10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 11heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.Seeing thenthat all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements 13shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in 15peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16As also in allhis epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own de struction.17Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.18But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
2Pe_3:10. But the day of the Lord will come.—The Apostle having made mention of the long-suffering of God, now says, as it were, let none deceive himself, the day of the Lord will not fail to appear, but it will come surely and suddenly.
Ἤîåé äὲ ἡ ἡìÝñá êõñßïõ
; it is called the day of God in 2Pe_3:12; hence
êõñßïõ
is here doubtless=
èåïῦ
, as in 2Pe_3:9. So Joe_1:15; Eze_13:5; Isa_2:12. The day of Jehovah; cf. Jam_5:7. Elsewhere the day of the Lord Jesus, 2Co_1:14. The day of Christ, 2Th_2:2; also the day of the Lord’s coming, Mai. 2Pe_3:2. The last expression contains an intimation that the beginning of that great period of judgment must be distinguished from the Lord’s coming in the same. The former sets in unexpectedly and without notice. The Lord’s coming will be unexpected, but not unnoticed by the ungodly; it will be attended by a war-cry, the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, 1Th_4:16.
As a thief in the night.—The same figure is used by the Lord Himself in the Gospels, Mat_24:43; Luk_12:39. Paul also compares the coming of that day to the burglarious entry of a thief. The passages in Rev_3:3; Rev_16:15, which contain this description of the Lord’s coming, give prominence to the suddenness and surprise of His coming, not to its being unnoticed. His coming is free from surprise and terror to those who watch and observe the signs of the times; it is to them rather a joyful event, Luk_21:28.—The figure of the thief contains also the secondary thought, that those who are held fast in the sleep of sin and security, shall lose in that catastrophe whatever they have, Mat_13:12; Joh_10:10.
In which the heavens shall pass away with a crashing roar;
ῥïéæçäüí
from
ῥïéæÝù
,
ῥïßæù
, to rush, to whiz, to crash; a word formed to resemble the sound, rushing, whizzing, crashing, here only in the New Testament. Oecumenius understands it of the crackling noise of a destructive fire; de Wette, of the crash of falling houses. The Apostle probably thinks of both, (Huther).—
Ðáñåëåýóïíôáé
; our Lord uses the same word, Mat_24:35; cf. Psa_102:27; Isa_34:4; Rev_20:11.—
Ïὐñáíïß
, the sky and the starry heavens, as in 2Pe_3:7; cf. Psa_72:7; Psa_102:26; Isa_34:4; Isa_51:6; Isa_65:17.
But the elements shall be dissolved in fire, and—shall be burned up.—
Óôïé÷åῖá
; the rudiments of speech, then the constituent elements of the universe; of course not the elements in the sense of chemistry, but in the sense of antiquity, which since the time of Empedocles assumed the existence of four elements or rudiments of things; cf. Wis_7:17; Wis_19:17.—Calov restricts the word to water and air, because the earth is specifically mentioned afterward. But de Wette rightly observes that the earth is referred to first as an element, and afterward as a totality. There is nothing contradictory in the idea that this elemental fire shall be suspended in its action by a stronger and supernatural fire. A total annihilation of the elemental constituents is out of the question; the reference is rather to the supposition of Gennadius and Oecumenius, that “the old heavens and the old earth shall be changed and renovated into better.”—A reference to 2Pe_3:12, where the
óôïé÷åῖá
are mentioned, and not the earth expressly, shows plainly that
óôïé÷åῖá
relates primarily to the earth.
äὲ
, moreover intimates as much. Bengel, on the other hand, sees here, with many of the fathers, a reference to the sun, the moon and the stars. The sense=
èåìÝëéá
, foundations of the earth, given by others, cannot be verified. [The view of Bengel is that of Justin, Theophilus of Antioch, Polycrates, Mede, Hammond, Whitby and Alford. The last named author, after quoting Justin, argues that
äὲ
followed presently by the
êáß
when reference is made to the earth, necessarily belongs to the heavens, and that the mention of the heavenly bodies as affected by the great day is constant in Scripture, cf. Mat_24:29; Isa_13:9-10; Isa_24:23; Isa_34:4, etc. On the other hand, the view propounded in the text is that of Wordsworth, who says that “St. Peter’s meaning seems to be, that the
óôïé÷åῖá
, elements or rudiments, of which the universe is composed and compacted, will be loosed; that is, the frameworks of the world will be disorganized, and this is the sense of
óôïé÷åῖá
in the LXX., Wis_7:17; Wis_19:18, and in Hyppolyt. Philos. pp. 219. 318. The dissolution is contrasted with the consistency described by the word
óõíåóôῶóá
in 2Pe_3:5. The heavens are reserved for fire (2Pe_3:7) and will pass away with a rushing noise, and, being set on fire, will be dissolved (2Pe_3:12) the elements will be on fire and melt (2Pe_3:12), and be reduced to a state of confusion; the earth and the works therein will be burnt up.—There does not seem, therefore, to be any cause for abandoning the common meaning of
óôïé÷åῖá
, the elemental principles of which the universe is made.”—M.]
ËõèÞóïíôáé
. Gerhard: “When the preserving and supporting power of God, which is, as it were, the soul of the world, shall separate itself from the macrocosm, it will fall together like a soulless corpse.”
The works.—To wit, the works of nature and of art [Bengel: operæ naturse et artis.—M.] trees, plants, minerals, animals, cities, houses, provisions, instruments, etc., cf. Hab_2:13.
