Call to Virtue (1:3–21)
God has already acted to call Christians to himself. He has by sovereign grace given them all that is needed to truly live in a godly manner. And he has set fantastic promises before them. They must not allow themselves to be caught again in the moral morass of the world, for it was God’s purpose in saving them to enable them to escape from this trap. Instead they should become like Christ (“participate in the divine nature”) and must therefore grow in Christian virtue. If they fail in this growth they miss God’s promises, but zealousness to move forward will confirm their election and their future in heaven (1:3–11). Peter is about to die, as Jesus predicted (John 21:18-19). The purpose of this letter is to encourage his readers once more to moral steadfastness. Peter’s encouragement is important for two reasons: first because he was truly an eyewitness of Christ’s glory (i.e., the transfiguration, an event that must have deeply impressed Peter, but is cited here because it revealed the glory, power, and authority of Jesus and bound OT and NT together). Unlike the false teachers, his tradition is based on what God really did, not in mere speculation. Second, his experience confirms OT prophecy. Like Peter and his followers in the apostolic tradition, the OT prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Thus the Spirit alone gives the true interpretation, and the idiosyncratic interpretations of the false teachers are therefore wrong.
God has already acted to call Christians to himself. He has by sovereign grace given them all that is needed to truly live in a godly manner. And he has set fantastic promises before them. They must not allow themselves to be caught again in the moral morass of the world, for it was God’s purpose in saving them to enable them to escape from this trap. Instead they should become like Christ (“participate in the divine nature”) and must therefore grow in Christian virtue. If they fail in this growth they miss God’s promises, but zealousness to move forward will confirm their election and their future in heaven (1:3–11). Peter is about to die, as Jesus predicted (John 21:18-19). The purpose of this letter is to encourage his readers once more to moral steadfastness. Peter’s encouragement is important for two reasons: first because he was truly an eyewitness of Christ’s glory (i.e., the transfiguration, an event that must have deeply impressed Peter, but is cited here because it revealed the glory, power, and authority of Jesus and bound OT and NT together). Unlike the false teachers, his tradition is based on what God really did, not in mere speculation. Second, his experience confirms OT prophecy. Like Peter and his followers in the apostolic tradition, the OT prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Thus the Spirit alone gives the true interpretation, and the idiosyncratic interpretations of the false teachers are therefore wrong.
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