2 Peter 1

SImon Peter, a servant and an apostle i. e. Such a Servant as is likewise an Apostle. The former agrees to all Gospel-ministers generally, the latter is a Title of a greater Eminency, and so he intimates, that he writ to them not merely as an ordinary Minister, but in the Authority of an Apostle, an Officer of the highest degree in the Church. of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith Not in respect of the degree or strength of it, but in respect of the Object, Christ, and the Benefits that come by it, Justification, Sanctification, Adoption, &c. in which respect the Faith of the weakest Believer is as precious as that of the strongest. with us Either with us Apostles, or with us Jewish Christians born, or inhabiting in Iudea., through the righteousness The Greek Preposition which we render through, may likewise be rendred, with, as v. 5. and Acts 7.38. in the Church, that is, with the Church; and so the sense is either, 1. Through the Righteousness, i. e. Truth and Faithfulness of Christ in his Promises, whereof the Faith of the Saints was an Effect: Or, 2. through the Righteousness of Christ, as the meritorious Cause of their Faith: Or, 3. with the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and made theirs, upon their believing. They had obtained like precious Faith as the Apostles themselves and others had, together with the Righteousness of Christ, an Interest in which always accompanies Faith, Rom. 4.22, of God, and our saviour Jesus Christ There being but one Article in the Greek, these words are to be understood conjunctly, the Particle, and, being but an explicative, and the sense is, Through the Righteousness of our God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is God: See the like, v. 11. and ch. 3.18. Ioh. 20.28. Tit. 2.14.:

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge Or Acknowledgment, i. e. Faith, whereby we are made Partakers of all the saving Graces of the Spirit; and whereby being justified, we are at peace with God, Rom. 5.1 of God, and of Jesus There being no saving Knowledge of God, or Faith in him, but by Christ. our Lord;

According as This may refer either, 1. to what goes before, Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you, &c. according as his divine Power has given unto us, &c. and then in these words the Apostle shows what Reason there was to hope, that Grace and Peace should be multiplied to them, and perfected in them, viz. because God has already given them all things pertaining to Life and Godliness, q. d. he that has done thus much for you, will do more, and finish his Work in you. Or, 2ly. to what follows, and then the Greek Phrase rendred, according as, is not a Note of Similitude, but of Illation, and may be rendred, since, or seeing that, and so the words are not a part of the Salutation, but the beginning of the Body of the Epistle, and relate to v. 5. Seeing that his Divine Power has given unto us all things that pertain, &c. add to your Faith, Virtue, &c. as God has done his part, so do you yours in the diligent Performance of what he has enabled you unto. his divine power Divine Power may relate either to God, or rather to Christ, immediately going before, and then it tends to the confirming their Hope of the Multiplication of Grace, and Peace to them, not only from God, but from Christ, in that they had already experienced his Divine Power in giving them all things pertaining to Life and Godliness, i. e. whatever may be helpful to it, the Spirit, Faith, Repentance, &c. Ioh. 7.39. and 2 Cor. 4.6. and 2 Tim. 2.25. has given unto us all things k that pertain unto life Either, 1. spiritual Life, and then Godliness may be added by way of Explication, that Life which consists in Godliness, or a godly Life; or, by Life, may be meant the inward permanent Principle of spiritual Acts, and the Exercise of them may be called Godliness, as the Perfection of that Principle is called Glory. Or, 2ly. Eternal Life, to which we attain through Godliness, as the way; and then likewise they are understood distinctly, Life as the end, and Godliness as the means; and so Life in this Verse is the same as Peace in the former; and Godliness the same as Grace. and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue According to our Translation, Glory may be the same as Life, before, and Virtue the same with Godliness, and then the words set forth the end of God's calling us, viz. unto Glory, or Life hereafter, as well as Virtue or Godliness now. But the Greek Preposition, is no where (as some observe) in the New-Testament found to signifie to; for in Rom. 6.4. (which some alledge) it is best rendred by; Glory being there put for God's power, and therefore our Margin here reads it by Glory and Virtue; which may either be, by an Hendiadis, for gorious Virtue, taking Virtue for Power, that glorious Power of God, which is put forth in calling us, Ephes. 1.18, 19. or his Goodness and Mercy which appears in the same Calling, in which sense the word may be understood, See Tit. 3.4, 5. 1 Pet. 2.9. or (which comes to the same) Glory being often taken for Power, Ioh. 2.11. by Glory and Virtue may be meant God's Power, and Goodness, or Mercy.;

