Please note that all Biblical quotes, in this and all other lessons posted to Greek Thoughts, are from The Literal English Translation of the Bible produced by BTE Ministries - The Bible Translation and Exegesis Institute of America.
Last week, we studied the verb form εὐσεβὲω (Strong's #2151), which means to worship or to show reverence toward someone. We saw that εὐσεβὲω is made up of the adverb εὖ (Strong's #2095), which means "to fare well, to prosper," and the verb σὲβω (Strong's #4576), which means "to worship, to show reverence." This week we begin a series on the related noun form εὐσὲβεια (Strong's #2150), which means reverence, respect, or godliness.
As is the case with εὐσεβὲω, εὐσὲβεια is made up of the adverb εὖ and the verb σὲβω. In Classical Greek, εὐσὲβεια expressed a "reverence toward the gods." In its nonreligious use, it represented the "respect" a child was to have toward a parent. Its domestic meaning was eventually lost and εὐσὲβεια came to be used almost exclusively as a religious term representing a respectful attitude toward God directly and the living of a correct lifestyle in respect to Him. Εὐσὲβεια is used in the New Testament to express reverence toward God from true believers as well as from false teachers and non-believers. In our first study, we are going to concentrate on the reverence toward God that God's Spirit produces in the life of the believer. This week, our study will focus on 2 Peter 1:2-4.
While Peter writes his first letter to warn the church about the threat coming against it from the outside world, he writes his second letter to warn the church about the threat coming against it from within the church itself — namely false teaching. In this second letter, written when he knows that his death is eminent, Peter reminds believers of the basic essentials of the Christian faith and the course they are to follow when assembling together. In doing so, he elucidates the first principle of the Christian faith.
2 Peter 1:2-4
In verse 2, Peter expresses his wish that grace and peace be multiplied to the believers as they continue "in the full-knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." In the next verse, he states that grace and peace can be multiplied to them because "His divine power has given to us all the things pertaining to life and godliness (εὐσὲβεια)," In these two verses, Peter is saying that God's divine power gives the believer everything pertaining to life and godliness, or to a lifestyle lived in reverence toward God. Because of this (God's divine power), a believer can continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18) having grace and peace multiplied to him through God's supply.
Peter goes on to say, in verse 3, that all things pertaining to life and reverence are given to us "through the full-knowledge of the One having called us through glory and virtue." Here some older manuscripts read, "through the full-knowledge of the One having called us through His own glory and virtue," which helps to add the correct explanation of "glory and virtue." Although some believe that this text states that we, as believers, are to add our glory and virtue to the presence of God's divine power, the text clearly teaches that God has called us through His glory and virtue.
Peter then states, in verse 4, that through theseGod's glory and virtue He has given us the greatest and precious promises, through which we have become partakers of the divine nature, after having escaped the corruption that is in the world found in lust.
From these verses, we gain an understanding of the first principle of the Christian faith partaking of the divine nature of God. This is Peter's description of that person who has experienced a spiritual birth from God and has the presence of the Spirit of God residing within. Peter makes it clear that a person becomes a partaker of the divine nature through God's great and precious promises, not through any human effort. Only through the presence and supply of God's divine nature is a person given all things pertaining to life and reverence toward God. Peter is relating that God's Spirit not only produces God's life in us, but also produces all of the necessary power to live life with respect and reverence toward God. This power to live life encompasses fulfillment and contentment in life as well as the perception and awareness to live life with respect to God's order and His will. Peter emphasizes that the grace and peace resulting from life with God's divine nature is multiplied through gaining the full-knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. This growth process is described in verses 5-8 which we will take in detail next week.
* EUSEBEIA is the English font spelling of the Greek word εὐσὲβεια.
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Bill Klein has been a pastor, counselor, and educator for the past 41 years. He has had extensive training and education in biblical languages, and has authored a Biblical Greek course.
He is currently serving as Professor of Biblical Greek at Master's Graduate School of Divinity, and president of BTE Ministries - The Bible Translation and Exegesis Institute of America, a non-profit organization located in California that provides Bible study tapes and Greek study materials through their website BTEMinistries.org.