2 Peter 1:2—”Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”
In this scripture, Peter confirms what he saw with his eyes and heard with his ears – “’This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ … this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”. Peter writes this to the believers who received their faith not by works but by the righteousness of God and Christ. He calls Jesus Christ, God and Savior.
Peter encourages those believers and us, to know God and acknowledge what He continues to do for us. He warns us of the danger of false teachers and harmful influences. A mature knowledge of the truth is the best antidote to deviation. This means while we await Christ’s coming we live holy and godly lives and grow ourselves in the grace and knowledge of God. About Peter quoting faith as ‘precious’, Spurgeon said “… is it not precious? For it deals with precious things, with precious promises, with precious blood, with a precious redemption, with all the preciousness of the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Because of our faith, we as gentiles enjoy the same faith, benefits, and salvation in Jesus as the Jews. Also grace and peace are ours when we know God and Jesus. As we ‘know God’, we gain these essentials foundations for salvation and our lives. In fact, all things that pertain to life and godliness are ours by knowing God. Knowing God means “an exact, complete, and thorough knowledge”. Unfortunately, sometimes we try almost anything except knowing God, or look to this as a last resort. We trust in the schemes and plans of men, or even try to know ourselves.
So, how do we know God? We learn of God through His Word, when we pray, and with our fellowship with other believers. We do need to spend time with God alone, however, God also meets us when we fellowship and prayer with other believers. We, who are called, also get knowledge that comes from our experience of God and not mere intellectual understanding or intuition. Jesus’ glory and virtue that motivated Him to call us and is that which draws us to Him.
Why do we look for this knowledge? Because we understand what Jesus did for us on the cross and we love Him. Because he has exceedingly great and precious promises for us by His glory and virtue. “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;…”(2 Peter 1:5) If we possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of Christ. If we lack these qualities, we will be so nearsighted like being blind, and even forget that we were cleansed from former sins. If we practice these qualities, we will never fall, we will be richly provided with an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
