Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 3:1

Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 3:1 - 3:18

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Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 3:1 - 3:18

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

3:1 - 3:18

EXPOSITION

2Pe_3:1

This Second Epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; literally, this Epistle already a second one I write unto you. The ἤδη ("already") implies that the interval between the two Epistles was not long. The expression "beloved," four times repeated in this chapter, shows the apostle's affectionate interest in his readers; and the word "second" forces us to make our choice between the Petrine authorship of the Epistle or the hypothesis of a direct forgery. In both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance; literally, in which, i.e., "Epistles;" the word "second" implied an allusion to a First Epistle. St. Peter repeats the words which he had used in 2Pe_1:13, "I think it meet … to stir you up by putting you in remembrance." Mind ( διάνοια ) is the reflective faculty (see 1Pe_1:13); that faculty should be exercised in holy things. The thoughts that pass through the Christian's mind should be holy thoughts; his mind should be pure. The word rendered "pure" ( εἰλικρινής ) occurs in Php_1:10 (where see note); the corresponding substantive is found in 1Co_5:8; 2Co_1:12; 2Co_2:17. It is said of things which can bear to be judged in the sunlight, and so means "pure, clear," or (according to another possible etymology) "unmixed," and so "genuine, sincere."

2Pe_3:2

That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets. "That ye may be mindful" is represented by one word in the Greek ( μνησθῆναι ); compare the exact parallel in Luk_1:72. Great stress is laid on the word of prophecy in both Epistles (see 1Pe_1:10-12 and 2Pe_1:19). And of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour; rather, as in the Revised Version, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles. All the best manuscripts read ὑμῶν here. It is a remarkable expression; but Christ's apostles can be rightly called the apostles of those to whom they are sent, as being their teachers, sent to them for their benefit; just as the angels of God are called also the angels of Christ's little ones (Mat_18:10). Compare also "the angels of the seven Churches" in the Revelation. St. Peter shows an intimate knowledge of several of St. Paul's Epistles, and of that of St. James; he is writing to the Churches addressed in his First Epistle, most of which were founded by St. Paul or his companions. We must therefore understand this passage, as well as verse 15 of this chapter, as a distinct recognition of the apostleship of St. Paul. The translation of the Authorized Version, "the apostles of the Lord and Saviour," involves a violent disturbance of the order; it seems best to make both genitives depend on "commandment:" "your apostles' commandment of the Lord;" the first genitive being that of announcement, the second of origin. The commandment was announced by the apostles, but it was the Lord's commandment. (For the double genitive, comp. Jas_2:1 and Act_5:32. For the whole verse, see the parallel passage in Jud Act_1:17.)

2Pe_3:3

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers. (For the irregular construction of γινώσκοντες , see Winer, 3:63, 2, a.) St. Peter has the words, "knowing this first," in 2Pe_1:20, where he is speaking of the interpretation of prophecy; he repeats them now when referring to the scoffers who mocked at the long delay of the Lord's coming foretold by the prophets. (For "the last days," see note on 1Pe_1:20.) The Revised Version has, "Mockers shall come with mockery." This represents the words ἐν ἐμπαιγμοπνῇ , found in nearly all the best manuscripts, which give emphasis to the expression after the Hebrew manner. The word ἐμπαιγμονή occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, and ἐμπαῖκται , scoffers, only in the parallel passage, Jud 18. Walking after their own lusts. Self-indulgence often leads to skepticism. This verse is quoted in a homily ascribed to Hippolytus.

2Pe_3:4

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? (comp. Mal_2:17, "Where is the God of judgment?"). The Lord had prophesied of his coming; St. Paul had spoken more than once as if that coming were very near at hand (1Co_15:51; 2Co_5:4; 1Th_4:15). Yet he came not. Already men were beginning to mock, and to question whether the long-delayed promise would ever be fulfilled. For since the fathers fell asleep; better, from the day that. By "the fathers" must be meant here the fathers of the Christian Church. St. Peter was writing more than thirty years after the Ascension. The first generation of Christians was rapidly passing away. Stephen "fell asleep" first, then James the son of Zebedee, the other James the Lord's brother, and many others who had looked, it may be, to see the coming of the Lord among those "which are alive and remain" (1Th_4:17). But they had died, and he came not; and from the day of their death things went on as they were. Should men look for him still, the mockers asked, when the fathers looked in vain? The mockers adopted, in mockery, doubtless, the Christian phrase for death. The Lord first had said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth ;" then the holy Stephen "fell asleep;" and so "they which are asleep" became the recognized name for the dead in Christ. Death is like sleep; the holy dead rest from their labours. They "sleep not idly," for they are at home with the Lord, and they are blessed; but yet the quiet rest of Paradise, though "far better" than this earthly life, is sleep compared with the perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, which the redeemed of the Lord shall enjoy at last in his eternal glory. All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation; literally, all things continue thus, as they are, and as they have been from the beginning. There has been no sudden catastrophe; the world has gone on as it was; the laws of nature are still working with their changeless uniformity" (see a remarkable parallel in Clement, I, 23, which is important also as an independent proof that this argument of the scoffers is as old as the end of the first century).

