2 PETER

In This Section:

2 PETER 1:5-11

2 PETER 1:5-11

2 Peter was written by Peter the apostle as a follow up letter to 1 Peter. From what we know, 2 Peter is the apostle Peter's last letter he ever wrote. The context is that Peter is in prison, and the Lord has revealed to Peter that he is about to be executed for being a Christian, (cf. 2 Peter 1:14). God has given Peter other revelations to share, particularly concerning false Christians and false teachers that are coming. He picks this up in the second chapter. False teachers had already been getting in among God's people in the first century. Peter writes this epistle with a strong warning to the church in his generation of more false teachers that will infiltrate the first century church. His warning is for the true Christians to be aware, and make every effort to not be deceived. Peter proceeds to write, through chapter one, concerning the true knowledge of God, the miracle of salvation, the assurance of salvation, and various urgings toward Christian living.

The first passage that is misused by those who believe in the Not Eternally Saved Theory is 2 Peter 1:5-11,

"5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and electing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you." (2 Peter 1:5-11)

According to some who hold to the Not Eternally Saved (NEST), Peter is concerned with saved people being able to lose their eternal spiritual salvation by forgetting their purification from their former sins. Because of this, it is said that Peter goes on to suggest that Christians should try and figure out whether they are really called, and elect. As long as Christians practice diligence, and in their faith supply moral excellence, and in their moral excellence, knowledge, and in their knowledge, self-control, and in their self-control, perseverance, and in their perseverance, godliness, and in their godliness, brotherly kindness, and in their brotherly kindness, love, they will be supplied with entering into the eternal kingdom. Otherwise they will be barred from entrance into the eternal kingdom.

The NEST is wrong.

To understand what Peter means, the first thing we need to do is go to the context to recognize that Peter is referencing seven virtues he just listed for Christians to add to their faith. They are virtues that Christians already possess in Christ. Peter's actual concern is with the great necessity to practice out one's Christianity. Peter comes into the passage stating,

"1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." (2 Peter 1:2-4)

Peter is immediately addressing saved people. They have received a faith as the same kind as the apostles. Grace (favor from God) is to be multiplied to them. Peter is mentioning the blessing of salvation, and the tools to live out the blessing of salvation in truth. God's power has granted to Christians everything in respect to life and godliness through the true knowledge of God, and the Lord Jesus, who called all who are Christians to be Christians. God's promises are granted through this true knowledge. Peter goes on to reference the seven virtues that are according to the truth. They need to be applied for the effective, fruitful Christian life;

"5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love." (2 Peter 1:5-7)

It is from this list of things that are according to the true knowledge of God that Peter goes on to say,

"8 For if these things are yours and are increasing, you will be neither ineffective or unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:8)

The point here is that moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and unselfish love, make us effective, fruitful, servants of the Master (Lord) and Savior. This can only happen according to the true knowledge of God and Christ in respect to the doctrines and precepts of Christianity. Looking at the text, we notice that Peter says that the qualities are to be increasing. Increase is growth. Peter is talking about spiritual growth, and abundant, effective fruitfulness, according to the word of God. Through such growth, Christians manifest more of Christ than of themselves. This is accomplished through discipleship. Peter is clear about this, saying that it must be fruit that sprouts forth and ripens from the true knowledge of our Lord. Without the true knowledge that is according to the Lord's word, we will naturally produce bad fruit according to false knowledge.

Peter is not saying that Christians are doing works that make them righteous. Peter is saying that the work that God has done produces works in saved people, and so when these things are applied by saved people, and increasing, they are producing excellent, effective, fruit of the Spirit. On the other hand, if saved people do not apply moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and unselfish love, in their daily living, then such are bearing the ineffective fruit of the immature, ineffective, Christian. Paul the apostle wrote concerning effective fruitfulness as a result of the true knowledge of God. He said,

"9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding," (Colossians 1:9)

Paul, like Peter, is teaching about the true knowledge of God. Paul goes on to make the same point as Peter,

"10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;" (Colossians 1:10)

When Paul says Christians are to be filled with the knowledge of His will in spiritual understanding, in the same manner that Peter is saying in 2 Peter 1, there is a reason. The reason is so our walk will be worthy of the Lord, Colossians 1:10. The true knowledge of God is learned so that saved people can please the Lord in all respects, Colossians 1:10. True knowledge of God is what brings about the bearing of fruit, Colossians 1:10. Increasing in the knowledge of God, is logically part of walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, Colossians 1:10. Peter and Paul are riding the same revelational wave concerning spiritual fruit. Neither is concerned with losing salvation.

