It is an exercise for younger people to follow Him in this and to deal with the elders in subjection.

The enemy will do his utmost to cause a division between younger people and elders. He will try to cause them not to understand one another. But younger people and elders need each other. Elders have to serve younger men. When they do that, the younger men will want to be subject to them.

For both groups, this requires humility, to which all are now called. If you clothe yourself “with humility”, that is, if humility is your power of living, you will experience the blessing of it. He who is humble doesn’t pretend anything and due to that he will not encounter conflicts with someone else and definitely not with God. With Elihu you see a beautiful example of a younger man who takes the right place toward the older Job and his friends (Job 32:1-11).

However, if you oppose and try to fight for your own rights, God will oppose you. A spirit of pride is a direct attack on God’s right over man.

Now read 1 Peter 5:1-5 again.

Reflection: How do you as a young believer, look at older believers?

Revelation 2:3

Care for the Flock of God

1 Peter 5:1. When Christians live in a time of persecution and suffer because of that, a lot depends on how the relationships are among them. Therefore Peter continues his teachings with admonitions for elders (1 Peter 5:1-4) and younger people (1 Peter 5:5). When there are frictions between both groups, they will be an easy prey for the enemy who threatens them from the outside.

There has always been the danger of frictions between older and younger people, but in our time it is greater than in former times. In the past the authoritative relationships were clear and they were generally also respected. Nowadays authority is an almost ‘dirty’ word. Autonomy, the free will of man, seems to be the most valuable asset, also to Christians.

Changes in authoritative relationships are taking place rapidly. Younger people increasingly see older people with their opinions as old-fashioned and liberty limiting. Older people have the opinion that younger people only want to be revolutionary, without any respect for the good achievements of the former generation or generations. Each proposal for a change is rejected in advance, because it is experienced as a threat for the old achievements to which they want to hold on. If we are willing to listen to the teaching of Peter, then the frictions mentioned or even collisions and divisions will have no chance to have a detrimental effect on us.

Peter starts with the elders, that is, with those who have the greatest responsibility. If it comes to the relationship between elder people and younger people, the heart of the fathers must first be brought to the children and then the heart of the children can be dealt with to bring them to the fathers (Malachi 4:6). Although Peter speaks as an elder and therefore speaks with authority, he at the same time speaks as an elder to his fellow elders.

The term “elders” is not a title for a special class of people with an official position in the church who are appointed by others. An elder is someone who by age, experience and wisdom of life is able to lead believers. The word ‘elder’ therefore does not indicate an official position, but it indicates an older person. That also appears from the contrast with the ‘younger people’ in 1 Peter 5:5.

That doesn’t mean that each believer has the same responsibility. There are older believers whose walk of life enforces authority – that is quite different from demanding authority! – and who have the care of the church at heart. These are those to whom Peter is addressing. He not only does that as a “fellow elder”, but also as someone with two special characteristics, namely as a “witness of the sufferings of Christ” and as “a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed”. Peter can testify of the sufferings of Christ that came over Him when He was on earth (John 15:27). He is also a partaker of the glory of Christ that He will have in His kingdom, for he has foreseen that on the mountain of transfiguration (Luke 9:28-31).

1 Peter 5:2. As an elder and due to his education for his ministry, Peter fulfills the order of the Lord to take care of His flock (John 21:15-17). In the first place he does that by the means of this letter to the whole flock. In the second place he does that also by transferring his care now to the fellow elders or anyway by involving them in the care. He points out to the elders that it is about the flock of God. It is in no way their flock, as a church leader sometimes speaks about ‘my’ church.

It is also the flock that is among or with them and therefore not a flock that is beneath or below them. The elders themselves are also a part of the flock. A flock forms a whole. This is how it is with God’s people. The task of the elders consists of their supervision over the whole flock (cf. Acts 20:28) and not giving some sheep a preferential treatment. ”Shepherd the flock” consists of keeping it from dangers. Hereby you can think of the shielding from false doctrines. “Exercising oversight” implies that the flock is provided with nourishment, with what is encouraging and empowering to move on.

It is important that elders exert their spiritual authority in the right way and in the right mind. That will be the case if they fulfill the three conditions Peter mentions. They are to do it “voluntarily” and “with eagerness” and as “examples to the flock”.

Each of these conditions is in contrast to something of the flesh. ‘Voluntarily’ is in contrast to “under compulsion”. An elder must not be forced to do his task. To act compulsively or against your will is not fitting to a task of care, for then there is no love for the flock. It is about a service out of willingness. That is after God’s heart, for He also did not act out of compulsion, but out of love when He gave the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd. God loves the joyful shepherd (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:7).

The shepherd is also not supposed to work for sordid gain. The sheep are not there for him, but he is there for the sheep. Unfortunately, you see that the church has become a house of trade. Some church leaders cry out for money and promise a lot regarding health and prosperity. The gain that shepherds are striving for may also be in increasing prestige. The chief priests and Pharisees in the days of the Lord Jesus were seeking that, while they also were out for financial profit. They wanted to enrich themselves as much as they could to the detriment of the sheep. They were shepherds who were shepherding themselves (Ezekiel 34:2).

The opposite of that is the shepherd after God’s purpose. That shepherd is willing. Willingness is the attitude to help whenever it is needed, even when it is not asked with words. If a sheep deviates, he will go after it and bring it back. He is willing to abandon his own rest for that.

1 Peter 5:3. Elders are also not people of power. One can possess his own possession and exert power. But the church is not in possession of a man. Instead of ruling with a hard hand to make the flock behave in a desirable way, the shepherd will show how a sheep should behave. After all, the shepherd himself is part of the flock. Spiritual authority is in the example, not in the words that are spoken. Following the Lord does not mean commanding, but showing in practice what that means. The shepherd after God’s heart does not call from the rear the command: ‘Forward!, but he calls out: ‘ Follow me!’ and goes in front himself.

1 Peter 5:4. The prospect of a great reward is presented to the elders for their work. Their eyes are focused on the coming of “the Chief Shepherd”, that is the Lord Jesus. Peter is drawing the attention of his fellow elders to that, so that they may be encouraged to faithfully continue to do their often difficult and heavy task. It is a heavy order that can only be carried out with the view to the coming of the Lord and the reward that He has for those who have served in that way. All who have taken the lowest place on earth, will soon take the highest place with Him, distinguished from all others. Then they will be handed out “the unfading crown of glory” by the Chief Shepherd.

This particular encouragement for this often thankless task is certainly justified. Serving the believers is often harder than preaching the gospel to the unbelievers. Still this task is of great importance. Therefore the Holy Spirit led Peter to write these words. Let every older believer who has a task as a shepherd be encouraged by it and persevere in his task until the coming of the Lord in glory.

1 Peter 5:5. After this exhaustive word to the elders Peter addresses the younger men. He tells them to be subject to the elders. A lot will depend on the attitude of the elders. To develop spiritually sound, the younger men need elders to be subject to them because they give the good example to them. Though also elders are not perfect people. Younger men are inclined to use the mistakes of elders as an excuse not to be subject. But that is not the right attitude.

Each authoritative source that is established by God must be acknowledged. That doesn’t mean that they should be obeyed without consideration, but it means that there must be an attitude of subjection with those who are under this authority. The Lord Jesus subjected to His fallible earthly parents (Luke 2:51). It is an exercise for younger people to follow Him in this and to deal with the elders in subjection.

The enemy will do his utmost to cause a division between younger people and elders. He will try to cause them not to understand one another. But younger people and elders need each other. Elders have to serve younger men. When they do that, the younger men will want to be subject to them.

For both groups, this requires humility, to which all are now called. If you clothe yourself “with humility”, that is, if humility is your power of living, you will experience the blessing of it. He who is humble doesn’t pretend anything and due to that he will not encounter conflicts with someone else and definitely not with God. With Elihu you see a beautiful example of a younger man who takes the right place toward the older Job and his friends (Job 32:1-11).

However, if you oppose and try to fight for your own rights, God will oppose you. A spirit of pride is a direct attack on God’s right over man.

Now read 1 Peter 5:1-5 again.

Reflection: How do you as a young believer, look at older believers?

Revelation 2:4

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:5

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:6

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:7

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:8

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:9

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:10

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:11

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:12

The God of All Grace

1 Peter 5:6. In the test of your faith you can notice the powerful hand of God. Instead of resisting it, ”humble yourself”. That’s what He is all about. Humiliation is the harbinger of exaltation, in the same way as pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Though, you ought not to humble yourself under the hand of men, but “under the mighty hand of God”. If you’re facing difficulties, even if those difficulties are caused by men, then it is still His hand that you feel. Behind the hand of men you may see the hand of God. Behind the humiliation you may see the exaltation that will be your portion at God’s time. That will happen when the Lord Jesus comes. Then your position, with all believers, changes from that of a subject to that of a ruler.