2Pe_3:5

For this they willingly are ignorant of; literally, for this escapes them of their own will. All things have not always been as they are; there have been great changes; there was once a great catastrophe; but this they willfully forget, Huther translates differently, "For, whilst they assert this, it is hidden from them that," etc. But this rendering seems forced and unsatisfactory, and gives a meaning to θέλω which it has nowhere in the New Testament. That by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. The Revised Version translates, That there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the Word of God. The mockers say that all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. That creation itself was a great, a stupendous change, a mighty effort of the power of God.

St. Peter refers to it in words evidently derived from the Book of Genesis, not from any other sources, whether Greek, Egyptian, or Indian. There were heavens from of old (the word ἔκπαλαι occurs elsewhere only in 2Pe_2:3). There was an earth formed or standing out of the water. The Greek participle here used is συνεστῶσα , literally, "standing together or consisting" (comp. Col_1:17); it may be taken closely with both prepositional Clauses, "earth consisting of water and by means of water." Thales had taught that water was the beginning of things, the original element ( πάντα ἐξ ὕδατος συνεστάναι ); the narrative in Genesis represents water as originally overspreading all things: "The earth was without form [ ἀόρατος , Septuagint], and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." We may therefore understand St. Peter as meaning that the earth was formed or compacted out of water, or out of those substances which the water at first held in solution; and that it is kept together in coherence and solidity by means of water. If, on the other hand, we regard the participle as closely connected with the second preposition only, the meaning will be that the earth, held together and compacted by means of water, rose up out of the water, and appeared above it, when God said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear." It is possible, again, to understand the preposition διά locally, and to translate "amidst water." Comp. Psa_136:6, "He stretched out the earth above the waters;" and Psa_24:2, "He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." Of course, neither St. Peter nor Moses is speaking in the language of science; their object was, not to teach scientific truth, but to present the great fact of creation in an aspect suitable to our poor capacities. For the clause, "by the Word of God ( τῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγῳ )," comp. Heb_11:3, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God ( ῥήματι Θεοῦ )." St. Peter may be referring to the formula, "And God said," so constantly repeated in the account of the creation, or (what is really the same truth) to the fact that "all things were made by him [by God the Word], and without him was not anything made that was made."

2Pe_3:6

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. The Greek for" whereby" is δἰ ὧν , literally, "through which things." The plural here presents some difficulty. The most obvious antecedents are "the heavens and the earth" of the last verse; but many commentators refer the relative to the twice-repeated "water." The meaning will be the same whichever view we take. "The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened;" that is, the Deluge was brought to pass by means of the heavens, i.e., the waters that were above the firmament, and the earth, i.e., the waters that were below the firmament, which came from the earth as the waters first mentioned came from the heavens. Another possible view is that of Huther, who refers δἱ ὧν to the water and the Word of God. By the world here must be meant the world of living creatures. This is St. Peter's answer to the mockers: there had been one great catastrophe; there will be another.

2Pe_3:7

But the heavens and the earth, which are now; rather, the heavens which are now, and the earth. The "now" does not refer, as some think, to any change wrought by the Flood, but distinguishes the present heavens and earth from the new heavens and new earth, which Christians are to look for (2Pe_3:13). By the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto fire. Several of the better manuscripts have "by his Word," which, on the whole, seems to give the best meaning. The reading in the text may, indeed, be understood in a similar sense, "by the same Word of God;" otherwise it would mean that the original word of creation determined also the duration of the world and the means of its destruction. The words rendered, "are kept in store," are, literally, "have been treasured ( τεθησαυρισμένοι εἰσίν )" (comp. Rom_2:5). It seems better to take the dative πυρί ("with fire," or "for fire") with this verb rather than with the following, as in the Authorized Version. If we take the first meaning of the dative, the sense will be that the world has been stored with fire, i.e., that it contains, stored up in its inner depths, the fire which is destined ultimately to destroy it. But the other view seems on the whole more probable; the heavens and the earth are stored up for fire or unto fire, i.e., with the purpose in the counsels of God of their ultimate destruction by fire. This is the clearest prophecy in Holy Scripture of the final conflagration of the universe; but comp. Isa_66:15; Dan_7:10; Mal_4:1; 2Th_1:8. Such a doctrine formed part of the physical theories of the Stoics; it is also found in the 'Book of Enoch.' Against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. The participle "reserved" ( τηρούμενοι ) is best taken with this clause: "Reserved against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

2Pe_3:8

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing; literally, let not this one thing escape you, as especially important. That one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. "With the Lord" means in his sight, in his estimate of things (comp. Psa_90:4, "A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday"). Bengel finely says, "Dei aeoniologium (sic appellare liceat) differt ab horologic mortalium. Illius gnomon omnes homis simul indicat in summa actione et in summa quiete. Ei nec tardius nec celerius labuntur tempera quam ipsi et oeconomiae ejus aptum sit. Nulls causa est cur finem rerum aut protelare aut accelerare necessum habeat. Qui hoc comprehendemus? Si comprehendere possemus, non opus foret a Mose et Petro addi, apud Dominum." God is eternal: his thought is not, like ours, subject to the law of time; and even we can understand that one day, as the day of the Saviour's death, may have far more of intense action compressed into it, and far more influence upon the spiritual destiny of mankind, than any period of a thousand years. This passage seems to be quoted by Justin Martyr, the 'Epistle of Barnabas,' Irenaeus, and Hippolytus; but they may be referring to Psa_90:1-17, though the quotations resemble the words of St. Peter more closely than those of the psalm.

