2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
How does someone know, if they have everything they need? Consider someone who is packing-up to go on a long trip. How does someone packing for that trip truly know when they have packed everything they will need? Suppose they head out with enough food to last three days, because that's how long their trip would be, but then they were delayed and ran out of food. Now, they're hungry, even though they thought they had all they would need. Just as it's nearly impossible for someone to know if they have everything they need for a trip, Christians might have a hard time knowing if they have everything they need to run the race marked out for them (Hebrews 12:1). How can Christ's followers know they truly have everything they need for their trip from earth to heaven?
The apostle Peter wrote a letter to some early Christians struggling with similar questions. He opened his letter with this assurance, "[God's] divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness," (2 Peter 1:3). Peter is proclaiming that a Christian has everything they will need in order to live a life for God. Of course, one can wonder how it is that God can give His followers everything they will need to live for Him, and even then how His followers can receive all they need.
Peter says that it is by God's divine power that God can give His followers what they need. God knows exactly what His people need, even before they ask Him for it, (Matthew 6:8), because God is omniscient, He is all-knowing (Psalm 139:1-6). God has the power to do whatever He pleases, (Psalm 115:3), because He is omnipotent, He is all-powerful (Genesis 1:1). God also will not withhold what His followers need, (Matthew 7:11), because God is omnibenevolent, He is all-loving (1 John 4:16). It is for all these reasons that Jesus can proclaim what He says in Matthew chapter 6 from verses 31 to 33:
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So, God can give a Christian everything they need by His power and because of His nature (He is all-knowing, powerful and loving). Yet, how does a Christian receive all of their needs from God?
Peter says a Christian receives all they need to live a Godly life through knowledge of God. A Christian's knowledge of God is a key to their living a Godly life. Paul prayed for Christians that God would "fill [them] with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that [they] may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God," (Collosians 1:9-10). It is by one's knowledge of God that someone is able to have faith, and it is by faith that someone is saved (Ephesians 2:8). One does not need to know everything about God in order to follow Him, for no one can truly understand the mind of God (Isaiah 40:13). One needs only knowledge simple enough for a child to understand to have a place in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3). If anyone has simple knowledge of God's love for them (John 3:16), then they have a faith that saves (Acts 13:39), and through this knowledge they have been given everything they will need to live a life worthy of God, pleasing to Him in every way.
All who follow Christ have everything they need, to best live for His glory. There's no need to double check, cross-off a list or scour one's house for anything else. A Christian's bags are already packed, by their loving Father, with no need to add or take-away. Christ's followers can run the race (1 Corinthians 9:24), fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12), and carry the burden (Matthew 11:29-30) all the way to end, without ever turning back. They need not worry how they will do these things, for they can be confident that God "who began a good work in [them] will carry it on to completion," (Philippians 1:6). It is for this reason Peter writes this urgence in 2 Peter chapter 1 from verses 5 to 9:
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Sources
- The Bible (New International Version)
- Bible Hub: Knowledge
- Knowing Jesus: Saving Faith
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