1 Peter 5:7. It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Therefore God gives you a great encouragement: you are allowed to cast all your anxiety on Him (Psalms 55:22). He will take over your whole burden. The only thing you’ve got to do is to cast that burden of anxiety on Him. If you have done that, you’ve got rid of it. He has taken it over and will take care of you further. If you keep on carrying this burden of anxiety yourself, you will be absorbed by it and you will not see God Who loves to care for you.

The fact that God cares for you means that He has great interest in each detail of your life. He not only wants to be involved, but He wants to take over your need. He brings you into tests and trials, so that you may learn to take it out of His hand and to put it into His hand (Psalms 10:14a).

1 Peter 5:8. With this view you have the privilege to accept all tests out of the mighty hand of God and to submit everything to Him that goes together with it. Nevertheless you should not neglect that the devil also plays his part. Trust in God doesn’t mean that you have got rid of your responsibility and can therefore be passive. You always need to “be of sober [spirit]”, therefore not naïvely think that you can do everything without being bothered by the devil. He certainly is a conquered enemy, but only for those who go their way in the confidence of faith in God. Keep your eyes widely opened for the dangers that surround you. Sleepiness and laziness are an invitation for the devil to attack you.

The devil is called “your adversary”. With everything that is in him he is against you because you belong to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the devil that in any way can be beneficial to you. He “prowls around like a roaring lion”, seeking for a prey. He is cruel, powerful and merciless. With his roaring he tries to frighten you. Make sure you do not get into his power. His only goal is to “devour” you, which means that he wants to completely destroy you.

1 Peter 5:9. If he comes at you, don’t be intimidated. Do not turn your back on him, but resist him. You must flee when he comes your way in the form of temptations to sin in case you encounter something that addresses your flesh to cause it to work. That regards to fornication, idolatry, money and the lusts of the youth (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). When the trial comes from the outside, when the devil wants to frighten you and wants to cause you to deny your faith, you must resist him. You should not avoid the suffering, but endure it, firm in the faith for the sake of the Lord, looking on Him in the confidence that He supports you.

You are not the only one who has to face this suffering. It is the experience of all ”your brethren”. They are all believers and not the limited circle of believers with whom you have contact regularly. The company of brethren is not a part of the world, but it finds itself in the midst of it. That company and the world have nothing in common. The world may be very friendly at times, but as soon as it is confronted with the dominion of the Lord Jesus, their tolerance directly turns into threat and hatred. Then the world shows its true face and that is that it hates all of those who belong to that company of brethren and everything that is theirs.

1 Peter 5:10. But there is a mighty fortress that repels all the attacks of the roaring lion. That fortress is “the God of all grace”. All believers know the God of all grace, meaning that God’s grace is experienced in all kinds and at all times. That also applies from the beginning to the end of your life and in all circumstances. All grace comes from God, in whatever way.

He has called you “to His eternal glory in Christ”. Your future is totally fixed in God’s plan. The future is His and you are His. Nothing and no one is able to make a change in God’s call. Who could that be? It must be something or someone who is stronger than God. Would you know who that could be? There is not even one to be compared with Him, not to mention that there would be something that could be above Him.

If He has called you for an amazing future connected to Christ, then you will also partake of it (Romans 8:30). Opposite to this is “a little while” of suffering. In that little while He is preparing you for that future with Christ.

1. The suffering serves to “perfect” you, meaning to bring you to perfection and fullness, so that nothing lacks you. There will be no lack or shortage of anything anymore. 2. He will also “confirm” you through the suffering, meaning he will make you stand steadfast. 3. Thereby He will inwardly “strengthen” you, so that there will be no weakness anymore. 4. Finally He gives you a firm foundation, on which He will “establish” you.

You see that God makes an end to all that is out of balance and that is weak. Instead, He gives a situation in which nothing can be changed anymore.

1 Peter 5:11. This all will end up in His glorification. From the mouth of all the redeemed the praise will sound that ascribes to Him all dominion. There is no dominion beside Him. The proofs that He alone possesses it, are abundantly delivered and seen in all the redeemed together. With an ‘Amen’ Peter concludes this praise. Each believer will wholeheartedly agree with that. That’s how it is and there is nothing else.

1 Peter 5:12. Peter still has some personal greetings. In order to deliver the letter to the readers, Peter gave it to Silvanus, after having possibly dictated it to him. Silvanus is the same as Silas, the journey companion of Paul. This Silas was familiar with suffering. He and Paul were scourged in Philippi and were thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-23). Maybe Peter knew that and he therefore asked him to take his letter with him. Peter must have known him, for Silas was a leader among the brethren in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22), where Peter also had served the believers.

To introduce Silas to the readers of his letter, he says that as for him, Silas is a faithful brother. He tells his readers what his impression of Silas is, without arrogating himself a definite judgement about the faithfulness of Silas. Peter is aware of his own unfaithfulness. That’s what makes him careful. After all, the judgment about faithfulness is up to the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 25:21; 23).

He has written a brief letter, but its effect is great and long lasting. It is to make them understand what “the true grace of God” is. By that Peter says that grace is the true nature of Christendom, that it is based on grace and not on the law. In that grace they must stand firm and hold fast to and not be drawn away from it.

That also goes for you. By grace you are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace you stand before God (Romans 5:2). That grace should characterize your life. If you have understood anything of what grace is, you will not be willing to place yourself under a law again or would want to participate in outwardly formal services. Grace means putting your whole life in God’s hand and to be guided by Him.

1 Peter 5:13. Peter also conveys the greetings of the “chosen together with” them. “She” possibly refers to his wife, whom he took with him on his journey (1 Corinthians 9:5). He is writing from Babylon, where a large Jewish community existed and where he worked. After all he is the apostle of the circumcision (Galatians 2:7). He also conveys the greetings of his son Mark, the evangelist. Mark is probably his spiritual son.

1 Peter 5:14. Finally Peter gives them the order to assure one another of their love to one another by greeting each other with an intimate greeting.

While Paul often concludes his letters with a wish that they may experience the grace of the Lord Jesus, Peter wishes his readers “peace”. Peace is the great character of the kingdom over which the Lord Jesus will reign and which is therefore also called ‘the kingdom of peace’. Peace is also the great blessing for the believers in their dealings with one another. The enjoyment of that peace is only possible when each believer himself is aware of his position in Christ, is living up to it and also sees the other one in that position.

I wholeheartedly wish the same for you in your relationship with Christ and in your dealings with fellow believers. Amen.

Now read 1 Peter 5:7-14 again.

Reflection: Just explore how often God has already revealed Himself to you as the God of all grace.

Revelation 2:15

Introduction

In the second letter we have from Peter in the Bible Peter addresses the same believers as in his first letter. We can derive this from the first verse of chapter 3 of this second letter (2 Peter 3:1). As in the first letter ‘the government of God’ is the central thought in this letter. The difference is that in the first letter it is about the government of God over the believers, while in this letter it is about God’s government over the unbelievers.

God rules. He is sovereign and firmly in control of the government of the world, even if to the natural eye it appears otherwise. Therefore you should not judge the things as they present themselves to you, but you should see them all in the light of God’s Word. That’s why this letter is also of great importance in order not to be confused by the actions of the ungodly who even seem to have the right on their side. That is just an appearance and appearances are deceiving.

Peter writes this letter as his spiritual testament. His departure is coming soon. In his first letter he encouraged the believers with a view to the persecutions and the sufferings they were enduring. In the kingdom of peace it will not be like that at all. That’s where he has drawn their attention to, over and over again. His second letter is full of warnings with a view to the destruction that is worked by the deceivers.

This is a character of other ‘second letters’, like the second letter to the Thessalonians and the second letter to Timothy. Then the point is not that much about dangers from the outside, from the world, but more from within, from within professing Christianity. You are also to be kept from the deceivers.

In both letters the coming of the Lord will change everything. Also in his second letter Peter refers to that coming. Thereby he even goes further than the coming of the Lord to establish the kingdom of peace. He writes about the eternal condition of the new heavens and the new earth. That is a great encouragement to be faithful and to see to it that the deceivers will get no chance to undermine the faith of God’s children.

Salutation and Blessing

2 Peter 1:1. The letter has been written by Peter. He is its sender. Unlike in his first letter, he calls himself here “Simon Peter”. ‘Simon’ is the name that his parents gave him. It is, you could say, his old name. The Lord Jesus has given him his new name ‘Peter’ (John 1:42; Matthew 10:2; Matthew 16:18). That Peter introduces himself by his double name, is remarkable. It says, I think, a lot of his spiritual mind. He is at the end of his life. He knows who he is in Christ. Still, he has not forgotten his origin.

Further on, in 2 Peter 1:9, he reminds his readers that he, who forgets what he was in the past, is blind and shortsighted. The longer a person goes his way with the Lord, the better he will know the Lord Jesus, but also the more he will understand what he himself is by nature. That will only make his awareness of grace increase. By introducing himself as Simon, he says to his readers that he is not better than them. By introducing himself also as Peter, he indicates that he addresses them as a brother among the brothers.

