The Christian Life in Peter’s Theology

By Frederic R. Howe

Frederic R. Howe, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas, resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

This is article three in a four-part series, “Theological Themes in 1 and 2 Peter.”

As noted in previous articles in this series,[1] the central basis of Peter’s teaching about the Christian life stemmed from the Lord Himself. The blending of the rich experiences Peter had with the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry, and the subsequent years in which he ministered as an apostle and a “fellow elder,” as he described himself in 1 Peter 5:1, produced the mind-set of this veteran leader. One thing should be noticed in introducing Petrine themes about the Christian life: Peter demonstrated the resilience and humility that comes from being able to take correction and benefit from it.

Two simple illustrations forcefully verify this trait in Peter. First, he often heard words of correction, admonition, and even blunt discipline from the Lord Himself. In perhaps a rather inquisitive moment Peter asked Jesus about John’s future (John 21:21). Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” The word for “follow,” ἀκολούθει, implies a continual following, a veritable lifestyle commitment. The epistles of Peter are ample testimony to his lifestyle of positive response to needed admonitions and warnings.

Another case in point is Peter’s interesting statement about the apostle Paul. Peter’s well-known comment about Paul’s writings (2 Pet. 3:15–16) and Peter’s positive and endearing description of Paul (“our beloved brother Paul”) are far more than self-serving statements by someone trying to gain favor with his readers. Peter, after all, had been openly rebuked by Paul (Gal. 2:14). There is no record of Peter’s response to Paul at that time, but the very silence concerning any retaliatory attitudes or any “pulling of apostolic rank” by Peter suggests that Peter was able to take rebuke, digest it, so to speak, and profit from it, without rancor or bitterness. Peter was the key figure in the apostolic band for the years of Christ’s incarnate ministry. Surely some deference should be given to him, even by Paul. Yet the issue here was one of truth, and Peter admirably took in the lesson. With his words about Paul being a beloved brother, he himself practiced what he taught in 1 Peter 5:5: “And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Jesus’ words to Peter, “You follow Me,” set the tone for Peter’s teachings about the Christian life.

The Call for Holiness

Both 1 and 2 Peter reverberate with the clarion call for believers to lead a life of holiness. As Peter explained, however, this holy lifestyle will be manifested in relationships and situations that result in suffering for the cause of Christ. In fact four times in 1 Peter the verb ἀγαθοποιέω, “to do good,” is used (2:15, 20; 3:6, 17). This reflects the overarching Petrine emphasis on practical holiness. As Ladd writes, “This doing of good is not the good works of Jewish legalism, but involves righteous conduct in contrast to pagan sinfulness (4:2). This good behavior is itself a witness to unbelievers and will frustrate their hostility (2:15), and possibly win them to Christ (3:1). It includes a right relationship to other people, and submissiveness to the established institutions of the state (2:13, 15), family (3:1, 6), and even of slaves to their masters (2:18). The Christian life is to express itself in true love toward fellow Christians (1:22) and in tenderness and humble mindedness (3:8; 5:6).”[2]

1 Peter 1:14–16 sets the pace for this emphasis. Hiebert entitles this passage “a life of personal holiness.” He writes, “The nature of the Christian life carries the obligation to personal holiness. Peter grounded that obligation in the filial nature of his readers (v. 14a), expounded the demand for holiness (vv. 14b–15), and found the reason for holiness in the nature of God Himself (v. 16).”[3]

Peter exhorted his readers, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance” (v. 14).[4] The words “obedient children” translate τέκνα ὑπακοῆς, literally “children of obedience.” This phrase, a Semitism, refers to individuals who are characterized by the trait or quality stated. Thus Peter was describing these readers as “an obedient people, i.e., as those who have accepted the Christian gospel.”[5]

Then in verses 14–15 Peter spoke of this call to biblical holiness both negatively and positively. From the negative perspective he wrote, “Do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.” The words “do not be conformed” translate συσχηματιζόμενοι, a verb that appears only once more in the New Testament, in Romans 12:2. Believers are to refrain from conforming to the “former lusts” (ταῖς πρότερον … ἐπιθυμίαις).