2Pe_3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. The Lord here, as frequently in these Epistles, is God the Father; it is he only who knoweth that day and that hour (Mar_13:32). Some take the genitive τῆς ἐπαγγελίας with "the Lord," and translate, "The Lord of the promise is not slack." This is a possible connection, but, not so satisfactory as the ordinary rendering. (For the genitive with the verb βραδύνει , see Winer, 3:30, 6, b.) The latter clause may be understood, "as some think it, i.e., the delay of the judgment, to be slackness;" or better, perhaps, "as some understand the meaning of slackness." Men are slow in fulfilling their promises from various, often selfish, motives; the Lord's delay comes from love and long-suffering. But is long-suffering to us-ward; rather, to you-ward, which seems to be the best-supported reading; two ancient manuscripts give "for your sake." St. Peter has the same thought in the First Epistle (1Pe_4:1-19 :20); there he reminds us how the long-suffering of God waited while the ark was a-preparing; here he tells us that the delay of the judgment, at which unbelievers scoff, is due to the same cause. We note here an item of evidence for the common authorship of the two Epistles. Not willing that any should perish; rather, not wishing or desiring ( μὴ βουλόμενος ). The participle gives the reason of the Lord's delay; he hath no pleasure that the wicked should die (Eze_18:23, Eze_18:32, and Eze_33:11). But that all should come to repentance. The G reek word for "come" ( χωρῆσαι ), occurs in the same sense in Mat_15:17, εἰς μετάνοιαν … χωρήσας ). Calvin takes it transitively, "willing to receive all to repentance." But the common translation is plainly right.

2Pe_3:10

But the day of the Lord will come. The word ἥξει , will come, stands emphatically at the beginning of the clause; whatever the mockers may say, whatever may happen, come certainly will the day of the Lord. "The day of the Lord" meets us often in the prophets; it is usually associated with the thought of judgment (see Isa_2:12; Eze_13:5; Joe_1:15; Mal_3:2). In the New Testament it signifies the second advent of Christ (1Th_5:2; 1Co_1:8; Php_1:6; 2Th_2:2). As a thief in the night. The best manuscripts omit here "in the night." St. Peter is evidently echoing the Lord's words in that great prophetic discourse on the Mount of Olives, which must have made such a deep impression upon the apostles. This illustration of the sudden coming of the thief is repeated not only by St. Peter here, but also by St. Paul (1Th_5:2), and twice by St. John (Rev_3:3 and Rev_16:15). In the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The Greek for "with a great noise ( ῥοιζηδόν )" occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, and is one of those remarkable poetic forms which are not unfrequent in this Epistle: the noun ῥοῖζος is used of the whizzing of arrows, of the rush of wings, of the sound of mighty winds or roaring waters. It may be understood here of the crash of a falling world or of the roar of the destroying flames. The word rendered "pass away" is that used by our Lord in the prophecy just referred to (Mat_24:35; also in Mat_5:18 and in Luk_16:17). And the elements shall melt with fervent heat. It is uncertain whether by "the elements" ( στοιχεῖα ) St. Peter means the four elements (in the old and popular use of the word), or the great constituent parts of the universe, the heavenly bodies. Against the first view is the assertion that one of those elements is to be the agent of destruction. But the word rendered "melt" means "shall be dissolved" or "loosed;" and it may be, as Bishop Wordsworth says, that "St. Peter's meaning seems to be that the στοιχεῖα , elements or rudiments, of which the universe is composed and compacted, will be loosed; that is, the framework of the world will be disorganized; and this is the sense of στοιχεῖα in the LXX. (Wis. 7:17; 19:17) and in Hippolytus, 'Philos.,' pages 219, 318. The dissolution is contrasted with the consistency described by the word συνεστῶσα in verse 5. The heavens are reserved for fire, and will pass away with a rushing noise, and, being set on fire, will be dissolved; the elements will be on fire and melt, and he 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 στοιχεῖα , the elemental principles of which the universe is made." On the other hand, the word στοιχεῖα is certainly used of the heavenly bodies by Justin Martyr ('Apolog.,' 2. c. 5, and 'Dial. cum Tryphon,' c. 23); and the heavenly bodies are constantly mentioned in the descriptions of the awful convulsions of the great day. The objection that the word does not bear this meaning elsewhere in Holy Scripture is of little weight, as this is the only place in which it has a physical sense. The literal translation of the clause is, "The elements, being scorched, shall be dissolved." The word for "being scorched" ( καυσούμενα ) occurs in the New Testament only here and in verse 12; it is used by the Greek physicians of the burning heat of fever. The verb λυθήσεται means "shall be dissolved or loosened." The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. By "the works that are therein" St. Peter seems to mean all the works both of God and of man, "opera naturae et artis" (Bengel). There is a very remarkable reading here (supported by the Sinaitic and Vatican and another uncial manuscript), εὑρεθήσεται , "shall be discovered," instead of κατακαήσεται , "shall be burned up." If we understand "the works that are therein" of man's works and actions, this reading will give a good sense. Or the clause may be regarded as interrogative, "Shall the earth and the works that are therein be found?" But the reading, "shall be burned up" is well supported, and suits the context best.

