FROM SIMON PETER. As Simon, son of John, he lived his life in Judaism, until Jesus called him to _catch men!_ Christ gave him the name of "Peter" (John 1:42). A SERVANT. 2 Corinthians 4:5 and note. APOSTLE. See note on 1 Peter 1:1. TO THOSE. Peter does not give the names of the churches or Christian... [ Continue Reading ]
MAY GRACE AND PEACE. This is God's blessing through Christ to all who believe. THROUGH YOUR KNOWLEDGE. See John 8:32 and note.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING. God's divine power gave to the apostles (and through them to us) the COMPLETE MESSAGE (Jude 1:3) which makes it possible to share His own glory and goodness!!! This means we need no _new revelation,_ no _voice of the living church,_ no _tradition._ The Bible and the Bible on... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THIS WAY. "He has created faith and hope in us by giving us these precious promises!" [_Johnson_ refers "In this way" to _his own glory and goodness._] BY MEANS OF THESE GIFTS. "So that you might reach out through faith to seize these things to make yourself part of them. Through your union with... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS VERY REASON. "Because God has called us to share his own glory and goodness." Peter teaches a practical religion which grows out of spiritual motives. Christians must cooperate actively with God, to build new characters as his children. DO YOUR BEST TO ADD. These qualities are not _stair-st... [ Continue Reading ]
SELF-CONTROL. See Romans 8:9 and note, Not _asceticism,_ but self-discipline. ENDURANCE. The active quality of holding firmly to the promises of Christ, confident that God rules and rewards! GODLINESS. Practical godliness. The _life-style_ that grows out of a strong desire to be _godlike_ in conduct... [ Continue Reading ]
BROTHERLY LOVE. See 1 John 4:19-21 and notes. LOVE, AGAPE. We see the kind of love which God and Christ showed to us in _Christ-on-the-cross,_ and then we use this love in our relationship with everyone else! Only in this way will we fulfill the command to _love our enemies._ AGAPE makes it possible... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE. All of these together!!! YOU NEED. These are to become an integral part of Christian character. THEY WILL MAKE YOU. "When your life is activated by these good qualities they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of the _higher life of the Spirit!" Lipscomb_ says: "Either one ab... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHOEVER. "The one who does not seize for himself and make an integral part of his life these qualities and attitudes I have mentioned, is purposely making himself blind to the truth of Christ, and making himself forget the promise to be holy he made to God in his baptism (1 Peter 3:21)_!_... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEN. "Because some may forget their promise to God, you must try even harder to make these good qualities an integral part of your life." TO MAKE. POIEISTHAI = to make or to do for one's self. GOD'S CALL AND HIS CHOICE. See 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 and notes. A PERMANENT EXPERIENCE. It is impossi... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE FULL RIGHT. The one who does what 2 Peter 1:10 says to do and does not fall away, will receive from God the full right to enter the eternal Kingdom. Note that Christians are in the Kingdom now (Colossians 1:13), but _eternal Kingdom_ refers to the time when Christ hands it over... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS REASON. "So that you will make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience and be given the full right to enter the eternal Kingdom, I always remind you of the TRUTH of the historical Christ, which you already know. You must make your faith perfect through your actions, as Abrah... [ Continue Reading ]
I THINK IT ONLY RIGHT. Peter seems to apologize for writing this second letter so soon. But he expects to die very soon (2 Peter 1:14), and he wants to do as much as possible to make them stand firm in the truth. Compare Acts 20:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
I KNOW. See John 13:36; John 21:18-19. Traditional history of the early church places Peter at Rome during the last year of his life, and says that he was crucified upside down. If, as some think, Paul had already been executed, Peter would not need a special revelation from God to know that the tim... [ Continue Reading ]
A WAY FOR YOU TO REMEMBER. By putting His word in a written form, God (working through Peter and the other writers) gave mankind a _magic door_ through which they may come again and again to learn God's truth and to be reminded of all the facts of the Good News which was given to the apostles!! Even... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE NOT. See 1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 4:7; Titus 1:14. Peter points to the real, historical Christ Jesus. MIGHTY COMING. This must be the First Coming, since: (1) the context speaks of history; (2) PAROUSIA simply means _coming, arrival,_ and is a non-technical word. Without the First Coming, th... [ Continue Reading ]
WE WERE THERE. See Matthew 17:1-8 and notes. Peter, James, and John were there when Jesus was _transfigured._ Peter points to this event as PROOF of the truth of the Good News!!! And certainly the transfiguration is also a GUARANTEE of the Second Coming!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
WE OURSELVES HEARD. _Lumby_ says: "We learn here why the Apostles were taken with Jesus to witness His transfiguration.. He, and the rest with him, felt no doubt, that such a death as Jesus had spoken of would be, humanly speaking, the ruin of their hopes.. They heard that He who was to die was the... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN MORE CONFIDENT. _Johnson_ says: "No class of evidence had more power with Jews than to show them that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah) of whom the prophets spoke." The things mentioned in 2 Peter 1:16-18 make Peter and the others even more confident in the message proclaimed by the Old Testament... [ Continue Reading ]
ABOVE ALL ELSE. The false teachers, whom Peter warns against, used _made-up legends_ to interpret the prophecies, and even the Good News. Peter explains more about this in _chapter 2._ The Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament! Therefore the interpretation placed on it by Christ and his apo... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR NO PROPHETIC MESSAGE. _MacKnight_ says: "For never, either anciently or lately, was prophecy uttered by the will of the prophet, but the holy prophets of God spoke their prophecies, being inspired by the Holy Spirit: So that the prophecies recorded in the scriptures are not the words of men, but... [ Continue Reading ]