Whereby This word may be rendred, is that, for that, in as much as, and then this is an Explication of the things that pertain to Life and Godliness, to Glory and Virtue, all those things being contained in the Promises; or whereby may be understood of the Glory and Virtue last mentioned, taking them in the latter sense explained, v. 3. q. d. by which glorious Goodness and Mercy to us. are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises By Promises we may understand either the matter of the Promises, the things promised, Heb. 10.36. such as Redemption by Christ, Reconciliation, Adoption, &c. and then they are called exceeding great and precious, in comparison of all temporal and worldly things; or else the Promises themselves, which are called great, because of the Excellency of the things contained in them, and precious in Relation to us; great Things being not only contained in the Promises, but by them secured to us., that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature We are said to be Partakers of the Divine Nature, not by any Communication of the Divine Essence to us, but by God's impressing upon us, and infusing into us those divine Qualities and Dispositions (Knowledge, Righteousness, and true Holiness) which do express and resemble the Perfections of God, and are called his Image, Ephes. 4.24. Col. 3.10. And we are said to be made Partakers of this Divine Nature by the Promises of the Gospel, because they are the effectual means of our Regeneration (in which that Divine Nature is communicated to us) by reason of that quickning Spirit which accompanieth them, 2 Cor. 3.6. works by them, and forms in us the Image of that Wisdom; Righteousness, and Holiness of God, which appears in them; or of that Glory of the Lord, which, when by Faith we behold in the Glass of Gospel-Promises, we are changed into the same Image, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Cor. 3.18. Or, the Divine Nature may be understood of the Glory, and Immortality of the other Life, wherein we shall be conformed to God, and whereof by the Promises we are made Partakers., having escaped the corruption Either by Corruption here we are to understand, 1. Destruction, to which the greatest Part of the World is obnoxious through Lust, and then Corruption must be opposed to Life, and Peace before, and Lust to Virtue and Godliness: Or, 2. rather all the Pravity or Wickedness of human Nature, which is here said to be, i. e. to reign and prevail in the World, or worldly Men through Lust, or habitual Concupiscence, which is the Spring and Root from which it proceeds, and then the sense is the same as Gal. 5.24. This Corruption through Lust is opposed to the Divine Nature before, and escaping this Corruption agrees with being Partakers of that Divine Nature. See Eph. 4.22, 23, 24. Col. 3.9, 10. that is in the world through lust.

And besides this Here the Apostle begins his Exhortation, that since God had done so much for them, v. 3, 4. they would likewise do their Duty; and that their care and diligence in improving the Grace they had received, might be added to his Bounty in giving it them., giving all diligence, and Or, minister unto; or it may be a Metaphor taken from the ancient way of Dancing, in which they joyned Hands one with another, thereby helping, and holding up one another. Faith is here set forth as the first Grace, and which (as it were) leads up, the rest following it, and attending upon it, yet all in conjunction one with another. to your faith Faith is set in the first place as the prime Grace of a Christian, the Foundation and Root of all other, as being that without which nothing else can be pleasing to God, Heb. 11.6., virtue By Virtue he seems to understand Universal Righteousness, or a Complication of all those Graces by which Faith is wont to work; and this being more general, he proceeds from it to o ers that are more special.; and to virtue, knowledge By this may be meant spiritual Prudence, which governs and directs other Virtues in their actings; and it is called Knowledge, because it consists in the practical Knowledge of the Will of God. See 2 Cor. 6.6. and 1 Pet. 3.7.;