But he comes on behalf of another, on behalf of “Jesus Christ”. He is His “bond-servant”. What he has to say, he says because the Lord Jesus orders him to. He is completely subjected to His authority. That is not a burden, but a joy. He loves to call himself like that. There is nothing more wonderful than being a bond-servant of Him Who has redeemed you from the power of sin and has delivered you from death and the judgment after death (Hebrews 9:27).

Peter, however, is not only a bond-servant, he is also an “apostle”. That means that he speaks with authority. He not only comes because he is a bond-servant, but he comes also with the authority of the Lord Jesus and speaks in His Name. Therefore, what he has got to say was mandated by the Lord Jesus and he passes that on with the authority of His Sender. Ultimately it is not Peter who addresses you, but the Lord Jesus. That will on the one hand prevent you from reading this letter as a human writing and on the other hand impress you of the power of God that speaks from this letter.

Peter addresses his letter “to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours”. He mentions in addition that he and they owe that to “the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”. The faith is precious, it is of special value. Here it is not so much the fact that you believe, that is your personal faith, but more about what you believe, about everything that the faith contains. What faith contains, are all blessings that are given to you in Christ. Those blessings are not only meant for an elite, a special group of privileged believers, but they are for all believers.

Peter especially addresses the Jews. They are raised with the thought that their own righteousness, the fulfillment of the law, gives the blessing of everything that God has promised. They have committed themselves to that as a people at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:8). But on that basis, they forfeited the blessing and each right to it forever because of their disobedience and the rejection of the Lord Jesus. That blessing can now only be obtained by faith in the rejected and glorified Lord. In what Christ has done, the basis has been laid for God to still give all the promised blessing to everyone who believes.

It is His righteousness, which means His righteous dealings, in response to the work of His Son, to give the opportunity to everyone who believes in the Son to partake of the precious value of all that faith contains. Therefore Peter speaks about the “righteousness” of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Also, by “the righteousness of our God”, you may remember that God is faithful to the promises He made to the fathers of Israel. In His righteousness He will fulfill all His promises.

Because Peter speaks about “our God and Savior Jesus Christ”, you see that God and the Savior Jesus Christ are One Person (cf. Titus 2:13). This Name connects this verse with the Old Testament, which those to whom Peter is writing, know so well. God calls Himself ‘Savior’ in Isaiah 45 (Isaiah 45:15). He does that with a view to the approaching end of Israel. A Savior or Redeemer is needed when the end of the existence of a nation or of a human being comes into view. Therefore this Name is fitting in this letter in which we read about the end of everything that has been created (Luke 1:47; 1 Timothy 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 1:3; Titus 2:10; Titus 3:4; Jude 1:25). This Name also shows that the Lord Jesus is both Savior and Yahweh of the Old Testament.

Therefore when He is presented by Peter as the origin of the precious faith, it also reminds them of the faithfulness of the God of Israel, Who has granted this faith to His people. This faith is now no longer associated with God’s earthly people, but with God’s heavenly people, in whom we find the things that God gives. In Christendom they have been revealed as truths. It is a great grace to be able to see that.

2 Peter 1:2. Peter concludes his introductory words by wishing his readers “grace and peace”. He does so, however, in a penetrating way. He is aware, and he therefore wants to make his readers aware of it too, that those who live by faith, will have to face heavy weather. While great dangers are appearing and increasing (Matthew 24:12), he is very much aware of the equally multiply grace and peace. Where the threat appears to be that great, grace and peace abound all the more (cf. Romans 5:20b).

Therefore Peter speaks about a ‘multiplication’ of grace and peace. He wants you to be more and more aware of the grace that is available to you to enable you to live your life in this end time. You do not have to go through it by your own power and with your own means. Nor can you. Entrust yourself to the grace of God. You have learnt to know Him as “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10). Therefore you will also be able to endure the toughest circumstances with an increasing peace in your heart.

To this blessing Peter connects “the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”. Here you have the firm foundation to experience the fulfillment of the wish of Peter. By your personal relationship with God and with the Lord Jesus you will learn to know Them better and better. You gain that knowledge by reading and studying God’s Word. That’s what you are doing now and that is a good thing.

God and the Lord Jesus reveal Their plans in the Bible. If you know them, you will not easily be led into confusion and despair. By reading the Word the Holy Spirit will show you everything what God’s plan is with the Lord Jesus. Christ is the center of all God’s thoughts. If your thoughts are focused on the same center, you will find the support and nourishment for your faith there. Your faith will develop itself and expand itself further and further in that knowledge. This is how the multiplication happens that Peter wishes you on behalf of Jesus Christ.

Now read 2 Peter 1:1-2 again.

Reflection: Which encouragements do these verses contain?

Revelation 2:16

Introduction

In the second letter we have from Peter in the Bible Peter addresses the same believers as in his first letter. We can derive this from the first verse of chapter 3 of this second letter (2 Peter 3:1). As in the first letter ‘the government of God’ is the central thought in this letter. The difference is that in the first letter it is about the government of God over the believers, while in this letter it is about God’s government over the unbelievers.

God rules. He is sovereign and firmly in control of the government of the world, even if to the natural eye it appears otherwise. Therefore you should not judge the things as they present themselves to you, but you should see them all in the light of God’s Word. That’s why this letter is also of great importance in order not to be confused by the actions of the ungodly who even seem to have the right on their side. That is just an appearance and appearances are deceiving.

Peter writes this letter as his spiritual testament. His departure is coming soon. In his first letter he encouraged the believers with a view to the persecutions and the sufferings they were enduring. In the kingdom of peace it will not be like that at all. That’s where he has drawn their attention to, over and over again. His second letter is full of warnings with a view to the destruction that is worked by the deceivers.

This is a character of other ‘second letters’, like the second letter to the Thessalonians and the second letter to Timothy. Then the point is not that much about dangers from the outside, from the world, but more from within, from within professing Christianity. You are also to be kept from the deceivers.

In both letters the coming of the Lord will change everything. Also in his second letter Peter refers to that coming. Thereby he even goes further than the coming of the Lord to establish the kingdom of peace. He writes about the eternal condition of the new heavens and the new earth. That is a great encouragement to be faithful and to see to it that the deceivers will get no chance to undermine the faith of God’s children.

Salutation and Blessing

2 Peter 1:1. The letter has been written by Peter. He is its sender. Unlike in his first letter, he calls himself here “Simon Peter”. ‘Simon’ is the name that his parents gave him. It is, you could say, his old name. The Lord Jesus has given him his new name ‘Peter’ (John 1:42; Matthew 10:2; Matthew 16:18). That Peter introduces himself by his double name, is remarkable. It says, I think, a lot of his spiritual mind. He is at the end of his life. He knows who he is in Christ. Still, he has not forgotten his origin.

Further on, in 2 Peter 1:9, he reminds his readers that he, who forgets what he was in the past, is blind and shortsighted. The longer a person goes his way with the Lord, the better he will know the Lord Jesus, but also the more he will understand what he himself is by nature. That will only make his awareness of grace increase. By introducing himself as Simon, he says to his readers that he is not better than them. By introducing himself also as Peter, he indicates that he addresses them as a brother among the brothers.

But he comes on behalf of another, on behalf of “Jesus Christ”. He is His “bond-servant”. What he has to say, he says because the Lord Jesus orders him to. He is completely subjected to His authority. That is not a burden, but a joy. He loves to call himself like that. There is nothing more wonderful than being a bond-servant of Him Who has redeemed you from the power of sin and has delivered you from death and the judgment after death (Hebrews 9:27).

Peter, however, is not only a bond-servant, he is also an “apostle”. That means that he speaks with authority. He not only comes because he is a bond-servant, but he comes also with the authority of the Lord Jesus and speaks in His Name. Therefore, what he has got to say was mandated by the Lord Jesus and he passes that on with the authority of His Sender. Ultimately it is not Peter who addresses you, but the Lord Jesus. That will on the one hand prevent you from reading this letter as a human writing and on the other hand impress you of the power of God that speaks from this letter.

Peter addresses his letter “to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours”. He mentions in addition that he and they owe that to “the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”. The faith is precious, it is of special value. Here it is not so much the fact that you believe, that is your personal faith, but more about what you believe, about everything that the faith contains. What faith contains, are all blessings that are given to you in Christ. Those blessings are not only meant for an elite, a special group of privileged believers, but they are for all believers.

Peter especially addresses the Jews. They are raised with the thought that their own righteousness, the fulfillment of the law, gives the blessing of everything that God has promised. They have committed themselves to that as a people at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:8). But on that basis, they forfeited the blessing and each right to it forever because of their disobedience and the rejection of the Lord Jesus. That blessing can now only be obtained by faith in the rejected and glorified Lord. In what Christ has done, the basis has been laid for God to still give all the promised blessing to everyone who believes.

It is His righteousness, which means His righteous dealings, in response to the work of His Son, to give the opportunity to everyone who believes in the Son to partake of the precious value of all that faith contains. Therefore Peter speaks about the “righteousness” of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Also, by “the righteousness of our God”, you may remember that God is faithful to the promises He made to the fathers of Israel. In His righteousness He will fulfill all His promises.