Peter always uses [the word “lusts”] in a negative sense of sinful desires which lead people to direct disobedience to God’s laws (2:11; 4:2, 3; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2:10, 18; 3:3). Christians are to recognize these desires for what they are (some are listed in Gal. 5:19–21 and 1 Jn. 2:16) and then strive not to let their lives be influenced by them…. The fact that Peter could give such a command implies that he knew that such desires still remain and have some power in the hearts of true Christians. Yet he also implies that he agreed with Paul (Rom. 6:11, 14; Gal. 5:24) that the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work has broken the ruling, dominating force of those desires, and that it is possible for Christians to have a significant measure of victory over them.[6]

The stark contrast between 1 Peter 1:14 and 1:15 is highlighted with the strong adversative particle “but” (ἀλλὰ) in verse 15: “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” The ultimate ground or basis for Peter’s summons to holy living is found in God Himself. “The Holy One of Israel” is a title or designation of God that Isaiah used twenty-five times. (It occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament only seven times.) The fact that none other than this One, the Lord God Himself, has called believers forms a fitting basis for this Petrine appeal. In fact Peter stressed this facet of the believer’s relationship to God by referring several times to God’s call of believers (2:9, 21; 3:9; 5:10; 2 Pet. 1:3). This Holy One, who “has caused us to be born again to a living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3), is here seen as the pattern or model for the behavior of all believers. Hiebert states this point succinctly. “Close association with Him who is holy can only awaken in us a sense of our need for holiness (cf. Peter’s own experience in Luke 5:8).”[7]

The overwhelming inclusiveness of this call to holiness is found in the phrase “in all your behavior” (1 Pet. 1:15). The word “behavior,” which translates ἀναστροφῆ, corresponds to the word “lifestyle” and covers all actions, thoughts, words, and relationships. The pathway thus placed before all believers for a life of holiness finds its ultimate cause in God Himself: “because it is written, ‘You shall be holy for I am holy” (v. 16). “To be holy ‘as God is holy’ includes a full and pervading holiness that reaches every aspect of our personalities. It involves not only avoiding outward sin but also maintaining an instinctive delight in God and his holiness as an undercurrent of heart and mind throughout the day.”[8]

The clause “you shall be holy for I am holy” is an exact quotation from the Septuagint of Leviticus 19:2. The major strands of Peter’s thought about holiness seem to converge on this point. The God who called believers is Himself holy; so they are to live as His obedient children (1 Pet. 1:14). As Hiebert explains, “Because the Christian belongs to and lives in fellowship with God, he should be like Him. For such moral conformity there is no substitute.”[9]

The Condition for Holiness

Peter got to the heart of the matter of holiness with his words in 2 Peter 1:3–4. Here he affirmed that the ultimate condition, prerequisite, or essential foundation for holiness in the believer’s life is God’s divine power. “Seeing that His divine power [τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ] has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” “The first section (vv 3–4) establishes the basis for Christian living, in what God in Christ has done for us. By the divine power evident in Christ’s life, death and resurrection he has called men and women to be Christians, and when they come to knowledge of Christ in Christian conversion they also receive through that knowledge the grace of Christ which will enable them to live a life of obedience to God.”[10]

God has “granted” (δεδωρημένης) this power to believers. The perfect tense of the verb δωρέω verifies its accomplished nature, with continuing results in the present. The all-inclusiveness of what He has granted is amazing. He has given “everything” necessary for the outworking of holiness. Paul expressed a similar truth in Philippians 2:12–13, in which he urged believers to “work out” their salvation, for “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” The energizing power for holiness is from God, and this power is the source for both the motivation (“to will”) and the action (“to do”) for leading a godly life. As Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

Peter added that God has granted “precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Pet. 1:4). These promises have been given by “His own glory and excellence” (v. 3). What are these promises? Apparently they are “the pledges of Jesus himself when on earth…. But divine promises set out in the OT are not to be excluded, since these are fulfilled in the coming of Jesus the Messiah, as proclaimed by the earliest Christian preachers (Acts 13:32–33).”[11]

The believer’s participation in the divine nature comes about on the basis of “having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” The participle “having escaped” (αποφυγόντες) reveals the Christian’s complete separation in principle and position from the world system. The word “world” here is used to speak of unregenerate society and the entire complex of human civilization alienated or separated from God by willfully rejecting Him.[12] “The divine virtue and transcendent goodness manifested in Jesus both constitute and validate the call to come and participate in the divine nature. We are promised a share in his moral excellence during this life, and of his glory hereafter. For, taken together, the triple agency of the promises, the power and the person of the Lord Jesus regenerate a man and make him a sharer in God’s own nature, so that the family likeness begins to be seen in him.”[13]

The fact that believers are sharers “in God’s own nature,” as Green put it, flows directly from the enabling power of God in our striving for holiness. Peter was not implying anything even remotely associated with the idea of the deification of humanity, or the idea that believers are somehow absorbed into the nature of God Himself. Such a concept ultimately results in obliterating the finitude of humankind and buying into a latent gnostic idea of apotheosis, in which man’s actual being is supposedly absorbed into the deity. Peter’s teaching here is that believers share God’s divine nature, and this harmonizes with other New Testament verses that speak of the believer’s union with Christ, and thus of their being vital members of God’s family. This truth of the mystical union of the believer with Christ is expressed in several New Testament verses: “I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20); “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27), “For we have become partakers of Christ” (Heb. 3:14). Romans 8:15–17 contains links to this truth of a family relationship of believers as the “children of God.”

