2 Peter 3
DOYLY2 Peter 3:10
10.—in the which the heavens shall pass away &c.] When both air and earth, sea and land, with all the appurtenances of this our habitable world, shall with the most astonishing circumstances be destroyed by the conflagration. Pyle.
O what confusion will this be to all unbelievers and impenitent sinners, when they shall see that very Person, of whom they thought so mealy, and whose offers of salvation they often despised, appearing in the clouds with ten thousand glorious angels about Him, and coming in the most terrible manner that can be imagined, to call them to account for their lives past, and to execute judgment upon all ungodly men. They will not then any longer, with the scoffers, that St. Peter tells us should be in the last days, say, “Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation:” for they shall be convinced, that, however His coming was for good reasons deferred, yet He shall then come to purpose; to the everlasting confusion of their faces, that opposed, or despised, or neglected Him and His religion. Then shall they say, Yonder He is, whom we slighted, whose religion we derided, whose servants and followers we took to be no better than a company of credulous fools! Lo! yonder He is in the clouds, whose tenders of mercy we have refused, whose counsels we have rejected, to whose Spirit we have done despite! Yonder He is: but no longer “a carpenter’s son;” no longer “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;” no longer a mean obscure Galilean; no longer a crucified God, as we in derision called Him: but the everlasting Son of the everlasting Father; the sovereign of angels; the judge of mankind and of devils; the Lord of all things both in earth and heaven. Abp. Sharp.
2 Peter 3:12
12.—hasting unto the coming] That is, hasting to prepare for it. Dr. Whitby. ‘Earnestly desiring it.’ Parkhurst, Dr. Macknight.
The reflection that our Lord, who came into the world to die for the sins of mankind, is by His resurrection made judge of the world, doth not afford matter of greater terror to His enemies, than it doth of comfort to His friends and followers. How must it revive the heart of every honest Christian, and encourage him to go on patiently and cheerfully in the service of his Master, notwithstanding the many frailties and infirmities under which he labours; notwithstanding the many slips and errors, that after his best endeavours do attend his course of life; to consider that He, who is to take his accounts at the last day, and to pass sentence upon him, is no other than his dear Redeemer? If we
in the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2 Peter 3:13
13.—two heavens and a new earth] New and everlasting abodes, which Divine mercy will then open to our enraptured view, into which it will conduct us, and in which righteousness, perfect holiness, and felicity, dwelleth. Dr. Doddridge.
2 Peter 3:15
15.—hath written unto you.] This Epistle being written to those to whom the first Epistle was sent, the persons to whom St. Paul wrote concerning the long-
Anno DOMINI 64. The apostle concludeth with advice to beware of seduction. Anno DOMINI 66.
2 Peter 3:16
16.—speaking in them of these things:] Namely, of the day of the Lord’s coming, and of the preparation we should make for it. Dr. Whitby.
—in which] Namely, in which Epistles. Dr. Wells.
—they that are unlearned and unstable] By “unlearned” men the Apostle means, not such as wanted that which we commonly call learning, but such as were not well skilled in Divine things. By “unstable,” such as, not being well-grounded in the faith, were, upon that account, easy to be drawn aside into pernicious opinions and destructive errors. Such, he says, as these, “wrest,” that is, misunderstand, misapply, and pervert the writings of St. Paul, and the other Scriptures. And this they do “unto their own destruction;” that is, to their eternal ruin in another world. So that the meaning of this whole passage is, That some men, not being firmly rooted and grounded in the true faith of Christ, and being by consequence of an uncertain and wavering judgment in matters of religion, were apt
to make an ill use of the difficult places of Scripture, and to turn them to such a sense as destroyed Christianity; and such therefore as could not but end in the destruction of those who asserted and maintained it. Bp. Atterbury.
—wrest,] Or torture, to make them speak an unnatural sense, which was never intended. The metaphor is taken from the practice of torturing persons, by distorting their limbs on a rack. Parkhurst.
—as they do also the other scriptures,] Here St. Peter expressly acknowledges the Divine inspiration by which St. Paul wrote all his Epistles. For unless St. Paul was inspired, his writings would not have been called Scriptures by any inspired Apostle. The affection with which St. Peter on this occasion spake of St. Paul, and the honourable testimony he bore to his writings, deserve great praise. He had formerly been rebuked by St. Paul at Antioch, for refusing to keep company with the Gentile converts. But whatever resentment he might have entertained of that affront at the beginning, he had long ago laid it aside. And on cool reflection, it is probable, that instead of thinking ill of St. Paul, he now admired him for his bold and steady maintaining of the truth. Dr. Macknight.
2 Peter 3:18
- But grow in grace, and in the knowledge &c.] Endeavour continually to improve in the true faith and practice of the religion of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: to whom be ascribed all honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen. Pyle.
The doxology, with which this Epistle concludes, is evidently directed to Christ, as are some of the other doxologies in Scripture. Dr. Macknight.