Because Peter speaks about “our God and Savior Jesus Christ”, you see that God and the Savior Jesus Christ are One Person (cf. Titus 2:13). This Name connects this verse with the Old Testament, which those to whom Peter is writing, know so well. God calls Himself ‘Savior’ in Isaiah 45 (Isaiah 45:15). He does that with a view to the approaching end of Israel. A Savior or Redeemer is needed when the end of the existence of a nation or of a human being comes into view. Therefore this Name is fitting in this letter in which we read about the end of everything that has been created (Luke 1:47; 1 Timothy 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 1:3; Titus 2:10; Titus 3:4; Jude 1:25). This Name also shows that the Lord Jesus is both Savior and Yahweh of the Old Testament.

Therefore when He is presented by Peter as the origin of the precious faith, it also reminds them of the faithfulness of the God of Israel, Who has granted this faith to His people. This faith is now no longer associated with God’s earthly people, but with God’s heavenly people, in whom we find the things that God gives. In Christendom they have been revealed as truths. It is a great grace to be able to see that.

2 Peter 1:2. Peter concludes his introductory words by wishing his readers “grace and peace”. He does so, however, in a penetrating way. He is aware, and he therefore wants to make his readers aware of it too, that those who live by faith, will have to face heavy weather. While great dangers are appearing and increasing (Matthew 24:12), he is very much aware of the equally multiply grace and peace. Where the threat appears to be that great, grace and peace abound all the more (cf. Romans 5:20b).

Therefore Peter speaks about a ‘multiplication’ of grace and peace. He wants you to be more and more aware of the grace that is available to you to enable you to live your life in this end time. You do not have to go through it by your own power and with your own means. Nor can you. Entrust yourself to the grace of God. You have learnt to know Him as “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10). Therefore you will also be able to endure the toughest circumstances with an increasing peace in your heart.

To this blessing Peter connects “the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”. Here you have the firm foundation to experience the fulfillment of the wish of Peter. By your personal relationship with God and with the Lord Jesus you will learn to know Them better and better. You gain that knowledge by reading and studying God’s Word. That’s what you are doing now and that is a good thing.

God and the Lord Jesus reveal Their plans in the Bible. If you know them, you will not easily be led into confusion and despair. By reading the Word the Holy Spirit will show you everything what God’s plan is with the Lord Jesus. Christ is the center of all God’s thoughts. If your thoughts are focused on the same center, you will find the support and nourishment for your faith there. Your faith will develop itself and expand itself further and further in that knowledge. This is how the multiplication happens that Peter wishes you on behalf of Jesus Christ.

Now read 2 Peter 1:1-2 again.

Reflection: Which encouragements do these verses contain?

Revelation 2:17

Divine Nature and Spiritual Growth

2 Peter 1:3. Everything you have received and that has been summarized in the expression “faith” (2 Peter 1:1), has been granted to you by God’s “divine power”. You yourself did in no way contribute to it or paid the slightest bit for it. What you have received has been really “granted” to you. That is all a gift of grace from God.

What is it that you have received? He has delivered you from the power of sin and has given you the forgiveness of your sins. He has given you free access to the sanctuary, in His presence. You are allowed to come there to worship Him and ask for His help. He has given you the Holy Spirit and His Word. He has provided you with the prospect of an inheritance. These are just some blessings that have become your portion because He has given them to you.

No one has been able to keep Him from doing that. Everything that God has granted to you by His Divine power is fully fitted to enable you to live the life that is only worthy of living. That is a life to His honor, a life in holiness and dedication to Him. It is a life that is entirely focused on God alone, a life that shows true Godliness, a life in holy respect for Him, which He values and in which He finds His pleasure.

You can only live to His honor according to the extent of the knowledge you have of Him, Who has called you. God’s power doesn’t become visible in your life through signs and wonders that you might perform, but through your actions in accordance with the knowledge you have of Him. What do you know about Him? You know about Him what you have seen of Him. Thereby it is important how you have come to know Him, your first encounter with Him. He called you at the beginning of your life as a believer. You have come to Him because He has called you.

And how did He call you? It is said here “by His own glory and excellence [or: virtue]”. You were living in your sins and you were not able to save yourself. Then God revealed Himself to you in His “glory”. Such a great power came from that, that you were drawn to Him, as it were. Abraham had such an experience. He saw the God of glory and left the idolatrous environment where he was living (Joshua 24:2-3; Acts 7:2). Also Paul was completely changed in his course by that glory (Acts 22:6-11). It is inevitable that you have seen something of God’s glory, for nothing else could cause you to give up the world.

“Excellence” [or: virtue, i.e. spiritual courage and power] here indicates something that exceeds everything. God possesses a glory and excellence by which every earthly glory and excellence utterly pales. With ‘excellence’ is also associated the power of your calling. He who sees the glory and excellence of God, if the eyes have been opened for it, experiences an irresistible attraction.

2 Peter 1:4. By His glory and excellence He “has granted to us His precious … promises”, which are promises of great value. They are also “magnificent” promises. It is all those promises that are “yes” and “amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Thus you have received the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the promise that you will receive the inheritance (Galatians 3:14; Ephesians 1:13-14). Another promise is that you are already now may have eternal life, while the full enjoyment of it will be given to you when you are in the Father’s house (Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25; John 17:3). Aren’t they “precious and magnificent promises”? First, before you go further, just take a moment to thank the Father for this.

All those promises for which you have just given thanks, show that you are a partaker of the Divine nature. Without the possession of God’s nature, in other words, without life of God, you would neither have possessed those promises nor would you have been able to enjoy them in fellowship with God.

The possession of the Divine nature and what you are able to enjoy as a result is a huge contrast to the life you used to live. Everything you used to long for was connected to the world and to destruction. Your lusts were fed by the world and could only end up in destruction. It was all filthy and unclean and only focused on satisfying your own lusts. You did not care at all about what you did to yourself and others and above all that, to God. You didn’t care about the fact that because of that you were heading for eternal judgment. Now you have escaped from all that. You have fled from that and by Divine power you have been taken out from that atmosphere. That’s also something you may thank Him for.

2 Peter 1:5. Except a reason to thank Him eternally for it, it is also an exhortation to make efforts to seek God’s honor in all things. His Divine power should make you to diligently make use of it. If you think that everything is all right, it may prove that you are not a partaker of the Divine nature. For the possession of the Divine nature will make you conscious that you live in a world that seeks to eradicate your testimony. A person who really is a partaker of the Divine nature, which is given to him by Divine power, will desire to do everything that glorifies God, Who has blessed him abundantly. He will exert his best efforts to bring that about.

Then Peter shows the seven phases that bring faith to its optimal functioning. “Faith” is the faith in the Divine power and the glory of Christ that will be revealed. That is not a dogma, not a doctrine, but the reality which is the fundamental point. We go our way in that confidence of faith. That confidence of faith has to be deepened.

1. Therefore, “for this very reason”, “moral excellence” must be added to the faith, which is your trust in God, applying all diligence. If there is true faith, our confidence of faith will surely be tested. We will then not be scared by that, on the contrary, it will only be an occasion for us to show, especially then, spiritual courage and power. The hardships will be overcome instead of giving in to the pressure of relinquishing the faith.

2. The difficulties will drive you out to God. You will seek and experience the fellowship with Him and in that way gain more knowledge. Therefore “knowledge” follows after showing moral excellence or spiritual courage and power. If knowledge is not added, the tests will only become emotional events, where there is a great danger of showing off.

Excellence, or courage and power, can only function well if there is knowledge of God’s purpose with the test of faith. By growing in the knowledge of God’s will, you will rightly use the spiritual energy. In that way knowledge will become a guide for your conduct. It leads you to a deeper familiarity with God that works in your heart and that is seen in your conduct. It prevents you from error.

3. 2 Peter 1:6. Knowledge must function in the right way. Therefore “self-control” must be added to knowledge. You may grow in the knowledge of God, you may get to know Him and His plans better and better, but then the important thing is that you make use of that knowledge in the right way.

The intention is not that you should think that with all the knowledge you’ve gained you should serve God uninhibitedly and that wherever you go you see a reason to do that. Real knowledge will focus your heart on Christ. He always perfectly faithfully did the will of God and He did that in perfect rest. He never let Himself be overwhelmed or be rushed to do something. His life was led by the knowledge of God’s will.

4. If you are willing to do the will of God in this way you will surely face resistance from the world. The Lord Jesus also had to do with that, but in no way did He let Himself be drawn away from the path of obedience to His God. He went on with perseverance. That goes also for you. Therefore you should add “perseverance” to self-control. The reason why self-control and perseverance are asked of you, is because you have an old nature and because you live in an environment that seeks to draw you away from God and His matters.

5. It goes without saying that you must persevere in the good things and that you must also bring them into practice in the right way. You could easily persevere in meaningless things. Therefore you should add “godliness” to it. Godliness is the consciousness of living in the presence of God. From there automatically, as it were, the next aspect flows.