2Pe_3:11

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved; rather, seeing that all these things are being dissolved. The participle is present, and implies the certainty of the event foretold, and, perhaps, also that the germs of that coming dissolution are already in being, that the forces which are ultimately to bring about the final catastrophe are even now at work. Some of the better manuscripts read, instead of οὖν , then, οὕτως , thus: "seeing that all these things are thus being dissolved." What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? The Greek word for "what manner of persons" means literally, "of what country;" it seems to point to the great truth that God's people are fellow-citizens of the saints, that the commonwealth of which they are citizens is in heaven. The word for "to be" is the emphatic ὑπάρχειν , which denotes original, essential, continuous being. (On the word for "conversation" ( ἀναστροφαῖς , behaviour, conduct), see note on 1Pe_1:15.) Both this noun and the following are plural in the Greek, and therefore mean "in all aspects and forms of holy conduct and godliness." Some commentators connect these last words, "in all holy conversation and godliness," with the next verse: "looking in all holy conversation,'' etc. Some, again, understand this verse as asking a question, which is answered in the next; but the Greek word for "what manner of persons" ( ποταπός ) seems to be used in the New Testament as an exclamation only, not interrogatively.

2Pe_3:12

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God. The preposition "unto" is inserted without authority. The second participle σπεύδοντας is followed directly by the accusative, and is evidently transitive. In the Septuagint Version of Isa_16:5, σπεύδων δικαιοσύνην represents the "hasting righteousness" of our translation (comp. Pindar, 'Isthm.,' Isa_5:22, where σπεύδειν ἀρετάν means "to pursue virtue"). Here the translation "hastening" is most appropriate. The Father hath put the times and seasons in his own power; but as the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, so now he is "long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish;" and in his gracious mercy waits for the repentance of his chosen. St. Peter seems to represent Christians as "hastening the coming [literally, 'presence'] of the day of God" by working out their own salvation, and helping to spread the knowledge of the gospel (Mat_24:14), and so rendering the long-suffering patience of God no longer necessary. The words imply also the duty of praying for that coming, as we do in the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, and in the Funeral Service, "Beseeching thee, that it may please thee, of thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom." Compare St. Peter's speech in Act 3, where he says, "Repent ye therefore … that so ( ὅπως ἄν ) there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ" (verses 19, 20, Revised Version). This remarkable coincidence of thought furnishes an argument of considerable weight in favour of the genuineness of this Epistle. Another possible rendering of the word is "earnestly desiring," which is adopted in the text of the Revised Version, and is preferred by some commentators. Wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved. The Greek for "wherein" is δι ̓ ἥν , on account of which, i.e., on account of the day of God, or, what comes to much the same meaning, on account of the coming, the presence, of that day. Old things must pass away because of the coming of the day of God; the old order must give place to new. And the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The apostle repeats the striking words which he had already used in Isa_16:10, with a different verb. The Greek word for "shall melt" here is not λυθήσεται , as in Isa_16:10, but a stronger word τήκεται , are being melted, or wasted away. The tense is the prophetic present, implying a certain fulfillment. There is probably a reference to Isa_34:4, where the Septuagint rendering is Καὶ τακήσονται πᾶσαι αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν .

2Pe_3:13

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth; rather, but, according to his promise, we look for. The promise is that in Isa_65:17, "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth" (see also Isa_66:22 and Rev_21:1). St. John saw in vision the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah and St. Peter: "The first heaven and the first earth were passed away." It may be that, as the water of the Deluge was the baptism of the ancient world into a new life, so the fire of the great day will be the means of purifying and refining the universe, transforming it into new heavens and a new earth, making all things new. Our Lord's use of the word "regeneration," in Mat_19:28, seems to favour this view. In the regeneration of the individual soul the personality remains, the thoughts, desires, affections, are changed; so, it may be, in the regeneration of the world the substance will remain, the fashion ( σχῆμα ) of the old world will pass away (1Co_7:31). But it is impossible to pronounce dogmatically whether the new heavens and earth will be a reproduction of the old in a far more glorious form, through the agency of the refining fire, or an absolutely new creation, as the words of Isaiah seem to imply. St. John, like St. Peter, speaks of a new earth, and tells us that that new earth will be the dwelling-place of the blessed. He saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven; the throne of God and of the Lamb (he tells us) shall be in it: "The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them." The holy city, Jerusalem, which is above, is in heaven now; the commonwealth of which the saints are citizens is in heaven (Php_3:20). But heaven will come down to earth; the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be there; there his servants shall serve him. The distinction between earth and heaven will be abolished; for where God is, there is heaven. Wherein dwelleth righteousness (comp. Isa_60:21, "Thy people shall be all righteous;" also Isaiah lay. 25; Rev_21:27; Rom_8:21).

