Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church Manhattan KS, 24 Mar. 2024
Translation: 13 Furthermore, in accordance with His promise, let us look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness resides! Therefore, beloved, while you anticipate these things, start being diligent to be found by Him in peace, unsullied and unblemished, and reckon for yourselves the longsuffering of our Lord to be salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul [did]. According to the wisdom given to him he wrote to you, as indeed [he did] in all his epistles, speaking in them about these things (among which are some things that are difficult-to-understand, which the un-discipled and unstable twist, as indeed [they do] to the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction). Therefore, beloved, since y’all know this ahead-of-time, you must continue guarding yourselves in order that y’all might not fall from your own confirmation by starting to be led away into the error of those who are depraved. Then y’all must grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him belongs the glory both now and into the day of eternity. Amen.
In the closing five verses of 2 Peter, we are given four commands to obey while we are looking forward to the second coming of Christ. The first command is in...
This same imperative showed up in chapter 1 verse 10, “Therefore, brothers, start being diligent all-the-more to make confirmed for yourselves your calling and choosing” (NAW)
Jesus is going to return, and we are looking forward to that, but we need to be prepared for His return. When He returns, He will have a personal encounter with us. What will that encounter look like? 1
Jesus told us in Matthew 20 (and Luke 12 & 20) that His return would look like a property-owner returning to his house and gardens after a long trip. We are like caretakers he left to take care of his property while he was gone. If he returns and finds things in order and clean and fruitful, and he finds his caretakers hard at work doing what they were supposed to do, and taking good care of his people, he is going to be very pleased, and he will reward his caretakers. That’s what Peter wants for us.
There are three things Peter says we should “do diligently” to be prepared to meet Jesus upon His return:
FIRST: be diligent to be found by Him “in peace/ἐν εἰρήνῃ”
You need to be sure that you are “in [a state of] peace with Him” when He finds you, so that it will be a peaceful encounter and not one in which you’ll be looking for a rock to hide under (Rev. 6:16). Peace with God will then lead to peace in your own heart.
So what do we have to do to make peace with God?
We
have to get peace from Jesus’ atoning death: Colossians
1:20-21 “...[He-Jesus] made peace
[How?] through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh
through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and
above reproach [ἀνεγκλήτους] in His sight” (NKJV)
Eph. 2:13-14 “...Jesus…
Himself is our peace…”
And so we get peace from Jesus by trusting Him for it: Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (NKJV)
We can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God when Jesus returns, because, by faith in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for our sins, we can be sure of peace with God!
The second thing Peter says we need to be diligent to be found by Him being is: “spotless/unstained/ἄσπιλοι”
Our sin is what “stained” us and made us “enemies” of God; our “spots” of sin are what God hates and must punish us for. God says that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
How can we get unstained, untainted from our sin? Can we wash it away if we climb into a clothes-washer or a dish-washer? NO! We have to get spotlessness from the One who is spotless, and that is Jesus!
Peter told us that in his first epistle, using the same words: 1 Peter 1:19 “...Christ, [who is] like a lamb without blemish and unsullied.” (NAW)
Before Jesus’ first coming, the Old Testament system of animal sacrifice for forgiveness of sin required that the animal be “spotless and unblemished,” but that was all pointing toward Jesus, the lamb “without spot or blame,” who would give His life as the ultimate sacrifice to remove the “stains and spots” of sin from us!
This cleansing we receive “by faith” in Jesus and we maintain it by continuing to trust Jesus: 1 Tim. 6:12-14 “Fight the good fight of [What?] faith, lay hold on eternal life... keep this commandment without spot, blameless [ἀνεπίληπτον] until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing.”
So, as we trust Jesus, we don’t trust the world the flesh and the devil, and that keeps us from further sins which would otherwise “stain or sully” us: James 1:27 “This is pure and undefiled [ἀμίαντος] religion according to our God and Father: to watch over orphans and widows in their distress, [and] to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (NAW)
Being “at peace” and being “unstained” are both received by faith in Jesus, and so is being found by Him “unblemished/blameless/ἀμώμητοι.”
