by Gary L. Evans
(revised 8/1/2023)
Peter — Part 10
2Pe 1:1 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:
The word “like” is from the Greek “ee-sot’-ee-mos” which means “of equal value or honor.”
The word “faith” is from “pis’-tis” which means “persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction.”
So our persuasion to believe in Christ today is of equal value and honor as that of Peter two thousand years ago.
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
The word “knowledge” is from “ip-ig’-no-sis” which means “recognition, that is, (by implication) full discernment, acknowledgement.”
So the grace and peace of mind that Peter sends our way is through our recognition and full discernment of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
2Pe 1:3 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:
The word “power” is from “doo’-nam-is” which means “force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself).”
By God’s Divine Miracle, through The New Covenant, we have been given knowledge of Eternal Life and how to live as the righteous in this world to His Glory and demonstration of His Virtue.
2Pe 1:4 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.
The word “nature” is from “foo’-sis” which means “growth (by germination or expansion).”
The word “corruption” is from “fthor-ah’” which means “decay, that is, ruin (spontaneous or inflicted, literally or figuratively).”
We have become partakers of The Divine Growth, and have escaped the decay and ruin that is in this world through the covetousness of men.
2Pe 1:5-7 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.
The word “charity” is from “ag-ah’-pay” which means “love, that is, affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love feast.”
Our Divine Growth is described in several ways, Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, and Charity, which is The Love of God. Therefore we should develop and make full use of these talents to demonstrate this Love for others.
2Pe 1:8 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.
With these attributes of full maturity in Christ Jesus, we will not be barren nor unfruitful with our knowledge of The Only Begotten. So others will benefit from our influence in their lives.
2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
The Blood of Christ atones for our past sins done in ignorance before we were enlightened by The Knowledge of God. But if anyone fails to fully mature in The Word, then they are again become as blind, having forgotten the condition that they were in before their conversion in Christ.
Recall that Jesus taught us to expect many failed attempts by people in this world to believe and enter The New Covenant when He taught us The Parable of The Sower. He presented three examples of the types of people along with their circumstances in which The Word of God would not sprout and grow. And only those people referred to as “The Good Soil” could receive The Word for it to take root in them and spring up into Everlasting Life.
2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
The word “calling” is from “klay’-sis” which means “an invitation (figuratively).”
And the word “election” is from “ek-log-ay’” which means “(divine) selection (abstractly or concretely).”
We must strive to make good use of our invitation into The New Covenant by asking for it, and thereby we will make our Lord’s Divine Selection of us from among His children a certainty. If we are willing to take action in this way in full belief of our Lord’s promises, then we will never become apostate.
2Pe 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
If we are willing to do this, then we will be empowered to enter into The Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, The Messiah.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
Peter — Part 11
2Pe 1:12 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.
The word “established” is from the Greek “stay-rid’-zo” which means “to set fast, that is, (literally) to turn resolutely in a certain direction, or (figuratively) to confirm.”
2Pe 1:13-14 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.
Peter was to die soon after writing this letter.
2Pe 1:15-16 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.
The words “cunningly devised” are from “sof-id’-zo” which means “to render wise; in a sinister acceptation, to form ‘sophisms’, that is, continue plausible error.”
The word “fables” is from “moo’-thos” which means “a tale, that is, fiction (‘myth’).”
We do not follow after sophisticated fictions, but instead listen to the testimonies of those who were eyewitnesses of our Lord when He walked this earth.
2Pe 1:17 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.
Peter refers, for an example, to what was witnessed by John The Baptist.
Mat 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Our Heavenly Father gave witness of our Lord, The Only Begotten Son of God.
2Pe 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
Peter now refers to what he and two others witnessed on the Mount of Olives.
Mat 17:1-6 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
Again, our Heavenly Father gave witness to the identity of our Lord.
2Pe 1:19 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:
The words “day star” are from “foce-for’-os” which means “light bearing (‘phosphorus’), that is, (specifically) the morning star (figuratively).”
So The Day Star that will arise in our hearts is The Bright Morning Star. But it is most important, even a life and death matter, that we get this right, my friends, because there are TWO MORNING STARS!
Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Our Lord Jesus is The Bright Morning Star.
Isa 14:12-14 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
In The First Earth Age, Lucifer rebelled against our Creator and declared that he would exalt his throne above God’s children and sit in the place of The Most High. He prophesied that he would be as God.
The name “Lucifer” is from the Hebrew “hay-lale’” which means “morning star.”
So our Lord Jesus, The Christ, is The Bright Morning Star, and Lucifer is the other Morning Star. With the exception of The Very Elect, all people alive on earth at the end of this world will worship the wrong Morning Star and call him “God.”