[Shall be burned up.—The variation
åὑñåèÞóåôáé
of Cod. Sin. B. and K. is difficult to account for.—M.]
2Pe_3:11. Since then all these things are being dissolved.—
ËõïìÝíùí
, not
ëõèçóïìÝíùí
. The Apostle vividly enters into the catastrophe and mentally anticipates it according to the characteristic, which has been noticed in 2Pe_2:10; 2Pe_3:3, and especially also in the first Epistle. Winer, p. 358, explains it as follows: “These things, by their nature intended to be dissolved—the destiny of dissolution is already inherent in them.” Calov applies the Present to the certainty of the event. [The reading
ïὔôùò
accords with the abrupt style of Peter, and makes the scene all the more vivid.—M.]
As what sort of persons ought ye to evidence yourselves? etc.—
Ðïôáðüò
or
ðïäáðüò
from
ôüðïò
or
äÜðåäïí
, land, soil, signifies properly, from what country, where born, whence in point of origin, not equivalent to
ðïῖïò
. Cf. Mat_8:27; Luk_1:29; Luk_7:39; 1Jn_3:1. It often denotes a question of surprise, to which no answer is given; but here the answer is added in 2Pe_3:12. Sense: “Ye must evidence yourselves as persons of more noble origin, as citizens of the heavenly kingdom that are only strangers here on earth.” This seems to be an echo of the first Epistle. The common use of
ðïôáðüò
in the New Testament as connected with an exclamation, is not decisive against our interpretation. Huther wants to supply before
ðïôáðïὺò
, “consider then,” but this is arbitrary. De Wette takes
ðïôáðïὺò
in the sense of quantus, how great, how strong, how diligent ought ye to be in holy conversation. But this is ungrammatical. The connection is this: Considering that this entire world-system, with whatever it contains, is doomed to perish, it becomes us Christians to tear our hearts from all inordinate love of the world, and to qualify ourselves even now as citizens of the celestial world. Augustine: “If there is an end of the world, if we have to move away from this world, we must not love the world;” and in another passage: “Seeing that Christ shall come to judgment the very day in which the world shall be dissolved, and that all must appear before His judgment-seat, let us live in the true fear of God, serve Him in holiness and righteousness, and carefully guard against sins.”—
Ἀíáóôñïöáῖò
. The Plural as in 1Pe_1:15; 1Pe_2:1, to mark the different forms and directions of a holy walk and piety, cf. 2Pe_2:2; 2Pe_1:3.
Ver.12. Expecting and hastening the coming of the day of God.—
Ðñïóäïêᾶí
.—Not with Luther: To wait as contrasted with haste, but looking for, expecting something while enduring the pressure of evil, cf. 2Pe_3:14.—
Óðåýäïíôáò
. Some commentators arbitrarily supply
åἰò
; the sense of yearning or longing for cannot be verified; it signifies to urge, to press, to hasten, and applies therefore not only to earnest occupation, but, as Bengel asserts, to inward struggling, to perseverance in prayer for the hastening of the Kingdom of Christ, and to preparation for it in repentance and holiness. At the same time the remark of Richter is true, that “in a certain respect it is visionary, dangerous and passionate to pray for the hastening of the end of the world and the termination of the æon of Gospel-calling.”
[Trench (Bible Revision, p. 112) pronounces for the marginal reading in E. V., “hasting the coming” (accelerantes adventum, Erasmus), and explains: The faithful, that is, shall seek to cause the day of the Lord to come the more quickly by helping to fulfil those conditions, without which it cannot come—that day being no day inexorably fixed, but one the arrival of which it is free to the Church to help and hasten on by faith and by prayer, and through a more rapid accomplishing of the number of the elect.” De Wette, followed by Alford: “They hasten it by perfecting, in repentance and holiness, the work of the Gospel, and thus diminishing the need of the
ìáêñïèõìßá
, 2Pe_3:9,” to which the delay of that day is owing. Alford, in reply to Huther’s objection, says, “It is true that the delay or hastening of that day is not man’s matter, but God’s: but it is not uncommon in Scripture, to attribute to us those Divine acts, or abstinences from acting, which are really and in their depth, God’s own. Thus we read, that ‘He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief,’ Mat_13:58, compared with Mar_6:5-6; thus repeatedly of man’s striving with, hindering, quenching God’s Holy Spirit.”—Wordsworth considers this remarkable thought as compared with St. Peter’s speech in Acts 3, as another silent evidence of the genuineness of this Epistle.—M.]
Ôὴí ðáñïõóßáí
. See 2Pe_3:10, cf. Tit_2:13; Rev_16:14; Act_17:31. The term “day of God” cannot excite surprise, if respect is had to the Old Testament. Lachmann’s notion that the author had given up the hope of Christ’s coming, I and mixed it up with God’s future day of judgment, is incongruous, for he treats of the Lord’s
ðáñïõóßá
in 2Pe_3:4.
For the sake of which the heavens being on fire, shall dissolve (themselves), and the elements shall melt away with fervent heat;
äἰ ὴ
̔
í
. It is best to connect
ῆí
with
ðáñïõóßáí
, and to take
äéÜ
as indicating the occasioning cause. Winer, p. 418, [who sanctions however the construction recommended in Appar. Crit., which is also that adopted by Alford.—M.] Dietlein renders “in honour of which, as it were,” but this rendering is inapposite. If the plan of God is to be carried out, this sin-stained world must perish. Augustine says of the succession of the events, “After the judgment the world will be on fire; that is, it will be entirely burned up.” This is also thought probable by Gerhard, who holds moreover that the burning of the world will take place before the wicked are cast into hell and the godly received to heaven.