It starts with Jesus being “blameless” and graciously transferring his blamelessness to us through His death on the cross and our trust in Him:
Hebrews 9:14 “how much more will the blood of the Anointed One (who, through the eternal Spirit offered His blameless/unblemished self to God) purify y'all's conscience from dead works for devotion to the Living God?” (NAW)
1 Peter 1:18-19 “...y'all were ransomed... using precious blood from Christ, [who is] like a lamb without blemish and unsullied.” (NAW)
Jude 1:24 He is “...the One who is able to keep and to stand y'all stumble-free excitedly before His glory unblemished” (NAW)
To be sure, living “unblemished” lives means, not only that we receive Jesus’ umblemished record, but also that we are not going to participate in lies (Phil 2:15, Rev. 14:5) or immorality, but I hope you can see that the “diligent” effort to which Peter calls us is not about trying to be better than everyone around us; it’s about trying to trust Jesus more and more so that, when He returns, you “will be found by Him in peace” from the peace He brings, and “spotless and blameless” because He made you “spotless and blameless”!
Now, the second command in light of the return of Christ is in...
The imperative in v.15 is the same verb root as the one in v.9, contrasting the “reckoning” of the scoffers (that Jesus’ return is too late) with our “reckoning” (that Jesus is furthering salvation by being patient before He comes).
This is a command to us to think in a certain way: “account/consider/regard/bear in mind/reckon for yourselves the longsuffering/patience of our Lord to be salvation.”
We must train our minds to think that it is better to wait for God to save more people than to demand that God bring justice immediately against all that is wrong. We must train our minds to desire the salvation, even of our enemies, rather than dismiss our enemies and wish for God to destroy them immediately.
There is certainly a tension there, because God does delight in justice, and it will bring glory to Him to eradicate evil, so it is righteous to seek justice, yet, at the same time, God also delights in mercy, so it will also bring glory to Him to save sinners, thus it is righteous to also seek for God to extend more mercy.
While Jesus was hanging on the cross, He could have called 10,000 angels to rescue Him and kill all the cruel Roman soldiers and all the corrupt Jewish leaders, but instead, what did He pray? “Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
And when the same corrupt Jewish leaders martyred Stephen, instead of calling down fire and brimstone on them, Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7:60)
That is reckoning the Lord’s patience to be salvation!
Another aspect of reckoning the Lord’s patience to be salvation is how we make use of the time ourselves. Matthew Henry commented on this: “Do not think this is to give more time to make provision for your lusts, to gratify them; it is so much space to repent and work out your salvation. It proceeds not from a want of concern or compassion for his suffering servants, nor is it designed to give countenance and encouragement to the world of the ungodly, but that men may have time to prepare for eternity.”
Now, the latter half of v.15 and on into v.16 give us a glimpse of the Apostle Peter’s interaction with the Apostle Paul. Here in Peter’s letter, he gives a glowing commendation of the young upstart apostle and the writings which Paul had published, saying that all the Pauline epistles back up what Peter is now saying.
Peter is not directly quoting Paul, so it’s hard to say for sure what specific passages from Paul he had in mind, but here are a few which touch on the patience of God and His salvation in the context of the return of Christ. Meditating on them can also help us train our thinking to “consider the longsuffering of God to be salvation”:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-10 “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction [ὄλεθρος] comes upon them... But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief... But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” (NKJV)
2 Thessalonians 2:1-14 “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition... He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming... with... those who... did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved… But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)
Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (NKJV)
1 Tim. 1:16 “...I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” (NKJV)
There are a few more things we can glean from verses 15-16 about the Pauline epistles:
Peter describes the process of Paul’s writing as God “giving wisdom” to Paul and Paul writing it down, so the New Testament is the very wisdom of God and should be treated with utmost respect.
Peter also classifies Paul’s letters in the New Testament as part of the “scriptures,” so they should be read as being just as authoritative as the Old Testament2.
And Peter also says that some of the things Paul wrote are “hard to understand,” so we should expect to have to work at understanding the New Testament, and it’s o.k. if you don’t understand it all; it’s o.k. to ask for help in understanding it3.
And finally, it should be borne in mind that some folks are going to misinterpret the New Testament by “twisting/wresting/distorting/perverting” [στρεβλοῦσιν] it.
For some, it is due to ignorance. For instance, earlier in my ministry, I worked with a group of conference speakers, some of whom were nationally-known. One day, one of them was sharing a devotional message with the office staff, and I was appalled to discover that this speaker thought that italicized words in the Bible were words which should be particularly emphasized, so this speaker was making the italicized words the main main points of the message. But in actuality, the italicized words are words that are not in the original Greek and Hebrew Bible but are added by modern editors to make it read smoother in English, so the italicized words actually should receive the least emphasis when we’re teaching the Bible. Thankfully, that particular teacher received our correction and went on to teach the Bible more accurately.