True Christians who lack these qualities need to be rebuked. They do not lose their salvation, but Peter has strong words for those who lack these qualities. He continues;

"9 For he who lacks these things is so near sighted that he is blind," (2 Peter 1:9)

So near sighted that he is blind, is how the ESV and the NET render the odd word order of this verse. The NASB has it rendered, "he is blind or shortsighted" The NKJV has "he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness." The ESV renders it to where it gets the intended point across well;

"9 For he who lacks these things is so near sighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." (2 Peter 1:9 ESV)

Peter's point here, clearly has to do with someone who is saved. Peter says the people he is talking about are already cleansed from their sins. Instead of saying that they can become uncleansed, the real problem that Peter says, is that such a person has extreme nearsightedness, literally myopia (myopazo in the Greek). It is myopia to the point of being virtually, or essentially, blind. Peter's emphasis is that a Christian like this has forgetfulness concerning his state of purity he has both positionally and spiritually in Christ. Even though the salvation has already happened, the sins were cleansed, and they were former sins, there is this shameful type of Alzheimer's disease of fleshly mindedness where the Christian keeps on wallowing in the sins anyway.

This is not the same thing as an unsaved false teacher who has never been cleansed from his former sins. Such people are described in chapter 2 as denying the Master, 2:1. They follow sensuality, 2:2. They indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, 2:10. They are like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, 2:12. Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; verses 2:14-15. The comparison is that 2 Peter 1:5-7 is considered a list of Christian virtues for saved people to personally apply to be effective and fruitful. On the other hand 2 Peter 2:1-13 is a list of Satanic sin vices that are affinities of the lost. Paul identifies false teachers in similar terms as Peter does in 2 Peter 2. Paul refers to those who act as Christians but really are not; He says,

"16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed." (Titus 1:16)

What Peter means in 2 Peter 1:9 is that saved people who lack any of the qualities he lists in 1:5-8, need to apply the seven qualities. It is simple; If the seven qualities are there, then it is evident that God is using you, and so you are manifest as a true child of God who is effective and fruitful.

Peter goes on and starts out 2:10 addressing Christians by saying "Therefore, brothers," which is a familial term for spiritually regenerated people. The Greek, adelphoi here translated as "brothers" is not limited to male gender. The word also means brothers and sisters, as in siblings in a family. Peter says,

"10 Therefore, brothers [and sisters; siblings], be all the more diligent to make your calling and election certain; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;" (2 Peter 1:10)

In verse 5, Peter also said to apply every effort; every diligence to add to your salvation (salvation you already have) the works that salvation produces according to the true knowledge of God. Now, Peter says to apply diligence in making your salvation certain (or sure). The flow of the sentence indicates that Peter's audience should have care to make sure their salvation is demonstrated as unarguably real. Diligence here means to be zealous. It means to be eager about something. The desire is to make your calling and election manifest as such, being beyond any doubt. The election Peter mentions occurs in eternity past but goes on forever. Calling occurs later when God effectually calls out and draws people to Himself at some point in their life time. The effectual calling out actually occurs when the Holy Sprit brings the gospel to a person, then they are convicted of sin because their mind has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit to understand the gospel. It is then that they respond to the call positively through the gift of faith and so they are saved in this process. Salvation is receiving the Spirit's adoption into the body of Christ. It is what Peter wrote about at the very beginning of his first letter to these same people;

"1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those ... who are elected 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the setting apart work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood . . .3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation [future tense of the three tenses of salvation] ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:1-5)

2 Peter is Peter's follow up letter to the same people. Peter's focus now is different, and so he says here for them to apply diligence in making their election and calling certain, but Peter is not saying to apply diligence to earn their election and calling. There are those who lack spiritual fruit who are short sighted Christians, and there are those that lack spiritual fruit who are not even saved. The saved people should be diligent to make their salvation manifest. The unsaved, on the other hand, (that may be among the churches by joining in on the meetings and intermingling with the saints) are really tares among the wheat. In such cases, a problem is presented:

If a saved person is not manifesting spiritual fruit, then how does anyone know if the person is truly saved? Either such a person is nearsighted, or such a person is not saved. These are the only two options.