Êáõóïῦóèáé
and
ôÞêåóèáé
, to melt like wax, are
ἅðáî ëåã
. The Present is used here for the same reason, as in 2Pe_3:11, above. [The note of Wolfius, (Curæ Philologicæ et Criticæ) on the force of these Presents will be found useful: “Interim nihil est mutandum. Patet enim, Apostolum in duobus his commatibus, data opera, nunc præsenti
ëõïìÝíùí
et
ôÞêåôáé
, nunc futuro
ëõèÞóåôáé
, de ea ru uti, quæ tam certa futura erat, ac si jam fieret.”—M.]
2Pe_3:13. But we, according to His promise, expect new heavens and a new earth.—The Apostle, for the comfort of believers, contrasts the destruction of the present world system with the expectation of new heavens and a new earth. This hope is founded on the word of prophecy, Isa_65:17; Isa_66:22; Isa_30:26; cf. Rev_21:1. This does not denote an ideal state of blessedness, but a real spirituo-corporeal body-world. So Anselm: “The whole earth, which carried in its lap the body of the Lord, will be a paradise.” Augustine: “The promises of God are apprehended by faith; hope cannot reach them, love cannot understand them; they surpass our longings and desires; they may be obtained, but cannot be estimated.” Grotius mentions that Plato also speaks of a pure earth and a pure heavens. Calov suggests a substantial recreation of heaven. More correctly even Irenæus: “Neither the substance, nor the existence of the creature will be annihilated.” According to His promise,
êáôὰ ôὸ ἐðÜããåëìá áὐôïῦ
sc. God.
In which dwelleth righteousness.—Not abstr. pro concreto, the righteous, but true righteousness itself or a perfect agreement with the will of God, cf. Rev_21:27; Rev_21:3. This is added partly for the encouragement, partly for the consolation of believers with reference to their unrighteous oppressors. Huther produces similar passages from the book of Enoch, in which reference seems to be made to our Epistles. [The passages are Enoch 2:27; 55:5; 54:4, 5; 90:17.—Wordsworth says, that the Apostle “does not represent the heavens as destined to destruction, but as hereafter to be transformed (
ἀíáóôïé÷åéïõìÝíïõò
) to a more glorious condition. As the mortal bodies of the saints are dissolved by death, and will not be reduced to annihilation, but will, by reason of Christ’s resurrection, and of their incorporation in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life, be renewed to immortality, so the heavenly bodies will be renewed by fire and delivered from the bondage of corruption. See Rom_8:20-22.—The material creation has sympathized with us in our fall, and it will rejoice with the righteous in their redemption and revivification, when their mortal bodies will rise and bloom anew like vernal herbs and flowers, in the glorious spring-tide of the resurrection. See Eusebius, Severus and others here in the Catenâ, Cramer, p. 100.—Thus the benefits of the incarnation and the redemption wrought by the second Adam extend also to the natural world. He has restored already the free use of the creatures to us (cf. 1Co_3:23), and He will raise the Creation itself to a more glorious state of being.”—M.]
2Pe_3:14. Wherefore, beloved, expecting these things, be diligent, etc.—The Apostle founds here an exhortation to holiness on the last named circumstance [i. e., the expectation of the new heavens and the new earth.—M.], as in 2Pe_3:11, on the expectation of that catastrophe.—
Ἄóðéëïé
; cf. 1Pe_1:19; 1Ti_6:14; Jam_1:27.—
Ἀìþìçôïé
, Php_2:15, like
ἀìýìùí
, blameless; that you cannot be blamed; for the opposite, see 2Pe_2:13.—
Áõ
ʼ
ôῷ
, in His judgment, before Him, connect with
åὑñåèῆíáé
; cf. 2Co_12:20.—
Åὑñåèῆíáé
, 1Pe_1:7; 1Pe_2:22, in His day.—
Ἐí åἰñÞíῃ
. De Wette explains it: For your peace=
åἰò åἰñÞíçí
; but in that case the Apostle would certainly have expressed it. Better Calov: “In peace with God and with men.” [Alford suggests, that considering the familiarity of the Eastern tongue with the expression
ἐí åἰñÞíῃ
, the phrase may have an onward as well as a present meaning, as in
ðïñåýåóèáé ἐí åἰñÞíῃ
and
åἰò åἰñÞíçí
, Act_16:36 : Jam_2:16; Luk_7:50; Luk_8:48; and denote that eternal peace of which all earthly peace is but a feeble foretaste.—M.] More specific definition of
ἄóðéëïé êáὶ ἀìþìçôïé
. Gerhard: “Strive that the Lord at His coming may find you peaceful and reconciled.” The thought is connected with
äéêáéïóýíç
, 2Pe_3:13. Dietlein thinks that it is added with reference to the subject about to be stated by the Apostle, viz., the peace-destroying animosity of the deceivers, and refers to Judges 19. But Peter states first something else. It has a good meaning with reference to the many internal and external peace-breakers, especially at that time, Heb_12:14.