There are others whom I would classify in the “unstable” category. The only other place in the Greek Bible that this word “unstable” appears is back in 2 Peter 2:14, where false teachers are “...seducing unstable souls.” These people are not merely ignorant, they are being deceived by false teachers. For instance, I was talking not long ago with someone who had come by my house, and they started warning me about how the Roman Catholics distorted the Biblical sabbath by making Christians worship on Sunday instead of Saturday. I told him I was just as opposed to Roman Catholicism as he was, but for different reasons. I worship on Sunday because that is what Jesus taught His disciples to do – every meeting Jesus attended after His resurrection was on the first day of the week (Sunday), and the church gatherings mentioned in the books of Acts and the Epistles were also held on Sundays, not Saturdays. But my friend didn’t know any better because he was being influenced by teachers in the Hebrew Roots movement, which is a movement away from Biblical Christianity towards Judaism.
Another time I had a houseful of guests, and, as I walked by two guys in earnest conversation, I realized that one of them was telling the other all the reasons why he should pray to Mary instead of in Jesus’ name, because Jesus has to honor his mother just like we do, and so what better person to get Jesus to do things than His Mother Mary?! I thought about that for a minute, but since it was Daniel Isom that the guy was trying to convince to pray to Mary, I decided Daniel could hold his own. I had confronted that guest before on the issue, and he wasn’t open to correction. This kind of person, I believe, is represented by the Greek word ἀμαθεῖς, which is the alpha-privative of the word for “disciple” and occurs nowhere else in the Greek Bible. Most English versions have translated it “unlearned/untaught/ignorant,” but I think it more likely refers to the “scoffers” of v.3 who are, as v.5 says, “willfully ignorant” – who are not just untaught, but who refuse to be discipled. Those who misinterpret the Bible on purpose are dangerous, and that is a segueway into the third command in...
You know that false teachers are going to “twist/distort” the Bible and lead “unstable souls” away from the true Gospel, so you know to “beware/take care/guard yourself” so you yourself aren’t led astray.
The Greek verb in this command is present tense, denoting continual action of guarding,
and it is middle voice, denoting something you do to yourself - “guard yourself,”
and it is the same root used for prisons and guard-soldiers elsewhere in the New Testament. The picture is of diligent, professional, 24-hour a day, 7-days-a-week guard duty to protect something very valuable – namely your soul and its faith in Jesus.
Jude 1:20-21 “...as for y'all, building yourselves on in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep [τηρησατε] yourselves in the love of God, anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (NAW)
For heaven’s sake, don’t read or listen to false-teachers and God-haters! “If we imbibe their opinions, we shall too soon imitate their practices.” ~Matthew Henry
The means by which to guard yourself is through knowing what is true. If you have read Paul’s epistles for yourself and have done the work to understand them, then, when a false teacher comes along with some new, twisted interpretation, you will notice that it’s “out in left field,” and that false teacher won’t “pull the wool over your eyes.”
For some of you it may be just a vague feeling that something’s not right – just enough for you to avoid it,
and for others – especially those with the spiritual gifts of discernment and teaching, you may be able to explain exactly what’s wrong and what the corrective is, and, in doing so, you’ll be able to help others avoid error (like Peter himself is doing here),
but either way, you’ll know because you have the word of God hidden in your heart and the Spirit of God controlling your mind.
“Let us therefore earnestly pray for the Spirit of God to instruct us in the truth, that we may know it as it is in Jesus, and have our hearts established with grace, that we may stand firm and unshaken, even in the most stormy times, when others are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.” ~Matthew Henry
The goal is to keep from “falling from your own confirmation/stedfastness/stability/secure position by starting to be led away into the error of the those who are depraved/wicked/unprincipled/lawless.” I interpreted the Aorist tense of this participle describing “being led/carried away” as describing the start of the process of being deceived. This seems to be a real danger; Jesus and Paul also spoke of it:
Mark 13:5 Jesus said "...Watch out that no one causes y’all to wander [in error]”4 (NAW)
And Paul said, “...I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived [ἐξηπάτησεν] Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Cor. 11:3, NKJV)
and 1 Tim. 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving [πλάνοις] spirits and doctrines of demons” (NKJV)
We also saw this at the beginning of 2 Peter 1:10-12 “Therefore, brothers, start being diligent all-the-more to make confirmed [βεβαίαν] for yourselves your calling and choosing, for when y'all do these things you shall never stumble then, for in this way the inroad into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly provisioned to y'all. Therefore I will not neglect to remind y'all always concerning these things, even though y'all have known and have been established5 in the truth which has come.” (NAW)
Now, does this “falling away” and losing “steadfastness” mean losing your salvation?