6. 2 Peter 1:7. If there is godliness, if your heart has such fellowship with God, then “brotherly kindness” will not be a difficult task. It will not be difficult to love all who are partakers of the same Divine nature. You will love your brothers and sisters with a love that will only increase the more you are in fellowship with God.

7. Brotherly kindness ultimately leads to “love”, that is the highest love, the Divine love. With brotherly kindness you may find that there are things that make loving one another easy. Divine love goes much further, for God also loves even if there is nothing worthy of being loved. It is the source, the revelation of love at the highest level. If this is the way you love, then you are connected to eternity and can resist the spirit of the age.

Now read 2 Peter 1:3-7 again.

Reflection: Make a list of some blessings that Divine power has given to you. What can be expected from you as a result of that?

Revelation 2:18

Divine Nature and Spiritual Growth

2 Peter 1:3. Everything you have received and that has been summarized in the expression “faith” (2 Peter 1:1), has been granted to you by God’s “divine power”. You yourself did in no way contribute to it or paid the slightest bit for it. What you have received has been really “granted” to you. That is all a gift of grace from God.

What is it that you have received? He has delivered you from the power of sin and has given you the forgiveness of your sins. He has given you free access to the sanctuary, in His presence. You are allowed to come there to worship Him and ask for His help. He has given you the Holy Spirit and His Word. He has provided you with the prospect of an inheritance. These are just some blessings that have become your portion because He has given them to you.

No one has been able to keep Him from doing that. Everything that God has granted to you by His Divine power is fully fitted to enable you to live the life that is only worthy of living. That is a life to His honor, a life in holiness and dedication to Him. It is a life that is entirely focused on God alone, a life that shows true Godliness, a life in holy respect for Him, which He values and in which He finds His pleasure.

You can only live to His honor according to the extent of the knowledge you have of Him, Who has called you. God’s power doesn’t become visible in your life through signs and wonders that you might perform, but through your actions in accordance with the knowledge you have of Him. What do you know about Him? You know about Him what you have seen of Him. Thereby it is important how you have come to know Him, your first encounter with Him. He called you at the beginning of your life as a believer. You have come to Him because He has called you.

And how did He call you? It is said here “by His own glory and excellence [or: virtue]”. You were living in your sins and you were not able to save yourself. Then God revealed Himself to you in His “glory”. Such a great power came from that, that you were drawn to Him, as it were. Abraham had such an experience. He saw the God of glory and left the idolatrous environment where he was living (Joshua 24:2-3; Acts 7:2). Also Paul was completely changed in his course by that glory (Acts 22:6-11). It is inevitable that you have seen something of God’s glory, for nothing else could cause you to give up the world.

“Excellence” [or: virtue, i.e. spiritual courage and power] here indicates something that exceeds everything. God possesses a glory and excellence by which every earthly glory and excellence utterly pales. With ‘excellence’ is also associated the power of your calling. He who sees the glory and excellence of God, if the eyes have been opened for it, experiences an irresistible attraction.

2 Peter 1:4. By His glory and excellence He “has granted to us His precious … promises”, which are promises of great value. They are also “magnificent” promises. It is all those promises that are “yes” and “amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Thus you have received the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the promise that you will receive the inheritance (Galatians 3:14; Ephesians 1:13-14). Another promise is that you are already now may have eternal life, while the full enjoyment of it will be given to you when you are in the Father’s house (Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25; John 17:3). Aren’t they “precious and magnificent promises”? First, before you go further, just take a moment to thank the Father for this.

All those promises for which you have just given thanks, show that you are a partaker of the Divine nature. Without the possession of God’s nature, in other words, without life of God, you would neither have possessed those promises nor would you have been able to enjoy them in fellowship with God.

The possession of the Divine nature and what you are able to enjoy as a result is a huge contrast to the life you used to live. Everything you used to long for was connected to the world and to destruction. Your lusts were fed by the world and could only end up in destruction. It was all filthy and unclean and only focused on satisfying your own lusts. You did not care at all about what you did to yourself and others and above all that, to God. You didn’t care about the fact that because of that you were heading for eternal judgment. Now you have escaped from all that. You have fled from that and by Divine power you have been taken out from that atmosphere. That’s also something you may thank Him for.

2 Peter 1:5. Except a reason to thank Him eternally for it, it is also an exhortation to make efforts to seek God’s honor in all things. His Divine power should make you to diligently make use of it. If you think that everything is all right, it may prove that you are not a partaker of the Divine nature. For the possession of the Divine nature will make you conscious that you live in a world that seeks to eradicate your testimony. A person who really is a partaker of the Divine nature, which is given to him by Divine power, will desire to do everything that glorifies God, Who has blessed him abundantly. He will exert his best efforts to bring that about.

Then Peter shows the seven phases that bring faith to its optimal functioning. “Faith” is the faith in the Divine power and the glory of Christ that will be revealed. That is not a dogma, not a doctrine, but the reality which is the fundamental point. We go our way in that confidence of faith. That confidence of faith has to be deepened.

1. Therefore, “for this very reason”, “moral excellence” must be added to the faith, which is your trust in God, applying all diligence. If there is true faith, our confidence of faith will surely be tested. We will then not be scared by that, on the contrary, it will only be an occasion for us to show, especially then, spiritual courage and power. The hardships will be overcome instead of giving in to the pressure of relinquishing the faith.

2. The difficulties will drive you out to God. You will seek and experience the fellowship with Him and in that way gain more knowledge. Therefore “knowledge” follows after showing moral excellence or spiritual courage and power. If knowledge is not added, the tests will only become emotional events, where there is a great danger of showing off.

Excellence, or courage and power, can only function well if there is knowledge of God’s purpose with the test of faith. By growing in the knowledge of God’s will, you will rightly use the spiritual energy. In that way knowledge will become a guide for your conduct. It leads you to a deeper familiarity with God that works in your heart and that is seen in your conduct. It prevents you from error.

3. 2 Peter 1:6. Knowledge must function in the right way. Therefore “self-control” must be added to knowledge. You may grow in the knowledge of God, you may get to know Him and His plans better and better, but then the important thing is that you make use of that knowledge in the right way.

The intention is not that you should think that with all the knowledge you’ve gained you should serve God uninhibitedly and that wherever you go you see a reason to do that. Real knowledge will focus your heart on Christ. He always perfectly faithfully did the will of God and He did that in perfect rest. He never let Himself be overwhelmed or be rushed to do something. His life was led by the knowledge of God’s will.

4. If you are willing to do the will of God in this way you will surely face resistance from the world. The Lord Jesus also had to do with that, but in no way did He let Himself be drawn away from the path of obedience to His God. He went on with perseverance. That goes also for you. Therefore you should add “perseverance” to self-control. The reason why self-control and perseverance are asked of you, is because you have an old nature and because you live in an environment that seeks to draw you away from God and His matters.

5. It goes without saying that you must persevere in the good things and that you must also bring them into practice in the right way. You could easily persevere in meaningless things. Therefore you should add “godliness” to it. Godliness is the consciousness of living in the presence of God. From there automatically, as it were, the next aspect flows.

6. 2 Peter 1:7. If there is godliness, if your heart has such fellowship with God, then “brotherly kindness” will not be a difficult task. It will not be difficult to love all who are partakers of the same Divine nature. You will love your brothers and sisters with a love that will only increase the more you are in fellowship with God.

7. Brotherly kindness ultimately leads to “love”, that is the highest love, the Divine love. With brotherly kindness you may find that there are things that make loving one another easy. Divine love goes much further, for God also loves even if there is nothing worthy of being loved. It is the source, the revelation of love at the highest level. If this is the way you love, then you are connected to eternity and can resist the spirit of the age.

Now read 2 Peter 1:3-7 again.

Reflection: Make a list of some blessings that Divine power has given to you. What can be expected from you as a result of that?

Revelation 2:19

Divine Nature and Spiritual Growth

2 Peter 1:3. Everything you have received and that has been summarized in the expression “faith” (2 Peter 1:1), has been granted to you by God’s “divine power”. You yourself did in no way contribute to it or paid the slightest bit for it. What you have received has been really “granted” to you. That is all a gift of grace from God.

What is it that you have received? He has delivered you from the power of sin and has given you the forgiveness of your sins. He has given you free access to the sanctuary, in His presence. You are allowed to come there to worship Him and ask for His help. He has given you the Holy Spirit and His Word. He has provided you with the prospect of an inheritance. These are just some blessings that have become your portion because He has given them to you.

No one has been able to keep Him from doing that. Everything that God has granted to you by His Divine power is fully fitted to enable you to live the life that is only worthy of living. That is a life to His honor, a life in holiness and dedication to Him. It is a life that is entirely focused on God alone, a life that shows true Godliness, a life in holy respect for Him, which He values and in which He finds His pleasure.

You can only live to His honor according to the extent of the knowledge you have of Him, Who has called you. God’s power doesn’t become visible in your life through signs and wonders that you might perform, but through your actions in accordance with the knowledge you have of Him. What do you know about Him? You know about Him what you have seen of Him. Thereby it is important how you have come to know Him, your first encounter with Him. He called you at the beginning of your life as a believer. You have come to Him because He has called you.