2Pe_3:14

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things; rather, these things, the coming of the Lord, the restitution of all things, the new heavens and the new earth. Be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless; literally, give diligence (or, be earnest—the same word which is used in 2Pe_1:10) to be found without spot and blameless in his sight in peace. Christians who look for the coming of Christ must earnestly strive to imitate their Lord, the "Lamb without blemish and without spot." In the word ἄσπιλοι , "without spot," we have a link with 1Pe_1:19. The word for "blameless" ( ἀμώμητοι ) is found elsewhere only in Php_2:15. The dative αὐτῷ should be rendered, not "of him" or "by him," but "in his sight" or "before him." Peace is used in its fullest sense—peace with God and with man; the peace which Christ giveth; "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." "In peace" was a common inscription on Christian graves.

2Pe_3:15

And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. The apostle is referring to 2Pe_3:9. Scoffers count the delay of the judgment slackness; the Christian should count it salvation; it is for the salvation of the elect that the judgment tarrieth. It is almost certain that by "our Lord" here St. Peter means the Lord Jesus, whom he describes by the same title in 2Pe_3:18. Even as our beloved brother Paul also. The plural pronoun may be intended to imply that St. Paul was known to the Churches to which St. Peter was writing, and was beloved there. St. Peter addresses his readers as "beloved" four times in this Epistle; he here uses the same epithet of St. Paul. It comes naturally from his lips; but a writer of the second century would probably have used much stronger words of praise in speaking of one so much reverenced. According to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; rather, wrote to you (comp. Polycarp, 'Ad Philipp.,' Php_1:3, "One like me cannot equal the wisdom of the blessed Paul"). That wisdom was given mite him, as he himself says (1Co_3:10). If we ask to what Epistles of St. Paul is St. Peter referring, the passage which at once occurs to us is 1Th_4:1-18 and 1Th_5:1-28. This Epistle was probably known to St. Peter; there may be a reference to 1Th_5:2 in 1Th_5:10 of this chapter; and Silvanus, whose name St. Paul associates with his own in both Epistles to the Thessalonians, was with St. Peter when he wrote his First Epistle (1Pe_5:12). But St. Peter's Second Epistle is addressed (primarily at least) to the same Churches to which the first was written (1Th_3:1). We must therefore either say, with Dean Alford, that "our 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 considered to belong to, the whole Christian Church;" or we must suppose that the passages in St. Peter's thoughts were not in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, but in some of the Epistles addressed to the Churches of Asia Minor; as, for instance, Eph_1:4; Eph_2:8; Eph_3:9-11; Col_1:22; Col_3:4, Col_3:24; or, possibly Rom_2:4 and Rom_9:22, as there seem to be some reasons for believing that this last Epistle was addressed to the Church at Ephesus among others.

2Pe_3:16

As also in all his Epistles. The true reading is probably ἐν πάσαις ἐπιστολαῖς without the article. The words, therefore, do not imply the existence of a complete collection of St. Paul's Epistles, but mean only "in all Epistles which he writes." Speaking in them of these things; that is, of the day of God, the end of the world, etc. St. Peter was acquainted with other Epistles of St. Paul besides those addressed to the Asiatic Churches. There are evident indications of his knowledge of the Epistles to the Thessalonians and Corinthians, as well as of that to the Romans. In which are some things hard to be understood. The manuscripts vary between ἐν οἷς and ἐν αἷς . The first reading would refer to the words immediately preceding—"these things;" "among the subjects on which St. Paul wrote there are some things," etc. The second would refer to "all his Epistles," and would mean that there are certain difficulties in St. Paul's Epistles generally. St. Peter does not tell us what difficulties were in his thoughts—whether St. Paul's teaching about "the man of sin," and "the day of the Lord," or his doctrine of justification by faith, and his assertion of Christian liberty, which might be perverted into anti-nomianism by such men as the false teachers censured in Rom_2:1-29. The word δυσνόητος , "hard to be understood," occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest; rather, the ignorant and unsteadfast. Both words are peculiar to this Epistle; the last occurs also in 2Pe_2:14, the first here only in the New Testament. The verb also translated "wrest" ( στρεβλοῦσιν ) is found only here; it means "to twist with a windlass," and so "to strain, to torture, to distort." As they do also the other Scriptures. This passage is of the greatest interest, as showing that some of St. Paul's Epistles had by this time taken their place in the estimate of Christians by the side of the sacred books of the Old Testament, and were regarded as Holy Scripture. By "the other Scriptures" St. Peter means the Old Testament, and also, perhaps, some of the earlier writings of the New, as the first three Gospels and the Epistle of St. James. St. Paul, in 1Ti_5:18, quotes a passage which seems to come from Luk_10:7 as Scripture. Unto their own destruction; literally, their own destruction of themselves. The use of both adjective and pronoun intensifies the meaning (comp. Luk_2:1, Luk_2:12).

2Pe_3:17

Ye therefore, beloved, seeing that ye know these things before. The pronoun "ye" is emphatic; others have gone astray; "continue ye faithful." The construction is participial, and there is no expressed object; literally, "knowing before," i.e., that false teachers will arise. Beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness; rather, as in the Revised Version, lest, being carried away … ye fall. It is interesting to notice that the word rendered "led or carried away" is used by St. Paul, in Gal_2:13, of St. Barnabas, who, along with St. Peter himself, was then "carried away" with the dissimulation of the Judaizers. The word rendered "wicked," rather "lawless," is used elsewhere in the New Testament only in Gal_2:7. The word for "steadfastness" ( στηριγμός ) occurs only here.

