Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Peter
Chapter 1: Partakers of the Divine Nature
Peter writes his final letter to help believers grow and stand firm against false teachers. He reminds them that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and exceedingly great promises through which we become partakers of the divine nature. But grace is not an excuse for idleness. Peter calls us to diligently add to our faith the qualities of a growing life, to make our calling and election sure, and to hold fast the prophetic word that came from God through the Holy Spirit.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Peter chapter 1. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Second Peter urges believers to grow in grace and hold to the truth. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Grow and Stand Firm
Second Peter calls believers to grow in grace and knowledge, warns sharply against false teachers, and affirms the certainty of Christ's return and the reliability of God's word.
The Apostle Peter
Peter wrote this final letter knowing his death was near (verse 14), likely in the mid-60s AD, to fortify believers before he departed and to leave a lasting reminder of the truth.
A Parting Charge
Aware his time was short, Peter urges spiritual growth and warns of coming deception. Chapter 1 lays the foundation: God's provision, the call to diligence, and the certainty of Scripture.
Grace That Grows
God has supplied everything we need for godliness; our part is to diligently build on it. True faith grows, and a growing faith is the mark of a sure calling.
Partakers of the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:3-4)
Peter begins with the vast provision of God's power and promises.
Exceedingly Great and Precious Promises
"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Greek Study
God's "divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness" — everything needed is already supplied. Through His "exceeding great and precious promises" we become "partakers (koinōnoi, sharers, partners) of the divine nature" (theias physeōs), "having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." To share the divine nature is not to become a god, but to be made a partaker of God's own holy character, His life reproduced in us.
Explanation
Peter grounds the Christian life in a lavish supply: God's "divine power" has already given us "all things that pertain unto life and godliness." We are not left to manufacture holiness from our own resources. Through His "exceeding great and precious promises" we come to "be partakers of the divine nature" — sharers in God's own holy life — and so "escape the corruption" of a world driven by lust. The promises are the channel: as we trust them, God's very character takes root in us, and we grow like Him from the inside out.
Gospel Focus
God has given us "exceedingly great and precious promises," and through them we "may be partakers of the divine nature." This is a staggering statement of what salvation accomplishes: not that we become God, for there is one God, but that His own nature and character are imparted to us, that we come to share His holiness, His love, His life. The new birth makes us "partakers," those in whom God's own nature is at work, transforming us from the inside. And the result is that we escape "the corruption that is in the world through lust." True salvation changes our nature, not merely our status; it plants God's holiness within us so that we increasingly reflect His character. "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy" (1 Peter 1:15). Everything we need for that transformation, God has already provided.
Diligence in Growing (2 Peter 1:5-8)
Peter calls believers to actively build a growing, fruitful life on the foundation of faith.
Giving All Diligence
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"
Greek Study
Peter tells believers to "add" grace to grace — the verb is epichorēgeō, to supply lavishly, once used of a wealthy patron funding a chorus. We are to underwrite an ascending chain of seven distinct Greek terms: "virtue" (aretē, moral excellence, vigorous goodness in action); "knowledge" (gnōsis, understanding rightly applied); "temperance" (enkrateia, self-mastery, holding the appetites in hand); "patience" (hypomonē, steadfast endurance under pressure); "godliness" (eusebeia, reverence that shapes conduct Godward); "brotherly kindness" (philadelphia, the natural affection of family, extended to the church); and, crowning them all, "charity" (agapē, self-giving love, which needs no kinship to act). If these "be in you, and abound," they keep one from being "barren nor unfruitful" in the knowledge of Christ.
Explanation
Having said God supplies all things, Peter now says we must "give all diligence." Grace is not passive; it works. He lists a ladder that begins with faith and climbs, rung by rung, to love — virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and "charity" at the summit. Each grace builds on the last, and all are to "abound." The promise is that a life growing in these will never be "barren" in the knowledge of Christ, while the one who lacks them "is blind, and cannot see afar off." Christian maturity is cultivated, grace diligently added to grace.
Gospel Focus
God's grace does not make us passive; it makes us diligent. Because God has given us everything we need, we are to give "all diligence" to grow. Peter lists a chain of qualities, each building on the last, that mark a maturing faith: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Notice that faith is the foundation and love is the goal. And this growth is not optional decoration; where these qualities "abound," Peter says, we will be neither "barren nor unfruitful" (verse 8). A faith that does not grow is a warning sign. The Christian life is meant to be one of steady, diligent progress in the character of Christ. God supplies the power; we supply the effort, working out what He works in.
Moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Peter grounds everything in the certainty of Scripture, which came from God Himself.
Holy Men of God Spoke
"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
Greek Study
"Moved," phero (φέρω). To be carried along, borne along, as a ship is carried by the wind. The prophets were not inventing their message; they were "carried along" by the Holy Spirit, so that what they wrote was truly the word of God through human hands.
Explanation
Peter states the divine origin of Scripture: "no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." The prophets did not spin their message from their own reasoning or invent its meaning. Rather, "the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" — literally, borne along, as a ship is carried by the wind. The human authors truly wrote, in their own styles, yet the Spirit carried them so that what they produced was the word of God. This is why prophecy is "a more sure word" — its source is heaven, not human will.
Gospel Focus
Peter grounds our confidence in the divine origin of Scripture. Prophecy "never came by the will of man," it was not human opinion or invention, "but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The Spirit carried the writers along, so that their words are God's words. This is why Scripture is trustworthy and authoritative: its ultimate Author is God Himself. Paul says the same, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16). In an age of competing voices and false teachers, which Peter will confront in the next chapter, this is our anchor: we have "a more sure word of prophecy" (verse 19) which did not come from men but from God. We can build our lives on it without fear.
Chapter 1 in Review
2 Peter 1 lays the foundation for growth and steadfastness. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and exceedingly great promises through which we become partakers of the divine nature, sharing His holiness and escaping the world's corruption. On that foundation, Peter calls us to give all diligence to add to our faith a chain of growing graces, from virtue to love, so that we are fruitful and can make our call and election sure. And he anchors it all in the certainty of Scripture, which came not by the will of man but as holy men were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter holds grace and diligence together. God's provision is complete, and it produces not passivity but effort: a faith that grows into the character of Christ. Salvation truly changes our nature, making us partakers of God's own holiness. And our whole confidence rests on a sure word, the Spirit-given Scriptures. Provided for by grace, growing by diligence, and standing on the word of God, believers can be fruitful and unshaken in every season.
- Salvation makes us "partakers of the divine nature," sharing God's holiness and character.
- Grace makes us diligent, not passive; true faith grows toward the character of Christ.
- A growing faith helps make our call and election sure; a stagnant faith is a warning.
- Scripture is trustworthy because its Author is God: holy men moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16).
Questions for Reflection
- To be a "partaker of the divine nature" is to share God's holiness. Where is His nature reshaping yours?
- Peter calls for diligence in growth. Which quality in his list most needs to grow in you right now?
- How does knowing Scripture came from God, not man, strengthen your confidence to build your life on it?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Greek terms are standard and can be checked in any lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- God's provision and the divine nature: 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:15-16.
- Adding to faith a chain of growing graces: 2 Peter 1:5-8.
- Making your call and election sure: 2 Peter 1:10-11.
- Scripture given as men were moved by the Holy Spirit: 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16.
- The prophetic word confirmed: 2 Peter 1:19.