Revelation 2:5 indicates that this is not the same thing as losing your salvation; it is a fall, but one from which you can repent: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.” (NKJV, cf. Gal. 5:4)
Galatians 2:11-14 describes a situation where Peter himself got “carried away” in a false teaching, but Paul rebuked him, and he came around and didn’t lose his salvation: “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I [Paul] withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?’” (NKJV)
It is a characteristic of those who are saved that they repent when they fall, so it’s not the end of the world if you do fall into an error, it’s just something to “guard” against happening if at all possible and to “turn back” from whenever it does happen.6
Hebrews 3:14 “For we have become companions of the Anointed One if indeed we hold on to the beginning of our confirmed understanding until the end7.” (NAW)
So, as we wait for the return of Christ, we should
diligently be trusting Jesus to make us spotless, blameless, and at peace,
we should be thinking about how many more people may be saved in the meantime,
we should guard ourselves against falling into the errors of false teachers (through knowing our Bibles and through repenting of errors when we become aware of them),
and finally, the fourth command: We should...
“He... 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…” ~J. Calvin, 1554 AD
Ephesians 2:21 talks about the church “growing into a holy temple in the Lord,” and later in Ephesians 4:11-15 that “we should no longer be infants, tossed back-and-forth and carried about in every wind of teaching in the cunning of men in craftiness toward the deceit of straying, but by being truthful in love we might grow all things into Him, who is the head: Christ” (NAW)
Colossians 1:10 “...walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God… 2:19 holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.” (NKJV)
1 Peter 2:2 “like newborn babies y'all must start cultivating desire for the non-deceptive milk of the word, in order that y'all might be caused to grow in salvation by means of it” (NAW)
There are two things in particular that Peter wants us to increase and grow in, and they are grace and knowledge:
The “grace” of God in freely offering salvation to us was the topic of 1 Peter
1 Peter 1:2 ... grace and peace fulfilled in y'all… 10 Concerning which salvation [the] prophets who prophecied concerning grace [going] into y'all sought out and searched out, researching... the sufferings [destined] for Christ and the glories after those [sufferings]... 13 Therefore, after girding up the loins of y'all's mind, being sober, perfectly start hoping upon the grace which is being brought to y'all in the revelation of Jesus Christ… 2:10 serve up grace toward yourselves just as each has received it, like good administrators of the diverse grace of God.… 5:5 … ‘God arrays Himself against proud men, but to humble men He gives grace.’ ... 10 And after y'all have suffered a few [things], the God of all grace who called y'all into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus will Himself renew [y'all]... I have written [these] few things to y'all, exhorting and testifying this is the true grace of God…
“Grace,” of course, means “a free gift.” So how do you “grow/increase” in a free gift? You take more and more of it!
For a time, my kids went on a whimsical kick of collecting tomato-ketchup packages from restaurants. In our culture, no restaurant charges for ketchup; it’s always free, and they often leave large quantities of individual-serving-size packets of ketchup sitting in open bins for anyone to help themselves to. So my kids would grab extra ketchup packets from restaurants everywhere and bring them home in their pockets until they had this vast stockpile of ketchup packages. Maybe that’s a kind of picture of “growing in grace”: If it’s free, might as well grab all you can from God whenever you can get it! The more the merrier!
The other thing to grow in is “knowledge,” and that was a major topic of 2 Peter – personally knowing Jesus, knowing His plan of salvation, and not abandoning that knowledge for false teaching.
2 Peter 1:2-8 “May grace and peace be multiplied in y'all through the certain knowledge of God and of Jesus our Master, [even] as His divine power has given to us all the things for life and godliness, through our certain knowledge of the One who called us to glory and virtue, through which things the valuable and greatest promises have been given to us in order that through them y'all might become partakers of the divine nature, having fled from the corruption in the world caused by lust. Now, for this very reason, y'all having been equipped with all diligence, y'all must start supplying with your faith virtue, and with your virtue, knowledge, and with your knowledge, self-control, and with your self-control perseverance, and with your perseverance, godliness, and with your godliness, fraternity, and with your fraternity, love, for while these things are existing and abounding in y'all, they install neither useless things nor unfruitful things into the certain knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ… 12 Therefore I will not neglect to remind y'all always concerning these things, even though y'all have known and have been established in the truth which has come… 3:17 Therefore, beloved, since y’all know this ahead-of-time, you must continue guarding yourselves in order that y’all might not fall away...” (NAW)
Philippians 3:8-11 “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (NKJV)
Peter ends his little book with the doxology, “To Him belongs the glory both now and forever. Amen.”
lit. “now and into the day of eternity” – referring to the “Day of the Lord” in verses 10 and 12, Judgment Day, which will be the turning point from the “now” of this age into the new heavens and new earth in the eternal age to come.
