Teks -- 2 Peter 3:11-18 (NET)

3:11 Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must we be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, 3:12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze! 3:13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness truly resides.

Exhortation to the Faithful

3:14 Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for these things, strive to be found at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence. 3:15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, 3:16 speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men and fall from your firm grasp on the truth. 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on that eternal day.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Robertson: 2Pe 3:11 - To be dissolved

To be dissolved ( luomenōn ).

Present passive participle (genitive absolute with toutōn pantōn , these things all) of luō , either the futuristic present or the process of dissolution presented.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:11 - What manner of persons

What manner of persons ( potapous ).

Late qualitative interrogative pronoun for the older podapos as in Mat 8:27, accusative case with dei huparchein agreeing with humās (you). See 2Pe 1:8 for huparchō .

Robertson: 2Pe 3:11 - In all holy living and godliness

In all holy living and godliness ( en hagiais anastrophais kai eusebeiais ).

"In holy behaviours and pieties"(Alford). Plural of neither word elsewhere in N.T., but a practical plural in pāsa anastrophē in 1Pe 1:15.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:12 - Looking for

Looking for ( prosdokōntas ).

Present active participle of prosdokaō (Mat 11:3) agreeing in case (accusative plural) with humās .

Robertson: 2Pe 3:12 - Earnestly desiring

Earnestly desiring ( speudontas ).

Present active participle, accusative also, of speudō , old verb, to hasten (like our speed) as in Luk 2:16, but it is sometimes transitive as here either (preferably so) to "hasten on the parousia"by holy living (cf. 1Pe 2:12), with which idea compare Mat 6:10; Act 3:19., or to desire earnestly (Isa 16:5).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:12 - Being on fire

Being on fire ( puroumenoi ).

Present passive participle of puroō , old verb (from pur), same idea as in 2Pe 3:10.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:12 - Shall melt

Shall melt ( tēketai ).

Futuristic present passive indicative of tēkō , old verb, to make liquid, here only in N.T. Hort suggests tēxetai (future middle), though Isa 34:4 has takēsontai (second future passive). The repetitions here make "an effective refrain"(Mayor).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:13 - Promise

Promise ( epaggelma ).

As in 2Pe 1:4. The reference is to Isa 65:17.; Isa 66:22. See also Rev 21:1. For kainos (new) see note on Mat 26:29. For the expectant attitude in prosdokōmen (we look for) repeated from 2Pe 3:12 and again in 2Pe 3:14, see apekdechometha (we eagerly look for) in Phi 3:20.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:13 - Wherein

Wherein ( en hois ).

The new heavens and earth.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:13 - Dwelleth

Dwelleth ( katoikei ).

Has its home (oikos ). Certainly "righteousness"(dikaiosunē ) is not at home in this present world either in individuals, families, or nations.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:14 - Wherefore

Wherefore ( dio ).

As in 2Pe 1:10, 2Pe 1:12.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:14 - Give diligence

Give diligence ( spoudasate ).

As in 2Pe 1:10.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:14 - That ye may be found

That ye may be found ( heurethēnai ).

First aorist passive infinitive (cf. heurethēsetai in 2Pe 3:10). For this use of heuriskō about the end see 2Co 5:3; Phi 3:9; 1Pe 1:7.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:14 - Without spot and blameless

Without spot and blameless ( aspiloi kai amōmētoi ).

Predicate nominative after heurethēnai . See 2Pe 2:13 for position words spiloi kai mōmoi and 1Pe 1:19 for amōmos (so Jud 1:24) kai aspilos (so Jam 1:27). Amōmētos (old verbal of mōmaomai ) only here in N.T. save some MSS. in Phi 2:15.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:15 - In his sight

In his sight ( autōi ).

Ethical dative. Referring to Christ.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:15 - Is salvation

Is salvation ( sōtērian ).

Predicate accusative after hēgeisthe in apposition with makrothumian (long-suffering), an opportunity for repentance (cf. 1Pe 3:20). The Lord here is Christ.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:15 - Our beloved brother Paul

Our beloved brother Paul ( ho agapētos adelphos Paulos ).

Paul applies the verbal agapētos (beloved) to Epaphras (Col 1:7), Onesimus (Col 4:9; Phm 1:16), to Tychicus (Col 4:7; Eph 6:21), and to four brethren in Rom 16 (Epainetus Rom 16:5, Ampliatus Rom 16:8, Stachys Rom 16:9, Persis Rom 16:12). It is not surprising for Peter to use it of Paul in view of Gal 2:9., in spite of Gal 2:11-14.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:15 - Given to him

Given to him ( dotheisan autōi ).

First aorist passive participle of didōmi with dative case. Peter claimed wisdom for himself, but recognises that Paul had the gift also. His language here may have caution in it as well as commendation. "St. Peter speaks of him with affection and respect, yet maintains the right to criticise"(Bigg).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:16 - As also in all his epistles

As also in all his epistles ( hōs kai en pasais epistolais ).

We do not know to how many Peter here refers. There is no difficulty in supposing that Peter "received every one of St. Paul’ s Epistles within a month or two of its publication"(Bigg). And yet Peter does not here assert the formation of a canon of Paul’ s Epistles.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:16 - Speaking in them of these things

Speaking in them of these things ( lalōn en autais peri toutōn ).

Present active participle of laleō . That is to say, Paul also wrote about the second coming of Christ, as is obviously true.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:16 - Hard to be understood

Hard to be understood ( dusnoēta ).

Late verbal from dus and noeō (in Aristotle, Lucian, Diog. Laert.), here only in N.T. We know that the Thessalonians persisted in misrepresenting Paul on this very subject of the second coming as Hymenaeus and Philetus did about the resurrection (2Ti 2:17) and Spitta holds that Paul’ s teaching about grace was twisted to mean moral laxity like Gal 3:10; Rom 3:20, Rom 3:28; Rom 5:20 (with which cf. Rom 6:1 as a case in point), etc. Peter does not say that he himself did not understand Paul on the subject of faith and freedom.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:16 - Unlearned

Unlearned ( amatheis ).

Old word (alpha privative and manthanō to learn), ignorant, here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:16 - Unsteadfast

Unsteadfast ( astēriktoi ).

See note on 2Pe 2:14.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:16 - Wrest

Wrest ( streblousin ).

Present active indicative of strebloō , old verb (from streblos twisted, strephō , to turn), here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:16 - The other scriptures

The other scriptures ( tas loipas graphas ).

There is no doubt that the apostles claimed to speak by the help of the Holy Spirit (1Th 5:27; Col 4:16) just as the prophets of old did (2Pe 1:20.). Note loipas (rest) here rather than allas (other). Peter thus puts Paul’ s Epistles on the same plane with the O.T., which was also misused (Matt 5:21-44; Mat 15:3-6; Mat 19:3-10).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:17 - Knowing these things beforehand

Knowing these things beforehand ( proginōskontes ).

Present active participle of proginōskō as in 1Pe 1:20. Cf. prōton ginōskō (2Pe 1:20; 2Pe 3:1). Hence they are without excuse for misunderstanding Peter or Paul on this subject.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:17 - Beware

Beware ( phulassesthe ).

Present middle imperative of phulassō , common verb, to guard.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:17 - Lest

Lest ( hina mē ).

Negative purpose, "that not."

Robertson: 2Pe 3:17 - Being carried away

Being carried away ( sunapachthentes ).

First aorist passive participle of sunapagō , old verb double compound, to carry away together with, in N.T. only here and Gal 2:13.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:17 - With the error

With the error ( tēi planēi ).

Instrumental case, "by the error"(the wandering).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:17 - Of the wicked

Of the wicked ( tōn athesmōn ).

See note on 2Pe 2:7.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:17 - Ye fall from

Ye fall from ( ekpesēte ).

Second aorist active subjunctive with hina mē of ekpiptō , old verb, to fall out of, with the ablative here (stērigmou , steadfastness, late word from stērizō , here alone in N.T.) as in Gal 5:4 (tēs charitos exepesate , ye fell out of grace).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:18 - But grow

But grow ( auxanete de ).

Present active imperative of auxanō , in contrast with such a fate pictured in 2Pe 3:17, "but keep on growing."

Robertson: 2Pe 3:18 - In the grace and knowledge

In the grace and knowledge ( en chariti kai gnōsei ).

Locative case with en . Grow in both. Keep it up. See note on 2Pe 1:1 for the idiomatic use of the single article (tou ) here, "of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Robertson: 2Pe 3:18 - To him

To him ( autōi ).

To Christ.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:18 - For ever

For ever ( eis hēmeran aiōnos ).

"Unto the day of eternity."So Sirach 18:9f. One of the various ways of expressing eternity by the use of aiōn . So eis ton aiōna in Joh 6:5; Joh 12:34.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:11 - To be dissolved

To be dissolved ( λυομένων )

So Rev. But the participle is present; and the idea is rather, are in process of dissolution. The world and all therein is essentially transitory.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:11 - Ought ye to be

Ought ye to be ( ὑπάρχειν )

See on 2Pe 1:8.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:11 - Conversation

Conversation ( ἀναστροφαῖς )

See on 1Pe 1:15. Rev., living .

Vincent: 2Pe 3:11 - Godliness

Godliness ( εὐσεβείαις )

See on 2Pe 1:3. Both words are plural; holy livings and godlinesses.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:12 - Looking for

Looking for ( προσδοκῶντας )

The same verb as in Luk 1:21, of waiting for Zacharias. Cornelius waited (Act 10:24); the cripple expecting to receive something (Act 3:5).

Vincent: 2Pe 3:12 - Hasting unto

Hasting unto ( σπεύδοντας )

Wrong. Rev., earnestly desiring, for which there is authority. I am inclined to adopt, with Alford, Huther, Salmond, and Trench, the transitive meaning, hastening on; i.e., " causing the day of the Lord to come 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 hasten on by faith and by prayer" (Trench, on " The Authorized Version of the New Testament" ). See Mat 24:14 : the gospel shall be preached in the whole world, " and then shall the end come." Compare the words of Peter, Act 3:19 : " Repent and be converted," etc., " that so there may come seasons of refreshing" (so Rev., rightly); and the prayer," Thy kingdom come." Salmond quotes a rabbinical saying, " If thou keepest this precept thou hastenest the day of Messiah." This meaning is given in margin of Rev.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:12 - Wherein

Wherein ( δι ' ἣν )

Wrong. Rev., correctly, by reason of which .

Vincent: 2Pe 3:12 - Melt

Melt ( τήκεται )

Literal. Stronger than the word in 2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:11. Not only the resolving, but the wasting away of nature. Only here in New Testament.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:13 - We look for

We look for

The same verb as in 2Pe 3:12. It occurs three times in 2Pe 3:12-14.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:13 - New

New ( καινοὺς )

See on Mat 26:29.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:14 - Without spot and blameless

Without spot and blameless

See on 2Pe 2:13.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:16 - Hard to be understood

Hard to be understood ( δυσνόητα )

Only here in New Testament.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:16 - They that are unlearned and unstable

They that are unlearned and unstable ( οἱ ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἀστήρικτοι )

Both words are peculiar to Peter. On the latter, see on 2Pe 2:14.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:16 - Wrest

Wrest ( στρεβλοῦσιν )

Only here in New Testament. Meaning, originally, to hoist with a windlass or screw; to twist or dislocate the limbs on a rack. It is a singularly graphic word applied to the perversion of scripture.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:16 - The other scriptures

The other scriptures ( τὰς λοιπὰς γραφὰς )

Showing that Paul's epistles were ranked as scripture. See on Mar 12:10.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:17 - Being led away

Being led away ( συναπαχθέντες )

Better, Rev., carried away. It is the word used by Paul of Barnabas, when he dissembled with Peter at Antioch. " Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation" (Gal 2:13).

Vincent: 2Pe 3:17 - Of the wicked

Of the wicked ( ἀθέσμων )

See on 2Pe 2:7.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:17 - Fall from

Fall from ( ἐκπέσητε )

Lit., " fall out of ." Compare Gal 5:4.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:17 - Steadfastness

Steadfastness ( στηριγμοῦ )

Only here in New Testament. See on 2Pe 1:12.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:11 - Seeing then that all these things are dissolved

To the eye of faith it appears as done already.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:11 - All these things

Mentioned before; all that are included in that scriptural expression, "the heavens and the earth;" that is, the universe. On the fourth day God made the stars, Gen 1:16, which will be dissolved together with the earth. They are deceived, therefore, who restrain either the history of the creation, or this description of the destruction, of the world to the earth and lower heavens; imagining the stars to be more ancient than the earth, and to survive it. Both the dissolution and renovation are ascribed, not to the one heaven which surrounds the earth, but to the heavens in general, 2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:13, without any restriction or limitation.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:11 - What persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation

With men.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:11 - And godliness

Toward your Creator.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:12 - Hastening on

As it were by your earnest desires and fervent prayers.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:12 - The coming of the day of God

Many myriads of days he grants to men: one, the last, is the day of God himself.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:13 - We look for new heavens and a new earth

Raised as it were out of the ashes of the old; we look for an entire new state of things.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:13 - Wherein dwelleth righteousness

Only righteous spirits. How great a mystery!