Admittedly, the idiom of partaking of the divine nature is probably deliberately taken over from gnostic idiom. However, such language can be found in the middle of the first century A.D. And it is not at all clear that 2 Peter means the same thing as the gnostics, namely, apotheosis. In its context the thought seems to be that of entering the Christian life rather than the goal of the Christian life after death. Escaping the corruption that is in the world and partaking of the divine nature are two sides of the Christian experience. The author calls it “life” in verse 3, and life here is in parallelism with godliness and refers to a present experience of life. While 2 Peter uses gnostic idiom, its purpose is to refute the gnostic claim. Here it means the same thing that Paul means by union with Christ.[14]

The Clarification of Holiness

2 Peter 1:5–9 lists “ingredients” of a holy life. The passage begins, “Now for this very reason” (καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δὲ). Because of God’s rich provisions, stated in verses 3–4, believers are urged to have their lives characterized by the virtues or traits mentioned in verses 5–7. Similar to Paul’s list of nine qualities of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23), Peter listed a veritable catalog of traits that describe the essentials of a holy way of life. “The practice of making lists of virtues was already well established among the Stoics, who called it a prokope, ‘moral advance.’ … The great difference between Stoic and Christian ethics is that the latter are not the unaided product of human effort, but the fruit of our being partakers of the divine nature. Nevertheless, human effort is indispensable, even though it is inadequate.”[15]

Faith: The Major Resource of the Christian Life

Peter began his list of virtues by stating that faith is the groundwork for the whole “building program,” as Hillyer puts it, for the life of holiness.[16] Based on Peter’s use of the word “faith” in places like 1 Peter 1:21 and 2 Peter 1:1, it can be assumed that he was writing in 2 Peter 1:5 of the believer’s response to the gospel, the trust in Christ alone, which results in the impartation of new life. While this list of traits or virtues includes words similar to those in Hellenistic ethical lists, this list is headed by “faith,” which distinguishes it from most other lists of virtues found in the Greek world.

This type of literary structure is called a sorites. This is a set or group of terms that proceed “step by step, through the force of logic or reliance upon a succession of indisputable facts, to a climactic conclusion, each statement picking up the last key word (or key phrase) of the preceding one.”[17]

 Another New Testament example of this pattern of thought, a sorites, is Romans 5:3–5. As Bauckham notes, it is difficult to show exactly how each of these characteristics is to develop or arise from the preceding one in the list.[18] Possibly the best way to view this entire list is to see that they are interrelated and interconnected.

In the phrase “applying all diligence” the word “applying” translates παρ-εισενέγκαντες, an aorist active participle of παρεισφέρω, “to bring in or supply besides.” The thrust of this strong word is this: Believers are to furnish alongside of what God has already accomplished for them (as noted in vv. 3–4) the seven qualities that make up the sorites. The New American Standard Bible accurately translates the next word ἐπιχορηγήσατε (aorist active imperative of ἐπιχορηγέω) as “supply.” This word has a connection with a practice carried on in the production of ancient Greek dramas. Hillyer explains: “In the great days of ancient Athens, the plays of dramatists like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides required large and costly choruses. But when such a play was put on, some wealthy public-spirited Athenian defrayed the vast outlay on the chorus—and consequently was known as the choregos. The noble productions were extravagantly expensive, but choregoi vied with each other in their generosity. So epichoregein is far richer a term than the somewhat colorless add of many English translations of this verse.”[19] Peter used the same word six verses later when he stated that believers who are enlisted in pursuing holiness will have an “entrance into the eternal kingdom … abundantly supplied” to them (v. 11).

Moral Excellence: The Reinforcement of the Christian Life

The first virtue to be lavishly supplied out from faith is moral excellence (ἀρετῄ). This word is rendered “excellence” in verse 3, where it relates only to God Himself, whereas in verse 5 it relates to believers. The only other New Testament use of ἀρετῄ is in Philippians 4:8. The moral excellence or virtue in 2 Peter 1:5 broadly displays and demonstrates faith, even reinforcing its impact on fellow believers and those outside of Christ.