And how did He call you? It is said here “by His own glory and excellence [or: virtue]”. You were living in your sins and you were not able to save yourself. Then God revealed Himself to you in His “glory”. Such a great power came from that, that you were drawn to Him, as it were. Abraham had such an experience. He saw the God of glory and left the idolatrous environment where he was living (Joshua 24:2-3; Acts 7:2). Also Paul was completely changed in his course by that glory (Acts 22:6-11). It is inevitable that you have seen something of God’s glory, for nothing else could cause you to give up the world.

“Excellence” [or: virtue, i.e. spiritual courage and power] here indicates something that exceeds everything. God possesses a glory and excellence by which every earthly glory and excellence utterly pales. With ‘excellence’ is also associated the power of your calling. He who sees the glory and excellence of God, if the eyes have been opened for it, experiences an irresistible attraction.

2 Peter 1:4. By His glory and excellence He “has granted to us His precious … promises”, which are promises of great value. They are also “magnificent” promises. It is all those promises that are “yes” and “amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Thus you have received the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the promise that you will receive the inheritance (Galatians 3:14; Ephesians 1:13-14). Another promise is that you are already now may have eternal life, while the full enjoyment of it will be given to you when you are in the Father’s house (Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25; John 17:3). Aren’t they “precious and magnificent promises”? First, before you go further, just take a moment to thank the Father for this.

All those promises for which you have just given thanks, show that you are a partaker of the Divine nature. Without the possession of God’s nature, in other words, without life of God, you would neither have possessed those promises nor would you have been able to enjoy them in fellowship with God.

The possession of the Divine nature and what you are able to enjoy as a result is a huge contrast to the life you used to live. Everything you used to long for was connected to the world and to destruction. Your lusts were fed by the world and could only end up in destruction. It was all filthy and unclean and only focused on satisfying your own lusts. You did not care at all about what you did to yourself and others and above all that, to God. You didn’t care about the fact that because of that you were heading for eternal judgment. Now you have escaped from all that. You have fled from that and by Divine power you have been taken out from that atmosphere. That’s also something you may thank Him for.

2 Peter 1:5. Except a reason to thank Him eternally for it, it is also an exhortation to make efforts to seek God’s honor in all things. His Divine power should make you to diligently make use of it. If you think that everything is all right, it may prove that you are not a partaker of the Divine nature. For the possession of the Divine nature will make you conscious that you live in a world that seeks to eradicate your testimony. A person who really is a partaker of the Divine nature, which is given to him by Divine power, will desire to do everything that glorifies God, Who has blessed him abundantly. He will exert his best efforts to bring that about.

Then Peter shows the seven phases that bring faith to its optimal functioning. “Faith” is the faith in the Divine power and the glory of Christ that will be revealed. That is not a dogma, not a doctrine, but the reality which is the fundamental point. We go our way in that confidence of faith. That confidence of faith has to be deepened.

1. Therefore, “for this very reason”, “moral excellence” must be added to the faith, which is your trust in God, applying all diligence. If there is true faith, our confidence of faith will surely be tested. We will then not be scared by that, on the contrary, it will only be an occasion for us to show, especially then, spiritual courage and power. The hardships will be overcome instead of giving in to the pressure of relinquishing the faith.

2. The difficulties will drive you out to God. You will seek and experience the fellowship with Him and in that way gain more knowledge. Therefore “knowledge” follows after showing moral excellence or spiritual courage and power. If knowledge is not added, the tests will only become emotional events, where there is a great danger of showing off.

Excellence, or courage and power, can only function well if there is knowledge of God’s purpose with the test of faith. By growing in the knowledge of God’s will, you will rightly use the spiritual energy. In that way knowledge will become a guide for your conduct. It leads you to a deeper familiarity with God that works in your heart and that is seen in your conduct. It prevents you from error.

3. 2 Peter 1:6. Knowledge must function in the right way. Therefore “self-control” must be added to knowledge. You may grow in the knowledge of God, you may get to know Him and His plans better and better, but then the important thing is that you make use of that knowledge in the right way.

The intention is not that you should think that with all the knowledge you’ve gained you should serve God uninhibitedly and that wherever you go you see a reason to do that. Real knowledge will focus your heart on Christ. He always perfectly faithfully did the will of God and He did that in perfect rest. He never let Himself be overwhelmed or be rushed to do something. His life was led by the knowledge of God’s will.

4. If you are willing to do the will of God in this way you will surely face resistance from the world. The Lord Jesus also had to do with that, but in no way did He let Himself be drawn away from the path of obedience to His God. He went on with perseverance. That goes also for you. Therefore you should add “perseverance” to self-control. The reason why self-control and perseverance are asked of you, is because you have an old nature and because you live in an environment that seeks to draw you away from God and His matters.

5. It goes without saying that you must persevere in the good things and that you must also bring them into practice in the right way. You could easily persevere in meaningless things. Therefore you should add “godliness” to it. Godliness is the consciousness of living in the presence of God. From there automatically, as it were, the next aspect flows.

6. 2 Peter 1:7. If there is godliness, if your heart has such fellowship with God, then “brotherly kindness” will not be a difficult task. It will not be difficult to love all who are partakers of the same Divine nature. You will love your brothers and sisters with a love that will only increase the more you are in fellowship with God.

7. Brotherly kindness ultimately leads to “love”, that is the highest love, the Divine love. With brotherly kindness you may find that there are things that make loving one another easy. Divine love goes much further, for God also loves even if there is nothing worthy of being loved. It is the source, the revelation of love at the highest level. If this is the way you love, then you are connected to eternity and can resist the spirit of the age.

Now read 2 Peter 1:3-7 again.

Reflection: Make a list of some blessings that Divine power has given to you. What can be expected from you as a result of that?

Revelation 2:20

Divine Nature and Spiritual Growth

2 Peter 1:3. Everything you have received and that has been summarized in the expression “faith” (2 Peter 1:1), has been granted to you by God’s “divine power”. You yourself did in no way contribute to it or paid the slightest bit for it. What you have received has been really “granted” to you. That is all a gift of grace from God.

What is it that you have received? He has delivered you from the power of sin and has given you the forgiveness of your sins. He has given you free access to the sanctuary, in His presence. You are allowed to come there to worship Him and ask for His help. He has given you the Holy Spirit and His Word. He has provided you with the prospect of an inheritance. These are just some blessings that have become your portion because He has given them to you.

No one has been able to keep Him from doing that. Everything that God has granted to you by His Divine power is fully fitted to enable you to live the life that is only worthy of living. That is a life to His honor, a life in holiness and dedication to Him. It is a life that is entirely focused on God alone, a life that shows true Godliness, a life in holy respect for Him, which He values and in which He finds His pleasure.

You can only live to His honor according to the extent of the knowledge you have of Him, Who has called you. God’s power doesn’t become visible in your life through signs and wonders that you might perform, but through your actions in accordance with the knowledge you have of Him. What do you know about Him? You know about Him what you have seen of Him. Thereby it is important how you have come to know Him, your first encounter with Him. He called you at the beginning of your life as a believer. You have come to Him because He has called you.

And how did He call you? It is said here “by His own glory and excellence [or: virtue]”. You were living in your sins and you were not able to save yourself. Then God revealed Himself to you in His “glory”. Such a great power came from that, that you were drawn to Him, as it were. Abraham had such an experience. He saw the God of glory and left the idolatrous environment where he was living (Joshua 24:2-3; Acts 7:2). Also Paul was completely changed in his course by that glory (Acts 22:6-11). It is inevitable that you have seen something of God’s glory, for nothing else could cause you to give up the world.

“Excellence” [or: virtue, i.e. spiritual courage and power] here indicates something that exceeds everything. God possesses a glory and excellence by which every earthly glory and excellence utterly pales. With ‘excellence’ is also associated the power of your calling. He who sees the glory and excellence of God, if the eyes have been opened for it, experiences an irresistible attraction.

2 Peter 1:4. By His glory and excellence He “has granted to us His precious … promises”, which are promises of great value. They are also “magnificent” promises. It is all those promises that are “yes” and “amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Thus you have received the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the promise that you will receive the inheritance (Galatians 3:14; Ephesians 1:13-14). Another promise is that you are already now may have eternal life, while the full enjoyment of it will be given to you when you are in the Father’s house (Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25; John 17:3). Aren’t they “precious and magnificent promises”? First, before you go further, just take a moment to thank the Father for this.

All those promises for which you have just given thanks, show that you are a partaker of the Divine nature. Without the possession of God’s nature, in other words, without life of God, you would neither have possessed those promises nor would you have been able to enjoy them in fellowship with God.