Wesley: 2Pe 3:14 - Labour that whenever he cometh ye may be found in peace

May meet him without terror, being sprinkled with his blood, and sanctified by his Spirit, so as to be without spot and blameless. Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:15 - And account the longsuffering of the Lord salvation

Not only designed to lead men to repentance, but actually conducing thereto: a precious means of saving many more souls.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:15 - As our beloved brother Paul also hath written to you

This refers not only to the single sentence preceding, but to all that went before. St. Paul had written to the same effect concerning the end of the world, in several parts of his epistles, and particularly in his Epistle to the Hebrews. Rom 2:4.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:16 - As also in all his epistles

St. Peter wrote this a little before his own and St. Paul's martyrdom. St. Paul therefore had now written all his epistles; and even from this expression we may learn that St. Peter had read them all, perhaps sent to him by St. Paul himself. Nor was he at all disgusted by what St. Paul had written concerning him in the Epistle to the Galatians.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:16 - Speaking of these things

Namely, of the coming of our Lord, delayed through his longsuffering, and of the circumstances preceding and accompanying it.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:16 - Which things the unlearned

They who are not taught of God.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:16 - And the unstable

Wavering, double - minded, unsettled men.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:16 - Wrest

As though Christ would not come.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:16 - As they do also the other scriptures

Therefore St Paul's writings were now part of the scriptures.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:16 - To their own destruction

But that some use the scriptures ill, is no reason why others should not use them at all.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:18 - But grow in grace

That is, in every Christian temper. There may be, for a time, grace without growth; as there may be natural life without growth. But such sickly life, of soul or body, will end in death, and every day draw nigher to it. Health is the means of both natural and spiritual growth. If the remaining evil of our fallen nature be not daily mortified, it will, like an evil humour in the body, destroy the whole man. But "if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body," (only so far as we do this,) "ye shall live" the life of faith, holiness, happiness. The end and design of grace being purchased and bestowed on us, is to destroy the image of the earthy, and restore us to that of the heavenly. And so far as it does this, it truly profits us; and also makes way for more of the heavenly gift, that we may at last be filled with all the fulness of God.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:18 - The strength and well

being of a Christian depend on what his soul feeds on, as the health of the body depends on whatever we make our daily food. If we feed on what is according to our nature, we grow; if not, we pine away and die. The soul is of the nature of God, and nothing but what is according to his holiness can agree with it. Sin, of every kind, starves the soul, and makes it consume away. Let us not try to invert the order of God in his new creation: we shall only deceive ourselves. It is easy to forsake the will of God, and follow our own; but this will bring leanness into the soul. It is easy to satisfy ourselves without being possessed of the holiness and happiness of the gospel. It is easy to call these frames and feelings, and then to oppose faith to one and Christ to the other. Frames (allowing the expression) are no other than heavenly tempers, "the mind that was in Christ." Feelings are the divine consolations of the Holy Ghost shed abroad in the heart of him that truly believes. And wherever faith is, and wherever Christ is, there are these blessed frames and feelings. If they are not in us, it is a sure sign that though the wilderness became a pool, the pool is become a wilderness again.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:18 - And in the knowledge of Christ

That is, in faith, the root of all.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:18 - To him be the glory to the day of eternity

An expression naturally flowing from that sense which the apostle had felt in his soul throughout this whole chapter. Eternity is a day without night, without interruption, without end.

JFB: 2Pe 3:11

Your duty, seeing that this is so, is to be ever eagerly expecting the day of God.

JFB: 2Pe 3:11 - then

Some oldest manuscripts substitute "thus" for "then": a happy refutation of the "thus" of the scoffers, 2Pe 3:4 (English Version, "As they were," Greek, "thus").

JFB: 2Pe 3:11 - shall be

Greek, "are being (in God's appointment, soon to be fulfilled) dissolved"; the present tense implying the certainty as though it were actually present.

JFB: 2Pe 3:11 - what manner of men

Exclamatory. How watchful, prayerful, zealous!

JFB: 2Pe 3:11 - to be

Not the mere Greek substantive verb of existence (einai), but (huparchein) denoting a state or condition in which one is supposed to be [TITTMANN]. What holy men ye ought to be found to be, when the event comes! This is "the holy commandment" mentioned in 2Pe 3:2.

JFB: 2Pe 3:11 - conversation . . . godliness

Greek, plural: behaviors (towards men), godlinesses (or pieties towards God) in their manifold modes of manifestation.

JFB: 2Pe 3:12 - hasting unto

With the utmost eagerness desiring [WAHL], praying for, and contemplating, the coming Saviour as at hand. The Greek may mean "hastening (that is, urging onward [ALFORD]) the day of God"; not that God's eternal appointment of the time is changeable, but God appoints us as instruments of accomplishing those events which must be first before the day of God can come. By praying for His coming, furthering the preaching of the Gospel for a witness to all nations, and bringing in those whom "the long-suffering of God" waits to save, we hasten the coming of the day of God. The Greek verb is always in New Testament used as neuter (as English Version here), not active; but the Septuagint uses it actively. Christ says, "Surely I come quickly. Amen." Our part is to speed forward this consummation by praying, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 22:20).

JFB: 2Pe 3:12 - the coming

Greek, "presence" of a person: usually, of the Saviour.

JFB: 2Pe 3:12 - the day of God

God has given many myriads of days to men: one shall be the great "day of God" Himself.

JFB: 2Pe 3:12 - wherein

Rather as Greek, "on account of (or owing to) which" day.

JFB: 2Pe 3:12 - heavens

The upper and lower regions of the sky.

JFB: 2Pe 3:12 - melt

Our igneous rocks show that they were once in a liquid state.

JFB: 2Pe 3:13 - Nevertheless

"But": in contrast to the destructive effects of the day of God stand its constructive effects. As the flood was the baptism of the earth, eventuating in a renovated earth, partially delivered from "the curse," so the baptism with fire shall purify the earth so as to be the renovated abode of regenerated man, wholly freed from the curse.

JFB: 2Pe 3:13 - his promise

(Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22). The "we" is not emphatical as in English Version.

JFB: 2Pe 3:13 - new heavens

New atmospheric heavens surrounding the renovated earth.

JFB: 2Pe 3:13 - righteousness

Dwelleth in that coming world as its essential feature, all pollutions having been removed.

JFB: 2Pe 3:14 - that ye . . . be found of him

"in His sight" [ALFORD], at His coming; plainly implying a personal coming.

JFB: 2Pe 3:14 - without spot

At the coming marriage feast of the Lamb, in contrast to 2Pe 2:13, "Spots they are and blemishes while they feast," not having on the King's pure wedding garment.

JFB: 2Pe 3:14 - blameless

(1Co 1:8; Phi 1:10; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 5:23).

JFB: 2Pe 3:14 - in peace

In all its aspects, towards God, your own consciences, and your fellow men, and as its consequence eternal blessedness: "the God of peace" will effect this for you.

JFB: 2Pe 3:15 - account . . . the long-suffering . . . is salvation

Is designed for the salvation of those yet to be gathered into the Church: whereas those scoffers "count it (to be the result of) slackness" on the Lord's part (2Pe 3:9).

JFB: 2Pe 3:15 - our beloved brother Paul

A beautiful instance of love and humility. Peter praises the very Epistles which contain his condemnation.

JFB: 2Pe 3:15 - according to the wisdom given unto him

Adopting Paul's own language, 1Co 3:10, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master-builder." Supernatural and inspired wisdom "GIVEN" him, not acquired in human schools of learning.

JFB: 2Pe 3:15 - hath written

Greek aorist, "wrote," as a thing wholly past: Paul was by this time either dead, or had ceased to minister to them.

JFB: 2Pe 3:15 - to you

Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, the same region as Peter addresses. Compare "in peace," 2Pe 3:14, a practical exhibition of which Peter now gives in showing how perfectly agreeing Paul (who wrote the Epistle to the Galatians) and he are, notwithstanding the event recorded (Gal 2:11-14). Col 3:4 refers to Christ's second coming. The Epistle to the Hebrews, too (addressed not only to the Palestinian, but also secondarily to the Hebrew Christians everywhere), may be referred to, as Peter primarily (though not exclusively) addresses in both Epistles the Hebrew Christians of the dispersion (see on 1Pe 1:1). Heb 9:27-28; Heb 10:25, Heb 10:37, "speak of these things" (2Pe 3:16) which Peter has been handling, namely, the coming of the day of the Lord, delayed through His "long-suffering," yet near and sudden.

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - also in all his epistles

Rom 2:4 is very similar to 2Pe 3:15, beginning. The Pauline Epistles were by this time become the common property of all the churches. The "all" seems to imply they were now completed. The subject of the Lord's coming is handled in 1Th 4:13; 1Th 5:11; compare 2Pe 3:10 with 1Th 5:2. Still Peter distinguishes Paul's Epistle, or Epistles, "TO YOU," from "all his (other) Epistles," showing that certain definite churches, or particular classes of believers, are meant by "you."

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - in which

Epistles. The oldest manuscripts read the feminine relative (hais); not as Received Text (hois), "in which things."

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - some things hard to be understood

Namely, in reference to Christ's coming, for example, the statements as to the man of sin and the apostasy, before Christ's coming. "Paul seemed thereby to delay Christ's coming to a longer period than the other apostles, whence some doubted altogether His coming" [BENGEL]. Though there be some things hard to be understood, there are enough besides, plain, easy, and sufficient for perfecting the man of God. "There is scarce anything drawn from the obscure places, but the same in other places may be found most plain" [AUGUSTINE]. It is our own prejudice, foolish expectations, and carnal fancies, that make Scripture difficult [JEREMY TAYLOR].

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - unlearned

Not those wanting human learning are meant, but those lacking the learning imparted by the Spirit. The humanly learned have been often most deficient in spiritual learning, and have originated many heresies. Compare 2Ti 2:23, a different Greek word, "unlearned," literally, "untutored." When religion is studied as a science, nothing is more abstruse; when studied in order to know our duty and practice it, nothing is easier.

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - unstable

Not yet established in what they have learned; shaken by every seeming difficulty; who, in perplexing texts, instead of waiting until God by His Spirit makes them plain in comparing them with other Scriptures, hastily adopt distorted views.

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - wrest

Strain and twist (properly with a hand screw) what is straight in itself (for example, 2Ti 2:18).

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - other scriptures

Paul's Epistles were, therefore, by this time, recognized in the Church, as "Scripture": a term never applied in any of the fifty places where it occurs, save to the Old and New Testament sacred writings. Men in each Church having miraculous discernment of spirits would have prevented any uninspired writing from being put on a par with the Old Testament word of God; the apostles' lives also were providentially prolonged, Paul's and Peter's at least to thirty-four years after Christ's resurrection, John's to thirty years later, so that fraud in the canon is out of question. The three first Gospels and Acts are included in "the other Scriptures," and perhaps all the New Testament books, save John and Revelation, written later.

JFB: 2Pe 3:16 - unto their own destruction

Not through Paul's fault (2Pe 2:1).

JFB: 2Pe 3:17 - Ye

Warned by the case of those "unlearned and unstable" persons (2Pe 3:16).

JFB: 2Pe 3:17 - knowing . . . before

The event.

JFB: 2Pe 3:17 - led away with

The very term, as Peter remembers, used by Paul of Barnabas' being "carried," Greek, "led away with" Peter and the other Jews in their hypocrisy.

JFB: 2Pe 3:17 - wicked

"lawless," as in 2Pe 2:7.

JFB: 2Pe 3:17 - fall from

(grace, Gal 5:4 : the true source of) "steadfastness" or stability in contrast with the "unstable" (2Pe 3:16): "established" (2Pe 1:12): all kindred Greek terms. Compare Jud 1:20-21.

JFB: 2Pe 3:18 - grow

Not only do not "fall from" (2Pe 3:17), but grow onward: the true secret of not going backward. Eph 4:15, "Grow up into Him, the Head, Christ."

JFB: 2Pe 3:18 - grace and . . . knowledge of . . . Christ

"the grace and knowledge of Christ" [ALFORD rightly]: the grace of which Christ is the author, and the knowledge of which Christ is the object.

