2 Peter 1

2 Peter 1:1-11

The apostle Peter, after his salutation, begins his epistle with congratulating the Christians on the happy state into which they were brought by the gospel; and urges them, in order to secure the blessings connected with their profession, to endeavour to improve in its most substantial graces and virtues. 2 Pet. I. 1—11.

PETER I. 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:

PETER I. 1.

SIMON Peter, who has the honour to style himself a servant, and even an apostle of Jesus Christ; being selected by his heavenly Master to that exalted and important office, sends his most affectionate salutation, with this his epistle, to all those to whom it may come, who have obtained like precious faith with us, in that glorious gospel, which is a declaration of life and salvation by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, in which,

i. 2 Pet. i. 1

a Of our God and Saviour, &c] The this translation, though I confess it is not order of the original words rather favours absolutely necessary, and it may be ren-

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St. Peter’s salutation to the Christian com

sinful as we are, we obtain acceptance with the Father, through that atonement which our Divine Redeemer has made, and the perfect righteousness he has introduced for the justification of all his believing people.

For this purpose, that this invaluable blessing may be ensured to you, may grace and peace in all your concerns, temporal and spiritual, be multiplied unto you by the acknowledgment of the great God and of Jesus Christ our Lord; by a faithful and courageous profession of whose name we put ourselves into the way of receiving the most important blessings. This we may cheerfully expect, as his Divine power has given unto us all things in such rich abundance, which [relate] both to life and godliness; whereby the present life is rendered much more comfortable to us, and the future and eternal life of our souls is secured. And this we obtain, by the knowledge of him who has, by his gospel, called us by that glory with which he has now invested us, and that strengthening virtue, and energy of his spirit: By means of which illustrious seal, set to the declaration of the gospel, are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, relating to blessings infinitely more valuable than any present enjoyments or expectations. And the design of God, in bestowing this inestimable favour is, that by

dered as in our version, of God and our Saviour. It is observable, that the order in the next verse is different, and determines it to the translation there used.

b Life and godliness.] Some imagine this to be an Hebraism for a godly life; but the meaning is so much enriched by understanding it more literally, that I choose to retain our version, and to paraphrase the words according to it.

to add to their faith, knowledge an temperance :

these you may be made partakers of a Divine nature; transformed into the image of God’s moral perfections; having escaped the corruption [which is] so generally prevalent, in the world, through the lust which men are ready to indulge, to the reproach and destruction of their immortal souls. And for this purpose, applying with all possible diligence, as you have believed the gospel, be careful to accompany that belief with all the lovely train of attendant graces; associate, as it were, to your faith, virtue, true fortitude and resolution of mind, which may enable you to break through that variety of dangers with which your faith may be attended; and to this heroic virtue and bravery, that knowledge which may direct your resolution aright; And to knowledge, temperance; that if you should be in the most plentiful circumstances, they may not be a snare to you, and the bounties of Providence may not be abused to the dishonour of God, and your own detriment; and to this temperance add patience, as you are not apprized what afflictions may possibly succeed your prosperity, nor how severe they may be; and to patience add godliness, that devout temper of mind, which will be so powerful a support to your patience, both by the views it gives you of the wisdom and goodness of all the Divine dispensations, and by the pleasure which it will mingle with the most painful exercises and trials; And to godliness, add brotherly kind-

c Partakers of a Divine nature] I cannot think the passages, which are produced from Philo and Josephus, as parallel to this, are sufficient to justify Dr. Whitby’s interpreting this phrase of miraculous and ophetic endowments.

c For this purpose: αὖς πιόλ.] The learned Albert supposes the particle as to be understood, and I have translated it accordingly

c Associate.] The word ἀπ’ χορηγνῶσις properly signifies to lead up, as in a dance, one of these virtues after another in a beautiful and majestic order. See Goodman’s Parable of the Prod. p. 296; and Sir Norton Knatchbull in loc.

b Virtue.] Virtue cannot here signify an universal regularity of mind and manners, (see Titus iii. 8,) because every particular afterwards mentioned, is a virtue in that sense; and the apostle speaks of

each as additional to what went before. It must therefore here signify courage, a the original word ἀρετή often does. (Compare note c above) And it is properly added to faith, in reference to the need faith has of a courageous defence, and to the advantage it gives us for that purpose The knowledge to be added, signifies, not that general knowledge on which faith an virtue must be founded, but an acquaintance with the importance of the several principles and duties comprehended is that general knowledge; and by this courage would properly be directed, which might otherwise act at random. Nor can we imagine, that one of these good qualities can entirely subsist without another; but every one is to make up, as it were, a part of the chorus, appearing together in a lovely and venerable train.

