Written by Paul J Bucknell on December, 05, 2024

2 Peter 1:4 Precious and Magnificent Promises

“¹ Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; ³ seeing that His divine power 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. ⁴ For by these He has granted to us His 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 NASB).

Please repeat me aloud as we begin.

Precious and magnificent
Precious and magnificent promises
His precious and magnificent promises
He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises

God’s promises are profound. They are dear to all believers who discover them. As Peter, I hope that by God’s promises you grow into Christ’s fullness, sharing God’s likeness.

1. The Nature of His Promises

“His…promises”

Christians are at different places in their Christian lives. Some are just beginning; others are young and learning the ropes. We must understand that the strength of our Christian lives comes from a growing faith in God or Jesus Christ, resurrected from the dead. These answers can be intangible at times. I like how Peter, in verse 4, speaks about God’s promises that have become ours.

“His….promises.” A promise is a hopeful word about how things can work out. Those looking at promises are usually the ones who are having trouble at times.

It’s somewhat like looking at a map. Most people—I’m an exception looking at maps worldwide—only look at maps for directions. They are unsure of their circumstances or where they are going. They need extra information to direct them. Promises sometimes provide this information, but they give much more. We will talk about what promises are soon, but let it suffice that God speaks words to our souls that awaken our understanding, courage, boldness, and drive to pursue the path He takes us.

Salvation

God’s promises are first found at salvation, when God first speaks His Word and saving grace into our lives. In 1 Peter 1:23, he said, “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” God remarkably works through His Spirit and His Word to bring saving faith.

I remember vividly when I was saved, though each of us has a unique story, that I was searching madly for a way to escape the deserved horrors of hell. Though I wasn’t listening to the Gospel sermon, a promise came to mind. “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). I did believe, now more than 50 years ago, and I gained instant confidence that my sins were forgiven through Jesus. I can’t even say that I knew how He forgave them, but only that I believed and was forgiven.

This is the first of two reasons Peter brings up in verse 1: we can take complete confidence in God’s promises, “By these things.” “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:1). We have no claim to God’s promises until God makes us His children.

Before going on, however, let me dig a bit deeper here.

Promises are words of hope based on promised actions. But not all of us care for God’s promises. They don’t mean anything to us. I didn’t care about God’s promises when I heard the Gospel the day I was saved. Only afterward, when the Lord revealed my sin and assured me of hell, was I concerned. This is the reason I have people search for conviction. Is the Spirit of God revealing what a sinner you are? If it is not the Holy Spirit and you hear a message that makes you feel guilty, you sometimes try to do better. This is different for you, knowing that no matter what you did or didn’t do, you are still sentenced to eternal punishment. Away from trying to be good, you, like I, look for an escape. This is when I look for hope. I wouldn’t call it salvation, for that is a religious word, but I need help, and my Lord’s promise has become extremely important. (If you sense your sin burdening you, believe in Jesus, the only Savior!)

Sanctification

Maybe you are asking, “What is the second reason we can be assured these promises are ours?” Again, we are trying to understand Peter’s first words in verse 4, “By these things,” He has granted us His promises. Salvation is the first, but there is at least one more. In verse 2, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.” Salvation describes how we step into God’s presence through faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 2 describes our grace and peace when knowing “God and Jesus our Lord.” It’s the general assurance that God will work excellently with all saved. We can expect God’s abounding goodness in our lives.

Peter expands on this with verse 3,” seeing that His divine power 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.” Once we are His, we have everything we need for life and godliness. Our outfit is complete for the job. No matter our life circumstances, even when they seem oppressive or dire, we can be assured of His presence and power.

Summary

So, we have looked at the nature of promises and words of hope. We have seen that salvation is the first promise we experience, but we can also be assured that it is not the last. Salvation begins a long spiritual journey with God, where God brings promises to help you.

2. The Excellent Character of His Promises

“His Magnificent and Precious Promises”

We focus on Peter describing God’s promises as precious and magnificent.

