Unpacking St. Peter’s List
Unpacking St. Peter’s List.
The 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 in exercising your faith to develop excellence; and in exercising excellence develop knowledge; and in exercising knowledge develop inner strength; and in exercising inner strength develop patient endurance; and in exercising patient endurance develop godliness; and in exercising godliness develop mutual affection; and then in exercising your mutual kindness develop unconditional love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
FAITH (“Pistis“) = to trust something enough to cling to it; to be convinced of something enough to rely on it; to be persuaded of the truth of something enough to commit your life to it; to place full confidence in something that seems entirely trustworthy; to embrace something that has proven to be true and worthy of belief; to adhere to something after a strong conviction. The Amplified Bible translates “Pistis” as meaning “that leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence.” Hebrews 11:1 describes pistis this way: Trusting in the reality of what we hope for, and accepting what we need to prove the unseen; being convinced of what is needed to bring our hopes into reality; being fully persuaded that something is real even if we don’t see it; accepting as real fact what is not revealed to the senses; trusting in the hopes of our unseen foundation; being confident of what we hope for, and convinced about things we do not see. “It is impossible to please God, or be well-pleasing in His sight, without faithfully trusting in Him.” (Hebrews 11:6). The Hebrew word for faith in the First Testament is “emunah,” which is a covenant word that means faithfulness to our mutual agreement with God, and so has overtones of steady loyalty, being responsible to commitment, doing our part and following through on our side of the promise. The Hebrew word for faithfulness, or faith, is rooted in its original word of Amen, which means “Truth.” So it appears that the Hebrew vision of faith, is more like a persistent faithfulness, our endurance in the truth, a steady intent to live into God’s covenant with us. “In Christ Jesus, the most important aspect is faith (pistis) expressing itself in love. The only thing that matters, that really counts, is faithful trust as brought to perfection through the demonstration of agape love.” (Galatians 5:6). Belief and trust is not just an idea or an intellectual conviction. To believe is an active word and points to a faith and reliance on Christ that must be fleshed out. When we claim that we have faith in God, He says prove it with your faithfulness. Genuine faith is actively trusting in God as a lifestyle. This spiritual connection between the mental conviction and the fleshing out not only proves our faith to be genuine, but it also energizes one’s faith. Our belief in the truth of Christ and His grace is authentic only when it is expressed outwardly in the way we live our lives. When we demonstrate our faith through love, our little seed of faith has absolutely broken ground and is displaying the fruit of a healthy planting of the Lord.
EXCELLENCE (“Arete”) = The term Peter uses for excellence is centered on moral excellence, integrity, character, goodness and virtue. He claims in verse 1:3 in this passage that once the Lord exposes His moral perfection to us coupled with His magnificent splendor, we’re hooked. Once the majestic splendor of God’s moral virtue calls to us, we can’t help but respond to His call. And so taking that a step further, Peter is teaching us that the first spiritual quality we add to our basic faith is personal morality. We need to work hard at breaking free from anything in our lives that is impure, crooked, warped, tainted, anything that doesn’t reflect our faith in the righteous and holy God. We are to fill our minds with thoughts that help us flourish morally, fixing our minds on ideas that help us to develop integrity and goodness. Arete is a character word, and we are to focus on ideas that nourish a godly character, an inner core of goodness that can be demonstrated to a watching world. Not only that, but we are to make intense efforts to reject any behavior that is unworthy of a Jesus-follower, asking God constantly to strengthen our will to live into His goodness. Putting our best mind forward in order to put on our best behavior would have to include a focus on arete, on thoughts that reflect our growing desire for an exceptional character that reveals the very character of God Himself.
KNOWLEDGE (“Gnosis“) = A recurring theme in this second letter of Peter is the importance of knowledge of God. This idea must have been at the top of Peter’s mind here near the close of his life, because he started his letter with it, he ended the letter with it, and in between he mentions knowledge 16 times! Peter makes it perfectly clear in this letter that if we don’t understand what the Bible means by “know,” by “knowledge,” we are missing the heartbeat of our relationship with God and our spiritual transformation in Him. The Bible has a lot to say about the meaning of know, including the usual suspects: memory of a fact or event; possession of a technical skill; a perception of a piece of reality; an intuitive awareness; a mastery of a particular subject; an understanding of something; a personal familiarity with something. That’s all good. Nothing new there. But now the fun begins… The Hebraic-Christian understanding of “know” is not at all limited to an intellectual or mental knowledge. To know someone in the Biblical sense is to experience that person in a deeply intimate way. “Know” is a relationship word and involves an intimate knowledge that comes from personal experience. To know involves a deeply personal union with a truth or a person. In the Hebrew and Christian mind, we don’t really know something until it becomes a part of us, something that changes us in some way. To truly know something is to be able to live it out, to experience participation with that which is known. Knowledge requires devotion, a heartfelt focus, an intense investment. To know something is to care for it, to give oneself over to it. To know someone in the Biblical sense is to literally participate in a profound relationship with that person, to establish an ongoing union with someone, to be personally invested to an intimate degree with a person. A spiritual relationship with God seems best understood in the context of “knowledge” in the biblical sense, a deep union involving spiritual relations between God and the believer. In the same way that Adam and Eve “knew” each other physically, God wants to “know” us spiritually, and for us to know Him at that same level. To walk with the Lord is to grow in our “knowledge” of Him, to experience spiritual relations with Him in an intimate way. In fact, to know God in the way He want us to know Him means to have spiritual intercourse with Him, an ongoing spiritual union that involves, not “carnal knowledge,” but spiritual knowledge. Head knowledge is not sufficient, it is not the full knowledge that is implied, because it leaves the knowledge in the abstract. Limiting ourselves to surface knowledge like religious principles, doctrinal statements or theological propositions doesn’t go nearly deep enough. Too many of us stop at talking about God, instead of talking with God. Intellectual knowledge is a dead end if disconnected from a personal relationship with God. Knowledge of God requires an ongoing personal investment, an intimate involvement, a long surrender. Otherwise, it’s all just an abstract idea. And God can tell the difference. The worst words any of us could possibly ever hear at the End is, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:33).