2Pe_3:15. And account the longsuffering of our Lord your salvation, [see Appar Crit.—M.];
ìáêñïèõìßáí
, cf. 2Pe_3:9; Rom_2:4; Rom_9:22. Every postponement of the day of judgment is also an extension of grace for believers, as far as they may make further progress in holiness. Dietlein: “Apart from it, every converted Christian, reviewing his conversion, is constrained to admit that unless the longsuffering of God did insert a development-process of sin and redemption between apostacy and judgment, his conversion would have been impossible and the merited judgment would have overtaken him also.” To this must be added the observation that since the text reads
óùôçñßáí
in general, not
óùôçñßáí ὑìῶí
, the salvation of many others also is founded on this longsuffering. [After this exegesis, it is difficult to understand why Fronmüller retains the old Lutheran rendering.—M.] Roos: “The passage must not be limited to those persons who live at that time, but rather be extended to those who may still be born, if the long-suffering of God preserves this present world for a long time.”
Even as also our beloved brother Paul—hath written unto you.—The deceivers, to whom Peter refers, probably abused the Epistles of the Apostle St. Paul, and represented Peter and Paul as contradicting each other; on this account Peter cites the testimony of Paul as confirmatory of his doctrine, and shows that between Paul and himself there is an intimate communion of spirit, and that the incident, mentioned Gal_2:11, was unable to extinguish his love.
As also, relates, not to what immediately precedes, but to the whole exhortation, 2Pe_3:14-15, to holiness in view of the coming of Christ. Dietlein supposes that since the
ìáêñïèõìßá
of God is treated of only in Rom_2:4; Rom_9:22, the reference is evidently to the Epistle to the Romans, but the supposition that
êáèþò
is to be thus limited, is wrong, and
ἔãñáøåí ὑìῖí
is decidedly opposed to it. Peter must allude to an Epistle of Paul, which, like the present Epistle of Peter, is addressed to the Christians of Asia Minor. To say that the Epistle to the Romans was addressed to Gentiles in general, is no sufficient explanation. Hence Bengel, Gerhard, al., think it to be the Epistle to the Hebrews on account of Heb_9:26, etc.; Heb_10:25; Heb_10:37; others, the Epistle to the Ephesians, on account of Eph_4:30; Eph_6:8; Eph_3:4. The reference is perhaps to all these; de Wette conjectures 1Th_4:13; 1Th_5:11, and 2Th_2:16; but the above named reason is against this view [which is also that of Alford, who meets the objection founded on
ὑìῖí
, by saying that this Epistle is addressed to all Christians alike, cf. 2Pe_1:1; and that all that can be inferred from
ὑìῖí
amounts to this, that this Epistle belongs to a date when the Pauline Epistles were no longer the property only of the Churches to which they were written, but were dispersed through, and were considered to belong to the whole Christian Church.—Benson considered the reference to be the Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians, because addressed to Asia Minor Churches; this is also the opinion of Wordsworth, who notices also that this text is quoted by Origen de Recta Fide, sect. II., and ascribed by him without any hesitation to St. Peter.—M.]
Our beloved brother.—Brother must be taken in the narrow sense of “fellow-apostle.” How beautiful is this trait of Peter’s character, that he harboured no unkind remembrance of the sharp rebuke which Paul, who excelled him in his labours for the kingdom of God, had administered to him, and that he joyfully acknowledged his Apostolic calling.
According to the wisdom.—Dietlein: “Not so much preëminence in knowledge as aptitude in teaching, knowledge which peculiarly qualifies for teaching; hence ministerial grace accorded to him.” Chrysostom does not hesitate to prefer Paul as a teacher to all others and to call him the teacher of all wisdom. [Polycarp ad Philipp. I. 3; “No one like me can equal the wisdom of the blessed Paul, who being absent wrote to you Epistles (
ὑìῖí ἔãñáøåí ἐðéóôïëὰò
) into which, if you look diligently, you will be enabled to be built up unto the faith.”—M.]
2Pe_3:16. As also in all his Epistles, speaking in them of these things.—
Ἐí ðÜóáéò ôáῖò ἐðéóôïëáῖò
. Even if the Article is retained, which is probably spurious, there is no necessity to suppose here a reference to all the Epistles of Paul as a finished whole. It cannot be determined which and how many of the Pauline Epistles were known to Peter.—
Ὡò
sc.
ἔãñáøå
;
ðåñὶ ôïýôùí
; of the coming of Christ, the end of the world and of what is connected with those events; stedfastness in faith and zeal in good works. Here Peter might refer more particularly to the Epistles to the Thessalonians.
Among which are some things difficult to understand.—
ἐí ïἰò
Gerhard: “Peter here makes no direct reference to the Pauline Epistles, but to the subjects of which they treat, among which are some hard to understand,” which belongs to the nature of the last things.—
Ἃ óôñåâëïῦóéí
;
óôñåâëüù
; from
óôñÝâëç
, an instrument of torture, a rock, a screw, a press, hence to screw, to strain, to wind, to twist or distort. A very striking word, peculiar to Peter, to describe the perversion of the Scriptures. As to the things themselves Bengel refers to 2Ti_2:18; Gerhard, to false views of the millennium, of justification by faith, of Christian liberty, of the coming of Antichrist, and especially to the justification and excuses of lawless extravagancies.
The ignorant and unstable.—The reference is perhaps rather to the deceived than to the deceivers and scoffers, for whom these two words would be too mild. On
ἀóôÞñéêôïé
, cf. 2Pe_2:14.