Precious and Marvelous

Peter uses two words to describe these promises of God. The promises are not like man’s; they are uniquely trustworthy. Have you ever been disappointed in the promise of another? He uses two words that help us see the dynamic way God works in our lives through His promises. They both speak of the excellent way God is involved with our lives as His children.

The ESV reads, “his precious and very great promises.
NKJV, “exceedingly great and precious promises.”
CJB: “valuable and superlatively great promises.”

I hope you get the picture! Peter is thoroughly excited about God’s promises. Precious (timios) means dear, esteemed, and valuable. Magnificent (magas) refers to great, awesome, splendid. (Think of mega, which describes great things.)

(1) Precious Promises

God’s words become precious to us. This simultaneously answers the question, “Why does God let us go through these circumstances?” He is teaching us to depend on His words.

How amazing God is in knowing our very situation that He would make us consider His promises precious. They are precious because they, like a fine, precise tool, got into a cavity of our hearts and revealed His goodness to us.

Did you ever wish you were more like someone who seemed to have more advantages than you? Don’t. Your circumstances, except for your sinful choices, have been designed by God to reveal Himself to you in special and unique ways.

The difficult challenge we face is an issue that the Lord wants to help us with, but don’t miss the more significant part. God has stepped in a unique, faithful way to draw our hearts closer to Himself. This is what He so much desires for every believer.

(2) Magnificent Promises

Find God’s magnificent promises in the Bible! They are everywhere.

God speaks a promise, and we believe it; this process builds our relationship with Him. The answer and help we find from His promises are appreciated, but more important is how our eyes of faith are widened.

They are God’s promises, literally “His promises.” None of us can steal them, but He can gift them to us. “He has granted” means “to bestow gratuitously” or gifted. The small but essential phrase “to us” refers to all Christian believers.

If we return to 1 Peter 1:1-2, Peter writes to believers scattered over various areas of modern Turkey, but they apply to all believers everywhere. Peter describes these promises for all “who have received a faith of the same kind as ours.” It comes through God and Savior, Jesus Christ. “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:1).

We will look more at the promises themselves in a moment, but knowing God’s promises are yours is crucial. How do we get them? Peter directs us back to our faith.

I hope you all have believed in Christ and begun to follow Him. Faith in Christ alone leads to the path of life. Jesus alone has died for you, and now exalted reigns over us. No other path that leads to God for Jesus is the “Way, Truth, and Life” (John 14:6). Without Christ, all promises are yours; without Him, none are except that you will face judgment alone.

General promises

General promises describe hope for almost any circumstance. It gives us a general hope for life. Through the words, we know we can trust God. When we trust Him, we obey Him; when we disbelieve, we disobey. Take a look at this Old Testament verse.

The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them. (Isaiah 9:2)

Those familiar with this verse will see that it is very close to Isaiah 9:6, a promise of the Messiah, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders….”

We are going full circle here, seeing that even Jesus’ birth, who brought salvation, would bring hope to all. Peter takes it a step further and assures us that God’s promises will get us through our most difficult times. But we can broaden this a bit and think of it as Peter said: everything you need for life and godliness. For example, you might wrestle with how you fit in, your spiritual gifts, etc. These promises can lift our heads in confidence rather than waddling in despair. Here’s a prayer, “Lord, I don’t know yet how you will use me. I feel out of place, but you have given me everything I need to carry out your will today. Thank you. Please guide me. Amen.” Due to the glory and work of Jesus Christ in our lives, we live in confidence, though often there are missing pieces to our lives—who will I marry? How can I be a better Mom? Our money is inadequate.

We are expectant, praying, waiting, serving, and hoping in Him—in His promises. Doubt leads to despair, sadness, and fewer prayers or prayers without faith.

Personal Promises

We often find ourselves in difficult and trying times in our spiritual journey. We are not looking for a general promise but specific help. Remember, if God has promised to pour out His grace and peace on our lives, we should be open and expectant about how He will do this. This becomes the foundation for our Christian lives. Becoming a Christian leads us to the beautiful ways God provides.