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
The word “private” is from the Greek “id’-ee-os” which means “pertaining to self, that is, one’s own; by implication private or separate.”
The word “interpretation” is from “ep-il’-oo-sis” which means “explanation, that is, application.”
None of God’s Word came to us by the personal explanation or imagination of people.
2Pe 1:21 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.
The Word of God came not by man’s will but by The Holy Spirit of God speaking through Divinely Selected (Elected) persons over many centuries who had been foreordained to that purpose since The First Earth Age.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
Peter — Part 12
2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
The word “denying” is from the Greek “ar-neh’-om-ahee” which means “to contradict.”
The word “heresies” is from “hah’ee-res-is” which means “properly a choice, that is, (specifically) a party or (abstractly) disunion. (‘heresy’ is the Greek word itself.).”
Therefore Peter warns us of those antichrists who have come among us secretly that contradict the teachings of our Lord causing disunion. Peter is teaching The First Seal which our Lord taught us, that many would come in His Name and deceive many. The reward for such heretics is Eternal Damnation, which at least means that they cannot be in The First Resurrection.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
By the false teaching of the antichrists, many people follow in their ways.
The words “pernicious ways” are from “ap-o’-li-a” which means “ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal).”
The words “evil spoken of” are from “blas-fay-meh’-o” which means “to vilify; specifically to speak impiously.”
What they teach leads other people also into Eternal Damnation, so that they cannot take part in The First Resurrection. And the result of their false teaching also causes many people to defame and mock God’s Word, because their hypocrisy is often so obvious to people who are sensitive to contradictions. We can easily see the results of their doings in America today. Because America (and most of Western Christian Civilization) has undergone a terrible Apostasy, a falling away from the true faith of God’s Word of Biblical proportions.
2Pe 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
The antichrists make ill-gotten gains from the assemblies through their covetousness and pretentious speech. Some become very rich. But they themselves were foreordained to this purpose, having been reserved for Eternal Damnation. So they themselves are clear examples of the Negative Part of Election.
2Pe 2:4-5 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Some sons of God, the fallen angels, left Heaven and came to earth and took wives among almost all of the daughters of the descendants of The Man Adam. And from their union were born the giants of old time before the flood of Noah.
Gen 6:1-2 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
The words “sons of God” do not represent men, because then they would be called men, so these words represent the fallen angels that defiled the daughters of Adam. We learn here that angels can impregnate women, just as Satan impregnated Eve.
Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The word “giants” is from a Hebrew word based on “naw-fal’” which means “to fall.”
So we see that these giant offspring are from “The Fallen.”
The word “mighty” is from “ghib-bore’” which means “powerful; by implication warrior, tyrant.”
These giants became famous throughout the world in the most ancient times. The old mythologies among all of the races of mankind including the Greeks and Romans are very likely based on stories carried down from generation to generation about those giants, as though they were gods, and in a sense they were in that they were hybrids of angels and humans.
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Those fallen angels brought with them false doctrines that turned the Adamites to evil practices. And the people became corrupt.
Gen 6:6-7 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
The fallen angels had attempted to prevent the pure bloodline of Adam and Eve to continue so that it would be impossible for God to produce The Promised Messiah according to The Lord’s prophesy. But Noah and his wife and their children were still of pure blood, so God preserved them and destroyed all the rest which had been defiled with a flood.
Note that Peter presents this history as a severe warning about the condemnation of those antichrists that make merchandise of the people with false religion. Why? Because the antichrists deceive most people of this world with lies turning them away from The New Covenant thus preventing them from receiving Eternal Life. Just as the Fallen Angels attempted, the antichrists work to defeat God’s Divine Plan of Salvation!
2Pe 2:6-8 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
Sodom and Gomorrah had become so wicked that roving bands of homosexuals roamed the streets even in broad daylight, raping or sodomizing anyone they found in the open. Those cities were so dangerous that no one could live a righteous life anymore. The homosexuals even tried to rape the angels sent by God to rescue Lot and his family. Then the angels destroyed both cities with fire and brimstone.
2Pe 2:9-10 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Some antichrists become as anarchists trying to stir up mobs to become hostile against the lawful authorities of the community.
The word “uncleanness” is from “mee-as-mos’” which means “(morally) contamination (properly the act).”
Some of them are morally disgusting.
The word “selfwilled” is from “ow-thad’-ace” which means “self pleasing, that is, arrogant.”
Some of them are brazen to defame the honorable men and women of the community.
2Pe 2:11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
Even the angels in Heaven do not accuse the honorable men and women, and Peter presents this fact to contrast how unjust the antichrists can be in our towns and cities. Note that the name “Satan” means “the accuser,” that is, “false accuser, slanderer.” And many antichrists follow in Satan’s Name to the letter, while falsely claiming to follow in The Name of Christ.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.