And diligently to make their calling and election sure.

ness, that peculiar affection which you owe to your fellow Christians, as your brethren in the Lord; and add to this brotherly kindness, universal love to all your fellow creatures, extending your kind affectionate regards to those who are entirely strangers to that religion which you are so happy as to embrace, and even to those who most unrighteously oppose it, and injure you for your profession of it: For if these excellent things which I have now described, exist and abound in you, they will permit [you] to be neither inactive nor unfruitful, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; but as they must put you upon exerting yourselves in consequence of that knowledge, they will make these your endeavours delightful and effectual for that purpose; But he that is deficient in these things, is blind as to the most important objects of knowledge; at best he is very shortsighted, his views are limited to a narrow circle of low and mean objects, which lie immediately before him, and cannot take in that enlarged and noble prospect which Christianity sets before him. He shows that he hath contracted a sad forgetfulness of [his] baptismal engagements, and of that purification from the sins of his former life, which he professed to be in search of, and hoped to find by that solemn ordinance which initiated him into the Christian church.

And as it would be very fatal to fall from these bright views and expectations into a state of such aggravated condemnation, therefore my brethren, endeavour so much the more diligently to make your calling and your election sure,¹ and

[Calling and election sure.] Mr Brekel, he ingenious author of the Christian War, hath taken pains to prove that calling and election alludes to the manner in which armies were raised; first, by calling together all of a proper age to bear arms; and then, choosing on such as were reckoned most proper for that purpose. And he supposes, that making the calling and election, always, steadfast, was acting in such a manner that they might not be considered and disbanded, as unworthy a place in the army into which they had been listed. He has indeed proved by a great number of learned quotations, that this was the case in the Croatian armies;

and Rev. xvii 14, may perhaps be a further illustration of it, as he well urges. But I cannot think, that by this we are to determine our notion of the Christian calling and election; and whoever should attempt to apply this idea to such phrases in the multitude of places, would find it utterly unsuitable. I have therefore so taken in the idea, which this agreeable writer suggests, as not entirely to drop others, which I think it extremely probable the apostle might have in his view. And it will certainly be a good sense, if we understand the exhortation, Make it an assured thing to yourselves, that you are called and chosen of God.

Reflections on the fruits of the knowledge of Christ.

firm; that having been called into the church of Christ, and chosen to such exalted external privileges, and such glorious hopes, you may not finally lose them; but may be assured upon the best grounds, that you are indeed effectually called by Divine grace, and chosen to the possession of life everlasting. And this important end will be secured, if you resolutely persist in your duty, according to the directions I have now given; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall; God will support you with communications of grace, suitable to any extraordinary trial, to which you may be called, till the whole is brought to a happy issue and conclusion. For so an entrance shall be richly and abundantly administered unto you in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; you shall not only be secure of obtaining happiness there; but shall be received into it with circumstances of solemn pomp and distinguished honour; and those graces which adorned your profession here on earth, shall, as it were, attend you in a radiant train to those mansions of everlasting felicity and glory, which the Divine mercy shall then assign you, through Jesus Christ, to whom the praise of all is to be ascribed, and with whom you shall reign through the endless ages of eternity.

IMPROVEMENT.