Let me clarify here. Many of us think we will not face problems if we become believers. Maybe you have heard that you will be rich or blessed, inferring you will not have any problems. This is incorrect thinking. Some say we are blessed because we have eight children, but you probably don’t know the times of struggles, losing two of them. Some might say that God blessed me with international ministry, but you probably don’t know how each trip required much waiting on God. We didn’t have the finances for our family, let alone for feeding and caring for hundreds of pastors for a few days. Those were faith-building days. God would use my new lessons to encourage pastors who face the same life circumstances. Let me share one incident.

When worry steps in

I started to worry. Many pastors in India were readying to attend with great expectations. Some would travel for several days. I, however, didn’t have money for a roundtrip ticket, so I foolishly didn’t even apply for a visa. So you can see how my doubt disabled me. I remember vividly walking around and around in our stamp-sized backyard, worried about what to do. I couldn’t even work on the messages! Then, amidst all my worrisome times, I cried out to God to help me and confessed my sin, doubts, and inability to do anything.

Guess what He did? Almost instantly, He brought two Bible passages to my mind, both from the Feeding of the 5,000.

“³⁷ But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” ³⁸ And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” (Mark 6:37-38)

The first was: “You give them something to eat!” (Mk 6:37). God somehow personalized it, meaning you are to provide food for them. I didn’t have a problem with the task, except I had no money for the ticket! But the Lord personalized it, giving me faith that He will provide enough for them!

The second was: “How many loaves do you have?” (Mk 6:38). The disciples started looking around and found five small loaves and two fish. But the Spirit applied this statement to look at what I had and start with that. I had enough money for a visa, so I instantly started on that application. Now I just needed to wait for Him to pay for the tickets! Other complications were because I procrastinated; I was supposed to leave that coming Saturday! But God worked it all out, and thousands of dollars poured in. Messages were prepared now that I had the peace of God. He was waiting on me to use the small faith that I had that He had stirred up with His Word.

God has given me two powerful lessons, but all of it wholly depended on God and His promises. He was the faithful God who could perfectly time things and help this doubting pastor.

Showing God’s love will often require more than you have to give; trust Him.

Start the big projects with little steps, the ones you have faith in. He will bless.

Like with salvation, the Spirit of God uniquely applies His Word to my circumstances. He is interested in the faith needed, so I would respond like the disciples and watch how He provided.

Many promises are in the Bible; they are written down for us. We read a Psalm, and God’s Spirit takes it and encourages or leads us. Promises speak about hope-inspiring us as we walk that tough road. Have you failed a test? Can’t sleep at night? Don’t know how you can emotionally get through a relationship? Are you not sure how to make a decision? Sometimes, God gives us knowledge, but we need more than this. We need a powerful, tender, and timely word to get us to believe what we ought to believe, go where we should go, trusting Him for what seems impossible.

“By these things.”

Peter begins verse 4 by speaking, “By these things.” This is perhaps the most challenging part of these verses because they refer to things Peter mentioned earlier. He links these magnificent promises of God with our wonderfully secured salvation. This makes sense; it’s what we said. Only those who are saved have these promises. We are not certain what Peter refers to but we can identify three foundational supports for these promises from the prior verses.

Verse 1 says, “By the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Righteousness comes from Christ, not ourselves.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Pet 1:2). Growing in godliness through knowing Christ. God multiplies grace and peace so that we would live through His promises (verse 4).
Verse 3 speaks of the divine power He has granted to us.

In summary, God’s magnificent promises stem from the fantastic salvation through faith in Christ—a fully accepted and established relationship with God and Jesus Christ.

So you can see that our staying close to God, relishing His love and grace extended to us through His precious promises, strengthens our hope and direction, cheering us on our arduous journey.

Contrary Winds

God’s promises come from Him and are given to us. Don’t forget this truth! The evil one would want us to forget or confuse this promise of promises.