The glory of saving sinners belongs to Jesus in this age, and the glory of glorifying sinners whom He has saved will belong to Jesus in the age to come!
So, as we wait for the return of Christ, let us:
diligently trust Jesus to make us spotless, blameless, and at peace,
consider the Lord’s patience to be salvation,
guard ourselves (through repentance and Bible Study) against falling into the errors of false teachers,
and keep growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
GNTA |
NAWB |
KJVC |
MurdockD (Peshitta) |
RheimsE (Vulgate) |
14 Διό, ἀγαπητοί, ταῦτα προσδοκῶντεςF, σπουδάσατεG ἄσπιλοιH καὶ ἀμώμητοιI αὐτῳ῀J εὑρεθῆναιK ἐνL εἰρήνῃM, |
14 Therefore, beloved, while you anticipate these things, start being diligent to be found by Him in peace, unsullied and unblemished, |
14
Wherefore,
beloved, seeing
that ye look
for |
14 Therefore, [my] beloved, as ye expect these things, strive that [ye may] be found by him in peace, without spot and without blemish. |
14
Wherefore, [dearly]
beloved,
waiting
for these things, be diligent
that [you may]
be found |
15 καὶ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν μακροθυμίαν σωτηρίαν ἡγεῖσθεN, καθὼς καὶ ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἡμῶν ἀδελφὸς Παῦλος κατὰ τὴν αὐτῳ῀ δοθεῖσανO σοφίαν ἔγραψενP ὑμῖν, |
15 and reckon for yourselves the longsuffering of our Lord to be salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul [did]. According to the wisdom given to him he wrote to you, |
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul [also] according to the wisdom given unto him [hath] written unto you; |
15
And account
the long suffering of the Lord to be |
15 And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation: as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, [hath] written to you: |
16 ὡς καὶQ ἐν πάσαις R[ταῖς] ἐπιστολαῖς λαλῶν ἐν αὐταῖς περὶ τούτων, ἐν S[ο]ἷς ἐστι δυσνόητάT τινα, ἃ οἱ ἀμαθεῖςUκαὶ ἀστήρικτοιV στρεβλοῦσινW ὡς καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς γραφὰς πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν αὐτῶν ἀπώλειαν. |
16 as indeed [he did] in all his epistles, speaking in them about these things (among which are some things that are difficult-to-understand, which the un-discipled and unstable twist, as indeed [they do] to the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction). |
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,
as they do
also the |
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which there is somethingX difficult to be understood; and which they who are ignorant and unstable, pervert, as [they do] also the rest of the scriptures, to their own destruction. |
16
As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things; in which are certain
things hard to be understood, which the unlearned
and unstable wrest,
as [they do]
also the |
17 ῾ΥμεῖςX οὖν, ἀγαπητοί, προγινώσκοντεςY φυλάσσεσθεZ, ἵνα μὴ τῃ῀ τῶν ἀθέσμωνAA πλάνῃ συναπαχθέντεςAB ἐκπέσητε τοῦ ἰδίου στηριγμοῦAC, |
17 Therefore, beloved, since y’all know this ahead-of-time, you must continue guarding yourselves in order that y’all might not fall from your own confirmation by starting to be led away into the error of those who are depraved. |
17
Ye therefore,
beloved, |
17
Ye therefore,
my beloved,
as ye know these
things beforehand,
guard
yourselves,
lest, by |
17 You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness. |
18 αὐξάνετεAD δὲAE ἐν χάριτι καὶ γνώσειAF τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος ᾿Ιησοῦ ΧριστοῦAG. αὐτῳ῀ ἡ δόξα καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς ἡμέρανAH αἰῶνος· ἀμήνAI. |
18 Then y’all must grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him belongs the glory both now and into the day of eternity. Amen. |
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. |
18
But be
ye growing
in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and |
18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity, Amen. |
1“It nearly concerns you to see in what state you will be when the Judge of all the world shall come to pass sentence upon men, and to determine how it shall be with them to all eternity. This is the court of judicature whence there lies no appeal; whatever sentence is here passed by this great Judge is irreversible; therefore get ready to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ:” ~Matthew Henry
2“‘Scripture’: a term never applied in any of the fifty places where it occurs, save to the Old and New Testament sacred writings.” ~A. R. Fausset
3“There is scarce anything drawn from the obscure places, but the same in other places may be found most plain.” ~Augustine
4Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς πλανήσῃ
5This is the participle form ἐστηριγμένους of the noun in 3:17 στηριγμου.
