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1:1
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of
Jesus Christ, to them
that have obtained like precious faith with us through the
righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 1:2 Grace and peace
be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our
Lord, 1:3
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things
that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him
that hath called us to glory and virtue: 1:4 Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and
precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through
lust.
1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue;
and to virtue
knowledge; 1:6 And to knowledge
temperance; and to
temperance
patience; and to patience
godliness; 1:7 And to godliness
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness
charity.
1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar
off, and hath
forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your
calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never
fall: 1:11 For so an
entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly
into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in
remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be
established
in the present truth.
1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this
tabernacle, to stir
you up by putting you in remembrance; 1:14 Knowing that shortly I must
put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath
shewed
me.
1:15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to
have these things always in
remembrance.
1:16 For we have not followed
cunningly devised fables, when we made
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of his majesty.
1:17 For he received from God the
Father honour and glory, when there
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with
him in
the holy mount.
1:19 We have also a more sure word of
prophecy; whereunto ye do well
that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 1:20 Knowing this
first, that no
prophecy of the
scripture is of any private
interpretation.
1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
2 Peter
Book: 2 Peter
Chapter: 1
Overview:
Exhortations to add the
Exercise of various other graces to
Faith (1-11) The
Apostle looks forward to his approaching
decease.
(12-15) And confirms the
Truth of the
Gospel, relating
to
Christ's appearing to
Judgment.
(16-21)
1-11 Faith unites the weak believer to
Christ, as really as it
does the strong one, and purifies the
Heart of one as truly as
of another; and every sincere believer is
By his
Faith justified
in the sight of
God.
Faith worketh
Godliness, and produces
effects which
No other
Grace in the soul can do. In
Christ all
Fulness dwells, and
Pardon, peace,
Grace, and knowledge, and new
principles, are thus given through the Holy
Spirit. The promises
to those who are partakers of a Divine nature, will cause us to
inquire whether we are really renewed in the
Spirit of our
minds; let us turn all these promises into prayers for the
transforming and purifying
Grace of the Holy
Spirit. The
believer must add knowledge to his virtue, increasing
acquaintance with the whole
Truth and will of
God. We must add
temperance to knowledge; moderation about worldly things; and
add to temperance, patience, or cheerful submission to the will
of
God.
Tribulation worketh patience, whereby we
Bear all
calamities and crosses with silence and submission. To patience
we must add
Godliness: this includes the holy affections and
dispositions found in the true
Worshipper of
God; with tender
Affection to all fellow Christians, who are children of the same
Father, servants of the same Master, members of the same family,
travellers to the same country, heirs of the same inheritance.
Wherefore let Christians labour to attain
Assurance of their
Calling, and of their election,
By believing and
Well-doing; and
thus carefully to endeavour, is a firm argument of the
Grace and
Mercy of
God, upholding them
So that they shall not utterly
fall. Those who are diligent in the work of religion, shall have
a triumphant entrance into that
Everlasting kingdom where
Christ
reigns, and they shall reign with him for ever and ever; and it
is in the practice of every good work that we are to expect
entrance to
Heaven.
12-15 We must be established in the belief of the
Truth, that
we may not be shaken
By every wind of doctrine; and especially
in the
Truth necessary for us to know in our
Day, what belongs
to our peace, and what is opposed in our time. The body is but a
Tabernacle, or
Tent, of the soul. It is a mean and movable
dwelling. The nearness of
Death makes the
Apostle diligent in
the business of
Life. Nothing can
So give composure in the
prospect, or in the
Hour, of
Death, as to know that we have
faithfully and simply followed the
Lord Jesus, and sought his
Glory. Those who fear the
Lord, talk of his loving-kindness.
This is the way to spread the knowledge of the
Lord; and
By the
written
Word, they are enabled to do this.
16-21 The
Gospel is
No weak thing, but comes in power, Ro
1:16. The
Law sets before us our wretched state
By Sin, but
there it leaves us. It discovers our disease, but does not make
known the cure. It is the sight of
Jesus crucified, in the
Gospel, that heals the soul. Try to dissuade the covetous
worldling from his greediness, one ounce of
Gold weighs down all
reasons. Offer to stay a furious
Man from
Anger By arguments, he
has not patience to hear them. Try to detain the licentious, one
smile is stronger with him than all reason. But come with the
Gospel, and urge them with the precious
Blood of
Jesus Christ,
shed to save their souls from
Hell, and to satisfy for their
sins, and this is that powerful pleading which makes good men
confess that their hearts burn within them, and bad men, even an
Agrippa, to say they are almost persuaded to be Christians, Ac
26:28.
God is
Well pleased with
Christ, and with us in him.
This is the
Messiah who was promised, through whom all who
believe in him shall be accepted and saved. The
Truth and
reality of the
Gospel also are foretold
By the prophets and
penmen of the Old
Testament, who spake and wrote under influence,
and according to the direction of the
Spirit of
God. How firm
and sure should our
Faith be, who have such a firm and sure
Word
to
Rest upon! When the
Light of the
Scripture is darted into the
Blind mind and dark understanding,
By the Holy
Spirit of
God, it
is like the
Day-break that advances, and diffuses itself through
the whole soul, till it makes perfect
Day. As the
Scripture is
the
Revelation of the mind and will of
God, every
Man ought to
search it, to understand the sense and meaning. The
Christian
knows that
Book to be the
Word of God, in which he tastes a
sweetness, and feels a power, and sees a
Glory, truly divine.
And the prophecies already fulfilled in the person and
Salvation
of
Christ, and in the great concerns of the
Church and the
world, form an unanswerable proof of the
Truth of Christianity.
The
Holy Ghost inspired holy men to speak and write. He
So
assisted and directed them in delivering what they had received
from him, that they clearly expressed what they made known.
So
that the Scriptures are to be accounted the words of the Holy
Ghost, and all the plainness and simplicity, all the power and
all the propriety of the words and expressions, come from
God.
Mix
Faith with what you find in the Scriptures, and esteem and
reverence the
Bible as a
Book written
By holy men, taught
By the
Holy Ghost.