Knowledge: The Replenishment of the Christian Life

The next term in the catalog of qualities is knowledge (γνώσις), a word commonly used in secular lists of virtues. It means practical wisdom or discernment. This, as well as all the other traits, is experienced or entered into gradually as a believer matures in Christ. The growing experience does not happen “overnight,” or as a result of taking some kind of “crash course” in Christian growth.

The word γνῶσις became one of the key words used by the false teachers whom Peter critiqued forcefully in 2 Peter. As Kelly puts it, “The word contains a critical side-glance at the speculative gnosis of the errorists who will soon be coming under attack.”[20] Hodges notes, “God wants us to grow in spiritual understanding so that we not only do what is right but also understand why it is right! … In Christian living God wants us not only to do but to discern. For that we need the ever deepening ‘knowledge’ of God’s Word.”[21]

Self-Control: The Restraint to be Manifested In The Christian Life

Self-control (ἐγκράτεια) is also used in Galatians 5:23 as one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. “It was a Hellenistic ideal which Christian writers recognized as a necessary component of Christian ethics. The Christian, too, needed to be self-disciplined and not indulge his physical desires to excess. It is perhaps worth noticing that in Gal 5:23 it occurs in the context of warning against the misuse of Christian freedom in libertinism (Gal. 5:13), which is also the problem in 2 Peter (2:19).”[22]

The restraint suggested by ἐγκράτεια is self-control that reflects a balanced manner of living which avoids extremes. By listing this characteristic of restraint, Peter was contrasting the Christian response or attitude to the lack of restraint clearly observable in the false teachers (2 Pet. 2:2; 3:3).

Perseverance: The Response of the Christian to the Trials of Life

Next Peter explained that perseverance (ὑπομονή) is to be lavishly supplied out of the context of the previous elements. This quality involves steadfastness, courageous reaction to adverse circumstances. As already observed, Bauckham notes that it is difficult to see how each quality in the list leads to the other. Yet Hodges shows how perseverance seems to flow from virtue, knowledge, and self-control. “Clearly the person who cultivates a virtuous life, which is reinforced by knowledge and self-discipline, is well prepared for the worst of times. But in the midst of trial and disappointment he will find his virtue, knowledge, and self-discipline all put to the test. Can he maintain his own standards and self-control? What he needs, therefore, is to develop ‘perseverance’ so that neither Christian character nor conduct is marred or damaged by even the hardest of personal trials.”[23] The writer of Hebrews urged his readers to “run with endurance [ὑπομονῆς] the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Heb. 12:1–2).

Godliness: The Refinement of the Christian Life

Peter proceeded to urge believers to add godliness (εὐσέβεια) to their lives. Godliness embodies reverence toward God, a genuine, heartfelt acknowledgment of His holiness. Green puts it this way: “Eusebeia is a very practical awareness of God in every aspect of life.”[24] As in his previous usage of at least some of these terms, Peter was contrasting the truth from the error espoused by the false teachers, or those outside of Christ, whom he called “ungodly” (ἀσεβής) in 2 Peter 2:5 and 3:7.

Brotherly Kindness: The Relationship Factor in the Christian Life

Peter then listed φιλαδελφία, “brotherly affection or kindness.” Both Peter and Paul were totally realistic when it came to dealing with people, and with human relations and relationships. They both stressed the need for genuine kindness in dealing with members of the household of faith. Peter also stressed this in 1 Peter 1:22 and 3:8, and Paul mentioned the need to respond with kindness to fellow believers in Romans 12:10 and 1 Thessalonians 4:9.

Love: The Total Responsibility of the Christian Life

The final word in the series is ἀγάπη. Building on brotherly kindness, yet somehow transcending it, love goes beyond just the members of the fellowship of believers. Comparing φιλαδελφία and ἀγάπη, Kelly notes that “the mention of the latter seems to betray a sense that this is not enough. Agape has a universal scope (cf. I Thess. 3:12), for the gospel demands love of our neighbour, whoever he may be (Mt. 5:43–48; Lk. 10:25–37).”[25]

Blum succinctly sets forth the significance of ἀγάπη as the final word in this Petrine edifice of a truly Christian manner of living. “Agape is the queen of virtues (cf. 1 Cor 13) and denotes self-sacrificing action in behalf of another. This love flows from God who is himself love (agape in 1 John 4:8), and reaches the world (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16). Godly people who participate in the divine nature must abound in love.”[26] In a real sense love, as the final item in this list, is the completion of it, in that it draws all the previous strands together in a climactic, all-encompassing, manner.