WITH all humility let us adore the Divine goodness, in making us partakers of the like precious faith with that which he bestowed on the primitive believers. And let it often be considered in this comprehensive and edifying view, as terminating on the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, on that method of justification by him and his gospel which Divine grace hath found out and proposed. With thankfulness let us own the abundant provision made for us, of all things pertaining to life and godliness; and above all, let the exceeding rich and invaluable promises, contained in the gospel, be reviewed with sincere delight, and be esteemed as our securest and most important treasure. May they actually have all that efficacy they are suited and intended to have, to procure and secure our escape from the pollutions which are in the world through lust, and to advance the Divine resemblance in our souls. How various, and how lovely, are the graces which are here recommended, as what we are with all diligence to add to our faith: courage and temperance,

St. Peter would remind them of what they had been taught;

patience and godliness, brotherly kindness, and universal charity! i. These are the genuine fruits of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; these, while they honour him, and adorn our profession, will be no less honourable and beneficial to ourselves. Short-sighted indeed we are, if we perceive not on the one hand, the happy and delightful consequences which they will finally produce; and on the other, how utterly vain our baptismal honours and engagements, and all external privileges of church communion, will be, if these vitals of Christianity are wanting. In order to excite our indolent minds to pursue these Divine graces with a spirit in some measure proportionable to their excellence, let us frequently reflect on our speedy removal from this world and all its vanities; how soon we must enter upon eternity. O, how desirable then to enter on the kingdom of Christ, to be honoured with an abundant entrance into everlasting mansions, to be received as with a cordial welcome, to sail, as it were, into that blessed harbour with a full gale of consolation and joy! Be not deceived; God is not mocked; it is the invariable design of the gospel to produce and advance our holiness; it is the immutable constitution of the kingdom of Christ, that without it no man shall be permitted to see the Lord. (Heb. xii. 14.)

2 Peter 1:12

The apostle, in the view of his own approaching dissolution, reminds his Christian brethren that their religion was firmly founded, as it was attested both by the miraculous voice from heaven, which declared Jesus to be the Son of God, and by the divinely inspired prophecies, which also bore testimony to him under that character. 2 Pet. I. 12, to the end.

2 PETER I. 12.

I HAVE been exhorting you to cultivate the several graces of Christianity, and urging this as necessary for the security of your eternal salvation; therefore I will not neglect, always to put you in mind of these things; though I am aware, that you already know them, and are well established by the instruction you have received in the present truth, relating to the practice of these virtues. But I account it right and expedient, yea, what by my office in the church of Christ I owe to you, and my other brethren, as long as I am in this tabernacle, and inhabit this frail mortal body, from which, God only knows how soon I may be

2 PETER I. 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.

Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up.

for they had not followed cunningly devised fables :

dislodged, to stir you up by way of remembrance, and to endeavour to keep your hearts under as lively a sense of Divine things as I can ; Knowing that all these opportunities of service are confined within very narrow limits ; and that I must quickly put off this my tabernacle by death, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me by an express prophecy, and that memorable action of his, when, just after his resurrection, he commanded me to follow him in token of my readiness to die for him, by the same kind of death which he suffered. (John xxi. 18, 19, 20.) But I will endeavour, to the utmost of my ability, while it pleases God to continue me among you, that you may have these things so familiar to your minds now, that ye may also every one of you have them in remembrance after my departure, when I shall have made my exit from the stage of mortality. For we have not been pursuing after a series of artfully devised fables, while we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ; they were not fallaciously invented, nor rashly credited by us ; but we were eye witnesses of his majesty, and of the solemn pomp and grandeur with which he appeared at his transfiguration. For he then received from God the Father illustrious honour and glory ; sublime honour was done him, and refulgent glory was shed round about him, when such a voice was sent forth to him from the magnificent glory of the Shechinah, which then appeared so conspicuous and glorious, and made that ever memorable proclamation, This is my well beloved son in whom Iacquiesce, (Mat. xvii. 5.) and in whom my soul is perfectly well pleased. And this voice which came down from heaven, we, his three distinguished friends, James and John, as well as myself, actually heard, when we were with him in the holy mount, which was, for the time, consecrated by the visible appearance of the Divine glory upon it. And we have a surer and firmer prophetical word,²

² Surer prophetical word.] Some are of only signifies a very sure prophetical word opinion that the apostle intended no comparison in this place, but that the comparative is used for the positive ; so that it As in Heb. xiii. 23, ταχίει is used for quickly. Acts xxv. 10, καλλιτε for well Compare 1 Tim. iii. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 17, 18.

