20251102 2 Peter 1:1-15 Countering Licentiousness with a call to holiness

False teaching is damaging. From 1999 to 2005, the South African government was influenced by a small group of scientists who denied that HIV caused AIDS, actively promoted policies that discouraged the use of antiretroviral drugs. This false information had catastrophic consequences. A Harvard study estimated that these policies led to the premature deaths of more than 330,000 people.

False teaching is damaging. This is true medically and even more so spiritually. False teachers and False teaching is the reason 2 Peter was written. 2 Peter confronts four connected false teachings. The false teachers denied the authority of God’s word. So, they denied Christ’s second coming. In turn they denied God's judgment. Since they denied judgment, they taught that we could live however we please. 2 Peter addresses and responds to these topics. Positively, 2 Peter affirms the authority of God's Word, the Second Coming of Christ, the Final Judgment, and Holy living.

2 Peter 1:1-15 addresses Holy living. Throughout his letter, Peter celebrates godly living and condemns immorality. While false teachers practice immorality and encouraged immorality, Peter urges Christians to grow in maturity and make every effort to pursue Godliness. Godliness is what we want for our lives and what we want for those around us.

Outline

In 1 Pet 1:1-15, to counter false teaching, Peter teaches on Godliness. The theme of godliness may be a bit scary to us. Any talk of godliness may feel like a heavy weight to place on the shoulders of sinners who struggle with sin. This is not how the Bible presents the godliness of Christians. Godliness is not how we become right with God, but it is both a gift from God and a way of life that flows from God when we are united with Him. Peter teaches on the Promise of Godliness, the Pursuit of Godliness, and the Prize of Godliness.

First, we begin with The Promise of Godliness in 2 Pet 1:1-4.

In 2 Pet 1:1-4, we see that godliness is more than a code of conduct or a way of life, it is first a gift from God to us. There are three ways 2 Peter 1:1-4 teach us the opportunity to live a godly life is a gift from God.

2 Peter 1:1-4

First, in 2 Pet 1:1, Peter calls the faith of his readers, “a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” The reason every Christian’s faith is of equal standing is that it is not earned by works, it does not depend on the Christian but it is a gift from God as part of his free gift of salvation.

The second way the text teaches godliness is a gift is found in 2 Pet 1:3. Peter writes, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of God.” Said in a different way, Godliness is given to us through our knowledge of God by his divine power. This may sound a bit abstract. But God has made it so that when we know Him intimately, his divine power makes us more godly. This is a second way we see that godliness is a gift from God, our godliness is the work of God in our lives.

The third way we see godliness is a gift is that 2 Pet 1:4 teaches that God made us to “become partakers of the divine nature.” This does not mean we become part of God. Partaking of the divine nature follows from escaping the corruption of the world. We partake of the divine nature as opposed to partaking of the corruption that is in the world.

Taken together, our godliness is a gift because God gives to all Christian faith of equal standing, he allows to enjoy godliness by his divine power, and he rescued us from the corruption of the world to partake of his divine nature. This is the first point, the Christian life and the life of godliness is a gift of God and the work of God.

Application

As I was reflecting on the gift of godliness it weighed on me that the world just does not get it. If you ask any unbeliever in Brussels what Christianity is about, most will come up with a human-effort religion where we need to work to please God. This is so sad. This is tragic. The gospel is so good but it seems like it is so good people cannot believe it. I remember a gospel conversation I had years ago. I was stressing the free gift of the forgiveness to all who believe apart from earning it by works. It was as if I had just shared horrible news. The person told me, “If you teach the forgiveness of sins is a free gift that people cannot work for, they will stop behaving.” They were convinced that if I was successful in spreading my message that crime would go up!

Yet, Rom 2:4 teaches us that the kindness of God and his free gift leads us to repentance. God’s gracious gift is scandalous and there is nothing more wonderful! If we trust in Christ and repent from our sins, Christ has paid the punishment for our sins and we receive the promise of Godliness. This is a marvelous truth. The world does not believe in the goodness of God but sometimes we all struggle with believing God’s kindness.