The possession of the Divine nature and what you are able to enjoy as a result is a huge contrast to the life you used to live. Everything you used to long for was connected to the world and to destruction. Your lusts were fed by the world and could only end up in destruction. It was all filthy and unclean and only focused on satisfying your own lusts. You did not care at all about what you did to yourself and others and above all that, to God. You didn’t care about the fact that because of that you were heading for eternal judgment. Now you have escaped from all that. You have fled from that and by Divine power you have been taken out from that atmosphere. That’s also something you may thank Him for.

2 Peter 1:5. Except a reason to thank Him eternally for it, it is also an exhortation to make efforts to seek God’s honor in all things. His Divine power should make you to diligently make use of it. If you think that everything is all right, it may prove that you are not a partaker of the Divine nature. For the possession of the Divine nature will make you conscious that you live in a world that seeks to eradicate your testimony. A person who really is a partaker of the Divine nature, which is given to him by Divine power, will desire to do everything that glorifies God, Who has blessed him abundantly. He will exert his best efforts to bring that about.

Then Peter shows the seven phases that bring faith to its optimal functioning. “Faith” is the faith in the Divine power and the glory of Christ that will be revealed. That is not a dogma, not a doctrine, but the reality which is the fundamental point. We go our way in that confidence of faith. That confidence of faith has to be deepened.

1. Therefore, “for this very reason”, “moral excellence” must be added to the faith, which is your trust in God, applying all diligence. If there is true faith, our confidence of faith will surely be tested. We will then not be scared by that, on the contrary, it will only be an occasion for us to show, especially then, spiritual courage and power. The hardships will be overcome instead of giving in to the pressure of relinquishing the faith.

2. The difficulties will drive you out to God. You will seek and experience the fellowship with Him and in that way gain more knowledge. Therefore “knowledge” follows after showing moral excellence or spiritual courage and power. If knowledge is not added, the tests will only become emotional events, where there is a great danger of showing off.

Excellence, or courage and power, can only function well if there is knowledge of God’s purpose with the test of faith. By growing in the knowledge of God’s will, you will rightly use the spiritual energy. In that way knowledge will become a guide for your conduct. It leads you to a deeper familiarity with God that works in your heart and that is seen in your conduct. It prevents you from error.

3. 2 Peter 1:6. Knowledge must function in the right way. Therefore “self-control” must be added to knowledge. You may grow in the knowledge of God, you may get to know Him and His plans better and better, but then the important thing is that you make use of that knowledge in the right way.

The intention is not that you should think that with all the knowledge you’ve gained you should serve God uninhibitedly and that wherever you go you see a reason to do that. Real knowledge will focus your heart on Christ. He always perfectly faithfully did the will of God and He did that in perfect rest. He never let Himself be overwhelmed or be rushed to do something. His life was led by the knowledge of God’s will.

4. If you are willing to do the will of God in this way you will surely face resistance from the world. The Lord Jesus also had to do with that, but in no way did He let Himself be drawn away from the path of obedience to His God. He went on with perseverance. That goes also for you. Therefore you should add “perseverance” to self-control. The reason why self-control and perseverance are asked of you, is because you have an old nature and because you live in an environment that seeks to draw you away from God and His matters.

5. It goes without saying that you must persevere in the good things and that you must also bring them into practice in the right way. You could easily persevere in meaningless things. Therefore you should add “godliness” to it. Godliness is the consciousness of living in the presence of God. From there automatically, as it were, the next aspect flows.

6. 2 Peter 1:7. If there is godliness, if your heart has such fellowship with God, then “brotherly kindness” will not be a difficult task. It will not be difficult to love all who are partakers of the same Divine nature. You will love your brothers and sisters with a love that will only increase the more you are in fellowship with God.

7. Brotherly kindness ultimately leads to “love”, that is the highest love, the Divine love. With brotherly kindness you may find that there are things that make loving one another easy. Divine love goes much further, for God also loves even if there is nothing worthy of being loved. It is the source, the revelation of love at the highest level. If this is the way you love, then you are connected to eternity and can resist the spirit of the age.

Now read 2 Peter 1:3-7 again.

Reflection: Make a list of some blessings that Divine power has given to you. What can be expected from you as a result of that?

Revelation 2:21

Divine Nature and Spiritual Growth

2 Peter 1:3. Everything you have received and that has been summarized in the expression “faith” (2 Peter 1:1), has been granted to you by God’s “divine power”. You yourself did in no way contribute to it or paid the slightest bit for it. What you have received has been really “granted” to you. That is all a gift of grace from God.

What is it that you have received? He has delivered you from the power of sin and has given you the forgiveness of your sins. He has given you free access to the sanctuary, in His presence. You are allowed to come there to worship Him and ask for His help. He has given you the Holy Spirit and His Word. He has provided you with the prospect of an inheritance. These are just some blessings that have become your portion because He has given them to you.

No one has been able to keep Him from doing that. Everything that God has granted to you by His Divine power is fully fitted to enable you to live the life that is only worthy of living. That is a life to His honor, a life in holiness and dedication to Him. It is a life that is entirely focused on God alone, a life that shows true Godliness, a life in holy respect for Him, which He values and in which He finds His pleasure.

You can only live to His honor according to the extent of the knowledge you have of Him, Who has called you. God’s power doesn’t become visible in your life through signs and wonders that you might perform, but through your actions in accordance with the knowledge you have of Him. What do you know about Him? You know about Him what you have seen of Him. Thereby it is important how you have come to know Him, your first encounter with Him. He called you at the beginning of your life as a believer. You have come to Him because He has called you.

And how did He call you? It is said here “by His own glory and excellence [or: virtue]”. You were living in your sins and you were not able to save yourself. Then God revealed Himself to you in His “glory”. Such a great power came from that, that you were drawn to Him, as it were. Abraham had such an experience. He saw the God of glory and left the idolatrous environment where he was living (Joshua 24:2-3; Acts 7:2). Also Paul was completely changed in his course by that glory (Acts 22:6-11). It is inevitable that you have seen something of God’s glory, for nothing else could cause you to give up the world.

“Excellence” [or: virtue, i.e. spiritual courage and power] here indicates something that exceeds everything. God possesses a glory and excellence by which every earthly glory and excellence utterly pales. With ‘excellence’ is also associated the power of your calling. He who sees the glory and excellence of God, if the eyes have been opened for it, experiences an irresistible attraction.

2 Peter 1:4. By His glory and excellence He “has granted to us His precious … promises”, which are promises of great value. They are also “magnificent” promises. It is all those promises that are “yes” and “amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Thus you have received the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the promise that you will receive the inheritance (Galatians 3:14; Ephesians 1:13-14). Another promise is that you are already now may have eternal life, while the full enjoyment of it will be given to you when you are in the Father’s house (Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25; John 17:3). Aren’t they “precious and magnificent promises”? First, before you go further, just take a moment to thank the Father for this.

All those promises for which you have just given thanks, show that you are a partaker of the Divine nature. Without the possession of God’s nature, in other words, without life of God, you would neither have possessed those promises nor would you have been able to enjoy them in fellowship with God.

The possession of the Divine nature and what you are able to enjoy as a result is a huge contrast to the life you used to live. Everything you used to long for was connected to the world and to destruction. Your lusts were fed by the world and could only end up in destruction. It was all filthy and unclean and only focused on satisfying your own lusts. You did not care at all about what you did to yourself and others and above all that, to God. You didn’t care about the fact that because of that you were heading for eternal judgment. Now you have escaped from all that. You have fled from that and by Divine power you have been taken out from that atmosphere. That’s also something you may thank Him for.

2 Peter 1:5. Except a reason to thank Him eternally for it, it is also an exhortation to make efforts to seek God’s honor in all things. His Divine power should make you to diligently make use of it. If you think that everything is all right, it may prove that you are not a partaker of the Divine nature. For the possession of the Divine nature will make you conscious that you live in a world that seeks to eradicate your testimony. A person who really is a partaker of the Divine nature, which is given to him by Divine power, will desire to do everything that glorifies God, Who has blessed him abundantly. He will exert his best efforts to bring that about.

Then Peter shows the seven phases that bring faith to its optimal functioning. “Faith” is the faith in the Divine power and the glory of Christ that will be revealed. That is not a dogma, not a doctrine, but the reality which is the fundamental point. We go our way in that confidence of faith. That confidence of faith has to be deepened.

1. Therefore, “for this very reason”, “moral excellence” must be added to the faith, which is your trust in God, applying all diligence. If there is true faith, our confidence of faith will surely be tested. We will then not be scared by that, on the contrary, it will only be an occasion for us to show, especially then, spiritual courage and power. The hardships will be overcome instead of giving in to the pressure of relinquishing the faith.

2. The difficulties will drive you out to God. You will seek and experience the fellowship with Him and in that way gain more knowledge. Therefore “knowledge” follows after showing moral excellence or spiritual courage and power. If knowledge is not added, the tests will only become emotional events, where there is a great danger of showing off.

Excellence, or courage and power, can only function well if there is knowledge of God’s purpose with the test of faith. By growing in the knowledge of God’s will, you will rightly use the spiritual energy. In that way knowledge will become a guide for your conduct. It leads you to a deeper familiarity with God that works in your heart and that is seen in your conduct. It prevents you from error.