6cf. Calvin: “[T]his 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 [cf. 1 Corinthians 10]... 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.”
7ὑποστάσεως μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν
A1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church, as published by E-Sword in June 2016. Annotated by NAW where the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland GNT differs.
BNathan A Wilson’s translation
CKing James Version of the Holy Bible (a.k.a. Authorized Version), 1769 edition, as published by E-Sword in July 2019.
DTranslation of the Peshito Syriac New Testament into English by James Murdock. Published in 1851. Republished by E-sword in June 2016.
ERheims New Testament first published by the English College at Rheims, A.D. 1582, Revised by Bishop Richard Challoner, A.D. 1749-1752, as published by E-sword in June 2016.
FMost English versions interpret this participle as causal, but with the NLT, I suggest it is temporal. DFZ categorized it as both causal-temporal and translated it “since.”
Gcf. same verb in same form in 1:10 “Therefore, brothers, start being diligent all-the-more to make confirmed for yourselves your calling and choosing” (NAW) I was appalled that Calvin applied this in terms to trying to please God (“Peter here only points out the mark at which the faithful ought all to aim, though they cannot reach it”) rather than receiving His gracious gift of cleansing from sin and peace. Matthew Henry made a good point, however, that “[T]here is a curse denounced against him who does the work of the Lord negligently [in] Jer. 48:10.”
HThe only other occurrences of this word in the Greek Bible are: 1 Peter 1:19, 1 Tim. 6:14, and James 1:27.
IHapex Legomenon, but the root word is used frequently in the Pentateuch to delineate unacceptable sacrificial animals, and in the NT to speak of Christ’s atonement (Heb. 9:14, 1 Pet. 1:18-19, Col. 1:21, Jude 1:24), also in Phil. 2:15 and Revelation 14:5 (and in LXX wisdom books) to denote positive behavior of not complaining and not lying. “[I]n 2:13 Peter calls the scoffers σπιλοι και μωμοι – ‘spots and blemishes.’ Now in direct contrast he calls believers to be the very opposite.” ~D.F. Zeller
JRobertson’s Grammar tagged this as “dative of agency” (“by Him”), and most English versions reflect that (assuming the Geneva and KJV “of Him” is also intended to denote agency. The NIV “with Him” and NET “into His presence” opted for the locative meaning of the dative). Zeller, following Alford, argued that it was “blameless in his sight” since the Greek word order puts the pronoun after “blameless” rather than after “found.” But it is immediately before “found,” and it would be quite a stretch of meaning to interpret the Dative case “in the sight of” instead of simply “by.”
K“For
this use of heuriskō about the end see 2 Cor. 5:3 (‘not
be found naked’); Philp. 3:9 (‘found in Him’); 1 Pet. 1:7
(‘faith...be found to praise, glory, and honor’).” ~A.T.
Robertson
Alford interpreted the Aorist as “the one great
life-effort which should accomplish the end,” but an inchoative
interpretation (“start to …”) seems more
straight-forward.
This, by the way, is the same verb found in
the modern critical editions of the GNT at the end of v.10.
LLander tagged this preposition as Louw & Nida semantic domain #13.8 “a marker of a state or condition - 'in, with.'” NIV & ESV translated it “at.”
MCalvin (and Owen and his editor) focused on the meaning of the reader being free from internal conflict, and John Wesley focused only on the meaning of the reader being at peace with God, but it is peace with God which leads to peace of mind, and peace with God is most important thing when we are talking about Jesus returning and encountering us. Matthew Henry agreed with me: “Those whose sins are pardoned and their peace made with God are the only safe and happy people; therefore follow after peace, and that with ... 1) God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2) Peace in our own consciences… 3) Peace with men.” Thus also Fausset. DFZ saw the “peace” related to relationship with God and the “spotless and blameless” related to holy lifestyle.