As also the other Scriptures;
ὠò êáὶ ôὰò ëïéðὰò ãñáöÜò
. Here again the reference is not to a completed collection of the writings of the New Testament, from which the inference might be drawn that this Epistle is of a comparatively late origin. De Wette, without sufficient reasons, understands passages of Scripture. The reference is probably to the Pauline Epistles, the Epistle of James and the prophetical writings, which, according to 2Pe_3:2 and 2Pe_1:20, must not be excluded.
To their own perdition.—Cf. 2Pe_2:2; Deu_4:2; Deu_12:32; Rev_22:19. Huther: “The perversion of the Scriptures has this consequence, since they use their distorted sayings in order to harden themselves in their carnal lusts.” We have only to add, that they also bring perdition on themselves because they deprive others of salvation.
2Pe_3:17. Ye, therefore, beloved, knowing it before, beware, lest being led away together with the error of the lawless.—Final exhortation not to suffer themselves to be made to waver in their hope by the error of the ungodly, and to grow in grace and knowledge.—
Ðñïãéíþóêïíôåò
. Bengel supplies: the danger. Dietlein refers it to the imminent attempts of deception. The Lord Himself set great value on the foretelling and fore-knowing of the future. Cf. Joh_14:29; Joh_16:4.—
ÖõëÜóóåóèå
,
ἵíá ìÞ
. Take heed, be on your guard that ye—fall not from.—Thus taken, the construction is not singular; cf. Luk_12:15; Act_21:25; 1Jn_5:21.—
ἈèÝóìùí
, 2Pe_2:7; 2Pe_3:3;
ðëÜíç
, 2Pe_2:18, error, delusion, not deception, as Dietlein maintains;—
óõíáðá÷èÝíôåò
. Cf. Gal_2:13. Similar to what is said of sins, that, like the wind, they have taken us away, Isa_64:6. [Alford notes the remarkable coincidence, that Peter, well acquainted as he was with the writings of Paul, should have written this word, which is the very one used by that Apostle of Barnabas, at Antioch, when he
óõíáðÞ÷èç
with the hypocrisy of Peter and the other Jews.—M.];—
óõíáðá÷èÝíôåò
, together with them and others which they had long since deceived.
Ye fall from your own stedfastness.—
ἐêðßðôåéí
. Cf. Gal_5:4, to fall from, to be banished;—
óôçñéãìüò
, standing fast, stedfastness in faith and hope; contrast to 2Pe_3:16, above. He refers to 2Pe_1:12 where he declared his readers to be established in the truth. Roos: “The state of grace is the fortress. There God Himself is the stronghold and castle; Christ the rock on which we are builded; there we are assured by the privilege, that all things must work together for good to them that love God; there we are, by the power of God, kept unto salvation. A Christian falls from this his own fortress, if he loses grace, and neglecting to watch and pray and to attend to the word of God, gradually yields to the commission of intentional sins, which, whether by some thoroughly matured dogma or only by hasty judgments, he erroneously regards now in a very different light, and consequently excuses or even justifies.”—
Ἰäßïõ
Gerhard: “Not, as though they could of their own strength persevere in faith, but because only true believers continue firm to the end.”—There is no reference here to continuance in communion with the Church.
2Pe_3:18. But grow in the grace, etc.—Gerlach: “The best preservation is continual practice of faith, continual growth in grace and knowledge: then we are proof against all assaults.” Similarly Calvin. [“Haec unica est perseverandi ratio, si assidue progredimur”.—M.];
áὐîÜíåôå
Cf. 1Pe_2:2; 2Pe_1:5; Eph_4:15; Col_1:10. We grow in grace, if we apprehend it with ever increasing faith and keep it, and thus we are privileged to enjoy it more and more richly. Cf. 1Pe_5:10.—
Êõñßïõ
belongs only to
ãíþóåé
not to
÷Üñéôé
, [This is doubtful, since the preposition extends to both. There is no difficulty if the subjective force of
÷Üñéôé
and the objective force of
ãíþóåé
as connected with Christ is brought out. “Grow in the grace of which Christ is the Author, in the knowledge of which Christ is the object.”—M.].—Great value is set here at the close, as before at the beginning of the Epistle, on the knowledge of the person, the office, and the benefits of Christ, cf. 2Pe_1:2.—
Áὐôῷ ἡ äüîá
. The doxology refers to Christ in proof of His Divinity. [Alford suggests Pliny’s letter, “hymnus Christo quasi Deo.”—M.]. Cf. Jude 25; Rev_1:6; Rev_4:9; Eph_3:21.—
Åἰò ἡìÝñáí áἰῶíïò
not found elsewhere. Bengel explains
ἡìÝñá
in contrast with night: “Eternity is a day without night, purely and perpetually enduring.” Huther: “The day in which eternity begins as contrasted with time, but which day is likewise all eternity itself.” The selection of this expression is best explained by reference to 2Pe_3:8. Eternity counts with God as one day. Augustine: “It is only one day, but an everlasting day without yesterday to precede it, and without to-morrow to follow it; not brought forth by the natural sun, which shall exist no more, but by Christ, the Sun of Righteousness.”
