2 Pedro 1:3

Grace and peace are possible since God has given us (all Christians) everything we need to live godly lives.

"’Power’ is one of the key-words of the epistle." [Note: Sidebottom, p. 105.]

It is possible that Peter meant the apostles specifically when he wrote "us" in 2 Peter 1:3-4. [Note: R. H. Strachan, "The Second Epistle General of Peter," in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, 5:124.] The apostles are evidently in view in 2 Peter 1:1 ("ours"), and they may contrast with the readers ("you") in 2 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:5. If this is what Peter meant, he was probably continuing to stress his apostolic authority, specifically in the teaching that follows. This would have been important since the false teachers were claiming that their teaching was authoritative (ch. 2). However the opening sections of most other epistles that contain reminders of God’s blessings (e.g., Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Peter 1:3-9), as 2 Peter 1:3-4 does, seem to refer to all believers as "us." Moreover the "our" in 2 Peter 1:2 seems to be inclusive of all believers rather than a specific reference to the apostles. Nevertheless the prologue to 1 John (2 Peter 1:1-4) apparently does refer to the apostles as "us." I have not found any commentators who believed that Peter was referring to the apostles alone in 2 Peter 1:3-4.

"Life and godliness" is probably a hendiadys meaning "a godly life." A hendiadys is a figure of speech in which the writer joins two substantives with "and" rather than using an adjective and a substantive. These resources are available to us through full knowledge (cf. 2 Peter 1:2) of Jesus Christ, namely, through relationship with Him (cf. Philippians 4:13; Colossians 2:9-10; 2 Timothy 1:7). Lenski rightly, I believe, called epignosis ("full knowledge"), ". . . the key word of this epistle." [Note: Richard C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude, pp. 271, 332. Cf. 1:2, 8; 2:20.]

"Just as a normal baby is born with all the ’equipment’ he needs for life and only needs to grow, so the Christian has all that is needed and only needs to grow." [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, 2:437.]

Is what God has given us in His Spirit and His word sufficient for a godly life, or do we also need the insights of other branches of knowledge (e.g., psychology)? Clearly our basic resources as Christians do no equip us for every task in life (e.g., auto maintenance, gardening, orthopedic surgery, etc.). This was not Peter’s claim. But how do the resources that he identified and modern psychology interface? Can psychology provide tools for growth in godliness, or is the Bible sufficient in itself for this? It seems to me that Peter’s point was that God’s Spirit and His word provide everything that is essential to godly living, not that these are the only resources that we have or should use. Peter’s point was that there is nothing that all believers need to become more godly that He has not already made available to us (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Some people, for various reasons, need more specialized help in dealing with the obstacles to godly living that they face, which psychology may provide. Nevertheless, no one can get along without God’s Spirit and His word to make progress in godliness.

Jesus Christ called Peter’s readers to Himself in the sense that His excellent glory, another hendiadys, attracted them to Him. "Excellent" (Gr. areten) really means moral excellence or virtue (cf. 2 Peter 1:5). Both Christ’s glory and His moral virtue appealed to the Gentiles as well as the Jews.