_To them that have obtained_ Not by their own works, but by the free grace of God; _like precious faith with us_ The apostles; the faith of those who have not seen being of the same nature, value, and virtue, equally precious, with that of those who saw our Lord in the flesh; εν, _in_, or _through t... [ Continue Reading ]
_As his divine power hath given us all things_ There is a wonderful cheerfulness in this exordium, which begins with the exhortation itself; _that pertain to life and godliness_ To the present natural life, and to the continuance and increase of spiritual life, termed here _godliness; through the kn... [ Continue Reading ]
_And besides this_ Besides your renouncing the corruption that is in the world, you must increase in all the graces of God's Spirit, and in the virtues to which they naturally lead. Or, as αυτο τουτο is rendered by some learned critics, (the particle εις being supposed to be understood,) _for this p... [ Continue Reading ]
_And to knowledge, temperance_ This virtue consists in a confirmed habit of ruling all the affections, passions, and appetites of our nature in a proper manner, by placing our affections on proper objects; by restraining our angry, peevish, envious, and unholy tempers, and by using moderation in gra... [ Continue Reading ]
_For if these things be in you_ This faith, this courage, this knowledge, &c. Not if they be understood and professed by you merely, but if they be _in you_, experienced in your hearts, and evinced in your lives; _and abound_ Increase more and more, otherwise you fall short; _they make you_ They cau... [ Continue Reading ]
_But he that lacketh these things_ And does not add them to his faith; _is blind_ With respect to spiritual things. The eyes of his understanding are again closed; he hath lost _the evidence of things not seen;_ he no longer sees by faith God reconciled to him in Christ. Inward and outward holiness... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore_ Considering the miserable state of these apostates; _the rather_ That you may not be destitute of these things, but be fruitful in all graces and virtues; _brethren_ St. Peter nowhere uses this appellation, in either of his epistles, but in this important exhortation; _give diligence_ Na... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore_ Considering the evil consequent on the want or neglect of these graces, and the benefit which will arise from the exercise of them; since everlasting destruction would be the consequence of your lukewarmness and sloth, and everlasting glory will be the fruit of your earnestness and dilig... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moreover I will endeavour_ By writing these things in this epistle, and by every other means in my power, while it pleases God to continue me among you; _that ye may be able_ Through frequently reading what I here write; _after my decease to have these things always in remembrance_ “The apostle's c... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ These things are worthy of being always remembered and regarded; for _we have not followed cunningly-devised fables_ Like those common among the heathen, but things infallibly true and infinitely momentous; _when we made known unto you the power_ The evidences and demonstrations which we gave... [ Continue Reading ]
_We have also_ Peter speaks here in the name of all Christians, _a more sure word_ Than that voice from heaven, or any particular revelation, not in itself, but more satisfactory to us, as being less liable to be mistaken; _of prophecy_ He means the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Mes... [ Continue Reading ]
_Knowing this first_ That you may not rashly or ignorantly put a sense upon any part of the prophetic writings, not intended by the Divine Spirit which dictated them; _that no prophecy of the Scripture_ No prediction contained therein; _is of any private interpretation_ Greek, ιδιας επιλυσεως, an ex... [ Continue Reading ]