NThis is the same verb root as v.9, contrasting the “reckoning” of the scoffers (that Jesus’ return is too late) with our “reckoning” (that Jesus is furthering salvation by being patient).
Ocf. “written according to grace given” in Rom. 15:15.
PThere is no other verse in the GNT containing both words “patience” and “salvation,” but 1 Thess. 5:9 mentions “salvation” of the “Lord” in the context of the second coming, as does 2 Thess. 2:13. Calvin’s editor postulated that Hebrews 11:16 was particularly in view (and a few other commentators I read also entertained that view), but I am not of the opinion that Paul wrote Hebrews. Matthew Henry thought it was Romans 2:4, but Gordon Clark raised the salient objection that “if this epistle had been sent to Rome, the early Christian church should have had much less difficulty and taken far less time to decide that the epistle was apostolic.” A.R. Fausset thought it was Galatians 2, noting that 1 Peter 1:1 mentions Galatia among Peter’s addressees and that Paul also wrote a letter to the Galatians. Clark suggested that Peter was either referring to Paul’s teaching on sanctification in Eph. or on eschatology in 1 Cor. and 1 & 2 Thess, and Zeller said 1 Thess. 5 was the most probable, and that the past tense hints that Paul is now dead. “This is a clear indication of the circulation of Paul’s epistles at a very early time in the church.” ~D. F. Zeller
QLanders chose 89.93 (“also” – along with most English versions) as the Louw & Nida semantic domain, but ESV chose 64.16a (“in the same way”), and I suggest 89.93a (“indeed”).
RThe majority of Greek manuscripts (including Sinaiticus) insert a definite article (ταῖς) here, which most English versions translate “his.” The Textus Receptus, SBL, Nestle-Aland 28th and UBS 5th editions of the GNT also include it. The Tregelles, Westcott-Hort, Nestle Aland 26th and UBS 3rd editions did not include the definite article, following 15 manuscripts (including 4 of the 5 oldest-known ones) – but all the English versions insert “his” here as though they believed there was a definite article acting as a possessive pronoun; only the KJV and NASB put it in italics to indicate that they did not believe it was in the original Greek. The Greek Orthodox editions are split over whether or not to include it. Ultimately, it makes no difference in meaning because, whether or not the definite article is there, the same corpus of Pauline epistles is the referent. The fact that Paul’s letters could be considered as a whole also suggests he had passed and that there would be no more letters from him. (Alford)
SThe majority of Greek manuscripts (including C) read neuter (‘οις), referring to the plural neuter “things in the letters, some of which are hard to understand,” and that is the reading of the Textus Receptus (and Calvin, but not the KJV. Only the NLT among the English versions I surveyed interpreted this relative pronoun as referring to the content of the letters.). All the modern critical GNT editions and English versions follow 22 Greek manuscripts (including the three oldest-known) which have the feminine form of this relative pronoun, referring to the feminine plural “letters” themselves (Calvin’s editor also preferred this, citing Beza and Mill in support). Greek Orthodox editions are split between the feminine and neuter readings. The preposition en seems to be in favor of the feminine form (“in his letters” reads more smoothly than “among which things”), but either is a possibility in Greek. The neuter form lends itself better to the mismatch between the plural “things” and the singular verb of being (a privilege of neuter nouns but not of masculines or feminines), and the fact that ultimately it’s the content of the letters which is “understood” or “distorted” also favors the neuter form (although the figurative idea of the letters containing ideas which are understood or distorted can also make sense). Assuming the feminine form to be the original, Lander chose Louw & Nida semantic domain # 83.13 for ἐν “a position defined as being within certain limits - 'inside, within, in,'” but if the neuter form is correct, I think the semantic domain for εν should be 90.23 or 83.9.
TCalvin noted that just because it’s “hard” doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to understand. “[H]e does not hence conclude, that we are not to read it, but only shews, that those vices ought to be corrected which prevent improvement... 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.”
UHapex Legomenon. Alpha privative of the word for “disciple.” A.R. Fausset noted, “Not those wanting human learning are meant, but those lacking the learning imparted by the Spirit.” (cf. Wesley “not taught of God”) There are other Greek words in more common use in the Bible for “ignorant” (μωρος / αγνοεω).