INNER STRENGTH (“engkrateian“) = This word is only used four times in the New Testament, and literally means dominion over desires or mastery within. Often translated as self-control, this virtue points to the person who is able to exert authority over his natural impulses. This character trait answers the question as to who is calling the shots in one’s behavior. The one who is developing inner strength is the one who is in partnership with the divine nature and is growing in God-strength, a self-control which is sharing with Him in Spirit-control. This begs the question… Who exactly is in charge of self-control? God, or the individual person? Who is doing the actual work of self-control? God or me? Does self-control invite a “let go and let God” approach, or does the individual have a hand in this as well? On the one hand, we treat self-control like all the other fruit of the Spirit and ask God to go to work, to be the source of this virtue. We put God in charge of self-control, because divine help and power is obviously needed to produce this fruit. But, on the other hand, we can’t forget the self in self-control. We each need to exercise self-discipline. Self-restraint requires a strength of will. Each person has work to do, effort that God can’t do for us as if we were remote-control robots. Somehow each person needs to generate a certain amount of energy and control. We need to decide with our free will to crucify our self-destructive and self-indulgent appetites, to resist our sinful impulses and rebellious desires. And with the power of the Holy Spirit, we are no longer slaves to our sinful nature, we can actually die to that and live in freedom. Through Christ, we no longer have to submit to our “passions and desires.” But that takes work on our part. But it also takes work on God’s part. So how do we characterize our working relationship with God regarding our self-control? Are we simply cooperating with God? Are we participating with Jesus in His self-control? Are we somehow sharing duties with God despite our spiritual frailty and human weaknesses? On the one hand, God is producing self-control in us. On the other hand, God is strengthening each of us to exert our own efforts towards self-control. On the one hand, God’s power. On the other hand, our will power. Teamwork. This spiritual quality is the capstone in Paul’s Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, the last virtue listed. With Peter, this aspect of goodness is right in the middle of his list. Apparently, the placement of moral qualities in a list doesn’t imply importance. The main point is that self-control is vital enough to be included in the list at all.
PATIENT ENDURANCE (“hypomonen“) = This word literally means “remaining under” in the sense of faithfully remaining under the challenges of life, patiently remaining under personal trials until God’s purposes are fulfilled. Other qualities that come to mind here are steadfastness; gracious restraint; perseverance; the power to endure something difficult, disagreeable or uncomfortable without complaint; waiting through discomfort with peace; to stick with things without quitting; “a long holding out of the mind before it gives room to passion” (Bible Dictionary). In the Hebrew Bible in Psalm 37:7 and 40:1 the word for “wait with expectation” was translated patience. To “bear long” was also translated patience. So patient endurance is not passively waiting but instead actively refusing to abandon hope and faith in whatever God brings in the future. Hypomonen is clearly a supernatural trait that we can only acquire and grow in when in partnership with God and partaking in His divine nature that is completely full of patient endurance. Paul states in Colossians 1:11 that it is God who strengthens us in His power to have “all the endurance and patience we need.” We aren’t born with that. Patient endurance and steadfastness is not a result of natural personality or strength of will. True patient endurance is a grace from the Holy Spirit as we share in His divine character.