And to knowledg, temperance A Grace which represseth, and curbs in, not only sensual Lusts, but all inordinate Appetites, Gal. 5.22. Tit. 1.8.; and to temperance, patience That Christian Fortitude whereby we bear Afflictions and Injuries, so as to persevere in our Duty without being moved by the Evils that attend us in the doing of it.; and to patience, godliness Which respects our immediate Duty to God, and comprehends all the Duties of the first Table This is joyned to Patience, as being that which teacheth us, in all we suffer, to acknowledge God's Providence, and Promises of Deliverance, and Recompence.;

And to godliness, brotherly kindness A love to those that are of the Houshold of Faith. This is joyned to Godliness, to show that it is in vain to pretend to true Religion, and yet be destitute of brotherly Love.; and to brotherly kindness, charity This is more general than the former, and relates to all Men, even our Enemies themselves..

For if these things be in you and abound If ye not only have these Graces in you, but abound, or grow in them, both as to the inward degree, and outward Exercise of them., they make Either they make you, or declare you not to be barren, or both; they will be both the Causes and Evidences of your not being barren. you that ye shall neither be barren Or, slothful, idle, unactive., nor unfruitful Void of good Works, which are frequently compared to Fruits, Matth. 3.10. and 7.17, 18, 19. Gal. 5.22. in the knowledge i. e. The Faith of Christ. But more is implied here, than expressed, q. d. they will make you be active and fruitful in the Knowledge of Christ, and declare you to be so, and thereby make it appear, that ye have not in vain learned Christ. of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But he that lacketh these things He that does not live in the Exercise of the fore-mentioned Graces., is blind Spiritually blind, as being destitute of saving Knowledge., and cannot see afar off The Greek word is variously translated; the most probable account of it is either, 1. that it signifies to feel the way, or grope as blind Men do; and then the meaning is, He that lacketh these things in blind, and as a blind Man, gropes, not knowing which way to go; he is really destitute of the Knowledge he pretends to: Or, 2ly, to be pore-blind, or short-sighted, so as to see things near hand, but not afar off, as our Translation has it; and then the sense is, That such a one sees only the things of the World, but cannot look so far as Heaven to discern things there, which if he did, he would walk in the way that leads thither, viz. in the Practice of the Duties before prescribed., and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins He is judged in the sight of God, to forget a Benefit received, that is not effectually mindful of it, in living sutably to it. And so here, he that professeth himself to have been purged from his old Sins, in Justification and Santification, by the Blood and Spirit of Christ, 1 Cor. 6.11. Ephes. 5.25, 26, 27. and yet still lives in Sin, and in the neglect of the Duty he is engaged to, practically declares his Forgetfulness of the Mercy he professeth to have been vouchasafed him; and accordingly may be interpreted, to have forgotten it, in that he acts like one that had. Or, if this be understood of one that is really purged from his old Sins, yet he may be said to forget that so far as he returns again to them, or lives not up to the ends of his Purgation, Luke 1.74, 75..

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence Viz. In the Exercise of the forementioned Graces. to make your calling Your effectual Calling to the Faith of Christ., and election Your eternal Election to Grace and Glory. sure Not in respect of God; whose Counsel is in it self sure and stable, Rom. 11.29. 2 Tim. 2.19. but in respect of your selves, who may best discern the cause by its effects, and so your Election by your good Works to which you were chosen, Ephes. 1.4. and which prove your Calling, (as being the proper genuine Fruits of it, Ephes. 4.1, 2. &c.) as that does Election from whence it proceeds, Acts 13.48. Rom. 8.30.: for if ye do these things The things prescribed, v. 5, 6, 7., ye shall never fall Not wholly apostatize from God's ways, nor so fall through Temptation into any Sin, as not to recover out of it..