or the evidence of which, on the whole, is far more extensive and important, than that of any single miracle, how conspicuous soever: to which, therefore, ye do very well to adhere, and to take heed to its contents, as to a lamp shining in a dark, obscure, and gloomy place.ᵇ Observe it therefore, and adhere to it, till the day dawn, and the morning star arise in your hearts, with resplendent beams, as the sure herald of an eternal day, whose sun shall no more go down, nor its moon withdraw itself: Knowing this first, as a matter of chief importance; that no prophecy of scripture is of private impulse,ᶜ or original. For prophecy was not brought of old, to the minds of those that uttered it, by the will of man; they could not work themselves up to the attainment of this extraordinary gift, nor divinely foretel what they themselves desired, and whenever they pleased; but holy men of God, whom he honoured with that important work, spake [as they were] borne on by the Holy Spirit; and they were only his organs, in declaring to the people what he was disposed to suggest to them.

and prophecies for the least, Mat. xi. 11; like vii. 28. Others assert, that the series of prophecies, when explained in light of the New Testament, is a such clearer proof of Christ’s being the less ab, than any single miraculous fact, his was. It is also debated, whether prophecy signifies the gift so called among Christians, or the written prophecies of the Testament. But I think it cannot be abused, that it refers to the latter, and the same with what is called below, the 20ᵇ verse, the prophecy of scripture, is said to have come in old time, by the of God. Lamp shining in a dark place.] Bishop under supposes, prophecy is so called, cause it grows gradually brighter and latter, as it approaches nearer and farer to its accomplishment. Bishop under’s Defence of Christianity, p. 23. No prophecy of scripture is of private pulse.] So I render etnooue; and it to signify, that men did not work themselves up into such agitations, as led to utter the predictions and oracles recorded. And this, al will very well bear, justify. To interpret the right of private jud, pretation of scripture, the apostle’s purpose, ly injurious to common Christology, Vol. I p and Mr. Baxter hav as if the apostle had s to be interpreted mer this particular person c speaks; but as having which the expression were overruled under t spirit, in reference to sation; in respect to times were carried themselves were awar (after Dr. Hammond, etnooue originally: watch word given to the were to start. See his trovers, between the aut &c. and his adversaries,

Reflections on the certainty of the Christian religion.

IMPROVEMENT.

MAY that uncertainty, that frailty and brevity of human life, which the ministers of Christ are frequently inculcating upon others, be seriously considered by themselves. Let them remember, that they must quickly put off this tabernacle, and be dismissed from their present state of service; and while they have opportunity therefore, let them stir up the minds of the people committed to their charge, by way of remembrance, and give diligence to make such impressions upon their hearts, that when they themselves are laid down in the silence of the grave, and sleeping among the clods of the valley, by the recollection and improvement of the lessons they taught, survivors may be quickened in their preparation to quit their dissolving tabernacles likewise, and to follow their pious leaders into the joy of their Lord.

It must undoubtedly yield us an inconceivable satisfaction as Christians, that we have not followed cunningly devised fables; that the persons on whose testimony we rely as an authentic evidence to the truth of our holy religion, were eye witnesses of the illustrious facts on which it is founded; and particularly, that important oracle, the voice from heaven, by which the true and living God declared Jesus of Nazareth to be his well beloved Son, and recommended him to the obedient regard of all who reverence his own authority, was, on the mount of transfiguration, distinctly heard by Peter, James, and John; who at the same time were eye witnesses of his glory. Yet are we bound to acknowledge the Divine oracles of the Old Testament, and the numerous and various prophecies they contain, to be to us a superior, a more sure and incontestable evidence: let us therefore take heed to it, as a glorious light to our feet, and lamp to our paths. And let what is particularly said of the ancient prophets recommend to our regard the whole sacred volume; namely, that it was not written by private impulse, but by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Let us receive it with the profoundest humility, not as the word of man, but as it is in deed and in truth the word of God, which is able to make us wise unto salvation; and let us follow its sacred illumination, till as length it conduct us to the dawning of an eternal day, and to the rising of that bright and morning star, which will shine out hereafter with the full glory of the Sun of righteousness.

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The apostle cautions Christians against false te