We need to realize that no matter how hard our week has been, and no matter how surprised we have been by our sin this week, if we are a Christian, 2 Pet 1:1-4 reminds us of God’s promise and gift to us regardless of our view of ourselves. We can read these verses as God’s version of how we became Christians. We can replace the word “us” with our own name. So, reading 2 Peter 1:3-4, we have “His divine power has granted to Julian all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called Julian to his own glory and excellency, 4 by which he has granted to Julian his precious and very great promises, so that through them Julian may become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Second, we turn to The Pursuit of Godliness in 2 Pet 1:5-8, 12-15.

Peter promotes godliness in response to false teaching. The false teaching promoted immorality. According to 2 Pet 2:14, false teachers “entice unsteady souls.” Then in 2 Pet 2:18, false teachers “entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.”

Immorality is a problem in the church. It was a problem in the first century and it still is today. We are all sinners and are prone to ungodly behavior and sometimes ungodliness stems from false teaching.

One of the ways false teaching leads to ungodliness today is by claiming that the Bible's teachings are not universal but cultural. This argument is often used about the Bible's sexual ethic.

Another way false teaching leads to ungodliness is by twisting the gospel. This is called, “the license to sin" gospel. Paul expresses this in Rom 6:1, when he writes, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” He says, “May it never be.” This view assumes that because our works do not contribute to our salvation, works do not matter at all in the Christian life. This view contradicts the countless Bible passages that teach us to live our lives to please God.

The false teachers Peter is responding to go a lot further. They denied the authority of the Scriptures, so they denied Christ’s second coming and the final judgment, so they taught you could live however you pleased.

In contrast to the false teachers, Peter urges his readers to pursue godliness. We will see now that even though there is a mystery to pursuing godliness, there is a clear command, and a clear way of pursuing godliness.

2 Peter 1:5-8, 12-15

First, this is the mystery when it comes to pursuing godliness.

We saw that godliness was a gift and now we must pursue it.

How can they be both a gift and something to be pursued?

2 Pet 1:5-7 is the Bible’s famous “staircase” of virtue. Peter taught that godliness is achieved by God’s divine power. And now, Peter writes we must also make every effort to pursue what God gives us! We must pursue virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

This list is like the fruit of the Spirit – they are the work of God and qualities we practice. Biblically both are true even if we cannot make sense how two seemingly contradictory truths can be true at the same time. Phil 2:12-13 express this mystery. On one hand Paul commands, “work out your salvation.” In the next verse he writes, “for God is the one who works in us both to will and to do his good pleasure.” So even if we can remember working hard to change to become more godly, God still gets the glory.

The pursuit of godliness has a mysterious element, but it is a clear command.

Peter writes in 2 Pet 1:12, “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them…” then 13 “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder.” And 15 “I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” Peter is emphatic. We must remember Godly virtues and pursue them.

Peter also teaches us how to pursue godliness.

In 2 Pet 1:8, Peter writes, “whoever lacks [the] qualities [of 2 Peter 1:5-7] is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” Peter teaches that those who do not pursue godliness have forgotten the gospel. Stated positively, those who pursue godliness are those who remember their salvation. Those who grow in their faith are those who spend time contemplating and being amazed by their salvation to have a deeply rooted identity as forgiven sinners and beloved children of the living God. This is similar to 2 Pet 1:3 that taught that godliness was produce by divine power though the knowledge of God.

Application

What does all this mean for us today? We want to obey this text and pursue godliness. The text says we pursue Godliness by knowing God and remembering the gospel and remembering the virtues. My two applications are corporate worship and private worship.

We are forgetful people. We need rhythms in our lives and planned reminders to remember the gospel to grow in Christian virtues by God’s divine power.

The way we do this every Sunday is with ordinary means. God appoints means for us to remember the gospel. These means are the reading and preaching of God’s Word, prayer which includes singing, and the Sacraments of baptism and Lord’s Supper. These means are practiced weekly in the context of the gathering of God's people. This is how we remember the gospel, experience God, and grow in the Christian virtues and pursue godliness.

In addition to prioritizing Sunday worship, there is a lot of freedom in our day to day. We all want to develop rhythms to live out our Christian faith in our families, and Christian community like our church’s community groups. Privately we pray and meditate on God’s Word. This can be done by reading, memorizing, listening to worship music, listening to sermons. There is so much freedom, but the two Biblical categories are we pray and we meditate on God’s Word.