There are many things in our lives by which we censor ourselves, “We don’t deserve salvation.” “I failed Him; I’m just a second-class Christian.” “Others seem to be further along; I’ll never catch up.” All of these are Satan’s whispers.

What does Jesus openly say? You have the same faith as Peter and, therefore, have full access to God’s promises. Faith helps us claim these promises. Peter denied Jesus and failed Him, but note how Jesus brings a few encouraging words of comfort before He went to the cross. “But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

Do you see how God’s promises intercept our dark times and poor decisions? Peter experienced failures but also heard the words of Jesus. God was not finished with Him even after he denied Jesus three times at Jesus’ most vulnerable time. I suppose none of our failures will compare, which means God’s promises are intended to strengthen and encourage us all—no matter how you have failed Him or others.

Application: So, where are you in your Christian life? Have you trailed behind Him and begun to lose sight of Him? These promises have become yours if you are in Christ! How can God’s promises help me?

Peter describes these promises as precious and magnificent promises. They are “His promises,” depicting how God interrelates, directs, and empowers His people.

“Has granted to us.” As earlier described, the promises are for His people—those of the same kind of faith. They are also “Granted,” showing that His grace and peace has already been credited to our accounts. We always have sufficient grace to face the trials of the day. This is the past tense. There is a tremendous confidence God gives His people. “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).

These divine promises have been graciously given to His people. “Granted” is in the past tense—already supplied. Divinely empowered indicates God’s power can help us intercept any dark threat. The terms “precious and magnificent” refer back to the previous verses. Precious speaks of the personal profit given to us when going through various trials. Magnificent reminds us of how He picked our helpless lives when we entrusted Him with our lives and the situation.

Magnificent attains its regality from stepping up close to Jesus and seeing one or more promises filled in your life to one degree or another. Their intense glory comes from seeing and better knowing Him, the eternal One, behind the promises.

The closer we are to God, the stronger our faith and the clearer His precious and magnificent promises are to rely on. If we aren’t close, we aren’t reminded of His promises. Instead, we guess we hear Satan’s whispers and take them as true. “You failed.” “May as well give up.” “Look how silly you look.” “Look what you are missing out on.”

You might wonder how you can get close to God, if it isn’t too late. It’s not! The promises have already been granted to you and us. I would suggest running up to the front of the line. If you are unsure of the way or feel powerless, cry out directly to Him for that help. Our Good Shepherd is always listening to the cries of His sheep. Right now, cry out. Throughout the day and night, until you hear from Him and His promises return to you.

How important is it for new Christians to know about these promises? I hope you say they are all-important. God’s words lead us to understand God’s good purposes for our lives better. We are no longer orphans! As we mature in Christ, our understanding of the majestic characteristics will be combined with extra patience and the ability to serve others.

The World’s Promises

Perhaps it would be helpful to contrast God’s promises with the world’s. To be sure, the world is constantly luring us along with promises, but they are false promises. Remember the serpent tempting Eve. He made eating of the forbidden fruit so grand. We often spend half of our growing as believers learning not to trust the world. We are so slow. Sight takes over the development of our trust in God’s Word. But observe this contrast.

God’s Words <> Satan’s lies
God’s wisdom <> Satan’s subtle purposes

God’s promises are immeasurably better. The infinite, wise, caring, purposeful God speaks to us to help us along His path.

A young believer doesn’t know the difference between the lure of the world and God’s promises. Whatever is out front seems to lead them.

Growing believers wrestle with the same issue but need to learn more quickly. They slowly get the connection. When they pray and read God’s Word, they are stronger and not so vulnerable to false promises about them.

God wants us to regularly be in His Word and find strength so that we can grow more and more. Peter encourages us on this path starting in verse 5.

“⁵ Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, ⁶ and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, ⁷ and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ 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.” (2 Pet 1:5-8)

Like vitamins, we need a sample of all vitamins to grow normally. One thing helps another.

3. What is God’s purpose for His promises?

> How do they work?

“…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).