JFB: 2Pe 3:18 - for ever

Greek, "to the day of eternity": the day that has no end: "the day of the Lord," beginning with the Lord's coming.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:11 - All these things shall be dissolved

All these things shall be dissolved - They will all be separated, all decomposed; but none of them destroyed. And as they are the original matter out of which God formed the terraqueous globe, consequently they may enter again into the composition of a new system; and therefore the apostle says, 2Pe 3:13 : we look for new heavens and a new earth - the others being decomposed, a new system is to be formed out of their materials. There is a wonderful philosophic propriety in the words of the apostle in describing this most awful event

Clarke: 2Pe 3:11 - What manner of persons ought ye to be

What manner of persons ought ye to be - Some put the note of interrogation at the end of this clause, and join the remaining part with the 12th verse, thus: Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be? By holy conversation and godliness, expecting and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, etc. Only those who walk in holiness, who live a godly and useful life, can contemplate this most awful time with joy

The word σπευδοντας, which we translate hasting unto, should be tendered earnestly desiring, or wishing for; which is a frequent meaning of the word in the best Greek writers.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:12 - The heavens being on fire

The heavens being on fire - See on 2Pe 3:10. (note). It was an ancient opinion among the heathens that the earth should be burnt up with fire; so Ovid, Met., lib. i. v. 256

Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus

Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia coel

Ardeat; et mundi moles operosa laboret

"Remembering in the fates a time when fir

Should to the battlements of heaven aspire

And all his blazing world above should burn

And all the inferior globe to cinders turn.

Dryden

Minucius Felix tells us, xxxiv. 2, that it was a common opinion of the Stoics that, the moisture of the earth being consumed, the whole world would catch fire. The Epicureans held the same sentiment; and indeed it appears in various authors, which proves that a tradition of this kind has pretty generally prevailed in the world. But it is remarkable that none have fancied that it will be destroyed by water. The tradition, founded on the declaration of God, was against this; therefore it was not received.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:13 - We, according to his promise, look for new heavens

We, according to his promise, look for new heavens - The promise to which it is supposed the apostle alludes, is found Isa 65:17 : Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind; and Isa 66:22 : For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed, etc. Now, although these may be interpreted of the glory of the Gospel dispensation, yet, if St. Peter refer to them, they must have a more extended meaning

It does appear, from these promises, that the apostle says here, and what is said Rev 21:27; Rev 22:14, Rev 22:15, that the present earth, though destined to be burned up, will not be destroyed, but be renewed and refined, purged from all moral and natural imperfection, and made the endless abode of blessed spirits. But this state is certainly to be expected after the day of judgment; for on this the apostle is very express, who says the conflagration and renovation are to take place at the judgment of the great day; see 2Pe 3:7, 2Pe 3:8, 2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:12. That such an event may take place is very possible; and, from the terms used by St. Peter, is very probable. And, indeed, it is more reasonable and philosophical to conclude that the earth shall be refined and restored, than finally destroyed. But this has nothing to do with what some call the millennium state; as this shall take place when time, with the present state and order of things, shall be no more.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:14 - Seeing that ye look for such things

Seeing that ye look for such things - As ye profess that such a state of things shall take place, and have the expectation of enjoying the blessedness of it, be diligent in the use of every means and influence of grace, that ye may be found of him - the Lord Jesus, the Judge of quick and dead, without spot - any contagion of sin in your souls, and blameless - being not only holy and innocent, but useful in your lives.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:15 - And account that the long-suffering of our Lord

And account that the long-suffering of our Lord - Conclude that God’ s long-suffering with the world is a proof that he designs men to be saved; even as our beloved brother Paul. "This epistle being written to those to whom the first epistle was sent, the persons to whom the Apostle Paul wrote concerning the long-suffering of God were the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Accordingly, we know he wrote to the Ephesians, (Eph 2:3-5), to the Colossians, (Col 1:21), and to Timothy, (1Ti 2:3, 1Ti 2:4), things which imply that God’ s bearing with sinners is intended for their salvation. The persons to whom Peter’ s epistles were sent were, for the most part, Paul’ s converts."- Macknight

Clarke: 2Pe 3:15 - According to the wisdom given unto him

According to the wisdom given unto him - That is, according to the measure of the Divine inspiration, by which he was qualified for the Divine work, and by which he was so capable of entering into the deep things of God. It is worthy of remark that Paul’ s epistles are ranked among the Scriptures; a term applied to those writings which are divinely inspired, and to those only.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:16 - As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things

As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things - Paul, in all his epistles, says Dr. Macknight, has spoken of the things written by Peter in this letter. For example, he has spoken of Christ’ s coming to judgment; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 4:14-18; 2Th 1:7-10; Tit 2:13. And of the resurrection of the dead, 1Co 15:22; Phi 3:20, Phi 3:21. And of the burning of the earth; 2Th 1:8. And of the heavenly country; 2Co 5:1-10. And of the introduction of the righteous into that country; 1Th 4:17; Heb 4:9; Heb 12:14, Heb 12:18, Heb 12:24. And of the judgment of all mankind by Christ; Rom 14:10

Clarke: 2Pe 3:16 - In which are some things hard to be understood

In which are some things hard to be understood - Δυσνοητα τινα· That is, if we retain the common reading εν οἱς, in or among which things, viz., what he says of the day of judgment, the resurrection of the body etc., etc., there are some things difficult to be comprehended, and from which a wrong or false meaning may be taken. But if we take the reading of AB, twelve others, with both the Syriac, all the Arabic, and Theophylact, εν αἱς, the meaning is more general, as εν αἱς must refer to επιστολαις, epistles, for this would intimate that there were difficulties in all the epistles of St. Paul; and indeed in what ancient writings are there not difficulties? But the papists say that the decision of all matters relative to the faith is not to be expected from the Scriptures on this very account, but must be received from the Church; i.e. the Popish or Romish Church

But what evidence have we that that Church can infallibly solve any of those difficulties? We have none! And till we have an express, unequivocal revelation from heaven that an unerring spirit is given to that Church, I say, for example, to the present Church of Rome, with the pope called Pius VII. at its head, we are not to receive its pretensions. Any Church may pretend the same, or any number of equally learned men as there are of cardinals and pope in the conclave; and, after all, it would be but the opinion of so many men, to which no absolute certainty or infallibility could be attached

This verse is also made a pretext to deprive the common people of reading the word of God; because the unlearned and unstable have sometimes wrested this word to their own destruction: but if it be human learning, and stability in any system of doctrine, that qualifies men to judge of these difficult things, then we can find many thousands, even in Europe, that have as much learning and stability as the whole college of cardinals, and perhaps ten thousand times more; for that conclave was never very reputable for the learning of its members: and to other learned bodies we may, with as much propriety, look up as infallible guides, as to this conclave

Besides, as it is only the unlearned and the unestablished (that is, young Christian converts) that are in danger of wresting such portions; the learned, that is, the experienced and the established in the knowledge and life of God, are in no such danger; and to such we may safely go for information: and these abound everywhere, especially in Protestant countries; and by the labors of learned and pious men on the sacred writings there is not one difficulty relative to the things which concern our salvation left unexplained. If the members of the Romish Church have not these advantages, let them go to those who have them; and if their teachers are afraid to trust them to the instruction of the Protestants, then let them who pretend to have infallibly written their exposition of these difficult places, also put them, with a wholesome text in the vulgar language, into the hands of their people, and then the appeal will not lie to Rome, but to the Bible, and those interpretations will be considered according to their worth, being weighed with other scriptures, and the expositions of equally learned and equally infallible men

We find, lastly, that those who wrest such portions, are those who wrest the other scriptures to their destruction; therefore they are no patterns, nor can such form any precedent for withholding the Scriptures from the common people, most of whom, instead of wresting them to their destruction, would become wise unto salvation by reading them. We may defy the Romish Church to adduce a single instance of any soul that was perverted, destroyed, or damned, by reading of the Bible; and the insinuation that they may is blasphemous. I may just add that the verb στρεβλοω, which the apostle uses here, signifies to distort, to put to the rack, to torture, to overstretch and dislocate the limbs; and hence the persons here intended are those who proceed according to no fair plan of interpretation, but force unnatural and sophistical meanings on the word of God: a practice which the common simple Christian is in no danger of following. I could illustrate this by a multitude of interpretations from popish writers.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:17 - Seeing ye know - before

Seeing ye know - before - Seeing that by prophets and apostles you have been thus forewarned, beware, φυλασσεσθε, keep watch, be on your guard; cleave to God and the word of his grace, lest ye be led away from the truth delivered by the prophets and apostles, by the error of the wicked, αθεσμων, of the lawless - those who wrest the Scriptures to make them countenance their lusts, exorbitant exactions, and lawless practices

Clarke: 2Pe 3:17 - Fall from your own steadfastness

Fall from your own steadfastness - From that faith in Christ which has put you in possession of that grace which establishes the heart.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:18 - But grow in grace

But grow in grace - Increase in the image and favor of God; every grace and Divine influence which ye have received is a seed, a heavenly seed, which, if it be watered with the dew of heaven from above, will endlessly increase and multiply itself. He who continues to believe, love, and obey, will grow in grace, and continually increase in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, as his sacrifice, sanctifier, counsellor, preserver, and final Savior. The life of a Christian is a growth; he is at first born of God, and is a little child; becomes a young man, and a father in Christ. Every father was once an infant; and had he not grown, he would have never been a man. Those who content themselves with the grace they received when converted to God, are, at best, in a continual state of infancy: but we find, in the order of nature, that the infant that does not grow, and grow daily, too, is sickly and soon dies; so, in the order of grace, those who do not grow up into Jesus Christ are sickly, and will soon die, die to all sense and influence of heavenly things

There are many who boast of the grace of their conversion; persons who were never more than babes, and have long since lost even that grace, because they did not grow in it. Let him that readeth understand

Clarke: 2Pe 3:18 - To him

To him - The Lord Jesus, be glory - all honor and excellency attributed, both now - in this present state, and for ever, εις ἡμεραν αιωνος, to the day of eternity - that in which death, and misery, and trial, and darkness, and change, and time itself, are to the righteous for ever at an end: it is eternity; and this eternity is one unalterable, interminable, unclouded, and unchangeable Day

Clarke: 2Pe 3:18 - Amen

Amen - So let it be! and so it shall be! Though this word is wanting in some reputable MSS., get it should be retained, as it has here more than usual authority in its support

Subscriptions to this epistle in the Versions

The end of the Second Epistle of Peter the apostle. - Syriac

The Second Epistle of Peter the apostle is ended. - Syriac Philoxenian

Nothing in the printed Vulgate

The end of the epistles of blessed Peter the apostle, the rock of the faith. - Arabic

The Second Epistle of Peter is ended; and glory be to God for ever and ever! - Aethiopic

Nothing in the Coptic

The end of the Second catholic Epistle of St. Peter. - Complutensian Polyglot

The end of the Second Epistle of St. Peter. - Bib. Lat., edit. antiq

Subscriptions in the Manuscripts

Of the second of Peter. - Codex Alexandrius, and Codex Vaticanus

Of the catholic epistle of Peter. - Codex Ephrem

The Second Epistle of the holy Apostle Peter. - Other MSS

We have now passed over all the canonical writings of Peter that are extant; and it is worthy of remark that, in no place of the two epistles already examined, nor in any of this apostle’ s sayings in any other parts of the sacred writings do we find any of the peculiar tenets of the Romish Church: not one word of his or the pope’ s supremacy; not one word of those who affect to be his successors; nothing of the infallibility claimed by those pretended successors; nothing of purgatory, penances, pilgrimages, auricular confession, power of the keys, indulgences, extreme unction, masses, and prayers for the dead; and not one word on the most essential doctrine of the Romish Church, transubstantiation. Now, as all these things have been considered by themselves most essential to the being of that Church; is it not strange that he, from whom they profess to derive all their power, authority, and influence, in spiritual and secular matters, should have said nothing of these most necessary things? Is it not a proof that they are all false and forged; that the holy apostle knew nothing of them; that they are no part of the doctrine of God; and, although they distinguish the Church of Rome, do not belong to the Church of Christ? It is no wonder that the rulers of this Church endeavor to keep the Scriptures from the common people; for, were they permitted to consult these, the imposture would be detected, and the solemn, destructive cheat at once exposed

Calvin: 2Pe 3:11 - NO PHRASE

Heaven and earth, he says, shall pass away for our sakes; is it meet, then, for us to be engrossed with the things of earth, and not, on the contrary, to attend to a holy and godly life? The corruptions of heaven and earth will be purged by fire, while yet as the creatures of God they are pure; what then ought to be done by us who are full of so many pollutions? As to the word godlinesses ( pietatibus ,) the plural number is used for the singular, except you take it as meaning the duties of godliness. ¹⁸⁰ Of the elements of the world I shall only say this one thing, that they are to be consumed, only that they may be renovated, their substance still remaining the same, as it may be easily gathered from Rom 8:21, and from other passages. ¹⁸¹

Calvin: 2Pe 3:12 - Looking for and hasting unto,

12.Looking for and hasting unto, or, waiting for by hastening; so I render the words, though they are two participles; for what we had before separately he gathers now into one sentence, that is, that we ought hastily to wait. Now this contrarious hope possesses no small elegance, like the proverb, “Hasten slowly,” ( festina lente .) When he says, “Waiting for,” he refers to the endurance of hope; and he sets hastening in opposition to topor; and both are very apposite. For as quietness and waiting are the peculiarities of hope, so we must always take heed lest the security of the flesh should creep in; we ought, therefore, strenuously to labor in good works, and run quickly in the race of our calling. ¹⁸² What he before called the day of Christ (as it is everywhere called in Scripture) he now calls the day of God, and that rightly, for Christ will then restore the kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all.