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Unbelief is generally blind to the grossest contradictions in which it is entangled, even as those scoffers do neither see the folly of affirming a beginning of the world and to deny the end of the world, nor the absurdity of the conclusion: “That which has not yet happened until to-day, will happen nevermore.” “God has not made the worlds for eternity, like Himself, but they come and pass away. In the case of each world there was a time when it did not exist, and there will be a time, when its place shall not be found. How distant soever the day of the destruction of our earth may be, when it does come there will be men on earth, like ourselves, occupied, as we are, with expectations and hopes of a long future. He that rolls up the heavens like a garment and scatters suns and earths like dust, He only is the Lord. Our science will never reach the laws which bring about the destruction of our earth.” Schleiermacher.
2. Although loving gratitude to Jesus, who gave up His life as a sin-offering for us, must after all remain our strongest motive to holiness, Scripture teaches us that the thought of death and the judgment, of the end of the world and eternity, should move us to vigilance, seriousness, soberness, and to be on our guard against the security of the world. If the disciples in their time needed the pre-announcement of Christ’s coming and the end of the world, it is doubly and trebly needed in our time. “Hastening the coming of Jesus must not degenerate into an impatient drawing near of the Judge by murmuring against others; we ought the rather be occupied with clearing away and preparation in our own affairs, in order that we may be found in peace.” Rieger.
3. “The new earth is the eternal and chief scene of the Kingdom of God, Psalms 37; Revelation 21. It will not be uninhabited. As the nature of the earth has been made to correspond and conform to man in his fallen and corrupt condition, so it will be made to correspond and conform to man purified, recovered and transfigured into glorious righteousness. Augustine already teaches that the renovated world will answer to the bodies of men which will likewise be renovated.” Richter.
4. Even the older theologians held that the day of the Lord, in which such great and decisive events are to be transacted, in which so many millions are to be judged, must not be made to denote a day of twelve or twenty-four hours. It ought rather to be taken in the sense of a diet [In German, Reichs-tag, Land-tag, Fürsten-tag, literally, day or diet of an empire, county or princes, i. e., a congress of the representatives of an empire, a country, or of princes. The reference in the text is to the name of such assemblies, which although referring to a day, continue in session for weeks or months. So the day of the Lord denotes not a single day, but an indefinite period of time.—M.].
5. The Roman Catholic Church charges the Scripture with obscurity, and founds her charge on 2Pe_3:16. In reply we may notice,
a. The correct interpretation of the passage shows that Peter refers immediately to the difficulty of understanding the subjects treated in those Epistles.
b. These are difficult to understand because they relate to future events, and because the soul-man [so called in respect of the predominance of the
øõ÷Þ
.—M.] finds it so difficult to understand the things of the Spirit.
c. Chrysostom’s assertion concerning the Scripture is irrefutable, viz.: “Whatever is necessary [to be known and to our salvation.—M.] is plain and sure in it, so that all, even the unlearned, may understand it.”
d. There are good reasons why many things in the Scriptures are hard to understand.
“Many parts of the truth of God must be clothed in concealment in order to prevent aversion to it, to prompt diligent inquiry, and in order to be reserved as a reward of the fidelity exhibited in such search.” Rieger. These difficulties contain a peculiar attraction, a stirring up to prayer, a confounding of our vanity, a concealing of the truth from the eyes of the meddling.
6. If the genuineness of this Epistle be admitted, it affords us a clear proof of the futile pretences of the critics of the Tubingen school in respect of the Pauline Epistles, e. g., of Zeller, who says in the Theol. Jahrb., 1846, II.: “Of the twenty-seven writings contained in our Canon, there is not one for which can be shown credentials of its origin reaching up to the pretended date of its composition.”
[7. Augustine says concerning the question arising from 2Pe_3:16 : ‘Which are the things hard to understand in the Epistles of Paul?’ “Even in the times of the Apostles, certain persons, who did not understand some of Paul’s rather obscure (sub obscuras) sentences, alleged that he said, ‘Let us do evil, that good may come,’ because he had said, ‘that the law entered in, that sin might abound; and where sin abounded, there did grace much more abound,’ Rom_3:8; Rom_5:20.—When the Apostle Paul says that a man is justified by faith (per fidem) without the works of the law, he does not mean thereby, that, when a man has received and professed the faith, he may despise the works of righteousness; but that every one may know that he may be justified by faith, although works of the law have not gone before his faith. For works follow him that is justified, ‘Seguuntur justificatum, non precedunt justificatum.’—Since, however, the notion above mentioned had arisen at that time (viz., that works were not requisite), the other Apostolic Epistles of Peter, John, James and Jude, specially contend against that notion; in order to maintain earnestly, that faith without works does not profit. Indeed Paul himself has defined faith to be not any kind of faith by which man believes in God, but he defines true faith to be that healthful and evangelical faith, whose works proceed from love: ‘Faith which worketh by love,’ Gal_5:6. And he asserts, that the faith which some men think sufficient for salvation is so worthless, that ‘If I have faith (he says) so as to remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing,’ 1Co_13:2; and doubtless that man’s life is good, where faithful love works, for he says, ‘the fulfilling of the law is love,’ Rom_13:10.—Evidently, therefore, for this reason St. Peter in his second Epistle, when he was exhorting to holiness of life, and was declaring that this world would pass away, and that new heavens and a new earth are looked for, which are to be assigned as dwellings to the righteous; and when he was admonishing them to consider what ought to be their life in this world, in order that they may be made meet for that future habitation; and being also aware that many ungodly men had taken occasion from certain rather obscure sentences of the Apostle Paul, to be reckless of living well, and to presume of salvation by faith, has noted that there are some things hard to be understood in St. Paul’s Epistles, which men wrested, as they did the other Scriptures, to their own destruction; whereas, in truth, that Apostle (St. Paul) entertained the same opinions as the rest of the Apostles concerning eternal salvation, and that it would not be given to any but to those who live well. Thus therefore Peter writes.” Augustine then quotes this chapter, 2Pe_3:11-18.—Augustine, de fide et operibus, c. 22, ed. Bened. 6, p. 308.—M.]