The Contrast of Holiness and Unholiness

In 2 Peter 1:8–9 Peter concluded his reasoned and detailed analysis of the ingredients for a holy life. “The next two verses explain, the first positively and the second negatively, how impoverished and useless the life of a Christian is without these qualities.”[27] Peter wrote, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8). The clear teaching of the apostle here is that there is to be progress, continual and consistent, even in spite of setbacks, in the pursuit of holiness. This progress in holiness is suggested by the words “are increasing,” which translate the word πλεονάζοντα, a present active participle of πλεονάζω. The growing and increasing evidence of these traits in the believer counteracts a lack of spiritual growth and progress. Without such progress, a believer becomes unfruitful. “Nor is there any room for indolence and the slackening of effort (argous); otherwise the Christian becomes unproductive.”[28]

In verse 9 Peter stated that “he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.” The word-pictures implied by the terms “blind or shortsighted” are vivid and striking. It seems best to take the two words τυφλός and μυωπάζων metaphorically as practically synonymous. “The metaphor of blindness, for inability or refusal to see the truth, is common in early Christian literature…. Particularly relevant are those texts which apply the metaphor to the moral declension of Christians: 1 John 2:11; Rev 3:17.”[29]

This sad state is worsened by the fact that the believer is said to have forgotten about having been cleansed from former sins. The verb “having forgotten” is a strong word, implying deliberate neglect and blatant disregard for God’s gracious action in forgiving sins. This emphasizes the contrast between the life of holiness and the life of unholiness, or spiritual blindness, that sadly can characterize a Christian who is out of fellowship with the Lord. The striking words of Revelation 3:17–18 reiterate this condition of failure. There lukewarm believers are described as “blind” (τυφλός) and in need of “eye salve … so that [they] may see.” The thrust of Peter’s appeal here is positive, however. There is no need for any believer to reach the place in life of this cold and indifferent status of “blindness” and forgetfulness of the marvelous work of God in providing forgiveness of sins. The antidote to this condition is to follow the prescribed pathway that Peter so eloquently set forth in 2 Peter 1:4–8.

Conclusion

Perhaps many of Peter’s other exhortations in his two epistles can each be subsumed under one or more of the virtues noted in 2 Peter 1:5–7. For example self-control (v. 6) is seen in these words: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance” (1 Pet. 1:14); “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul” (2:11); and “live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (4:2).

The perfect balance between God’s provisions (2 Pet. 1:3) and a believer’s appropriation of this divine enablement, plus an increasing experiencing of the traits outlined in verses 5–7 are the ingredients for progressive sanctification.

Peter’s emphases here parallel Paul’s emphases, in passages such as Philippians 2:12–13; 4:13; and Colossians 1:11. Thus while there indeed is diversity in the great truths unfolded by Peter and Paul, there is also a clear unity in the themes that are common to them both. One such theme is the balance between God’s provisions on the one hand and the believer’s practice on the other hand in the outworking of true biblical holiness.

Notes

1. See Frederic R. Howe, “Christ, the Building Stone, in Peter’s Theology,” Bibliotheca Sacra 157 (January-March 2000): 35-43; and idem, “The Cross of Christ in Peter’s Theology,” Bibliotheca Sacra 157 (April-June 2000): 190-99.
2. George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, rev. ed., ed. Donald A. Hagner (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 648.
3. D. Edmond Hiebert, First Peter (Chicago: Moody, 1984), 81–82.
4. Scripture quotations are from the American Standard Version (1901) unless noted otherwise.
5. J. Ramsey Michaels, 1 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1988), 56.
6. Wayne Grudem, 1 Peter, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 78.
7. Hiebert, First Peter, 84.
8. Grudem, 1 Peter, 79.
9. Hiebert, First Peter, 86.
10. Richard J. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1983), 192.
11. Hillyer, 1 and 2 Peter,Jude, 161.
12. Michael Green, 2 Peter and Jude, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 73.
13. Ibid., 72 (italics his).
14. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, 651.
15. Green, 2 Peter and Jude, 75–76.
16. Hillyer, 1 and 2 Peter, 165.
17. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, 175.
18. Ibid., 184-85.
19. Hillyer, 1 and 2 Peter, 164.
20. J. N. D. Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and of Jude, Black’s New Testament Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1969), 306.
21. Zane C. Hodges, “Making Your Call and Election Sure: 2 Peter 1:5–11, ” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 11 (spring 1998): 23 (italics his).
22. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, 186.
23. Hodges, “Making Your Call and Election Sure: 2 Peter 1:5–11, ” 23.
24. Green, 2 Peter and Jude, 79.
25. Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and of Jude, 307.
26. Edwin A. Blum, “1 Peter,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 12:64.
27. Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and Jude, 307.
28. Green, 2 Peter and Jude, 81.
29. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, 189.