2Pe_3:18

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Growth is necessary for steadfastness; we cannot persevere unless we continually advance in faith. Some, as Alford, take the genitive with "grace" as well as with "knowledge;" but this connection forces us to regard it first as subjective, then as objective—the grace which Christ gives, and the knowledge of which he is the Object—and so seems somewhat forced. St. Peter insists on the knowledge of Christ as essential for growth in grace, at the beginning, as at the end, of this Epistle. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. We notice the doxology addressed to Christ; it reminds us of the hymn which Pliny, in his famous letter to Trajan, says the Christians of Bithynia (one of the provinces mentioned in 1Pe_1:1) were wont to address to Christ as to God. To him be (or is) the glory—all the glory which belongs to God, which we ascribe to him. "For ever" is, literally, "for the day of the age or of eternity ( εἰς ἡμερὰν αἰῶνος )." This remarkable expression is found only here, and is variously interpreted. Bengel explains it as, "dies sine nocte, morus et perpetuus;" Huther as, "the day on which eternity begins as contrasted with time, but which day is likewise all eternity itself." Fronmuller quotes St. Augustine: "It is only one day, but an everlasting day, without yesterday to precede it, and without tomorrow to follow it; not brought forth by the natural sun, which shall exist no more, but by Christ, the Sun of Righteousness."

HOMILETICS

2Pe_3:1-10

The certainty of the Lord's coming.

I. CONFUTATION OF SCOFFERS.

1. St. Peter's purpose in writing, He took a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of the Christians of Asia Minor; he felt a great affection for them; he calls them "beloved" four times in this chapter. We do not know whether he had ever seen them face to face. It may be that Silvanus had made known to him their circumstances, their dangers, their temptations. So he writes to them. In the First Epistle he comforts them in the presence of great persecution; in the second he warns them against the seductions of false teachers. He is an example to Christian ministers of diligence, of affectionate care for souls. He writes:

(1) To stir up his readers. Their minds, he says, were pure. They were single-hearted Christians; their religion was genuine, sincere. Nevertheless, it was well to stir them up. We all need to be aroused from time to time. We live on in the same way day after day; the daily prayers, the daily life, are ordered according to rule; there is danger of becoming lukewarm, formal, of acting from habit rather than from the conscious desire of pleasing God. Hence the need of exhortation. We ask God to "stir up the wills of his faithful people." It is he only who, by the power of his Spirit, can really arouse us; but he uses men as his instruments. He used the agency of St. Peter to stir up the minds of the Asiatic Christians.

(2) To remind them of the words of the prophets and apostles. He had urged the study of prophecy in the first chapter of this Epistle; he had dwelt upon the subject of prophetical inspiration in both Epistles; he was constantly referring to the prophets both in his speeches and letters. Christians ought to study the writings of the prophets; they ought to give heed to the Word of prophecy. So also they should be always mindful of the Lord's commandment given through the apostles. "God who in times past spoke by the prophets, hath in the latter days spoken unto us by his Son." The writings of prophets and apostles come from the same source—the inspiration of God; both have a message for us. It becomes us to be mindful of that message; to forget it is to be wanting in reverence and gratitude to him from whom the message comes. The commandment, delivered to us by the apostles, is in truth the commandment of our Lord and Saviour, who, as our Lord, has a right to our obedience, and, as our Saviour, has a claim upon our tenderest feelings of love and gratitude.

2. Scoffers will come. It has always been so; there have always been men who mocked at those who trusted in God. It was so with Lot in Sodom, with Isaac the heir of the promise, with the psalmist, with the Lord Jesus himself. Those of whom St. Peter speaks were men of sensual habits, walking after their own lusts. There is such a thing as honest doubt, like that of St. Thomas; there are men who would give the world to believe, if they could; their temperament, their education, their habits of thought, throw immense difficulties in their way; such men, we hope and trust, will be guided, sooner or later, to the truth. But in all ages a very large proportion of the prevalent skepticism has issued out of an ungodly life. Men have rejected the faith because they were unwilling to believe. The pure morality of the gospel offends the self-indulgent; it is a constant reproach to them; the teaching of Scripture concerning the judgment is repulsive to them; they try to keep such thoughts out of their minds. And, besides this, sin hardens the heart; a sensual life blinds the eye of the soul, and makes men incapable of appreciating spiritual truth. "The natural man [the ψυχικός , in whom the animal soul is predominant] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1Co_2:14). Such men come with their mockery, saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? The fathers have fallen asleep; generation after generation has passed away. Christians have lived in expectation of the Lord's coming according to his promise; they have waited for him, but he came not; they are in their graves. Are men still to pass their lives in waiting for an advent which seems to be continually receding? All things continue thus, as they are, and as they have been; the laws of nature work on in their changeless uniformity. Where is the promise?" These men took the Epicurean view of the Deity. God might have created the world; he might have called into being the forces which are working in the universe. But now, they thought, he leaves those forces to their mutual action and reaction upon one another; he does not interpose either in the natural world or in the affairs of men; he leaves all to the silent rule of law. The teaching of Holy Scripture is directly opposed to this form of agnosticism. "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work," said the Lord Jesus to the Jews. "In him we live, and move, and have our being," said St. Paul to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, as well as to the men of Athens generally. God sustains the universe from day to day, from hour to hour, with his continued agency. Without his support the world would fall into ruin; without his providence the order of society would collapse. The laws of nature are but observed uniformities, sequences of cause and effect; they are not forces; they have no life, no power; they are the expression of the Divine will. God changeth not; and those laws which he has impressed upon the material universe exhibit the hand of the Creator, they too are changeless within the sphere of the all-controlling will of God. He can suspend their operation, for he is the Lord God omnipotent; but as a rule his working is uniform, continuous. If it were not so, the world would be a scene of disorder—all its rare beauty would be lost, life in its present conditions could not be sustained, society would be impossible. That uniformity which is the result of the wisdom of God must not be made an argument against the providence of God. He works in the uniformities of the laws of nature as certainly as in disturbances of those uniformities. There have been such disturbances; the uniform course of nature has been broken by Divine interpositions on a great scale.