Calvin: 2Pe 3:14 - Wherefore

14.Wherefore He justly reasons from hope to its effect, or the practice of a godly life; for hope is living and efficacious; therefore it cannot be but that it will attract us to itself. He, then, who waits for new heavens, must begin with renewal as to himself, and diligently aspire after it; but they who cleave to their own filth, think nothing, it is certain, of God's kingdom, and have no taste for anything but for this corrupt world.

But we must notice that he says, that we ought to be found blameless by Christ; for by these words he intimates, that while the world engages and engrosses the minds of others, we must cast our eyes on the Lord, and he shews at the same time what is real integrity, even that which is approved by his judgment, and not that which gains the Praise of men. ¹⁸³

The word peace seems to be taken for a quiet state of conscience, founded on hope and patient waiting. ¹⁸⁴ For as so few turn their attention to the judgment of Christ, hence it is, that while they are carried headlong by their importunate lusts, they are at the same time in a state of disquietude. This peace, then, is the quietness of a peaceable soul, which acquiesces in the word of God.

It may be asked, how any one can be found blameless by Christ, when we all labor under so many deficiencies. But Peter here only points out the mark at which the faithful ought all to aim, though they cannot reach it, until having put off their flesh they become wholly united to Christ.

Calvin: 2Pe 3:15 - The long-suffering of our Lord // Even as our beloved brother Paul

15.The long-suffering of our Lord He takes it as granted that Christ defers the day of his coming, because he has a regard for our salvation. He hence animates the faithful, because in a longer delay they have an evidence as to their own salvation. Thus, what usually disheartens others through weariness, he wisely turns to a contrary purpose.

Even as our beloved brother Paul We may easily gather from the Epistle to the Galatians, as well as from other places, that unprincipled men, who went about everywhere to disturb the churches, in order to discredit Paul, made use of this pretense, that he did not well agree with the other Apostles. It is then probable that Peter referred to Paul in order to shew their consent; for it was very necessary to take away the occasion for such a calumny. And yet, when I examine all things more narrowly, it seems to me more probable that this Epistle was composed by another according to what Peter communicated, than that it was written by himself, for Peter himself would have never spoken thus. But it is enough for me that we have a witness of his doctrine and of his goodwill, who brought forward nothing contrary to what he would have himself said.

Calvin: 2Pe 3:16 - In which are some things

16.In which are some things The relative which does not refer to epistles, for it is in the neuter gender. ¹⁸⁵ The meaning is, that in the things which he wrote there was sometimes an obscurity, which gave occasion to the unlearned to go astray to their own ruin. We are reminded by these words, to reason soberly on things so high and obscure; and further, we are here strengthened against this kind of offense, lest the foolish or absurd speculations of men should disturb us, by which they entangle and distort simple truth, which ought to serve for edification.

But we must observe, that we are not forbidden to read Paul's Epistles, because they contain some things hard and difficult to be understood, but that, on the contrary, they are commended to us, provided we bring a calm and teachable mind. For Peter condemns men who are trifling and volatile, who strangely turn to their own ruin what is useful to all. Nay, he says that this is commonly done as to all the Scripture: and yet he does not hence conclude, that we are not to read it, but only shews, that those vices ought to be corrected which prevent improvement, and not only so, but render deadly to us what God has appointed for our salvation.

It may, however, be asked, Whence is this obscurity, for the Scripture shines to us like a lamp, and guides our steps? To this I reply, that it is nothing to be wondered at, if Peter ascribed obscurity to the mysteries of Christ's kingdom, and especially if we consider how hidden they are to the perception of the flesh. However the mode of teaching which God has adopted, has been so regulated, that all who refuse not to follow the Holy Spirit as their guide, find in the Scripture a clear light. At the same time, many are blind who stumble at mid-day; others are proud, who, wandering through devious paths, and flying over the roughest places, rush headlong into ruin.

Calvin: 2Pe 3:17 - Ye, therefore, beloved

17.Ye, therefore, beloved After having shewn to the faithful the dangers of which they were to beware, he now concludes by admonishing them to be wise. But he shews that there was need of being watchful, lest they should be overwhelmed. And, doubtless, the craft of our enemy, the many and various treacheries which he employs against us, the cavils of ungodly men, leave no place for security. Hence, vigilance must be exercised, lest the devices of Satan and of the wicked should succeed in circumventing us. It, however seems that we stand on slippery ground, and the certainty of our salvation is suspended, as it were, on a thread, since he declares to the faithful, that they ought to take heed lest they should fall from their own steadfastness.

What, then, will become of us, if we are exposed to the danger of falling? To this I answer, that this exhortation, and those like it, are by no means intended to shake the firmness of that faith which recumbs on God, but to correct the sloth of our flesh. If any one wishes to see more on this subject, let him read what has been said on the tenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

The meaning is this, that as long as we are in the flesh, our tardiness must be roused, and that this is fitly done by having our weakness, and the variety of dangers which surround us, placed before our eyes; but that the confidence which rests on God's promises ought not to be thereby shaken.

Calvin: 2Pe 3:18 - But grow in grace // To him be glory

18.But grow in grace He also exhorts us to make progress; for it is the only way of persevering, to make continual advances, and not to stand still in the middle of our journey; as though he had said, that they only would be safe who labored to make progress daily.

The word grace, I take in a general sense, as meaning those spiritual gifts we obtain through Christ. But as we become partakers of these blessings according to the measure of our faith, knowledge is added to grace; as though he had said, that as faith increases, so would follow the increase of grace. ¹⁸⁶

To him be glory This is a remarkable passage to prove the divinity of Christ; for what is said cannot belong to any but to God alone. The adverb of the present time, now, is designed for this end, that we may not rob Christ of his glory, during our warfare in the world. He then adds, for ever, that we may now form some idea of his eternal kingdom, which will make known to us his full and perfect glory.

END OF THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER

Defender: 2Pe 3:12 - hasting unto the coming

That is, "hastening the coming." From the human perspective, we can hasten the return of Christ by helping to win converts to Him. The reason why He has not already fulfilled "the promise of His coming" (2Pe 3:4) is because He is waiting for all the elect to "come to repentance" (2Pe 3:9).

Defender: 2Pe 3:12 - heavens being on fire

The "heavens" here probably refer only to the atmospheric heavens, whose elements (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) must also be "dissolved" (literally "unloosed"), since they are also presently under "the bondage of corruption" (Rom 8:20-22) and must be cleansed and renewed just as the elements of the earth. It is even possible that the purging will dissolve and cleanse the starry heavens also, since these once were the domain of "the angels that sinned" (2Pe 2:4) and since "the whole creation" (Rom 8:22) is now in bondage to the law of decay.

Defender: 2Pe 3:12 - elements

The word "elements" is translated from the Greek stoicheion, meaning "fundamental constituents" and implies an orderly arrangement of these basic entities. Ever since the primeval curse, which affected even "the dust of the ground" (Gen 2:7; Gen 3:17), out of which all things had been made, this orderly arrangement has been deteriorating slowly. The disintegration process will be speeded up and completed in the great "dissolving." However, this will not be annihilation, for God does not uncreate what He created. "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever" (Ecc 3:14). His basic principle of conservation of mass/energy, the most basic and pervasive law known to science, will still hold. Christ will still be "upholding all things by the word of His power" (Heb 1:3)."

Defender: 2Pe 3:13 - his promise

All the promises of God, especially including His promise to return and complete His great work of redemption, will be fulfilled, though it seems to us to be long delayed (2Pe 3:4). The old cosmos will have been dissolved, its material elements having been converted temporarily into energy (light, heat, sound, etc.) but will then be made over again as a "new" (Greek kainos, meaning "fresh" rather than "young in age") cosmos, with all the age-long effects of sin and the curse forever removed (with the one exception of the lake of fire and its inhabitants - see note on Rev 20:10).

Defender: 2Pe 3:13 - dwelleth righteousness

The new heavens and new earth will no longer harbor any remnants of sin and its effects, so will "remain" forever (Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22; Rev 21:1-5)."

Defender: 2Pe 3:14 - found of him

Even though Peter knew He would soon die, he still wrote to his "beloved" friends as though they might still be living when Christ returned (compare 1Jo 2:28), urging them to live in the light of His expected, imminent return. This admonition surely applies even more to us today. Incidentally, Peter interjects this appellation of endearment, "beloved," no less than six times in this short epistle, more than in any other New Testament book except Romans."

Defender: 2Pe 3:15 - hath written unto you

Evidently, Peter's readers in the churches of Asia had already read one or more of Paul's earlier epistles and had accepted them as inspired and authoritative. In his very first (or possibly second) epistle, Paul also had written about the imminent coming of the Lord, urging his readers to live in light of that fact (1 Thessalonians 5:4-24)."

Defender: 2Pe 3:16 - wrest

It is dangerous to "wrest," or distort, the Scriptures, but, even today, this is commonly done by professing Christians who seek to justify their own compromises with the evolutionary philosophy and humanistic life style of their ungodly associates.

Defender: 2Pe 3:16 - other scriptures

It is significant that here Peter recognizes Paul's epistles as comparable to "the other Scriptures." When he notes that Paul had "written unto you" (2Pe 3:15), it seems possible, at least, that he was referring to the book of Hebrews - in particular to Heb 10:36-38. Peter's epistles, also, had been especially addressed to Jewish Christians (1Pe 1:1; 2Pe 3:1). This reference may be an incidental confirmation of the Pauline authorship of Hebrews."

Defender: 2Pe 3:17 - wicked

The term "wicked" here means "unsettled" or "lawless." These men were "unlearned and unstable" (2Pe 3:16) in the Scriptures and so were leading others astray with their twisting of God's Word to fit their own opinions. There are many such teachers today as well so "beware.""

Defender: 2Pe 3:18 - grow in grace

Peter had referred to "newborn babes" (1Pe 2:2, 1Pe 2:3) after first indicating that "we" (all believers) have been born spiritually (begotten again) by Christ and His resurrection to an eternal inheritance and are being "kept ... through faith" (1Pe 1:3-5). He concludes his two epistles by urging us not to remain babes in Christ but to "grow." Our growth should be both in doctrine and practice, each being inadequate by itself. His first epistle emphasizes "grace" (with eight occurrences) and the second, "knowledge" (with six occurrences) (Eph 4:15)."

TSK: 2Pe 3:11 - all these // what // in all // godliness

all these : 2Pe 3:12; Psa 75:3; Isa 14:31, Isa 24:19, Isa 34:4

what : Mat 8:27; 1Th 1:5; Jam 1:24

in all : Psa 37:14, Psa 50:23; 2Co 1:12; Phi 1:27, Phi 3:20; 1Ti 4:12; Heb 13:5; Jam 3:13; 1Pe 1:15, 1Pe 2:12

godliness : 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 1:6; 1Ti 3:16, 1Ti 6:3, 1Ti 6:6, 1Ti 6:11

TSK: 2Pe 3:12 - Looking // hasting unto the coming // the heavens // melt

Looking : 1Co 1:7; Tit 2:13; Jud 1:21

hasting unto the coming : or, hasting the coming, 2Pe 3:10; 1Co 1:8; Phi 1:6

the heavens : 2Pe 3:10; Psa 50:3; Isa 34:4; Rev 6:13, Rev 6:14

melt : 2Pe 3:10; Isa. 2:1-22, Isa 64:1-12; Mic 1:4

TSK: 2Pe 3:13 - according

according : Isa 65:17, Isa 66:22; Rev 21:1, Rev 21:27

TSK: 2Pe 3:14 - seeing // be diligent // in peace

seeing : Phi 3:20; Heb 9:28

be diligent : 2Pe 1:5-10; 1Jo 3:3

in peace : Mat 24:26; Luk 2:29, Luk 12:43; 1Co 1:8, 1Co 15:58; Phi 1:10; 1Th 3:13, 1Th 5:23

TSK: 2Pe 3:15 - account // our beloved // according

account : 2Pe 3:9; Rom 2:4; 1Ti 1:16; 1Pe 3:20

our beloved : Act 15:25

according : Exo 31:3, Exo 31:6, Exo 35:31, Exo 35:35; 1Ki 3:12, 1Ki 3:28, 1Ki 4:29; Ezr 7:25; Pro 2:6, Pro 2:7; Ecc 2:26; Dan 2:20,Dan 2:21; Luk 21:15; Act 7:10; 1Co 2:13, 1Co 12:8; Jam 1:5, Jam 3:17

