2 Peter 1:3

According as. Or, “seeing that.” The words that follow are an expansion of the thought that grace and peace come from personal acquaintance with God and Christ (v. 2).

His divine power. That is, Christ’s divine power, since He is the last person referred to in v. 2 and since He seems to be called “God” in v. 1. The word for “divine” (theios) is used in the NT only here, in v. 4, and in Acts 17:29, where it is rendered “Godhead.” The word for “power” (dunamis, see on Acts 1:8) is found combined with theios in Greek inscriptions of the 1st century A.D., and Peter is therefore employing a term with which his readers are doubtless acquainted. He is here stressing the might and majesty of his Lord, as he does elsewhere in the epistle (ch. 1:11, 16, 17), and shows what his Lord’s power can do for us.

Hath given. Gr. doreo, “to present a gift,” “to bestow,” a stronger word than the usual didomi, “to give.”

All things. A reminder that the Lord has withheld no necessary aid to our salvation.

Life. That is, spiritual life such as is required of the Christian, and also physical life (Acts 17:25,28).

Godliness. Gr. eusebeia, “piety,” “religion” that is, Christian conduct (see on 1 Tim. 2:2). The gifts bestowed by Christ are to enable His followers to attain the standards set for them. The victorious life cannot be lived without the gifts; so it behooves us to accept and to use them.

Knowledge. Gr. epignosis (see on v. 2).

Him that hath called. This may refer either to the Father, generally presented in the NT as the One who calls the Christian (Rom. 8:30), or to the Son, who called the disciples (Mark 3:13) and sinners (Matt. 9:13). If any distinction is made, it is without practical difference, since both Father and Son unite in the call. The call of either is equally effective.

To glory and virtue. Literally, “through glory and virtue,” but textual evidence favors (cf. p. 10) the reading “to his own glory and virtue.” The word translated “virtue” (arete) may be rendered “goodness,” “excellence” (see on Phil. 4:8; 1 Peter 2:9). The phrase under consideration may support the application to Christ of the words “him that hath called,” since it is primarily Christ’s own glory and excellence to which the striving Christian aspires. It is the sight of Christ “lifted up” that stimulates men to abandon sin and to follow after the glorious qualities the Saviour so persuasively displays.