3. The answer to the scoffers. All things have not always continued as they are. For:

(1) Creation itself was the introduction of a vast change; it was a mighty interposition of Divine power. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." We are not concerned here with the scientific interpretation of phenomena. The Bible was not intended to teach us that knowledge which men may by patient labour obtain for themselves, but to reveal to us the relations between man and God, so far as those relations are within our comprehension, and to show us the duties which arise out of those relations. We are not told how many ages, or what processes of evolution, may have their place between the second and the third verses of the first chapter of Genesis. It is the great fact of creation which is forcibly declared in those emphatic words with which the first of the sacred books begins. "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." This is the great truth: "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." It was he who said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear." The scoffers willfully forget this; even if they do not formally deny the possibility of creation, they shut their eyes to it, and forget that he who made the world can also destroy it, that the great change of creation may be preparatory for other changes as great in the future.

(2) One such catastrophe was the Deluge. The earth, which God had once pronounced to be "very good," had become corrupt, and was filled with violence. Then God brought in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly. By his Word "were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." "And all flesh died that moved upon the earth." That awful visitation was a warning of coming judgments. All things did not go on in the same unvarying course as the scoffers said. When all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth, then God interposed in his awful justice, and the earth was, by a baptism of water, restored and purified, prepared for a new beginning.

(3) All things will not always continue as they are. By God's Word the heavens and the earth were made at the first; by his Word they are now maintained in being. But as the old world contained in itself the element which swept away the ungodly race of men, so the world that now is contains in itself the agent of its own destruction. It is stored with fire; there are stores of fire hidden within it, which are to work the last most awful change, which are to destroy the present order of things, and by their purifying and refining power to work, as by a baptism of fire, the regeneration of the universe into a new life. And it is stored up for fire, reserved unto the day of judgment, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire. That great day is presented to us in Holy Scripture as a day of terror with surroundings most awful and overwhelming. It will be a day of destruction to the ungodly; it will sweep them into utter death—that death of the soul which is so much more dreadful than the death of the body, for it is death eternal, a state of separation from the life of God, separation from light and joy and love, felt in all its blank and utter misery. Then all things will not continue as they are; he who made the world at the first, he who interposed when that world had become corrupt, and swept away the wicked with the waters of the Flood,—he will come again, but this time "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." The mockers may mock; but the Word of God abideth; it must be fulfilled—he will surely come.

II. EXPLANATION OF THE DELAY OF THE JUDGMENT.

1. With the Eternal time is not. We think under the laws of time; time is an essential element in our thought—we cannot think without recognizing it. It is not so with God; the thought of God is not subject to the law of time. He is eternal; past, present, and future are all within the sphere of his immediate knowledge. To him one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. To him that inhabiteth eternity the longest time that human thought can conceive is but as a speck. Even we can understand that real life is measured not by mere time, but by action. How much of life was there concentrated in the three years of our Lord's ministry, those years filled full with works of love and holy teaching! while, on the other hand, the seventy years or more of many men pass by in careless living, in listless idleness, without energy either of thought or action, without any good results either for themselves or for others. It is thought, love, action, that measures life, not the hand of the clock, not the mere lapse of hours and years. "He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time" (Wis. 4:13).

2. The Lord is long-suffering. The delay does not mean indifference; it does not mean that the Lord heedeth not the conduct of men. The ungodly say, "Tush, God hath forgotten: he hideth away his face; he will never see it." But it is not so. The delay of the judgment comes from a far different reason. God is not willing that any should perish. Alas! men do perish in their sins; the day of judgment is the day of perdition of ungodly men. But it is not of God; it is of their own willfulness and obstinacy; they bring upon themselves swift perdition. God has bestowed on man the awful gift of power to choose good or evil; without that power there could be no moral action, no responsibility, no obedience, no holiness, no love; life without that power would be the working of a machine, not the energy of a creature made after the likeness of God. Man, alas! has too often abused that great and perilous gift, and has turned that which should have led to holiness into an occasion of sin; and "the wages of sin is death." But God hath "no pleasure in the death of the wicked;" his desire is that "all should come to repentance." Therefore he gives them time. "The goodness of God leadeth them to repentance" (Rom_2:4). We cannot enter into life without repentance, without a deep and real change of heart. "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," was the first sermon of John the Baptist, the first sermon of our Lord. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you … for the remission of sins," was the exhortation of St. Peter in his first great sermon. And God willeth that all should come to repentance; for "the Lord is loving unto every man;" and Jesus Christ our Lord "tasted death for every man." And "there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth." Therefore he gives us time. The delay comes from the long-suffering love of God. How sad that men should scoff at that which should be the ground of adoring gratitude!