Contextually, there is an evident reason why Peter approaches the beginning of his letter this way. Immediately in chapter 2, Peter is about to go into what he prophetically sees coming, which are false teachers. The unsaved false teachers, of the next chapter, lack the excellent fruit. In fact they manifest carnal sinful fruit as their affinity, and Peter is going to point it out in harsh terms in chapter 2. Therefor if carnal fleshly sinful fruit is what a person looks like to everyone else, and the person claims to be a Christian, then how does the person, or anyone else, know for certain that the person is not a false teacher also? Why should others not assume that the person is a false teacher of chapter 2? It does not matter if the person merely claims Christianity. Many cult leaders claim they are Christians. There are people who follow cult leaders that call themselves Christians too, even though they are not elect and effectually called. They do not believe the gospel of Christ as is taught by the apostles. Either you are near sighted, or you are not saved. So, Peter is saying that what Christians need to do is make their Christianity certain and sure, both to themselves, and to others. This is Peter's point as he goes into the second half of verse 9;

"... for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;" (2 Peter 2:10)

This is an amazingly simple point of logic. As long as a Christian is doing the things of Christian maturity as a true Christian, and those things are increasing, then the Christian will not stumble and fumble awkwardly along in their Christian walk. Such will will not stumble in their witness; and they will not stumble when the false teachers come in (cf. 2 Peter 2). This is the sign of effectual stability, which strongly suggests that one of Peter's biggest points in this is that if the Christians of his audience are increasing in the Christian virtues that he listed, (particularly knowledge), they will not stumble when the false teachers infiltrate the churches. This is not perfectionism or works based righteousness, as if one does things to keep from stumbling out of salvation. This is simply wise Biblical counsel from the full knowledge of God. In fact, instead of perfection, Christians actually do stumble in many ways. James says,

"For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well." (James 3:2)

Perfection is not what Peter is talking about. Peter is talking about what Jude says in his follow up epistle to Peter's,

"24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy," (Jude 1:24)

All Christians will stand in the presence of His glory someday, completely blameless because all Christians are the righteousness of God in Christ. At that time, there will be no more stumbling for any of God's children. This is where Peter goes next in his point,

"11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you." (2 Peter 1:8-11)

When Peter says, "for in this way" he is pointing to what he just said. His point is that as long as saved people are practicing the excellent things, and with that, making sure of their calling and election, then they will not be stumbling along in their Christian walk, and since they will not be stumbling, then their entrance into the eternal kingdom will be rich; it will be full of the glorious fruits of a Christian who has been an effectual, and fruitful servant of the Lord during earthly life. The entrance then, of such a Christian, is richly; abundantly supplied, (Greek, epichoregethesetai), rather than lacking. This Greek word for "supplied" is the same word that was used back in verse 5. The word supply means to supplement. It means to add to. So the entrance of all saved people is already secured and supplied by God. The full Christian life of obedience adds a supplementation of precious abundance to it. So, "in this way" which is a rich spiritual fruitful life way, there is a rich, robust, entering in. One part of that abundance will be that all the virtues Christians are diligent to apply now, are the virtues that will be lived forever in spotless consistency in the afterlife. Another aspect of that rich, abundant, entrance will be when Christ will say "well done my good and faithful servant." Another part of that abundance will be our eternal rewards as is expressed in Peter's first letter, where he says,

"17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;" 1 Peter 1:17

Rewards for our service to Christ are also expressed by Paul,

"9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home [in this present body] or absent [from this present body], to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." 2 Corinthians 5:10

This does not negate the grace of salvation where we are guaranteed entrance into the eternal kingdom in the first place in being once saved in eternal spiritual salvation. It simply magnifies the doctrine of abundant supply that we bring into eternity. Paul says in Romans that we must all give an account of ourselves before the judgment seat;

"10 But you, why do you judge your [Christian] brother? Or you again, why do you regard your [Christian] brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, 'as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.' 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God," Romans 14:10-12.

And finally concerning service, Paul says;

"13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire," 1 Corinthians 3:10

In summation then, non-Christians will not enter the eternal kingdom. Carnally minded Christians are in the entrance already, but are not supplying their entrance abundantly. Those who maintain their faith by adding the seven virtues to it that Peter gives in verses 5 through 7, enter the eternal kingdom richly. Therefore, this passage does not remotely teach that one can lose eternal spiritual salvation, or must work to attain eternal spiritual salvation, or must maintain keep eternal spiritual salvation by human effort.