For so an entrance shall be ministred to you abundantly Or, richly; while ye minister, or add one Grace to another, one good Work to another, v. 5. &c. God likewise will minister (the same word is here used, as v. 5.) or add largely, or richly the Supplies of the Spirit, in Grace, and Strength, and Consolation, and whatsoever is needful for you in the way, whereby your Faith may be increased, your Joy promoted, and your Perseverance secured, till ye come into the Possession of the everlasting Kingdom. into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Wherefore I will not be negligent i. e. I will be diligent and careful. to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them He prevents an Objection, q. d. though ye know these things already, yet being things of great moment, and you being beset with Temptations, encompassed about with Infirmities, and while you are on the Earth, being in a Land of Forgetfulness, it is necessary to put you in mind of what you know, that ye may remember to do it. See the like, Rom. 15.14, 15. and 1 Iohn 2.21., and be established in the present truth The Truth of the Gospel now revealed to you; that which was the great Subject of the Apostles Preaching and Writings, that Jesus Christ was the Christ; That Redemption was wrought by him; That he was risen from the dead; That whosoever believed on him, should receive Remission of Sins, &c. the Promise made to the Fathers being now fulfilled, Acts 13.32, 33. and what was future under the Old-Testament, being present under the New..

Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle In the Body; q. d. having not long to live, I would live to the best purpose, and so as I may do the most Good. He calls his Body a Tabernacle both in respect of its short continuance, its mean Structure, and his laborious life in it., to stir you up To awaken and rouze you up, as ye have need, the Flesh being slothful; and lest ye should by security and slightness lose the Benefit of what ye have learned: where Knowledg is not wanting, yet Admonitions may be useful., by putting you in remembrance.

Knowing that shortly I must put off A Metaphor taken from Garments; the Soul while in the Body, is clothed with Flesh, and Death to the godly is but the putting off their Clothes, and going to Bed, Isa. 57.2. this my tabernacle See 2 Cor. 5.1., even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me Iohn 21. Christ tells Peter of the kind of his Death, that it should be violent, but speaks nothing there of the circumstance of the time; and therefore either this Apostle had a twofold Revelation of his Death, the former as to the manner of it, and this latter concerning the time: Or, if this here were no other Revelation but that, Iohn 21. it may be said, that v. 18.22. Christ intimates that Peter's Death should be before Iohn's, who should live till he came, viz. in Judgment against Ierusalem to destroy it, which Peter now (observing the Affairs of the Iews, and considering his Masters words, Matth. 24.) perceived to be nigh at hand; and thence infers, that his own Death was not far off..

Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease, to have these things The Doctrine before delivered concerning Faith in Christ, the Practice of good Works, and their continuance in both. always This may be joyned either to endeavour, and so relate to the Apostle himself; he would always be diligent, and do his part, that they might have these things in remembrance: or rather, (according to our Translation) to having in remembrance, Peter being now near his end; and therefore this always, may better refer to them that were to live after him, than to himself that was so soon to die. in remembrance Or, to commemorate them, viz. to the Benefit, and Edification of the Church; and this includes their having them in remembrance, but implies something more..

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables Human Figments artificially contrived, either to please and gratifie Mens Fancies, or to deceive and pervert their Judgment; q. d. the things we have preached unto you (the Sum of which is the Power and Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ) are the true Sayings of God, not the Fictions of Men; and so he may have respect both to Heathenish and Jewish Fables. See 1 Tim. 1.4. & 4.7. 2 Tim. 4.4. Tit. 1.14., when we made known unto you the power This relates to the Divine Nature of Christ with its glorious Effects, the efficacy of his Doctrine, the Miracles whereby he confirmed it, and especially his Resurrection from the Dead, Rom. 1.4., and coming This respects his Human Nature, his coming in the Flesh, in which he manifested the Power before-mentioned; both together contain the Sum of the whole Gospel, viz. That Christ, the promised Messiah, is come in the Flesh, and that he was furnished with Power sufficient, and Ability to save Sinners to the utmost. Or, Christ's coming here may be his second coming, to which the word here used is for the most part applied in the New-Testament, and whereof his Transfiguration in the following Verse was a Representation, and a Fore-runner; and in the Belief of which the Apostle would confirm these Saints against those that scoffed at it, ch. 3. v. 3, 4. of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty By Christ's Majesty may be understood all that Glory which did shine out in him during the whole time of his abode upon earth, Iohn 1.14. but especially that more eminent Manifestation of it in his Transfiguration in the next Verse..