3. But the day of the Lord will come. It must be so, for so it is decreed in the counsels of God. The mockers may mock in their mockery; they may ask in bitter sarcasm, "Where is the promise of his coming?" The Christian knows the answer; it is hidden in the secret purpose of God, in the mystic book sealed with seven seals, which none can open save the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But the day of the Lord will come—that we know, though we know not the time.

(1) Its coming is certain, sure as the Word of God; the Bible tells us it will come; our consciences bear witness also; the warning voice of conscience points forward to the coming of the awful day. And it will come suddenly, as the thief cometh—when men are not looking for it. Men will be living, as, alas! so many men are living now, heedlessly; eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, without a thought of God and the solemn future. Then, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, shall the sign of the Son of man be seen in heaven, and the archangel's trump shall sound. "Therefore take ye heed," saith the Lord, "lest that day come upon you unawares."

(2) And its coming is terrible. St. Peter's words bring vividly before our thoughts the awful scene—the crash of falling worlds, the roar of the destroying flames, the dissolution of the elements into chaos, the conflagration which shall burn up the earth and all that is therein. All the works that are therein, the palaces of kings, the fortifications of cities, the cathedrals and churches built for the worship of God,—all shall be involved in that one tremendous ruin. This is the apostle's answer to the scoffers.

LESSONS.

1. Scoffers will scoff; men of science will point to the unchanging laws of nature. Neither sarcasms nor the hypotheses of scientific men can shake the Christian from his faith.

2. Therefore we must stir up one another and ourselves; we must keep the solemn words of Holy Scripture in our memories.

3. God has intervened in his judgments; he will intervene again.

4. God is long-suffering; but there must be a limit even to that long-suffering patience. The day of judgment must come; therefore repent while there is time.

2Pe_3:11-18

Exhortations.

I. THE DUTY OF PREPARATION.

1. Christians should look for the city that hath foundations. The cities of this world have no sure foundation, for the earth on which they are built must pass away; it has within itself the element which is to cause its dissolution; the germs of that dissolution are working even now. Then wise men must not lay up for themselves treasures upon earth; they must not live as if this changeful, dying world was to be their home for ever; they must set their affections on things above; they must remember that Christian men are citizens of the heavenly country, fellow-citizens with the saints. Therefore they must adopt the modes of life which are characteristic of that heavenly country; their conduct as they move about among men must be holy in all the relations of life; they must live in the habitual pursuit of godliness in all its aspects. These things are of true, lasting moment. The prizes of this world, even those which seem to us the greatest and most to be desired, are but vanity, vanity of vanities, compared with the great realities of the spiritual life.

2. They must live in the expectation of the Lord's coming. They must daily look for the presence of the great day, and by thus looking for it, and making ready for it, they must (St. Peter says, in the condescending language which Holy Scripture sometimes uses) hasten its coming. For that day cometh not till the chosen of God are safe. "Haste thee, escape thither," said the destroying angel to Lot; "for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither." So now "the lightnings of the judgment-day pause yet a while," stored in the armoury of God ('Christian Year: All Saints' Day'), till God's elect are numbered, till they are ready, not one of them lost, for their eternal home. Then there is a sense in which, very strange and awful though it may seem, Christians may hasten the coming of the day of God. When the bride hath made herself ready, when the work of repentance is wrought out in the hearts of God's people, when they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,—then the day of God shall come. Now the long-suffering of God waiteth, as it waited in the days of Noah. It is a holy and a blessed truth—he waits for us in his tender mercy; he is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish; his wrath does not strike at once the sinner in his sin. He is waiting now, giving us time; but that gracious waiting cannot be protracted for ever; the day of the Lord will come. It is our duty to do what lieth in us to hasten its coming, by the preparation of our own hearts, by stirring up others to repentance, and by our prayers. "Thy kingdom come," is our daily prayer, the prayer which the Lord himself puts into our mouths. "The kingdom of God" has more senses than one in Holy Scripture; but certainly one thing to which the Lord directs our prayers in those words is the coming of the day of God, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. This is to be our daily prayer; if we use it in thoughtful faith, it will fix our hearts upon our eternal home. The Church on earth prays, "Thy kingdom come;" in Paradise the souls under the altar cry with a loud voice, "How long, O Lord, holy and true?" (Rev_6:9, Rev_6:10). He will hear the prayer that goeth up to him day and night; he will avenge his own elect; the great day must come.

3. That day will be a day of terrors. Because of its presence the visible heavens will be on fire; they shall be dissolved. The earth and the heaven, in the vision of judgment that was revealed to St. John, fled away from the face of h