The Biblical Setting for St. Peter’s List

The Biblical Setting for St. Peter’s List.

“Because you have been given all these blessings, it’s time now for you to apply yourself with diligence to those gifts of grace;  make every effort with all zeal to take your basic faith and develop moral excellence; and to that virtue add an intimate knowledge of God; and to your personal knowledge and understanding add an inner strength; and then in exercising that self-control develop patient endurance; to that steadfastness supply a fervent reverence; and to that piety add mutual affection; and then when exercising your brotherly/sisterly kindness add the most important quality in your spiritual transformation… unconditional love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7).

The Verses Leading Up to the List:

1:2: “Grace and peace are abundantly multiplied in our spiritual lives as we grow in our experiential knowledge of God and Jesus. As we deepen our intimate knowledge of the Lord, we increase in grace and peace. We will continue to receive more and more of God’s grace and shalom as we mature in our personal experience of Him.”

… Grace:

…Peace:

… Knowledge:

1:3: “Not only that, but by learning more and more about God at an increasingly deeper level, we miraculously experience His divine power that provides for us everything we need to live a godly life. We have the privilege of personally knowing at an intimate level the very One who calls us to Himself by means of His glorious splendor and His moral excellence. In other words, everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know and understand the One who has invited us to Him.” 

… Power:

1:4: “And because of His glory and virtue, God has given us invaluable and exceedingly great promises, that by them we may escape the world’s corruption due to evil desires, and be enabled to participate in His divine nature, enjoying a partnership with God in becoming increasingly like Him in character and personality.”

… Promises: 

… Partakers in the Divine Nature: 

The Passage Immediately After the List:

1:8: “Now since you already have the seeds of those divine qualities sown within you and they are like a plant growing underground, they will make you fertile and fruitful in the personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. These virtuous gifts of grace will keep you from being spiritually barren and useless, and they will demonstrate that your intimate knowledge of Jesus Messiah is productive, effective, and full of good fruit.”