Growing in godliness is a supernatural phenomenon. When we focus our minds on the greatest news of God sending his son to take all our sins, dying on the cross on our behalf, something supernatural transformation happens. We grieve our sins, we forgive our enemies, we graciously give our lives to the service of others. This godliness is a natural response to knowing the God who demonstrates his love, mercy, and kindness to us.

Third, we look at The Prize of Godliness in 2 Peter 1:2, 5, 8-11

Introduction

Now, this is the motivation for godliness. Godliness is a gift and a pursuit. Our text lists three benefits of godliness which are – to enjoy the life God wants us to enjoy, to bear fruit, and to confirm our election.

Text

First, godliness allows us to enjoy the life God wants for us.

In 2 Pet 1:5, Peter writes, “For this reason.” The reason Christians must pursue godliness is that godliness is a gift and what God wants for us. Living Godly lives is consistent with our salvation. God declares us righteous, so we live in righteousness. The reason to live godly lives is that it is the life God wants for us.

Second, we pursue godliness to bear fruit.

We pursue godliness, because there is more joy in godliness than any other kind of life. While sin torments our souls, godliness gives us peace.

2 Pet 1:2, 8 are two verses that tie the themes of knowing God, practicing godliness, and experiencing an increase of grace and peace. We see that intimate knowledge of God and the study of theology matter. Knowledge of God effects our being, our experience, our life, and our wellbeing. Believing in God’s love, mercy, and compassion towards us allows us to experience grace and peace. Knowing that the Sovereign creator, and ruler, who is all knowing, all powerful, is also our Father who delights in us, gives us peace. A second prize of godly living is fruitfulness. According to 2 Pet 1:8, we pursue godliness to be effective and fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Godly living aligns our lives with God’s purposes in the world. Our sins have consequences that take up time, money, effort that keep us from being effective. Godliness aligns our lives with God’s purposes.

A third reason to pursue godliness is to confirm our salvation.

2 Pet 1:9 voices this negatively. Peter writes that lacking the qualities of godliness is equated with having forgotten that they are forgiven. Believing the gospel and pursuing godliness are so connected that if you don’t pursue holiness, it is like being an unbeliever. False teachers who were once part of the church did not grow in knowledge or virtues, and they did not confirm their calling or election. They confirmed they were not called or elected. Now, positively, according to 2 Pet 1:10-11, living God’s way confirms our calling and election. It is a life of belonging to a church, growing in grace, applying the word in community. It involves sinning, repenting, forgiving, and growing together. It is living this kind of life where we enjoy and experience what God promises that confirms that we have what God offers.

Application

Peter gave three reasons to pursue godliness. They still stand for us. When we pursue godliness, we enjoy the life God wants for us, we bear fruit and confirm our calling and election. Repentance and godliness are not just religious language to control people it really does affect our wellbeing, our joy, our experience of grace and peace.

Conclusion

False teaching is dangerous. In the medical field lies are disastrous for people’s health. People die when they believe lies about a deadly disease. False teaching has disastrous consequences in the spiritual realm as well. The gospel is a message that brings life. False teaching leads to spiritual death.

In 2 Pet 1:1-15 sets the record straight on godliness. Peter stresses the gift of godliness so we do not earn it, the pursuit of godliness so we don’t do nothing, and the goal of godliness, which is to live the life God wants for us.

Some false teaching denies the sufficiency of Christ’s death by imposing a need for good works for people to benefit salvation. They teach we need to add to what Jesus did with good works. Other false teaching denies the importance of obedience. This is what Peter is responding to.

We must all affirm the importance of godliness. We do not tell people they need to earn God’s favor. Godliness and obedience are blessings of the Christian life. We all struggle with sin, we wonder if this text is actually possible. The text does teach us to pursue. Our pursuit is fueled or energized by knowing the gospel. We pursue Godliness by knowing God and remembering the forgiveness of sins. God promises to work in us.

Now, we need Peter’s zeal. 2 Pet 1:12-15: 12Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

When we realize we have stopped pursuing Godliness, we must recall these things. If Peter were still alive, he would remind us of this text. We must member Christ and pursue Christ. We will sin again, and then again we must remember Christ and pursue Christ. Our fellow Christians will sin. Like Peter, we must remind them to remember Christ and pursue Christ.