Building the Faith
1:5–7 Making Every Effort to Live a Godly Life. Peter lists “qualities” (v. 8) that characterize a life partaking of the divine nature. These verses contain a straightforward catalog of biblical virtues (cf. Gal. 5:22–23; Heb. 12:10–11). This list does not reflect a legalistic code but rather the desires and features of a transformed heart (cf. “for this very reason,” 2 Pet. 1:5). The exhortations to live a new life are grounded in the divine power and promises that were granted to believers when they came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
1:5 supplement your faith. Peter exhorts Christians not merely to confess faith in Christ but actually to live as he taught. He is not saying that works are a prerequisite for salvation but rather is arguing that faith must take concrete form in life. All the virtues listed in vv. 5–7 are results of faith, so faith is listed first, while love (the ultimate result of faith) is listed last (v. 7; cf. 1 Tim. 1:5). Virtue translates Greek aretē; see note on 2 Pet. 1:3.
1:9 The one who lacks these qualities (cf. vv. 5–7) is spiritually blind and has forgotten that he was cleansed (cf. Titus 3:5–7) from his sins. This lack of fruit could exist because a person’s “cleansing” was merely an external reformation that did not come from a truly changed heart. But it could also describe a genuine Christian who has fallen into serious error regarding the Christian life. Only God knows the person’s true status (cf. 2 Tim. 2:19).
1:5–7 Here Peter uses a literary device called sorites, in which each virtue leads to the next one in a stair-step structure. Peter’s audience would have been familiar with this style. Virtue lists, like vice lists (see 1 Pet 2:1 and note), were common devices in Graeco-Roman rhetoric.
patient endurance Against daily opposition, believers were forced to explain their choice to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Living as part of society without synchronizing their beliefs with those of the Roman Empire would have required incredible endurance. The believers who received the letter of 2 Peter would have found the principles of their faith at odds with the general practices of Graeco-Roman culture.
1:8 and are increasing Christians should not just possess the virtues in vv. 5–7, but be growing in them. It is possible to have some knowledge of Christ and yet be unproductive.
1:5–7 The order of virtues here (“faith … love”) is not a sequence in time, as if stages of the Christian life were being described (vv. 8, 9). Peter is using a rhetorical figure that builds a series of elements to a climax. The beginning and conclusion of the series are significant, however. Early Christian virtue lists often begin with “faith,” the starting point of the Christian life, and end with “love” (Rom. 5:1–5; 1 Cor. 13), the preeminent fruit of the Christian life. These fruits reflect God’s character.
1:8 if these qualities are yours … they keep you from being … unfruitful. The “qualities” of God that they are to reflect are understood to be “fruits” resulting from knowing “our Lord Jesus Christ.” They are the inevitable result of faith, not things added to faith in order to achieve a right standing before God (cf. Rom. 3:21–26; James 2:14–26).
1:9 nearsighted … blind. Lit. “blind, being nearsighted.” The combination of terms here is unique, since the two physical conditions are mutually exclusive. Some suggest on the basis of the etymology of the Gk. word for “nearsighted” that Peter is alluding to the squinting or narrowing of the eyes, and that a deliberate rejection of the truth is in view. However, because the nearsighted person squints in order to see better, it is possible that Peter is simply multiplying related terms for effect. It is clear that the qualities that believers are to reflect are inevitable byproducts of their having been “cleansed from former sins.”
1:5–7 “Supplement your faith with goodness … knowledge … self-control … endurance … godliness … brotherly affection … love.” As we have seen a mason take up first one stone and then another and then gradually build a house, so are we Christians to take first one virtue and then another and then another, piling up these stones of grace upon one another until we have built a palace for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
1:5 for this very reason. Because of all the God-given blessings in vv. 3, 4, the believer cannot be indifferent or self-satisfied. Such an abundance of divine grace calls for total dedication. applying all diligence. That is, making maximum effort. The Christian life is not lived to the honor of God without effort. Even though God has poured His divine power into the believer, the Christian himself is required to make every disciplined effort alongside of what God has done (cf. Php 2:12, 13; Col 1:28, 29). in your faith supply. “Supply” is to give lavishly and generously. In Greek culture, the word was used for a choirmaster who was responsible for supplying everything that was needed for his choir. The word never meant to equip sparingly, but to supply lavishly for a noble performance. God has given us faith and all the graces necessary for godliness (vv. 3, 4). We add to those by our diligent devotion to personal righteousness. moral excellence. First in Peter’s list of virtues is a word that, in classical Gr., meant the God-given ability to perform heroic deeds. It also came to mean that quality of life which made someone stand out as excellent. It never meant cloistered excellence, or excellence of attitude, but excellence which is demonstrated in life. Peter is here writing of moral energy, the power that performs deeds of excellence. knowledge. This means understanding, correct insight, truth properly comprehended and applied. This virtue involves a diligent study and pursuit of truth in the Word of God.