[8. Wordsworth, who cites the foregoing passage from Augustine, gives also the following useful table of the testimony of prophets and Apostles to the authority of Holy Scripture:
The prophet Malachi closes the Canon of the Old Testament by a solemn appeal “to the law of Moses, and to the statutes and judgments.” He says: “Remember them,” (Mal_4:4.)
The Apostle and Evangelist St. John closes the four gospels with a similar reference. “These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through His name,” Joh_20:31.
St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentile world, closes his Epistles with a testimony to the sufficiency and inspiration of Holy Scripture: “Abide thou in those things which thou hast learned, and wert assured of, knowing from whom thou didst learn them; and that from a child thou knowest the Holy Scriptures, which are the things that are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith that is in Jesus Christ. Every Scripture, being divinely inspired, is also profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, in order that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto every good work,” 2Ti_3:14-17.
St. Peter, here, in like manner closes his Epistles with a similar exhortation, and with a warning against perversion of Scripture.
St. Jude also closes the Catholic Epistles with a memento to his readers: “Remember ye the words spoken before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Judges 17.
Lastly, the Apostle and Evangelist St. John closes the Apocalypse with a promise of blessing to those who keep its sayings, and a curse on those who take from it or add to it, Rev_22:7; Rev_22:18-19.
Thus the duties of the Christian Church, as the Guardian of Holy Scripture, and the duties of every member of the Church, as bound to receive, to meditate upon, and to obey the written word of God, are solemnly inculcated by the farewell voices of prophets and Apostles.
Prophets and Apostles pass away to another and a better world. But the word of God, written by their instrumentality, endureth forever, 1Pe_1:25.—M.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
There is a twofold day of the Lord, a day of His mercy in which He still causes sinners to be bidden to His Kingdom by the word (preached), 2Co_6:2, and a day of righteousness and wrath (Act_17:31), which has its various gradations and divisions.—What is necessary to watching and being prepared for the coming day of the Lord? Luk_12:39; 1Th_5:6; 1Th_5:4; Mat_24:38; Rev_16:15.—We cannot be translated, into a state of peace, rest and happiness, unless we have been purified within by sanctificalion of the Spirit, and there arise a cessation of the reproaches and accusations in respect of the transgressions of which we were guilty.—If by carelessness or indiscretion we contract once more spots or blemishes, let us hasten to the opened fountain for all uncleanness, that we may be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.—If all things shall dissolve into fire, the idols of secure men will also perish. How ill is it with us, if we have nothing that is fire-proof!—The only means of escaping the terror of the coming of Christ, is a holy walk and godliness. The former relates to other men and earthly things, the latter to our conduct towards God.—Who does sufficiently realize the end of all things, which has come nigh, and which after the death of the body we shall quickly be made to meet?—According to Tertullian, the primitive Christians were wont to pray for a postponement of the end. The Church sings:
Hasten, Lord, the judgment-day,
Thy glorious countenance display;
Ei, lieber Herr, eil zum, Gericht,
Lass seh’n Dein herrlich Angesicht;
both sentiments are well founded.—The hope of that new world, wherein dwelleth perfect righteousness and constant joy, a chief means of consolation among all the trials and afflictions of this world.—It is one of the chief aims of believers to strive that hereafter they may be found without spot before the Lord.—Who will hereafter be found without spot?—The long-suffering of God our salvation and that of many others.—Beautiful example of Peter in his attitude towards Paul.—Harmony among the teachers of the Church is as necessary as the joint operation of the members of our body.—To honour the gifts of God in others, is to honour God Himself.—If the, forgery of a testament (will) which disposes of an earthly inheritance is a great crime, how much greater is the sin of those who forge and distort the Testament of the Eternal God.—The grace of stedfastness should be daily implored with earnest prayer.—The grace of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ are indissolubly united.—Christ is duly glorified by us, if we acknowledge, praise and publish His benefits.
Starke:—That must be a fearful day; who does not tremble at the birth-pangs of the last time? But ye holy ones, rejoice, lift up your heads, for your redemption is nigh. Luk_21:28.—Men, be moderate in providing garments, in building palaces, in purchasing precious things. Every thing, even the most precious, must be consumed by fire in the last day, 1Co_7:30-31.—The constant recollection of the last day, in which Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge, will give to every man his due reward, is a powerful incentive to godliness, Ecc_12:13-14.—When the heavens and the earth shall have passed away, believers will nevertheless come to a most delightful place, although we cannot now name it or describe its glory, 1Th_4:17.—Those who do not pursue righteousness and holiness here, will not be preferred to the abode in the new heaven of glory, and still less be permitted to enjoy its pleasures, 1Co_6:9.—The patience and long-suffering of Christ is our preservation; for we owe it to His mercy that we are not consumed, Lam_3:22.—If there are dark passages in Holy Scripture, the darkness is not intrinsic, but extrinsic, that is, with respect to the reader and his weak understanding. But it is clear enough in the order of salvation and eternal life to silence all excuses, Psa_119:105.—If Holy Scripture seems to be dark here and there, be not offended at it, and take care not to despise it; learn rather therefrom its sublimity and thy lowliness, but ever search more and more and persevere in prayer; thus thou shalt get more light: as for the rest, it will be reserved for the perfect knowledge thou shalt attain in heaven, 1Co_13:12.—A perverted understanding goes generally hand in hand with an evil will.—Try the spirits, whether they are of God; if not, hearken not to them, do not follow them, and let them not deceive thee, 1Co_6:9.—A strong fortress needs a vigilant and lion-hearted commander, else it will be lost.—Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall, 1Co_10:12. Watch!—Those who are minded not to fall from their own stedfastness, must above all things grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, Joh_17:3.