Let’s first note the “So that.” Those two words describe the purpose God has for you. You will note two grand aspects: (1) sharing His divine nature, and (2) escape from world’s corruption. God is concerned about those things that happen in your life—family, work, troubles, health, but there is something that helps you at a deeper level.

This purpose of freedom from the world’s corruption and lust leads to our salvation and then our sanctification, where His grace is practically worked out. Let us not be confused with worldly promises that give hope to riches and popularity. Our Maker restores us to our life purpose by enabling us to commune with Him. The magnificent of His promises attains their regality by stepping up close to Jesus and seeing one or more promises fulfilled in one’s life to one degree or another. Its intense glory comes from seeing and better knowing Him, the eternal One behind His promises. Sometimes, we must get off the scenic route and pause, meditate, and deliberate on His excellencies.

Salvation gives us the heart to want purity, the drive to pursue holiness, and the presence of God to protect us. We are declared righteous and, therefore, reconciled with God as his children.

Sanctification describes the process of being increasingly committed to God. With the backpack of salvation on us, we are girded for all the battles we face to live free from the world’s corruption. Lust is when our desires come alive, demanding what we want. Think of wealth, fame, and recognition. Sins like pride, greed, selfishness, lies, and stealing follow, depending on our circumstances.

God’s precious and magnificent promises help us remember our salvation, where we look again on Christ for our cleaning. We are humbled and grateful for wanting us to follow Him. However, and, not so often spoken, is the rays of hope, direction, and confidence that come with His offered “precious and magnificent promises.”

Like Jesus’ words to Peter, you will return no matter how far you have fallen or forgotten the Lord. God has a great plan to work through your lives.

The biblical words show us how God’s words can pick us up from difficult times. Do not underplay the importance of God’s Word to the development of our Christian lives. Of course, some crucial truths relate to our salvation. We looked at this earlier in verses 1-2, but consider the many ways God imparts hope through a Psalm, such as Psalm 23, assures us, such as through Matthew 6:33.

This is why regularly reading the Word of God is so empowering. It keeps us close to the Lord. If we don’t listen to His Word, our hearts get further away from Him. On the other hand, we catch up by reading and obeying His Word, calling out to Him when we face difficulties. Of course, ask pastors, elders, and other brothers and sisters. But God’s Word will continually deepen your relationship with Him, our Lord.

God’s precious and magnificent promises are simple, straightforward truths given in God’s Word meant to encourage and help us accomplish His purposes. This verse is a promise because He says, “he has granted us” these promises. He has promised us His promises! It’s like discovering a pocket in your trousers or purse you never knew you had, filled with dazzling treasures. We find these promises stated in God’s Word.

Believers spend their lives discovering and exploring the preciousness and magnificence of His promises.
Without God’s promises, we will not, cannot succeed.
One needs to recognize these promises in one’s possession and utilize them when needed.
The promises bring startling clarity to one or more truths that reveal the falseness of those temptations slogging about in our minds.
The promises always point us to rely on God’s abounding grace and peace.
We appropriate His promises by treasuring and trusting them.

We give praise to God for His great blessings! If you are starting out, search out the promises of God (search: 50 promises of God). Do you see why Peter describes them as precious? They became precious because God led them forward in many difficult circumstances.

Summary

I do not have time to discuss the many promises that, in a thousand ways, describe our sonship, power, presence, and purpose of god in our lives. But our Christian lives can be defined as being on a spiritual life-path beginning at salvation. This is where we discover and relish the promises God has with us. Promises for salvation are included here—believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. That is the promise by which I came to know the Lord. But they have to do with our daily lives.

2 Peter 1:4 Study Questions

Where do God’s promises come from?
How can you be assured they are for you (1-3)?
What three assurances does Peter mean by “By these things?”
How is verse 3’s “His divine power” related to the magnificence of His promises?
How do God’s promises become magnificent?
Share two ways God has wonderfully blessed you through His promises.
What are God’s two purposes for His promises (4)?
What does it mean to share His divine nature (4)?
Identify three ways God’s work in your life has freed you from the world’s lust. Compare your past with the present.