TSK: 2Pe 3:16 - in all // speaking // hard // unstable // wrest // the other // unto their own

in all : 1Pe 1:1

speaking : Rom. 8:1-39; 1Cor. 15:1-58; 1Thes. 4:1-5:28; 2Kings 1:1-18

hard : 1Ki 10:1; Heb 5:11

unstable : 2Pe 2:14; Gen 49:4; 2Ti 3:5-7; Jam 1:8

wrest : Exo 23:2, Exo 23:6; Deu 16:19; Psa 56:5; Hab 1:4

the other : Jer 23:36; Mat 15:3, Mat 15:6, Mat 22:29

unto their own : 2Pe 2:1; Phi 3:19; 1Pe 2:8; Jud 1:4

TSK: 2Pe 3:17 - seeing // beware // being // from

seeing : 2Pe 1:12; Pro 1:17; Mat 24:24, Mat 24:25; Mar 13:23; Joh 16:4

beware : Mat 7:15, Mat 16:6, Mat 16:11; Phi 3:2; Col 2:8; 2Ti 4:15

being : 2Pe 2:18-20; Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; Rom 16:18; 2Co 11:3, 2Co 11:13-15

from : 2Pe 1:10,2Pe 1:11, 2Pe 2:18-22; Act 2:42; 1Co 15:58; Eph 4:14; Col 2:5; Heb 3:14; 1Pe 5:9

TSK: 2Pe 3:18 - grow // knowledge // To him // Amen

grow : Psa 92:12; Hos 14:5; Mal 4:2; Eph 4:15; Col 1:10; 2Th 1:3; 1Pe 2:2

knowledge : 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 1:8, 2Pe 2:20; Joh 17:3; 2Co 4:6; Eph 1:17; Phi 3:8; Col 1:10, Col 3:10

To him : Joh 5:23; 2Ti 4:18; 1Pe 5:10,1Pe 5:11; Jud 1:25; Rev 1:6, Rev 5:9-14

Amen : Mat 6:13, Mat 28:20

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: 2Pe 3:11 - Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved // What manner of persons ought ye to be // In all holy conversation and godliness

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved seeing the coming of the Lord will be so terrible, as to bring with it the consumption of the world, and the destruction of these things here below, upon which we are so apt to set our affections.

What manner of persons ought ye to be how prudent, accurate, diligent, zealous, and every way excellent persons! The Greek word is often used by way of admiration of some singular excellency in persons or things, Mat 8:27 Mar 13:1 Luk 1:29 .

In all holy conversation and godliness: the words in the Greek are both in the plural number, and may imply not only a continued course of holy walking throughout our whole time, but likewise diligence in the performance of all sorts of duties, and exercise of all those various graces wherewith the Spirit of God furnisheth believers in order thereto.

Poole: 2Pe 3:12 - Looking for // And hasting unto // The coming of the day of God

Looking for patiently waiting for, and expecting.

And hasting unto by fervent desire of it, and diligent preparation for it.

The coming of the day of God the day of the Lord, 2Pe 3:10 .

Poole: 2Pe 3:13 - Nevertheless we, according to his promise // Look for new heavens and a new earth // Wherein dwelleth // Righteousness

Nevertheless we, according to his promise: see Isa 65:17 Isa 66:22 Rev 21:1,27 , to which this text seems to refer, speak of a new state of the church here in the world, yet by way of allusion to the renovation of the world, which is ultimately there promised, and the perpetuity of the gospel church till then is thereby assured.

Look for new heavens and a new earth instead of the present world, which is to be consumed by fire, 2Pe 3:10,12 , or the first heaven and earth, which pass away, Rev 21:1 . These will be new heavens and a new earth, either as to their substance, or as to their qualities, refined and purified from all defilement, and free from all that vanity to which the creature was made subject by the sin of man, Rom 8:20,21 .

Wherein dwelleth i.e. perpetually abideth, and not only for a time, Rom 8:11 2Co 6:16 2Ti 1:14 .

Righteousness either this may be understood of righteousness in the abstract, that together with the destruction of the world the kingdom of sin shall be destroyed, and God’ s elect, the inhabitants of the new world, shall be filled with righteousness, whereas before sin had dwelt in them: or else the abstract may be put for the concrete, and by righteousness may be meant righteous persons, who only shall be the inhabitants of the new world, the wicked being turned into hell, Rev 21:27 ; and by this way of expressing it may be implied the perfection of the righteousness of such. Not only the new heaven is mentioned, but the new earth, because the whole world will then be the possession and kingdom of the saints, who follow Christ wherever he goes.

Poole: 2Pe 3:14 - Such things // Of him // In peace // Without spot, and blameless

Such things Christ’ s coming to judgment; the destruction of this world; a new heaven and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.

Of him Christ the Judge.

In peace at peace with God, from whence proceeds peace of conscience, and an amicable, peaceable disposition toward others; all which may here be comprehended.

Without spot, and blameless: either:

1. By these words he means absolute perfection; and then he shows what we are to design and aim at in this life, though we attain it not till we come into the other: or:

2. A thorough sanctification through faith in Christ, a being got above fleshly lusts, and the pollutions of the world, and any such carriage as our hearts may reproach us for, 1Ti 6:14 . If it be objected, that such, having sin still in them, cannot be said to be without spot, and blameless, in the sight of God; it may be answered, that though they have sin in them, yet being, through the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, justified in the sight of God, and accepted in the Beloved, Eph 1:6 , he overlooks their infirmities, and imputes no sin to them, sees no spot in them, so as to condemn them for it. The apostle seems here to reflect on the seducers before mentioned, whom, 2Pe 2:13 , he had called spots and blemishes; and he persuades these saints to look to themselves, that they might be found of Christ (not such as the other were, but) without spot, and blameless; or, as it is translated, Eph 5:27 , without blemish, i.e. in a state of sanctification, as well as justification.

Poole: 2Pe 3:15 - And account // The longsuffering of our Lord // Is salvation // Even as our beloved brother Paul // According to the wisdom given unto him // Hath written unto you

And account reckon with yourselves, and be confidently persuaded; or take for granted.

The longsuffering of our Lord viz. in his not yet coming to judgment, and bearing with so much sin in the world without presently punishing it.

Is salvation i.e. tends or conduceth to salvation, in that hereby he gives space for repentance to the elect unconverted, and alloweth time for the building up and perfecting those that are converted, 2Pe 3:9 .

Even as our beloved brother Paul not only brother in Christ, as a saint, but in office, as an apostle.

According to the wisdom given unto him that eminent and profound knowledge in the mysteries of the gospel in which Paul did excel, 1Co 2:6,7 Eph 3:3,4 . Peter makes such honourable mention of Paul:

1. That he might commend to the Jewish Christians the doctrine Paul had preached, though a minister of the uncircumcision;

2. To show that he had nothing the worse thoughts of him for being so sharply reproved by him, Gal 2:1-21 ; and:

3. That he might arm the saints against those heretics that abused Paul’ s writings, and wrested them to their own meaning, probably, to patronize their errors.

Hath written unto you unto you Jewish believers, viz. either:

1. In his Epistle to the Romans, Rom 2:4 , where is a passage very like this: or:

2. In his Epistle to the Hebrews, which, though it were not entitled to the Jews of the dispersion, yet was written to their nation; and in that Epistle several places there are of the same purport with this here; see Heb 9:28 10:23,25,36,37and other Epistle of Paul to the Jews we have none: and in this he shows much of that wisdom God gave him in the mystery of the gospel; and in this likewise are many things hard to be understood.

Poole: 2Pe 3:16 - As also in all his epistles // Speaking in them of these things // In which are some things hard to be understood // Which they that are unlearned // And unstable // Wrest // To their own destruction

As also in all his epistles to make the sense complete, we must supply here from the former verse, he hath written.

Speaking in them of these things viz. concerning the second coming of Christ, and end of the world, the patience that should be exercised in waiting for it; about avoiding scoffers that deny these truths, and the other instructions contained in these two Epistles, but especially in the two latter chapters of this Second Epistle.

In which are some things hard to be understood in which Epistles, or rather, in which things contained in Paul’ s Epistles, for the Greek relative is of a different gender, and cannot agree with Epistles: q.d. Some of the doctrines delivered by Paul in his Epistles are hard to be understood. And so this doth not prove Paul’ s Epistles, much less the whole Scripture, to be obscure and dark: the style and expression may be as clear as the nature of the things will bear, and yet the things themselves so expressed may be hard to be understood, either by reason of their own obscurity, as prophecies, the excellency and sublimeness of them, as some mysterious doctrines, or the weakness of men’ s minds, and their incapacity of apprehending spiritual things, 1Co 2:14 , compared with 1Co 13:9,10 .

Which they that are unlearned they that are ignorant of the Scripture, unskilful in the word of righteouness, Heb 5:13 ; or indocible, that will not be instructed.

And unstable such as are ill grounded, and therefore unstedfast, and easily deceived, 2Pe 2:14 : see Eph 4:14 .

Wrest pervert the Scripture, and offer violence to it, and, as it were, rack and torture it to make it confess what it never meant.

To their own destruction eternal destruction, viz. while they use the Scriptures to countenance their errors; or stumble at some things in them, which are obscure, thereby taking occasion to deny the truth of God; and so make the Scripture the instrument of their perdition, which God appointed to be the means of salvation.

Poole: 2Pe 3:17 - Seeing ye know these things // Beware lest ye also // Fall from your own stedfastness

Seeing ye know these things which I have been now writing to you of, viz. That the Judge will certainly come; or, that heretics, deceivers, and scoffers will come; or both may be comprehended.

Beware lest ye also as well as others have been.

Fall from your own stedfastness the stedfastness of your faith. This admonition he gives them, not to discourage them with fear of apostacy, but to awaken them to that holy care which would be a means to prevent it; and so to keep them from security, and trust in themselves, not to weaken their faith, and reliance on the promise.

Poole: 2Pe 3:18 - But grow in grace // And in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ // To him be glory both now and for ever

But grow in grace in all those spiritual gifts ye have received from Christ, especially sanctifying.

And in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in faith, whereby ye are sanctified, and made partakers of that grace.

To him be glory both now and for ever which belongs only to God; and therefore this proves Christ to be God.

PBC: 2Pe 3:13 - Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth…

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

So far in our study of Peter’s description of the final chapter in the history of this world as we know it, we have seen a total meltdown that will occur in God’s way and at God’s time. Though long delayed and scoffed at by false teachers, Peter moves us confidently forward in our understanding of the certainty, as well as the nature of the final events.

" Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth…"

We think of something akin to a universal atomic meltdown as being the final event in the history of material things. However, we think as created mortals, not as the Creator. God created the universe by the word of His power; He can melt it down and recreate it as easily as He created it in the first place.

Strong’s enhanced lexicon of New Testament words offers an interesting analysis of two synonyms that are both translated as " new" in the New Testament.

" Kainos [the word that appears in 2Pe 3:13: denotes the new primarily in reference to quality, the fresh, unworn.

" neos: denotes the new primarily in reference to time, the young, recent." [1]

Thus, according to the meaning of the word that Peter selected (by inspiration of the Holy Spirit) Peter refers to something that is fresh in quality, and unworn. The other word that he did not use refers to something that is new in terms of time, of its origin. The material universe will continue to wear down and become more worn and fragile. Then after God melts it down, He will transform it into a new material universe, fresh and vibrant, altogether appropriate for eternity with God and His elect, void of sin and recreated for righteousness alone.

Occasionally we look at various partial passages and plead total ignorance of anything pertinent to eternity with God in heaven other than a sentimental claim of complete satisfaction. No doubt, we shall indeed be satisfied throughout eternity. However, we should not sell Scripture so short in terms of providing us with just enough information to anticipate that day with excitement rather than fearing dreadful boredom. However much we love the words of " Amazing Grace" or one of our other favorite hymns, the idea of singing it and other hymns for all eternity in an unending " eternal church meeting" triggers a fear of boredom. Can we imagine anything so exciting and varied as to please God for all eternity? Not at all; yet this is precisely what He has in store for us. Peter opens a unique door of thought to our minds in terms of a transformed and recreated earth. The Biblical description of our resurrected and glorified bodies suggests a mature, perfectly healthy body, void of any residue of disease or physical trauma. I suggest that it may well also suggest a body void of any of the awful scars of DNA flaws that produce babies with birth defects and other deformities. Imagine the impact of sin and man’s fall on the material universe. Now imagine the whole material universe, transformed as fully as our mortal bodies after the resurrection. That is what Peter presents to our minds in this lesson.

Late first century and subsequent Gnosticism described a deity who was wholly inapproachable by mortals. It also despised the material universe as a colossal mistake by an " underling deity." The true Gnostic deity despised anything material. If Peter correctly described the role of the material universe in our eternity with God, Gnostic error is mirror-opposite from the Biblical view of God and His material universe. The Gnostic deity could never have inspired poets to write, " The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork…" (Ps 19:1). Can one possibly look at the wonders of Yosemite, of Yellowstone, or of so many other wonders in nature and fail to hear the echoes of their existence that shouts the glory of their Creator God? Scripture consistently directs us to view the created universe as the masterpiece of God, the supreme artwork of the Supreme Artist. Therefore, we should not be at all surprised that God may very well transform this material universe into a suitable declaration of His glory for our eternity with Him.

" Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless ."

As Peter draws us ever deeper into this incredible image of our future eternity with God, he returns again to the practical exhortation that we live in gracious godliness. He singles out three characteristics for our objective.

1. We are to strive for " peace." What kind of peace might he have in mind? Are we to strive for peace with our conscience, with God’s law, divinely imprinted in our deepest inner being? Undoubtedly. Are we to strive for peace with other believers, even those believers who said hurtful things about us, or to us? Yes, we will spend eternity with them, altogether thrilled that both they and we are there by the loving mercy and grace of God, so why not work harder at peace with them now? We claim that we believe in salvation by God’s grace alone. How much of that kind of grace do we consistently extend to those around us? Should we work for peace with God? Jesus accomplished our legal peace with our holy, but offended, God at Calvary. How peaceful are we in heart and mind with God in our routine conduct?

2. " Without spot ." Rather than fostering a slothful take-it-for-granted attitude about our faith, Peter expects that our faith will drive us toward the godly image that we shall wear in eternity. So, you say, we shall never arrive at that perfect man here and now. I agree, but I see no excuse for failure to work at the job, do you? Rather, I see, both reasonably and Biblically, an uncompromising urge that drives concerted action to grow in godly conduct that declares for all who know us to see; that we are citizens of a holy and heavenly country; that we are dedicated to our citizenship now in every way possible.

3. " Blameless." Again we confront the question. Shall we arrive in this life? And we must shamefacedly respond that we shall not. However, we should work to avoid spiritual adolescence that views difficulties immaturely and avoids any effort to grow into spiritual maturity. On one occasion Paul wrote that he " withstood Peter to his face, because he was to be blamed" (Ga 2:11). Neither Paul nor Peter perpetuated the " blame game." Both of them viewed this event as a temporary failure from which Peter recovered, and for which Paul forgave him. Perhaps this momentary confrontation motivated Peter to strive toward a blameless life with greater energy than he had exerted before this event. May we reflect on our own " blameworthy" moments and look for ways to transform them, and our conduct, into a more " blameless" life for out Savior.

This follow-up exhortation should reinforce our conviction to the vital correlation between our realistic expectation of the Second Coming and of our eternity with God and our present discipleship. " Peace, no spot, and no blame;" what a legacy for believers to live out for future generations of believers—and for our beloved God.

41

[1]Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (5852). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.

PBC: 2Pe 3:15

If you study Ac 15:1-41 from a purely human perspective, you could wonder about residual tension between Paul and the Jerusalem establishment of which Peter was an integral part.  After all, Paul and the Antioch contingency took a problem that had been created by Jerusalem church members in Antioch right back to Jerusalem church for its resolution.  How refreshing.  Further in Ga 2:11-21 Paul records a situation in which he confronted Peter for a significant lapse that Peter committed, possibly also in the Antioch church.  Given our humanity, even the dominant humanity of many who claim to be true believers in Christ, Paul and Peter might have died as archenemies.  Obviously this didn’t happen.  Why?  Whatever the tension of the moment, Paul and Peter worked it out and continued as respected and faithful brothers in the faith.  We have a similar parallel between Paul, Barnabas, and Mark.  Mark disappointed Paul and shook his confidence in the young man.  At the moment Paul refused to invite Mark to join him and others in a fairly strenuous evangelistic work because of Mark’s failure.  Yet later in Paul’s writings we find both Barnabas and Mark mentioned with tender respect.  Apparently the Holy Spirit was quite pleased with Mark, for He chose Mark to write one of the inspired gospels.  In our study verses Peter offers a tender affirmation of his love and respect for Paul in the shadow of his own death.  

This noble example of Christianity at its best serves to shame contemporary Christians, who look for reasons to break fellowship with other believers rather than working hard to preserve it.  Sometimes rather peripheral ideas may be elevated to the stature of an essential, and people who differ part company over their difference.  Trivial practices occasionally follow suit and divide believers.  In these cases the parties grieve their loss and will try to find a way to restore their former fellowship.  However, many who claim to march under the Christian flag live a fractious, self-absorbed life that inevitably isolates them from friend after friend and never think for a moment that they, not their friends, are the problem.  They will speak endlessly of the way others hurt or mistreated them.  Their life is sadly missing the essential elements of grace that we see so prominently in the lives of these New Testament leaders and example-setters in our faith.  A life marked by broken friendships, broken relationships, and an endless complaint of how others disappointed " me," is missing one of the most essential ingredients of authentic New Testament Christianity.  In Joh 17:1-26 Jesus prayed that His followers in this life should be one, even as He and the Father were one.  In Eph 5:13 with a convincing exhortation for personal forgiveness, based not on merit but on the noble example of God for Christ’s sake forgiving us.  In other words God’s forgiveness of us because of Christ serves to direct us to forgive in the same model.  We forgive each other for the sake of Christ.  " I have forgiven, but I haven’t forgotten" is not forgiveness.  Ask yourself a simple question.  If God had supposedly forgiven our sins, but we discovered that He still remembered them, how comfortable would you feel facing God in judgment?  Scripture consistently informs us that God’s forgiveness means that He will no longer remember (Jer 31:34).  In fact spend some time with Jeremiah studying the " remember" passages in that book.  To remember is to hold against and to visit justice upon.  To stop remembering is to forgive.  If we could come to terms with the profound reality of our own forgiveness before God, we would surely live more gently toward other believers in our life.  

How sadly often we defensively offer rationalizations for not forgiving others when confronted with the Biblical directives to forgive for Jesus’ sake.  Anytime we discover this rationalizing attitude we should stop and reflect on our Lord’s personal example toward those who crucified Him, as well as the nearly countless additional examples by which Scripture dictates a gentle and forgiving lifestyle among believers.  

Think of the utter hypocrisy of this fractious, unforgiving lifestyle.  We live before unbelievers in the claim that we believe all of God’s children shall spend eternity together praising God and engaged in a myriad of wondrous activities that suitably honor our God throughout eternity.  We will do all these things " together."  Yet in this life we live in a constant process of putting everyone around us under a magnifying glass to emphasize their faults, real or imagined, so that we may set them at a distance from us.  

This contentious attitude contradicts Jesus’ personal prayer for His followers (Joh 17:1-26).  It violates Paul’s stated result of the gospel in believers’ lives, and it denies that the gospel has had any impact whatever upon us.  By practicing fractious grudge-holding and refusing to forgive those in our life whom we believe offend us, we practice heathenism while claiming holy Christianity.  This contradictory conduct may deceive others for a season, but I dare say that it will not deceive our omniscient God. 

Indeed the New Testament sets an ethical mark for each of us that challenges every aspect of our conduct and interpersonal relationships.  Scripture directs us to work to avoid offending other believers, not nudge the edge of the envelope to see how much we can do before they react against us.  It directs us to live in respectful honor of our brothers and sisters in Christ, even when they and we disagree.  Christian ethics does not appear when we all agree on every point of doctrine and Biblical teaching.  It appears—or its absence is clearly demonstrated—when we deal with differences of perspective.  How do we deal with them?  Do we denigrate those with whom we disagree?  Or do we speak kindly of them, despite our differences?  Do we firmly keep our focus on all the points of common faith despite a few areas of difference?  Or do we ignore the many areas of agreement and shine the spotlight on those few areas of difference?  

Those of us who believe in the doctrines of God’s sovereign and efficacious grace point with a touch of disdain at others who believe in salvation by works or by some form of God-man synergism and at times feel a bit superior.  But do we live by the same grace that we claim for our salvation?  Did Jesus point at those who walked away from Him, rejecting His teaching, with disdain or with grief (Joh 6:67)?  Did He react with scorn against those who crucified Him (Lu 23:34)?  We criticize them for their pride in their works, but do we feel equal pride in our superior doctrinal posture?  Would we not win more converts to our belief by living the grace toward them that God showed toward us when He saved us? 

We marvel at a small group of eleven men with some 112 associates who served to catalyze the beginning of our faith that literally transformed the ancient world.  We look at rampant moral decay in our own world and wonder why we can’t see similar transformation now.  We could.  If we started practicing the gracious Christianity that Peter demonstrates in our passage, the same unbelievers who view us with scorn today might stand up and take notice.  Living God’s grace, not just talking about it; practicing it, not just claiming it for our eternity; these things empower believers with the supernatural magnetism that drove the first generation of believers to " turn the world upside down" (Ac 17:6).  This process begins, not with me demanding that others forgive me or treat me with grace.  It begins with me treating others with undeserved grace.  It begins with me speaking in gracious and respectful tones regarding those with whom I disagree, showing supernatural grace toward people with whom I disagree.  Is there a Paul in your life who withstood you to your face?  A Mark who forsook you in a moment of crisis?  A faithful Barnabas who intensely disagreed with you and would not back down?  How is your relationship with them today?  Have you sought and insisted on practicing the healing grace of God to restore your relationship with them?  Wouldn’t this be a good time to start that process? 

51   

                Over the centuries Paul has seen his controversial days.  Some sects have almost worshipped him rather than his Lord, an act that Paul would have disdained.  Others have rejected his teaching almost entirely.  In either case the balanced and whole of inspired Scripture is altered to suite the fancy of the reader.  Peter doesn’t specifically tell us what Paul wrote that prompted this comment.  Factually, Paul didn’t teach anything that Peter doesn’t affirm, but his emphasis in certain theological issues is different from Peter’s or other New Testament writers.  Paul has always been noted for his emphasis on the theological issues of predestination.  The word translated as the various derivatives of this word appears six times in the New Testament, five of which appear in Paul’s writings.  The word also appears in Ac 4:28 under Luke’s pen.  We should note that Peter didn’t reject Paul’s teaching; rather he accepted it and described it as hard to understand.  

                Often Paul’s related writings in Ro 9:1-33 regarding election are mentioned as unique to Paul’s writings.  Although modern Bible teachers will seldom outright reject Paul’s writings in this chapter, they frequently " wrest" these teachings in an effort to avoid the obvious teachings that appear there.  The most common wresting effort is that Paul was simply writing about God’s choice of the Jews as His national people in the Old Testament, and that this chapter has nothing to say about Gentiles or New Testament Christian teaching.  It almost seems that Paul knew that these teachings would come under just such an attack, for in Ro 9:24 he specifically mentions that God’s electing mercy extends to all whom He has called, " not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles."  In light of this verse the teaching that Paul had reference only to Jews is patently false, a clear example of wresting, twisting a bone out of its joint or twisting a Scripture out of its context and intended teaching.  

                We find subtle evidence that this teaching was under attack throughout the Roman letter.  In the third chapter Paul raises a criticism of his adversaries that he taught that we should intentionally do evil that good may come, a wholly perverted idea that Paul rejected.  In the sixth chapter he asks the rhetorical question, not once but twice, " Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"  And twice he resoundingly rejected the idea in the strongest possible terms.  

                Rather than guess, why don’t we allow Paul’s writings to define the opponents who wrested his writings?  He confronts these unnamed twisters in the third chapter of Romans with the notation that they falsely and absurdly accused him of advocating that people should sin in order to bring about good.  On occasion when I have talked with people about Paul’s teachings in Ro 9:1-33, saying little beyond Paul’s literal teachings, they have responded with precisely the critic’s Ro 3:1-31 objection.  " Why, if I believed that doctrine, I’d just go out and live in sin, knowing that I’m saved regardless of what I do."  Perhaps these people reveal more about their own moral outlook than about the doctrine.  Do they have any moral conviction beyond fear of retribution, of divine judgment against their sins?  Do they have any sense of right and wrong that compels righteous conduct on the basis of its inherent rightness before God?  Why not avoid sin because it is inherently wrong and destructive?  Because righteous conduct honors God apart from any consequences, positive or negative, to them?  

                While most modern Christian teachers either reject or shamefully misrepresent Paul’s teachings of these doctrines, we should never forget their prominence in historical Christianity.  Although you will likely not hear an Episcopal minister teach on predestination or eternal election, these doctrines are clearly set forth in the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.  Though you frequently hear Presbyterian ministers sidestep these doctrines, they form an essential part of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the historical statement of what Presbyterians believed and taught.  You will not likely hear a Lutheran minister teach these doctrines in his Sunday sermon, but Martin Luther left no doubt of his belief in his writings on the bondage of the human will and his commentary on the book of Galatians.  Although these doctrines were integral to historical Baptist doctrinal statements, the Founders’ Movement in the Southern Baptist fellowship faces significant hostility for advocating a return to them.  