GODLINESS (“Eusebeian“) = This means to “well-honor” or to do a good job of honoring God, and translates as reverence, piety, pay homage, to be devout, to have a godly attitude or live a godly life. This word combines the inner devotion of the heart with the outer behavior that reflects that heart attitude. Eusebeian is a pious reverence for God within that results in a life that demonstrates the truth of that reverence. St. Paul makes an interesting use of this word i his first letter to Timothy… “Without question, great is the mystery of godliness…” (1 Tim. 3:16). Paul here quotes an excerpt from an early church creedal hymn that lays out the vital Christian doctrines of the incarnation, resurrection and ascension. In Paul’s admonition to Timothy to stay close to the true doctrines of the Faith, Paul provides this brief hymn fragment that underscores his emphasis on how to challenge the false teachers in the church in Ephesus, much like Peter is trying to do in his letters. Stick to basics like those in the hymn, Paul is saying, and you can’t go wrong. In verse 16, Paul evidently decided to use the word “godliness” as a replacement word that intends to point to the word “faith” or “the gospel.” Many versions have “faith,” while others have “godliness’ which is meant to point to “faith.” So a life of reverence, piety and devotion summarized in Paul’s mind the gospel message and pointed to a person’s life of faith. Godly reverence inside is what holy faith looks like outside. It’s interesting that the early Christian Church’s understanding as taught by the Eastern Orthodox tradition believes that the house of wisdom in Proverbs 9:1… “Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven pillars” was considered to be a direct reference to the Church itself. The seven pillars holding up the Church were believed to be the “Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit” as listed in Isaiah 11:2-3: “Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, Godliness, and Fear of God.” The Orthodox Church teaches that these seven qualities of the Spirit are the divine graces that rested on Christ, the perfection of His anointing at His baptism. These seven dimensions of the Holy Spirit hovered above Jesus and then rested on Him during all His mission on earth and continues to remain on Him in heaven to this day.
BROTHERLY AFFECTION (“Philadelphian”) = This love word from the famous Greek term “phileos” refers to mutual kindness for one another, a brotherly/sisterly affection in which others are treated like close friends or members of a beloved family. Phileos love is not Eros, which is romantic love. It is not Storge, which is family love. And it is not agape love, which is the highest form of love that is sacrificial and unconditional. There are many New Testament scholars who believe that phileos love and agape love, which is next in line for Peter in this passage, can overlap in meaning and are relatively synonymous. Phileos, brotherly love, is sometimes called agape’s “fraternal twin.” This makes sense to a certain degree, since there could be a fine line between a deep, affectionate kindness and a sacrificial, unconditional love. At least we can easily say that we can express both kinds of love for the same person. It’s not a stretch to say that the agape and phileos loves are bosom buddies, since Jesus said the Father loves us with a phileos love (John 16:7). Jesus also said that the Father loves Him with a phileos love (John 5:20), and that He loved his best friend Lazarus with a phileos love (John 11:3), not an agape love. Phileos love seems best fleshed out by demonstrating the “one another’s’ in the biblical tradition… Forgive one another. Honor one another. Harmonize with one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Build up one another. Admonish one another. Encourage one another. Restore one another. Honor one another. Bear with one another. Confess to one another. Exhort one another. All these one another’s are the personal face of phileos love. We can only acquire and grow in this profound kind of love by partaking of the divine nature of the God who is Love.
LOVE (“Agape“) = Agape love is the supreme of all the loves, and desires the highest good of someone else. Agape is “the highest level of love known to humanity,” (C. S. Lewis), and thus can only come from above with God as its source. Agape love is the ultimate expression of God’s nature, the essence of His character (see Exodus 34). Agape love is the divine love that can only come to us from the heart of God. Agape love is the love shared between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is truly the source of all these other loves, but it is only agape love that is poured into our hearts from the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Christ. Agape love is an eternal virtue outlasting all the other virtues (1 Corinthians 13:8). Agape love is the primary fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Agape love, the sacred love of God, is universal (since God so loved the world); it is a gift (poured into us from the Spirit); it is highly active; it is sacrificial; and it is unconditional. Agape was translated into Latin as Caritas, and thus agape has long been translated as Charity. It’s telling that soon after Jesus returned to His heavenly home to be with the Father, the Christ-followers began to adopt various aspects of the life they shared with Him, to remember His life and ministry on earth, to strengthen their faith in Him, to grow into His life and dwell in Him during His absence. One of those activities that was a centerpiece of their communal life was a weekly meal together. They called this potluck dinner “The Agape,” or the Love Feast. It’s fascinating to consider that the Agape meal was central to their worship together as they sought to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Every week in their house churches, they enjoyed each other’s presence around the table sharing a meal. According to early church documents like the Didache, the Agape meal was their community dinner where everyone brought foods to share, including with those visitors and interested parties who were not Christians. The Love Feast was their regularly scheduled time to bond, a time when they could participate in an activity that was filled with the Spirit of Jesus. The usual order of events was to meet together for the meal in one of the house churches, and towards the end of the meal they would worship through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. When the early believers in Christ decided to call this communal meal “The Agape,” it was the logical thing to do. One of Jesus’ favorite words was agape, it defined His identity and mission and ministry. Everyone knew that if you wanted to follow Jesus, if you truly wanted to live in Christ, then agape would become your lifestyle of choice, your identity as a Christ-follower. The Apostles knew Jesus better than anyone, and so what other word best describes their Savior? Agape was the only option. Jesus urged them all to love each other the way He loved them! Agape, all the way.
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Agape-Love each other. Just as I have agape-loved you, you should agape-love each other.” (John 13:34-35).