3. 2 Peter 1:6. Knowledge must function in the right way. Therefore “self-control” must be added to knowledge. You may grow in the knowledge of God, you may get to know Him and His plans better and better, but then the important thing is that you make use of that knowledge in the right way.

The intention is not that you should think that with all the knowledge you’ve gained you should serve God uninhibitedly and that wherever you go you see a reason to do that. Real knowledge will focus your heart on Christ. He always perfectly faithfully did the will of God and He did that in perfect rest. He never let Himself be overwhelmed or be rushed to do something. His life was led by the knowledge of God’s will.

4. If you are willing to do the will of God in this way you will surely face resistance from the world. The Lord Jesus also had to do with that, but in no way did He let Himself be drawn away from the path of obedience to His God. He went on with perseverance. That goes also for you. Therefore you should add “perseverance” to self-control. The reason why self-control and perseverance are asked of you, is because you have an old nature and because you live in an environment that seeks to draw you away from God and His matters.

5. It goes without saying that you must persevere in the good things and that you must also bring them into practice in the right way. You could easily persevere in meaningless things. Therefore you should add “godliness” to it. Godliness is the consciousness of living in the presence of God. From there automatically, as it were, the next aspect flows.

6. 2 Peter 1:7. If there is godliness, if your heart has such fellowship with God, then “brotherly kindness” will not be a difficult task. It will not be difficult to love all who are partakers of the same Divine nature. You will love your brothers and sisters with a love that will only increase the more you are in fellowship with God.

7. Brotherly kindness ultimately leads to “love”, that is the highest love, the Divine love. With brotherly kindness you may find that there are things that make loving one another easy. Divine love goes much further, for God also loves even if there is nothing worthy of being loved. It is the source, the revelation of love at the highest level. If this is the way you love, then you are connected to eternity and can resist the spirit of the age.

Now read 2 Peter 1:3-7 again.

Reflection: Make a list of some blessings that Divine power has given to you. What can be expected from you as a result of that?

Revelation 2:22

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?

Revelation 2:23

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?

Revelation 2:24

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?

Revelation 2:25

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?

Revelation 2:26

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?

Revelation 2:27

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?

Revelation 2:28

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?

Revelation 2:29

An Abundant Entrance

2 Peter 1:8. In the previous verses you saw the seven steps of spiritual growth of your faith. You have seen that your faith grows when you add in the right order the following aspects: excellence or virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love. One follows the other. You cannot omit or displace one of them, for if you do, the growth will stop right there. If all these aspects in the growth of your faith have the right place, the result will be that you will get to know the Lord Jesus better and better. The more you know of the Lord the more you will love and serve Him.

The presence and efficacy of these ‘growth agents’ are the necessary conditions to grow. If they are there and are working, they prove their efficacy in the fruit that they produce. That fruit is a life in which the characteristics of the Lord Jesus become visible and in that way the Father is glorified.

2 Peter 1:9. When these things are lacking, there will be no spiritual activity and no fruit. It proves that you are “blind” and “short-sighted”. I do not think that this applies to you, but still it is important for you to see the danger of it. To be blind means to be without the insight in God’s thoughts about the Lord Jesus. He who is blind has not grown to maturity. He who is shortsighted can only see things that are very close. To be shortsighted means that only the present time is considered, here and now, and not the future, the kingdom to come. There is no distant view. A person who is blind and shortsighted is therefore blind for the heavenly things and is shortsighted as far as it concerns the earthly things. He does not look any further than here and now.

The cause of that is that he has “forgotten [his] purification from his former sins”. Indeed he is converted, for otherwise there could be no mention of purification. A person who is not converted has never been purified from his sin. However, he is not to be distinguished from the people of the world, for although he is converted he lives as someone of the world. Did not Peter himself have such an experience? Was he not blind for his own weakness in the night that the Lord Jesus was delivered? Was he not shortsighted when he thought of having to defend the Lord? Was he not in the company of the world when he was standing with the foes of his Lord to warm his hands at the same fire? Had he not forgotten his former sins when he betrayed his Lord?

What happened to Peter can also happen to you and me. Fortunately, as far as Peter is concerned, it all turned out well and he has been restored. Therefore there is also hope for everyone who has forgotten the purification of his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10. In order to be kept from such a situation, Peter appeals again to be diligent. Brothers and sisters have a collective origin. They are called and chosen by God. This awareness is a positive exhortation to be diligent. If you know for sure that you are called and chosen, it will stir you up to be diligent in making certain about God’s “calling and choosing you”. The point is that you for yourself unshakably hold on to what has been unshakably fixed with God. God has called you in the time. There is no doubt that God has called you. That He would call you was already fixed in eternity, for He has chosen you before the time. God’s call and God’s choice are unshakably fixed.

From God’s side everything is fixed, but you must show your position in practice. As far as your responsibility goes, you must realize your position, hold on to it and live up to it. God wants to see people who acknowledge His rights in their lives. Here on earth, where the Lord was rejected, God longs to see people who remind Him of the Lord Jesus. Such a life also prevents you from stumbling. You do not have to be afraid of false teachers who could draw you away from the path of faith, the path that leads to the eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11. If you make spiritual progress, it does not only give security, but it goes together with a promise. That promise is “the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. Each believer will enter that kingdom, but not each believer will do that in the same way. Peter speaks about an entrance that “will be abundantly supplied to” those who make their call and being chosen certain. The “eternal kingdom” is the kingdom of God in its eternal form. The Lord Jesus will reign a thousand years over the kingdom of God, but also thereafter that kingdom will not cease to be God’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, it will change in form when eternity begins, whereby there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

The reign of the Lord Jesus is an everlasting reign (cf. Revelation 22:5). Terrestrial kingdoms come and go. That is not the case with the kingdom of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. The moment it begins it remains forever (cf. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32-33). When He has established His kingdom He will reign over it with all His own who have accepted Him in the time of His rejection. He will give each of His own a task in His kingdom, according to the faithfulness with which they have served Him in the time of His rejection.

He will abundantly supply entrance to all who have made efforts to get to know Him better (2 Peter 1:5-8) and who have diligently made their call and being chosen certain (2 Peter 1:10). In that way He will especially honor those people in contrast to those who have lived after their own insights, though they were saved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). I hope that you will make your best efforts to gain that abundant entrance.

2 Peter 1:12. Peter’s point is not to proclaim new things. God did not include his letter in His Word to reveal to you something you did not already know. The importance of this letter and of other subjects that are dealt with more than once in God’s Word, is that you do not forget them. Repetition is often also meant as a confirmation, to be a safeguard (Philippians 3:1). To assume something to be familiar, is not a reason not to talk about it. It is important to keep the truth in remembrance (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Jude 1:17).

The value of repetition is often underestimated. There are, I believe, not many people who, by reading or hearing something once, never forget it. Of course there are some particular things you read or hear, that are unforgettably engraved in your memory, but those are exceptions. You need repetition to remember and work out everything that God’s Word is telling you. Therefore you have to read it continually. People who say that they have read through the whole Bible once and therefore know what it says, have no relationship with God and no self-knowledge.

By faith in the Lord Jesus you know “the truth which is present with [you]” (cf. 1 John 2:20-21). ‘The truth … present’ means ‘the truth that is spoken of’. You have been confirmed in the truth that Peter is speaking about here, by the teachings that you have already received on that from him.

2 Peter 1:13. Peter doesn’t think that his work is finished yet. He has concluded that it is necessary to go on to remind about that as long as he lives. With “this [earthly] dwelling” or “tent” he means his body, with which he serves the Lord on earth. At the same time ‘tent’ indicates that it is a temporary dwelling place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). He faithfully has achieved the task the Lord has given him, until the end of his life. ‘Retirement’ and taking it easy are out of the question with him. He wants to continuously exhort his brothers and sisters, the lambs and sheep that were entrusted to him by the Lord, for living a life in which God is glorified.

2 Peter 1:14. He knows that he has not got much time to live anymore. He knows this because “our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear” to him. By that Peter refers to what the Lord said in John 21 (John 21:18-19). It is not that certain whether he has been given another special revelation about his end of life besides that. In any case, the Lord told him that he would be imprisoned and die a painful, violent death.

2 Peter 1:15. Instead of worrying about that, he is making his best efforts to leave a permanent remembrance with his beloved brothers and sisters, regarding everything that he had shared with them. That’s the reason why he writes this letter. He knows that the truth will survive the death of the servant. Therefore, in view of his death, he reminds them of the truth of the coming glory of Christ and the faith life of the Christian who is looking forward to that. He does that diligently, in spite of his already advanced age.

His efforts to share these things with them and to permanently draw their attention for it, is a proof that there is no apostolic succession. Everything that God had thought of to be significant for all His own through the ages, He has written down in His Word. There these things are written down in indelible script. This is why you can still read, so many ages after Peter’s death, his encouraging words. Do your profit with it!

Now read 2 Peter 1:8-15 again.

Reflection: Why is Peter so anxious to remind you of what you know?