                Obviously Paul lived a highly moral and spiritual life that avoided sin in every way possible, and that filled his hours with righteous conduct in the service of his God and his fellowman.  Clearly, Paul’s belief regarding election, predestination, or any other doctrine, didn’t diminish his zeal for holy living, nor for evangelism.  Therefore, claiming Paul’s doctrinal teachings as justification for such sinful conduct is a manifest example of Peter’s notation.  They " wrest," twist, Paul’s writings out of joint and out of context to their own destruction. 

                The whole concept of humans earning their salvation with a bit of necessary help from God has perverted much of Christian teaching in our time.  Ask the common Bible teacher or believer to describe their expectations of heaven.  What do you hear?  They will plunge into a near-endless sequence of excited imaginations about how big their eternal crown will be, what they will do to indulge their personal fancies throughout eternity.  Seldom indeed will you hear them immediately and excitedly tell you how they long to be able to praise God with both body and soul throughout eternity without the hindrance of sin.  Praise God?  Glorify Him?  They far prefer walking their pet lion or some other fanciful self-indulgence to spending eternity in praise to God.  Several years ago I heard a popular and nationally known Christian teacher illustrate his view of heaven in a radio program with a lengthy description of how he expected to have a pet lion in eternity and how he looked forward to taking it on daily walks.  

                The abysmal corruption of heaven in people’s minds reveals much of the dreadful depth to which contemporary Christianity has sunken into the quicksand of man-centric religion that has almost no relationship whatever to New Testament Christ-centric, God-honoring Christianity.  For Paul, Peter, John, and all New Testament inspired writers, the walk of faith was not about self-indulgence, but self-denial.  It did not involve egomaniacal anticipation of satisfying personal appetites in heaven, but the wondrous opportunity to glorify God without restraint.  Such self-indulgent ideas fit the Moslem idea of heaven better than the Christian.  

                Rather than wresting Paul’s writings or outright rejecting them, Peter honored his brother Paul for writing " according to the wisdom given unto him."  I wholeheartedly believe Paul’s writings to the extent that I can understand them.  Rather than argue with his conclusions in Ro 8:1-39 and Ro 9:1-33, or Eph 1:1-23, I want to understand them and believe them.  

                For those of us who rather believe than reject Paul’s teachings on these doctrines, I offer a challenge.  Does our life bear credible testimony to our commitment to holy, Christ-centric, and moral living?  Do we by consistent conduct demonstrate that those who believe these doctrines are not anti-evangelical, but in fact are faithfully evangelistic in our efforts to spread our faith wherever we have opportunity?  

                It is somewhat amazing that the major revivals and evangelistic works of historical Christianity were effected under the teachings of godly men who embraced Paul’s teachings of these doctrines.  History rejects the idea that Paul’s teachings of these doctrines will dampen evangelism or weaken a believer’s commitment to godly living.  Those who believe all of Scripture will not neglect Paul’s reminder that if we name the name of Christ, we are obligated to " depart from iniquity" (2Ti 2:19).  Rather than engaging in foolish arguments as to whether or not the " Great Commission" applies to Christians today, they faithfully practice the Lord’s teachings that require those who believe in Him to constantly teach His truth wherever they go, and to go where they wouldn’t otherwise go in order to take that truth to others.  

                Our challenge is clearly set before us.  Hold fast to inspired Scriptural teachings as interpreted by historical believers of many stripes across the centuries.  Believe it and live it.

51

PBC: 2Pe 3:18

See WebbSr: GROW IN GRACE

See GG: 19,11 March 14, 2004

Haydock: 2Pe 3:11 - Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved

Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, that the world, and all things in the world, shall pass in a short time, set not your affections upon them: let your life and conversation be holy. According to the divine promises, look for new heavens, and a new earth, where justice is to dwell, whither sinners shall not enter, but the just only, in a new state of never-ending happiness. Make it then your endeavour to be found in the sight of God spotless and blameless; and look upon the long forbearance of God, who defers to punish sinners as they deserve, to be an effect of his mercy, and for your salvation. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Pe 3:15-16 - As also our most dear brother, Paul,...hath written to you // In which are some things hard to understand

As also our most dear brother, Paul,...hath written to you. He seems to mean in his epistle to the Hebrews or converted Jews, (Chap. x. 37.) where he says: yet a little while,...and he that is to come, will come, and will not delay. ---

In which are some things hard to understand, especially by unlearned, ignorant people, unstable, inconstant, not well grounded in faith, and which they wrest, [2] as they do also the other scriptures, by their private interpretations, to their own perdition. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Pe 3:16

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Depravant, Greek: streblousin. detorquent. It is a speech, says Mr. Legh, on Greek: strebloo, borrowed from torturers, when they put an innocent man on the rack, and make him speak what he never thought. They deal, says he, with the Scriptures as chemists sometimes deal with natural bodies, torturing them to extract out of them what God and nature never put in them.

====================

Haydock: 2Pe 3:17

Being forewarned, therefore, and knowing these things before, take heed not to be led away by the errors of such false and unwise teachers, whatever knowledge they boast of, as did the Gnostics. But make it your serious endeavour to increase in grace by God's assistance, in the true knowledge of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to whom, as being one God with his eternal Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory now, and for all eternity. Amen. (Witham)

Gill: 2Pe 3:11 - Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved // what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,.... By fire; the heaven with all its host, sun, moon, and stars, clouds, meteors, and fowls of the air; the earth, and all that is upon it, whether of nature, or art; and, since nothing is more certain than such a dissolution of all things,

what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? not as the scoffers and profane sinners, who put away this evil day far from them, but as men, who have their loins girt, and their lights burning, waiting for their Lord's coming; being continually in the exercise of grace, and in the discharge of their religious duties, watching, praying, hearing, reading; living soberly, righteously, and godly; guarding against intemperance and worldly mindedness, and every worldly and hurtful lust.

Gill: 2Pe 3:12 - Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God // wherein // the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,.... The same with the day of the Lord, 2Pe 3:10, and so the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions here read; and it intends the day of Christ's second coming to judgment, and so is a proof of the deity of Christ; and is called "the day of God", in distinction from man's day, or human judgment, 1Co 4:3, which is often fallacious; whereas the judgment of God is according to truth; and because in that day Christ will appear most clearly to be truly and properly God, by the manifest display of his omniscience, omnipotence, and other glorious perfections of his; and because it will be, as the day of God is, a thousand years; and also the day in which God will finish all his works, as on the seventh day the works of creation, on this the works of Providence; when all his purposes, promises, and threatenings, relating to the final state of all persons and things, will be fulfilled, and every work be brought to light, and into judgment, and everything will stand in a clear light; for the day will declare it, either respecting God, or men; and there will be a display, as of his grace and mercy, to his church and people; for it will be the day of his open espousals to them, and of the gladness of his heart; so of his wrath and anger towards the wicked: for this great and dreadful day of the Lord shall burn like an oven, and destroy the wicked, root and branch: and it will be the day of Christ's glorious appearing, and of his kingdom, in which he will reign, before his ancients, gloriously; and when it is ended, God, Father, Son and Spirit, will be all in all: now "the coming" of this day saints should be "looking for" by faith; believing that it certainly will come, since the patriarchs, prophets, Christ himself, the angels of heaven, and the apostles of the Lamb, have all declared and asserted the coming of this day; and they should look for it, and love it, as with the strongest affection for it, and most vehement desire of it, since they will then appear with Christ in glory; and they should look out, and keep looking out for it, as what will be quickly; and though it is not as soon as they desire and expect, yet should still look wistly for it, and with patience and cheerfulness wait for it: yea, they should be "hasting unto" it, or "hastening" it; for though the day is fixed for the coming of Christ, nor can it be altered, as his coming will not be longer, it cannot be sooner, yet it becomes the saints to pray earnestly for it, that it may be quickly, and for the accomplishment of all things that go before it, prepare for it, and lead unto it; such as the conversion of the Jews, and the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles; and by putting him in mind of, and pleading with him, his promises concerning these things, and giving him no rest till they are accomplished; there seems to be some reference to the prayers of the Jews for the Messiah's coming, which they desire may be במהירה, "in haste"; which will show that they are in haste for the coming of this day; and all which things God will hasten, though it will be in his own time: and moreover, saints should be hasting to it by their readiness for it, having their loins girt, and their lights burning, and their lamps trimmed, and they waiting for their Lord's coming, and going forth in acts of faith and love, and in the duties of religion, to meet him, and not slumber and sleep:

wherein; in which day, as in 2Pe 3:10; or by which; by which coming of Christ, or of the day of God,

the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; at whose coming and presence, and from whose face the heavens and earth shall flee away, just as the earth shook, and the heavens dropped, and Sinai itself moved, when God appeared upon it; see Rev 20:11. This is a repetition of what is said in 2Pe 3:10, exciting attention to the exhortation given.

Gill: 2Pe 3:13 - Nevertheless we, according to his promise // look for new heavens and a new earth // wherein dwelleth righteousness

Nevertheless we, according to his promise,.... Or promises, as the Alexandrian copy, and the Vulgate Latin version; namely those in Isa 65:17;

look for new heavens and a new earth; not figuratively, the world to come in distinction from the Jewish world or state; a new church state, the Gospel dispensation, with new ordinances, as baptism and the Lord's supper, all legal ceremonies and ordinances being gone, and everything new; for these things had taken place already, and were not looked for as future: but these phrases are to be understood literally, as the heavens and the earth are in every passage in the context, 2Pe 3:5; and designs not new heavens and earth for substance, but for qualities; the heavens and elements being melted and dissolved, and so purged and purified by fire, and the earth and its works being burnt up with it, and so cleared of everything noxious, needless, and disagreeable, new heavens and a new earth will appear, refined and purged from everything which the curse brought thereon for man's sin: and such heavens and earth the saints look for by faith and hope, and earnest expectation, and with desire and pleasure; and therefore are not distressed, as they have no reason to be, with the burning of the present heavens and earth, as awful as these things will be; and they expect them not upon their own fancies and imaginations, or the vain conjectures and cunningly devised fables of men, but according to the promises of God recorded in the above passages, and in which they may be confirmed by the words of Christ, and by the vision of John, Rev 20:1. The Alexandrian copy reads, "and his promises"; as if it respected other promises the saints looked for besides the new heavens and earth; namely, the resurrection of the dead, eternal life, the in corruptible inheritance, the ultimate glory and happiness:

wherein dwelleth righteousness; meaning not the heavenly felicity, called sometimes the crown of righteousness, and the hope of righteousness, to which righteousness gives a right, and where it will be perfect, for the apostle is not speaking of the ultimate glory of the saints; nor the righteousness of Christ, as dwelling in the saints, as if the sense was this, we in whom righteousness dwells, look for new heavens and a new earth; for though the righteousness of Christ is unto and upon them that believe, yet it is not in them; it is in Christ, and dwells in him, and not in them; it is not inherent in them, but imputed to them: by "righteousness" is meant righteous men; such as are so not in and of themselves, or by the deeds of the law, or by works of righteousness done by them, but who are made righteous by the obedience of Christ, and are righteousness itself in him; see Jer 33:16; now these, and these only, will be the inhabitants of the new heavens and the new earth; there will be no unrighteous persons there, as in the present world, which lies in wickedness, and is full of wicked men; and they will be stocked with inhabitants after this manner; all the elect will now be gathered in, and Christ, when he comes, will bring all his saints with him from heaven, and will raise their bodies, and reunite them to their souls; and those that are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and will make up together the general assembly and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven; and whereas, upon the coming of Christ, the present heavens and earth will be burnt or purified by fire, and so made new and fit for the spirits of just men made perfect, who being again embodied, will fill the face of them, and shall inherit the earth, and reign with Christ on it for a thousand years, during which time there will not be a wicked man in them; for the wicked that will be alive at Christ's coming will be burnt with the earth, and the wicked dead shall not rise till the thousand years are ended, and who being raised, will, together with the devils, make the Gog and Magog army; wherefore none but righteous persons can look for these new heavens and earth, for to these only are they promised, and such only shall dwell in them; so the Targum on Jer 23:23 paraphrases the words,

"I God have created the world from the beginning, saith the Lord, I God will "renew the world for the righteous":''

and this will be, the Jews say, for the space of a thousand years;

"it is a tradition (they say ^l) of the house of Elias, that the righteous, whom the holy blessed God will raise from the dead shall not return to their dust, as is said, Isa 4:3, and it shall come to pass, &c. as the Holy One continues for ever, so they shall continue for ever; and if you should say those years (some editions read, "those thousand years", and so the gloss upon the place) in which the holy blessed God "renews the world": as it is said Isa 2:11, and the Lord alone; &c. what shall they do? the holy blessed God will make them wings as eagles, and they shall fly upon the face of the waters:''

and this renovation of the heavens and the earth, they say, will be in the seventh millennium;

"in the seventh thousand year (they assert ^m) there will be found new heavens and a new earth;''

which agree with these words of Peter.