VIn the Greek Bible, only here and 2 Peter 2:14 “...seducing unstable souls...” The combination of these two words could indicate false teachers (who are not merely “untaught” but “unwilling to learn” the truth) and the “unstable souls” whom they seduce. Most English versions (and commentaries including M. Henry and D.F. Zeller) interpret “untaught and unstable” as a pleonasm, according to the Granville-Sharp form (the + substantive + kai + substantive) where both words mean the same thing. Nevertheless, I suggest it could be a merismus which encompasses a range of scripture-twisters, from false teachers to their dupes.
WThis
is the reading of the majority of the Greek manuscripts, including
the majority of the oldest-known manuscripts. Prior to 2012, no
edition of the Greek New Testament, and no language version printed
the variant future form στρεβλώσουσιν found in 8 Greek
manuscripts (including two of the five oldest-known), but that
variant is now the reading in the UBS 5th edition and
Nestle-Aland 28th edition. It is still not in the SBL or
the Tyndale House revision of Tregelles, and it’s not in any of
the standard English versions (not even the NASB 2020), although
that might change going forward). As for the root, it is only found
here and in 2 Samuel 22:27 “...and with the froward thou will be
froward.” (Brenton, cf. the parallel passage in Psalm 17LXX
which uses the synonym ἀθῷος.) This root is also used to
describe various torture methods in the apocryphal books of the
Maccabees.
“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 (2 Tim. 2:17).”
~A.T. Robertson
XThis emphatic “y’all” forms a strong contrast to those who are “un-discipled and unstable.”
YMost translators seem to take this plural participle as a causal or temporal “since y’all know” or “knowing” – DFZ suggested it was both.
ZMiddle voice indicates action with reference to self, and Present tense indicates ongoing action.
AAAlpha privative noun from τιθημι. Only here and 2:7 in the Greek Bible (plus 3 Mac. 5:12).
ABI am interpreting the Aorist as incohative. This root only appears in the Greek Bible here and in Exod. 14:6 (Pharoah leading his army off into battle), Rom. 12:16 (“...associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” ~NKJV), and Gal. 2:13 (“... even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy” ~NKJV). The Geneva, NASB, NIV, NET, ESV, and NLT translated this as a participle of purpose. I (like Murdock and Rheims) translated it as the means by which they might fall. KJV and NKJV translated it ambiguously as means or temporal. DFZ oddly translated it as temporal “when you are carried away,” as though it were inevitable that Peter’s audience would not heed his warning.
ACHapex Legomenon. Related to the verb στηρίζω “strengthen, confirm, establish, stabilize.”
AD“He [Jesus Christ] is both the source of our increase and the area in which the believer grows.” ~D.F. Zeller
AELander labeled this conjunction with Louw & Nida semantic domain # 89.124 “marker of contrast - 'but, on the other hand,'” which is what all the English versions have done, but if, as I suggest, the grammar structure hangs on the four imperatives, there is nothing to contrast between “be diligent… reckon for yourselves... guard yourselves… and grow,” so I suggest that this conjunction should be considered 89.87 “markers of a sequence of closely related events - ‘and, and then.’”
AF“‘Grace” is the attainment, and ‘the knowledge’ of Christ is the way and means. The chief thing is often mentioned first in Scripture, then that which leads to it: or the cause of it.” ~John Owen of Thrussington
AGcf. same formula in 2 Pet. 1:11; 2:20; 3:18, and same formula substituting “God” for “Lord” in 1:1. The Granville-Sharp construction (the + substantive + kai + substantive) equates “Lord/God” with “Savior Jesus Christ.” This is high praise and strong proof of the divinity of Jesus.
AH“With the emphasis in II Peter on the Parousia, it would be more natural to regard this as the ‘day’ when Christ comes again and time will be no more.” ~D.F. Zeller
AIBecause the Vaticanus (and one other Greek manuscript) do not include the “Amen,” the N-A 28th and UBS 5th edition (as well as the older Tishendorf and W-H critical editions) omit it. I would note, however, that there is something written in the Vaticanus, where the Amen should be; it is just unintelligible. Tregelles, N-A 26th and USB 3rd editions of the GNT cautiously included an “Amen” in brackets, but the 2017 Tyndale House Tregelles edition, as well as the Textus Receptus and Majority Text editions contain the “Amen” without brackets. All English versions I surveyed included an “Amen” except for the NET Bible. In addition, all 5 of the oldest-known manuscripts contain a postscript to the effect that this was Peter’s second epistle, but that tradition was not carried over into the majority of copies.