6. Greek, “And in your knowledge self-control.” In the exercise of Christian knowledge or discernment of God’s will, let there be the practical fruit of self-control as to one’s lusts and passions. Incontinence weakens the mind; continence, or self-control, moves weakness and imparts strength And in your self-control patient endurance” amidst sufferings, so much dwelt on in the First Epistle, second, third, and fourth chapters. “And in your patient endurance godliness”; it is not to be mere stoical endurance, but united to [and flowing from] God-trusting [ALFORD].
and cannot see afar off—explanatory of “blind.” He closes his eyes (Greek) as unable to see distant objects (namely, heavenly things), and fixes his gaze on present and earthly things which alone he can see. Perhaps a degree of wilfulness in the blindness is implied in the Greek, “closing the eyes,” which constitutes its culpability; hating and rebelling against the light shining around him.
Having escaped from the corruption, etc.—ἀποφυγόντες, not in a preceptive sense, as Calov takes it, “only ye shall escape,” for it is immediately connected with the preceding clause and not with the following Imperative: it rather means after, on the supposition that, ye have escaped. The Aorist, which denotes an action merely as a past event (Winer, pp. 290. 291) forbids the rendering, “if ye escape forthwith.” Bengel: “There is an antithesis between partakers and escaping, and also between Divine nature and corruption in lust. This escaping denotes not so much our duty as a Divine benefit which accompanies the communion with God.”
Having placed in forgetfulness the purification of his former sins.—This describes the way in which that getting blind is brought about. Bengel notes the fitness of the term λήθην λαβὼν as expressive of that which man willingly suffers, that which he wishes for, cf. Rom. 5:19. An example is found in the wicked servant, Matt, 18:28.—τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ τῶν πάλαι αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτιῶν.—Winer inclines to the interpretation, “purification of sins=putting away of sins, removal of sins,” p. 200. But one can hardly say: καθαρίζονται ἁμαρτίαι. Sins are puified=removed. Translate, rather, “the purification of their sins, i. e., of their guilt, which takes place in justification,” cf. Ps. 51:4; Ex. 29:36. 37; Heb. 1:3; 9:22. 23; 1 Jno. 1:7. It emanates from the blood of Christ by means of faith, Rom. 3:24. 25. [Oecumenius:—“καὶ γὰρ καὶ οὖτος ἐπιγνοὺς ἑαυτὸν διὰ τὸ καθαρθῆναι τῷ ἁγίῳ βαπτίσματι, ὅτι πλήθους ἁμαρτιῶν ἐξεπλύθη δέον εἰδέναι ὅτι καθαρθεὶς καὶ ἁγιότητα ἔλαβε, νήφειν ἵνα διαπαντὸς τηρῇ τὸν ἁγιασμόν, οὖ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν κύριον, ὁ δὲ ἐπελάθετο.”—M.]
Growth in virtue is of utmost importance and deserves utmost effort
Thus this virtue itself is not unique to the Christian setting. What is unique in that setting is the fact that this familial love was extended to the whole Christian family; that is, all believers were treated as if they were physical kin (and unbelieving physical kin were treated as outsiders, Mark 3:31–35). This is not as evident in the one use of this term in a NT virtue list (1 Pet 3:8) or in Heb 13:1, but is clear in context in 1 Pet 1:22 (“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart”), 1 Thess 4:9, and Rom 12:10 (“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves”). This is the basis for exchanging the kiss (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 12:12; 1 Thess 5:26; 1 Pet 5:14), which was normally not exchanged except among family and close friends, and for the sharing of goods, for functioning families shared with members in need.
5 by applying all diligence It is not man’s effort that saves him; but, on the other hand, grace saves no man to make him like a log of wood or a block of stone; grace makes man active. God has been diligently at work with you; now you must diligently work together with Him. For we cannot expect to go to heaven asleep. We are not taken there against our wills. It is not our will that accomplishes our salvation; but still, it is not accomplished without our will.
Greco-Roman virtue lists were also forms of stereotypes that characterized the “idealized essentials” in a community’s construction of group identity. As such, they were useful for instruction and were commonly utilized as such (e.g., Seneca, Ep. 95:65–67; Herm., Mand., 5.1.1; 8.10). For example, a document of club membership admission from Attica, Greece (AGRW 8 = GRA 1 49 = IG II2 1369), states: “The law of the club members (eranistai): It is not lawful for anyone to enter this most holy synod (synodos) of club members without being first examined as to whether he is pure (agnos), pious (eusebeia), and good (agathos).”
Most Hellenistic virtue lists begin and end with knowledge (gnosis). It is therefore vital that 2 Peter, in contrast, starts the virtue list with faith (pistis) and closes it with communal love (agapē)
As Wayne Meeks points out, virtues were redefined in the Christian context relative to the community as opposed to the individual focus in philosophy.