Gill: 2Pe 3:14 - Wherefore, beloved, seeing ye look for these things // be diligent that ye may be found of him // in peace // without spot and blemish

Wherefore, beloved, seeing ye look for these things,.... For the burning of the heavens and the earth, for the coming of Christ, and for the new heavens and new earth,

be diligent that ye may be found of him; Christ, or αυτω, "in him", as in Phi 3:9; for such as are in Christ will have an undoubted right to the new heavens and the new earth, and will certainly dwell in them, because they will be found not in their own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ: or "before him", as the Arabic version renders it; before him the Judge of all, at whose tribunal they must stand; but being clothed with his righteousness, and so without spot and blemish, they will not be ashamed before him: or "by him"; Christ first finds his in redemption, and next in the effectual calling, and last of all at his coming, when all the elect will be looked up, gathered in, and presented first to himself, and then to his Father, complete and perfect, not one wanting: and thus to be found in him, and before him, and by him, should be the concern of all that look for the glorious things here spoken of, and particularly that they be found in the following situation and circumstances: in peace; interested in that peace Christ has made by the blood of his cross; for such as are reconciled to God by his death, shall be saved by his life, and live with him in the new heavens and new earth, and for ever in the ultimate glory; and in enjoying that peace of conscience which he himself gives, and which flows from his blood, righteousness, and atonement; so that the day of his coming by death, or at judgment, will not be terrifying to them, but they will look for these things with great delight and satisfaction: or

in peace one with another; for peace makers and keepers are called the children of God, and so heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; or in happiness and glory, expressed by peace, which is the end of the righteous man, which he enters into at death, and will rest in to all eternity:

without spot and blemish; no man is so in himself, sanctification is imperfect, and many are the slips and falls of the saints, though their desire is to be harmless and inoffensive, and to give no just occasion for blame or scandal; but the saints are so in Christ Jesus, being washed in his blood, and clothed with his righteousness, and will be found so by him when he comes again, when he will present them to himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, and also before the presence of his Father's glory, as faultless, with exceeding joy; and so will they be fit and meet to be the inhabitants of the new heavens and new earth, and reign with him therein, and be with him to all eternity.

Gill: 2Pe 3:15 - And account that the longsuffering of our Lord // salvation // even as our beloved brother Paul also // according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you

And account that the longsuffering of our Lord,.... Not his longsuffering towards the wicked, and his forbearance with them, for that is not the means of, nor the way to, nor does it issue in, their salvation, but in their sorer punishment and greater damnation, see Rom 2:4; but towards the elect, as in 2Pe 3:9; whom he bears much and long with before conversion, while in their sins, and in a state of unregeneracy, and waits to be gracious to them, as he is in their calling, and to make known and apply his great salvation to them; and as with particular persons, so with the whole body of them, till they are all gathered in, and even with the world for their sakes; and particularly the Lord's longsuffering here intends the deferring of his coming, or his seeming slackness in the performance of his promise: the reason of which is,

salvation: the salvation of all his chosen ones, and in that it issues; he waits, he stays, that none of them might perish, but that they might be all brought to faith and repentance, and so be saved: wherefore the apostle would have the saints consider it in this light, and not imagine and conclude, with the scoffing infidels, that he is slack and dilatory, and will not come, but that his view in it is the salvation of all his people, which by this means is brought about: in confirmation of which, and other things he had delivered, he produces the testimony of the Apostle Paul;

even as our beloved brother Paul also; he calls him a "brother", both on account of his being a believer in Christ, one that belonged to the same family with him, and was of the household of faith, born of the same Father, and related to the same Redeemer, the firstborn among many brethren, and likewise on account of his being a fellow apostle; for though he was not one of the twelve apostles, but his call and mission were later than theirs, yet Peter does not disdain to put him among them, and upon an equal foot with them, nor was he a whit behind the chief of them: he styles him a "beloved" brother; expressing his affection for him, which the relation between them called for, and which he bore to him, notwithstanding his public opposition to him, and sharp reproof of him, Gal 2:11, and perhaps loved him the more for it; see Psa 141:5; and he makes mention of him, and that under these characters, partly to show their agreement and consent in doctrine; and partly to recommend him to the Jews, to whom he writes, who had, upon report of his doctrine and ministry, entertained an ill, at least a mean opinion, of him; as also to set us an example to speak well of one another, both as ministers and private believers:

according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; meaning not all his epistles, as being written for the general good of all the saints, as well as for those particular churches or men to whom they were sent; for what Peter speaks of is what was particularly written to them, and is distinguished in 2Pe 3:16 from the rest of Paul's epistles; nor does he intend the epistle of Paul to the Romans, for the longsuffering of God spoken of in that, as in Rom 2:4, is his longsuffering to the wicked, which issues in their destruction, and not his longsuffering to his elect, which is salvation, as here; but he seems manifestly to have in view the epistle to the Hebrews, for Peter wrote both his first and second epistles to Jews; wherefore, since none of Paul's epistles but that were written particularly to them, it should seem that that is designed, and serves to confirm his being the author of it; in which he writes to the Hebrews concerning the coming of Christ, and of the deferring of it a little while, and of the need they had of patience to wait for it, Heb 10:36; and in it also are some things difficult to be understood concerning Melchizedek, the old and new covenant, the removing of the Aaronic priesthood, and the abrogation of the whole ceremonial law, &c. things not easily received by that nation; and the whole is written with great wisdom, respecting the person and office of Christ, the nature of his priesthood, and the glory of the Gospel dispensation; and in a most admirable manner is the whole Mosaic economy laid open and explained: he was indeed a wise master builder, and whatever he wrote was "according to wisdom"; not fleshly wisdom, the wisdom of this world, nor with enticing words of men's wisdom, but according to the divine wisdom, under the influence of the spirit of wisdom and revelation; for he had not this of himself naturally, nor did he learn it at Gamaliel's feet, but it was what was "given to him"; it came from above, from God, who gives it liberally; and as he himself always owned it to be a free grace gift of God bestowed on him, and that all his light and knowledge were by the revelation of Christ, so Peter ascribes it to the same, that God might have all the glory, and all boasting in man be stopped.

Gill: 2Pe 3:16 - As also in all his epistles // speaking in them of those 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 destruction

As also in all his epistles,.... From whence it appears, that the Apostle Paul had, by this time, wrote several of his epistles, if not all of them; and they were all written according to the same wisdom, and under the influence of the same spirit, as his epistle to the Hebrews:

speaking in them of those things; of the same things, Peter had been speaking of, of the coming of Christ, as that he should appear a second time to them that look for him, and would come as a thief in the night, and that the fashion, scheme, and form of this world should pass away, and that saints should look and wait for his coming, and love it: something of this kind is said in all his epistles; see Heb 9:28; and also of mockers, scoffers, seducers, and wicked men that would arise in the last days; see 1Ti 4:1,

in which are some things hard to be understood. The phrase, "in which", refers either to the epistles, or the things spoken in them. The Alexandrian manuscript, and three of Robert Stephens's copies, read εν αις, "in which" epistles, but the generality of copies read εν οις, "in", or "among which things", spoken of in them, concerning the subject here treated of, the coming of Christ; as the time of Christ's coming, which is sometimes represented by the apostle, as if it would be while he was living; and the manner of his coming in person with all his saints, and his mighty angels, with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and trump of God, things not easily understood; and the destruction of antichrist at his coming, which will be with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming; as also the resurrection of the dead, of the saints that will rise first, and that with spiritual bodies; and likewise the change of the living saints, and the rapture both of living and raised saints together, in the, clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and the standing of them before the judgment seat of Christ, and the account that everyone must give to him, 1Th 4:15 1Co 15:44;

which they that are unlearned; untaught of God, who have never learned of the Father, nor have learned Christ, nor have that anointing which teacheth all things; who, though they may have been in the schools of men, were never in the school of Christ; and though they have been ever learning, yet will never come to the knowledge of the truth; for men may have a large share of human literature, and yet be unlearned men in the sense of the apostle; and very often it is, that such wrest and pervert the Scriptures to the ruin of themselves, and others:

and unstable; unsettled in their principles, who are like children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine; the root of the matter is not in them; nor are they rooted and built up in Christ, and so are not established in the faith; they are not upon the foundation Christ, nor do they build upon, and abide by the sure word of God, or form their notions according to it, but according to their own carnal reasonings, and fleshly lusts; and so

wrest the word of God, distort it from its true sense and meaning, and make it speak that which it never designed; dealing with it as innocent persons are sometimes used, put upon a rack, and tortured, and so forced to speak what is contrary to their knowledge and consciences; and so were the words of the Apostle Paul wrested by ill designing men, as about the doctrines of grace and works, so concerning the coming of Christ; see Rom 3:8;

as they do also the other Scriptures; the writings of Moses, and the prophets of the Old Testament, the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the other epistles of the apostles of the New Testament: and which is eventually

unto their own destruction; for by so doing they either add unto, or detract from the Scriptures, and so bring the curse of God upon them; and they give into doctrines of devils, and into heresies, which are damnable, and bring upon themselves swift destruction, which lingers not, and slumbers not. Now from hence it does not follow, that the Scriptures are not to be read by the common people; for not all the parts of Scripture, and all things in it, are hard to be understood, there are many things very plain and easy, even everything respecting eternal salvation; there is milk for babes, as well as meat for strong men: besides, not the Scriptures in general, but Paul's epistles only, are here spoken of, and not all of them, or anyone whole epistle among them, only some things in them, and these not impossible, only difficult to be understood; and which is no reason why they should be laid aside, but rather why they should be read with greater application and diligence, and be followed with fervent prayer, and frequent meditation; and though unlearned and unstable men may wrest them to their perdition, those that are taught of God, though otherwise illiterate, may read them to great profit and advantage.

Gill: 2Pe 3:17 - Ye 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

Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,.... As that there will be such mockers and scoffers in the last days, and such unlearned and unstable men that will deprave the Scriptures, and wrest them in such a miserable manner:

beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked; from the simplicity of the Gospel, along with such wicked men, that wax worse and worse, deceivers and being deceived, by giving into any of their errors which respect the grace of God, or the person and offices of Christ, or particularly his second coming; be upon the watch and guard against them, having previous notice of them, for they lie in wait to deceive: lest ye

fall from your own steadfastness; which was proper to them, and which, by the grace of God, they had, and retained, both in the faith of Christ and doctrine of the Gospel; for though the saints can never finally and totally fall into sin, or from the truth, yet they may fall from their steadfastness, both as to the exercise of the grace of faith, and as to their profession of the doctrine of faith; and to be fluctuating, hesitating, and doubting in either respect, must be very uncomfortable and dishonourable.

Gill: 2Pe 3:18 - But grow in grace // and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ // to him be glory, both now, and for ever // Amen

But grow in grace,.... In the gifts of grace, which, under a divine blessing, may be increased by using them: gifts neglected decrease, but stirred up and used, are improved and increase. And though men are to be thankful for their gifts, and be contented with them, yet they may lawfully desire more, and in the use of means seek an increase of them, which may be a means of preserving themselves, and others, from the error of the wicked. Moreover, by "grace" may be meant internal grace. The work of grace is gradual; it is like a grain of mustard seed, or like seed cast into the earth, which springs up, it is not known how, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear; saints are first babes, and from children they grow to young men, and from young men to fathers. There is such a thing as growth in grace, in this sense; every grace, as to its act and exercise, is capable of growing and increasing; faith may grow exceedingly, hope abound, love increase, and patience have its perfect work, and saints may grow more humble, holy, and self-denying: this is indeed God's work, to cause them to grow, and it is owing to his grace; yet saint, should show a concern for this, and make use of means which God owns and blesses for this purpose, such as prayer, attending on the word, and looking over the promises of God, for an increase of faith; recollecting past experiences, and looking to the death and resurrection of Christ for the encouragement of hope, and to the love of God and Christ, for the stirring up of love to both, and to the saints; considering the sufferings of Christ, the desert of sin, and the glories of another world, to promote patience and self-denial, and the pattern of Christ, to excite to humility; though "grace" may also intend the Gospel, the knowledge of which is imperfect, and may be increased in the use of means, and which is a special preservative against error, a growth in which saints should be concerned for:

and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; of his person, office, and grace, than which nothing is more valuable, and is to be preferred to everything; it is the principal thing in grace, and is the beginning and pledge of eternal life, and will issue in it; for an increase of which, and a growth in it, the word and ordinances are designed; and nothing can be a greater security against error than an experimental growing knowledge of Christ. The Syriac version adds, "and of God the Father"; and so some copies read:

to him be glory, both now, and for ever; or "to the day of eternity"; that is, to Christ, who is truly God, or otherwise such a doxology would not belong to him, be ascribed the glory of deity, of all divine perfections; the glory of all his offices and work as Mediator; the glory of man's salvation; and the glory of all that grace, and the growth of it, together with the knowledge of himself, which saints have from him; and that both in this world, and that which is to come.

Amen; so be it.