For he received from God the Father honour, and glory Either Honour and Glory for glorious Honour; or Glory may relate to that Lustre which appeared in the Body of Christ at his Transfiguration, Matth. 17.2. and Honour to the Voice which came to him from his Father, and the honourable Testimony thereby given him., when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory Either from Heaven, or from the glorious God the Father of Christ, who, by this Voice, did in a special manner manifest his glorious Presence., This is I. e. This is the Messiah to often promised, and therefore all that was spoken of the Messiah in the Law and the Prophets, centers in him. my beloved Son, in whom This implies not only that Christ is peculiarly the Beloved of the Father, but that all they that are adopted to God by Faith in Christ, are beloved, and graciously accepted in and through him, Matth. 3.17. Iohn 17.26. Ephes. 1.6. I am well-pleased.

And this voice which came from heaven we I, and Iames, and Iohn. The Apostle avoucheth himself to have been an Ear-witness, as well as; Eye-witness of Christ's Glory, hereby intimating that there was as much certainty of the Gospel, even in an human way, as could possibly be obtained of any thing that is done in the World, seeing Men can be humanly certain of nothing more, than of what they perceive by their Senses: compare 1 Iohn 1.1, 3. heard r, when we were with him in the holy So called, not because of any inherent Holiness in it, but because of the extraordinary Manifestation of God's Presence there, in the same sense as the Ground is called holy where God appeared to Moses and Ioshua, Exod. 3.5. Iosh. 5.15. mount.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy Peter having proved the certainty of the Evangelical Doctrine, by their Testimony that had seen Christ's Glory in his Transfiguration, and heard the Father's Testimony of him, now proves the same by the Testimony of the Prophets under the Old-Testament, and calls the word of Prophecy a more sure Word, comparing it either, 1. with the Voice from Heaven, then which he calls the word of Prophecy more firm or sure, not in respect of Truth (which was equal in both) but in respect of the manner of its Revelation, the Voice from Heaven being transient, and heard only by three Apostles; whereas the Word of Prophecy was not only received by the Prophets from God, but by his Command committed to Writing, confirmed by a Succession of their fellow-Prophets in their several Generations, and approved by Christ himself, and by him preferred before Miracles themselves, Luke 16.29, 31. Or, 2. with the Testimony of Peter and the other two Apostles concerning that Voice which came to Christ, than which Testimony the Word of Prophecy is said to be more sure; not simply and it in self, but in respect of those to whom the Apostle writ; it was more firm in their Minds who had received it; or, more sure as to them that were Iews, and had so fully entertained the writings of the Prophets, and had them in so great Veneration, being confirmed by the consent of so many Ages; whereas the Testimony of these Apostles did not so fully appear to them to be Divine, as not being heretofore expressed in Scripture., whereunto ye do well that ye take heed i. e. That ye search and study it, subject your Consciences to the Power of it, and order your Conversations according to it., as unto a light Or, Lamp, to which the Word is often compared, Psal. 119.105. Prov. 6.23. Because, as a Lamp, or Candle lighted, dispells the Darkness, and gives Light to those that are in the House, or Room where it is; so the Word gives Light to all that are in God's House, as the Church is called, 1 Tim. 3.15. that shineth in a dark place Or Dirty, squalid, because places that have no Light, are usually filthy; the Dirt which is not seen is not removed., until the day dawn, and the day-star Either, 1. The last day called the Day by way of excellency, because when it once begins, it will never end, and will be all Light without any Darkness; and then what is said of the Word of Prophecy, is to be understood of the whole Scripture; and the sense is, that whereas the whole time of this Life is but a kind of Night of Error and Ignorance, God has set up his Candle, given us the Light of the Scripture to guide us, and lead us till we come to the glorious Light of the future Life, in which we shall have no need of the Light of the Scripture to direct us, but shall see God as he is, and Face to Face, 1 Cor. 13.12. According to this Exposition, the dawning of the Day, and the Day-Star arising, do not signify different parts of the same day, but rather the whole Day as opposed to that Darkness which would totally over-spread us, were it not for the Light the Word affords us: Our Minds of themselves are dark, in them the Light of the Word shines, and dispells the Darkness by degrees, according as the Spirit gives us more understanding of it, but yet the Darkness will not be wholly removed, till the Day of Eternal Life dawn upon us, and the Day-Star of the perfect Knowledg of God in the Beatifical Vision arise in our hearts. Or, 2. By the Day-dawning, and the Day-Star arising, may be understood a more full, clear, and explicit Knowledg of Christ, and the Mysteries of the Gospel; and then this relates particularly to the Prophecies of the Old-Testament; and, as Paul calls the times of the Old-Testament, a Night, Rom. 13.12. as being a time of Darkness and Shadows, in comparison of the Light, and Knowledg of Christ under the New-Testament; so Peter here compares the Writings of the Prophets to a Candle, which gives some, but less Light, and the Preaching of the Gospel to the Day-dawning, and Day-star arising; and commends these Christian Iews to whom he writ, for making use of, and attending to, even this lesser Light, till they attained to greater degrees of Illumination, and the Day-Star of a more full and clear knowledg of Christ, as revealed in the Gospel, did arise in their Hearts. This Exposition is favoured by Act. 17.11. they there, and so the Iewish Converts here, did search the Scriptures, to see if the things spoken by the Apostles did agree with what was before written by the Prophets; and as they there, so these here, are commended for their diligence in so doing, and intimation given them, that they must attend to the Light of the Old-Testament-Prophecies, till they were thereby led into a greater knowledg and understanding of the Gospel-revelation. arise in your hearts.