Stier:—If we may sigh in our own case, Lord, come speedily; must we not, on the other hand, pray because of the ungodly, Lord, have patience. Examples: Abraham, Jonah.—Look at all the glory of this poor world with no other thought than the knowledge that all is destined to pass away!
Rieger:—True part of friendship among Christians, to warn one another.—All the notices of the Holy Scriptures concerning future things are given to us that we should be on our guard. Those who only use them to gratify their curiosity, deprive them all of their best properties of salt and light.—The multitude of the wicked and the diversity of the instruments whereby error is conveyed to men, constitute no small power of deception.—How many a possession, the objects of doubt, dispute and contradiction will be saved in the day of eternity!
Richter:—Ye that are fortified in genuine Scripture-truth and in the doctrine in Christ, are in the city of refuge, of which the Jewish city of refuge wag a type! Numbers 35.
Kapff:—In the great process of combustion the earth will experience the fate of ore which contains silver and gold. The gross, light and formless parts are consumed, the precious and light-giving parts are preserved.—The earth will be a great light-bearer corresponding to the light of the glorified resurrection bodies.—In the passages describing the glorification of the earth, it is difficult to determine how much belongs to the renovation of the earth during the millennial kingdom, and how much to the glorification of the new earth.—If the earthly is so unclean before the holiness of God that it must be burned with fire, how dare we suffer our spirit to be linked to the earthly ?
Lisco:—Of the salvation, which we may attain even in this life.—The inner completion of the citizens of the kingdom.—The salutation of departing Christians.—The renovation of the world at the coming of Christ.
[Sharp:—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 does 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 look upon the judgment to come only in this view, that then all the hidden works of darkness shall be brought to light; the secrets of all hearts be laid open; the actions of all mankind strictly examined and scanned; and sentence passed upon every one according to his works done in the flesh; if we have no other view of the last judgment than only this, it would not be very comfortable to the best of us, who are all sinners, and therefore cannot plead our innocence at that great tribunal. But when we consider farther, that it is our Saviour who shall then sit upon the throne; that it is our Saviour to whom God hath committed the judging of us; our Saviour who knows our frame, who is sensible of all the difficulties we have to conflict with, as having Himself in the days of His flesh had sufficient experience of them, “He being in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin;” and that this Saviour of ours will not judge us according to the rigour of the Law, but according to that gracious allowance of the Gospel; the consideration of this will prove an effectual antidote against all the fears, and disquietudes, and despondencies we may lie under upon account of our own unworthiness. Let none of us, therefore, that heartily own our Lord Jesus and His religion, and honestly endeavour to live up to the laws of His Gospel, fright ourselves with such thoughts as these: How much shall I, poor wretch, dare to appear before the face of my Judge at the last day: I, who have so many sins to answer for? Let us but go on in the good course we are in: let us but hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, and daily apply to the throne of grace for strength and assistance against our corruptions; and to our prayers let us add our sincere endeavours to increase in virtue, and the longer we live still to grow better; and then I dare say, whatever sins we may have been guilty of, we shall not need to have any apprehension, or fear our condition on account of them, when we come to die: but we may with confidence appear before the tribunal of our Lord; and expect our part in that comfortable sentence, which He will at the last day pronounce to all His true disciples and followers: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” Mat_25:34.—M.]
[Cf. on 2Pe_3:10. H. Blair: On the dissolution of the world. Sermons, III.
2Pe_3:10-14. C. Simeon: The day of judgment. Works, XX., 349.
2Pe_3:11. John Owen: Providential changes an argument for universal holiness. 4 Serm. Works XVI., 220. Holiness urged from the liability of all things to dissolution. Works, (Goold), XVII., 524.
2Pe_3:13. Thomas Chalmers: The new heavens and the new earth. Works, VII., 280.
2Pe_3:15-16. W. Paley: Caution recommended in the use and application of Scripture language. Visit. Serm. Serm. and Tracts, I.
Chr. Wordsworth: Hulsean Lecture for 1847.
W. Barrow: On the mysterious doctrines of Christianity. Bampton Lecture, 221; Serm., I., 173.
C. Benson: Origin of Scripture difficulties. 1. Existence of Scripture difficulties vindicated. 26. Objections to the existence of difficulties in the Scriptures as an inspired work considered. 47. The existence of difficulties in Scripture not incompatible with their object as a religiously instructive work. 69. Classification of Scripture difficulties. 156. Minor difficulties in Genesis. Recapitulation and conclusion. Hulsean Lecture for 1822, 399.
T. Chevallier: The use of historical types authorized by Scripture; the advantages attending an inquiry into them; the danger of abuse, and rules of inter
