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2 Peter 1 - Concise Bible - Commentary

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2 Peter 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:

2 grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

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:

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.

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

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.

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.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

11 for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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.

13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

14 knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

16 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.

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.

18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

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:

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

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.

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2 Peter 1

FALLING FROM GRACE A WARNING

Second Peter is the first of the New Testament books of which there is any doubt as to its canonicity. It was not mentioned by the earliest Christian writers, but this may be accounted for by the lateness of its appearance, and the fact that it was not addressed to any local church with an interest in and facility for making its existence known.

On the other hand there are points of genuineness, such as similar expressions to those in 1 Peter, similar views of prophecy, the writer’s testimony to his presence at the transfiguration, etc., all of which substantiate the Petrine authorship. We cannot consider the subject at any length enough to know that the book has been regarded as canonical by the whole church, with isolated exceptions, for sixteen or seventeen centuries at least.

ITS OBJECT

Before analyzing the epistle let us consider its object which was to warn and to exhort (2Pe 3:17-18). And this warning was against falling from grace, while the exhortation was in the direction of growing in grace. A working outline will be found in considering:

1. The enforcement of this warning and exhortation (2Pe 1:2-11); 2. The ground of it (2Pe 1:12-21); 3. The occasion of it (chaps. 2-3).

A THREE-PART WARNING

1. The source of growth (2Pe 1:2-4). This source is God Himself. Grace and peace are multiplied in us through the knowledge of Him (2Pe 1:2), but that is not all. His divine power grants unto us how many other things that pertain to the same end (2Pe 1:2)? And through what channel do they come (same verse)? By this knowledge of God we become possessed of certain things, what are they (2Pe 1:4)? And through the possession of these promises of what do we come to partake? But what antecedently has become true of us? How does “the corruption that is in the world” control men so that they cannot partake of the divine nature (same verse)?

2. The lines of growth (2Pe 1:5-7). If we are to be preserved from falling from grace in what general directions should we be careful to grow in grace? We have obtained faith from God, in other words, and by this we have been declared righteous in a judicial sense, but what now, are we to add to this faith, or “supply in it,” to quote the Revised Version, in order to perfect assurance? The list of the virtues follows, of which one or two require a word of explanation. “Virtue,” for example, is not chastity, but “Courage,” perhaps moral courage to confess our faith before men. And “temperance” is not moderation in the use of intoxicated drinks merely, but in every line of conduct, self-restraint, in other words. Moreover, the word “charity” is to be interpreted by “love” as in 1 Corinthians 13.

3. The need of growth (2Pe 1:8-11). The necessity for “diligence” in these matters is seen in what follows. It is the presence of these things in our lives that makes us fruitful in Christ, and bears testimony to the power of His cleansing blood (2Pe 1:8-9). Moreover, they produce the strength of assurance of our salvation (2Pe 1:10), and secure that that salvation shall be a triumphant and glorious one (2Pe 1:11).

GROUND OF THE WARNING

Passing from the apostle’s enforcement of his warning and exhortation to the ground of it (2Pe 1:12-21), we find it built upon the truth of the Gospel. And this is set before us along two lines of evidence: (1) The testimony of Peter himself (2Pe 1:12-18). In introducing this he speaks of his object (to stir them up), his motive (his approaching decease), and his purpose (to prepare a record of these things, which, by the way, is supposed to be contained in the Gospel of Mark). But now, what is his testimony? That is, to what particular fact of Gospel history does he bear witness (2Pe 1:16)? What kind of witness is it (same verse)? What did he see and hear? Do you remember who were with him? How does he interpret the transfiguration, that is, of what greater event does it serve as a foregleam? (2) The testimony of the Old Testament prophets (2Pe 1:19-21). 2Pe 1:19 should read: “Wherefore we have the word of prophecy made more sure.” It does not mean that the Old Testament prophets are more sure than the new, but that such words as his strengthen the prediction spoken before. How, then, should we regard the Old Testament prophecies (2Pe 1:19)? What does he say of their origin (for so should “interpretation” be understood in 2Pe 1:20)? And when he says those prophecies were not of any “private” origination, what does he mean, as gathered from 2Pe 1:21? Does not this strongly corroborate Paul in 2Ti 3:16.

QUESTIONS

1. What distinguishes this epistle in the canon?

2. What strong evidence is there to its canonicity?

3. State its object or purpose.

4. Give its outline.

5. How many questions in the text of the lesson have you answered satisfactorily?




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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge Univ. Press & BFBS
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