Knowing this first Either, principally and above other things, as being most worthy to be known; or, knowing this as the first Principle of Faith, or the first thing to be Believed. that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation The Greek word here used, may be rendred, either, 1. as our Translators do Interpretation or Explication, and then the meaning is, not that private Men are not to interpret the Scripture, only refer all to the Church but that no Man, nor Company of Men, no Church nor publick Officers are to interpret the Scripture of their own Heads, according to their own Minds, so as to make their private sense be the sense of the Scripture, but to seek the understanding of it from God, who shows them the meaning of the Word in the Word it self (the more obscure places being expounded by the more clear) and by his Spirit leads Believers in their searching the Scripture, into the understanding of his Mind in it. God himself being the Author of the Word, as v. 21. is the best Interpreter of it: Or, 2 Mission or Dimission, a Metaphor taken from Races, where they that ran, were let loose from the Stage where the Race began, that they might run their Course. The Prophets in the Old-Testament are said to Run, as being God's Messengers, Ier. 23.21. and God is said to send them, Ezek. 13.6, 7. and then this does not immediately concern the Interpretation of the Scripture, but the first Revelation of it, spoken of in the next Verse; and the question is not, Who has Authority to Interpret the Scripture now written? but, What Authority the Pen-Men had to write it? and consequently, what respect is due to it? and, why Believers are so carefully to take heed to it. And then the meaning is, that it is the first Principle of our Faith, that the Scripture is not of Human Invention, but Divine Inspiration; that the Prophets writ not their own private Sense in it, but the Mind of God; and at his Command, not their own Pleasure..

For the prophecy The Prophetical Writings, or Word of Prophecy, v. 19. came not in old time by the will of man The Prophets spake not of themselves what and when they pleased,, but holy men of God Prophets, called Men of God, 1 Sam. 2.27. and 9.6. and 1 Kings 17.18. and elsewhere. They are here called Holy, not only because of their Lives wherein they were examples to others, but because they were the special instruments of the Holy Ghost, who sanctified them to the work of Preaching, and Penning what he Dictated to them., spake as they were moved Or, carried out, or acted, i. e. elevated above their own natural abilities. This may imply the illumination of their Minds with the knowledg of Divine Mysteries, the gift of Infallibility, that they might not err, of Prophecy to foretell things to come, and a peculiar instinct of the Holy Ghost, whereby they were moved to Preach or Write. by the Holy Ghost.