“Supply to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control endurance, to your endurance godly devotion, to your godly devotion brotherly affection, to your brotherly affection love.”​—2 Pet. 1:5-7.

Advancing in Knowledge of God and Christ

5. After obtaining a faith, what responsibility do we have, and what is essential in fulfilling it?

⁵ After having “obtained a faith,” disciples of Jesus Christ come under personal responsibility to conform ever closer to God’s will for them. Accurate knowledge will help us to do this. The apostle Peter stressed the importance of accurate, full or complete knowledge, saying: “May undeserved kindness and peace be increased to you by an accurate knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”​—2 Pet. 1:2.

6. (a) What is meant by having an “accurate knowledge of God and of Jesus”? (b) How do we come to have such knowledge?

⁶ Our having an accurate knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” means knowing them as persons​—their qualities, ways and dealings—​and imitating their flawless example. (Compare Jeremiah 22:15, 16; Matthew 7:21-23; 1 John 2:3-6; 3:5, 6.) By our advancement in learning and in applying the principles of God’s Word, we come to know the Father and his Son better and better. This results in our enjoying undeserved kindness and peace to an ever greater degree.

7. How is “undeserved kindness” increased “by an accurate knowledge of God and of Jesus”?

⁷ It is only by doing what is pleasing to Jehovah God and Jesus Christ that we continue to receive divine help and guidance. Because we are sinful humans, we have no merit on our own. So whatever our Maker does for us is an expression of his undeserved kindness. Nevertheless, our being recipients of divine undeserved kindness depends on our striving to be like our heavenly Father and his Son. When this is true in our case, we can approach Jehovah God with full confidence that he will answer our petitions. The Christian apostle John stated:

8. How is “peace” increased “by an accurate knowledge of God and of Jesus”?

⁸ When we possess, not just knowledge, but full, rounded-out knowledge of our heavenly Father and his Son, we see clearly what is pleasing in their sight. We remain in union and at peace with them, enjoying an intimacy with them as their friends. Consequently, our progress in coming to know Jehovah God and his Son more fully leads to the enjoyment of increased peace. This is so because of our avoiding to an ever greater degree attitudes, speech and action that are contrary to the example of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

9. What effect does sinning have on our peace with God?

⁹ On the other hand, by sinning, we would be disrupting our peace with the Most High, as we would be acting against his will. Only God’s forgiveness, based on our sincere repentance and faith in the atoning benefits of Christ’s sacrifice, can bring a restoration of peace.​—1 John 2:1, 2.

Let “Divine Power” Move You to Action

10. What can help us to enjoy undeserved kindness and peace in increased measure?

¹⁰ Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, of course, want us to enjoy undeserved kindness and peace in increased measure. Therefore, we should cooperate with them by making a determined effort to come to know them better. One way in which we can do this is by reflecting appreciatively on what Jehovah God, by means of his Son, has done in our behalf. The apostle Peter wrote: “His divine power has given us freely all the things that concern life and godly devotion, through the accurate knowledge of the one who called us through glory and virtue. Through these things he has freely given us the precious and very grand promises, that through these you may become sharers in divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world through lust.”​—2 Pet. 1:3, 4.

11, 12. (a) Why is “divine power” associated with “accurate knowledge”? (b) How is this illustrated in the case of Christians at Thessalonica?

¹¹ Note that Peter associated “divine power” with “accurate knowledge.” This is most appropriate, for God’s word, or message, regarding his Son, the “good news,” can have a powerful impact on the lives of people. This is well illustrated in what the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “The good news we preach did not turn up among you with speech alone but also with power.” (1 Thess. 1:5) The preaching of the “good news” at Thessalonica brought results. It was not a matter of persons’ hearing words and not acting on them, that is, it was not a matter of “speech alone.” The Thessalonians who embraced Christianity were moved to act, indicating that the “good news” had exerted power. These Christians became an example to other believers in faithfully enduring persecution for the sake of righteousness and in continuing to bear witness to everyone about the “good news.”

14. How does Jehovah God do the calling “through glory and virtue”?

¹⁴ The manner in which Jehovah God calls or draws individuals to himself should serve as a strong encouragement to make progress in Christian living. The apostle Peter referred to “the accurate knowledge of the one who called us through glory and virtue.” Jehovah God does the ‘calling’ or ‘drawing’ through his Son. It is particularly in Jesus Christ that “glory and virtue” are manifest to humans. The Christian apostle John wrote respecting the Son: “The Word became flesh and resided among us, and we had a view of his glory, a glory such as belongs to an only-begotten son from a father; and he was full of undeserved kindness and truth.” (John 1:14) In the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, John and the other apostles saw a glory, a splendor, a magnificence that could only be displayed by someone who perfectly reflected the image of the heavenly Father. Moreover, the apostle John, along with James and Peter, witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. At that time “his face shone as the sun, and his outer garments became brilliant as the light.” (Matt. 17:2) Just as glory is linked with the Son of God, so is virtue. Jesus Christ was outstandingly virtuous, a man of moral excellence. Even the traitorous Judas Iscariot acknowledged: “I sinned when I betrayed righteous blood.” (Matt. 27:4) So it has been through the “glory and virtue” reflected in the Son that Jehovah has done the calling.