CHAPTER 1

(A.D. 66)

INTRODUCTION

¹Simon P eter, a servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ (the position of servant is placed first; if one cannot be a true servant for the Lord, then one cannot be an Apostle; the Lord guides the Church by the Office of the Apostle through the particular Message given to the individual, which will always coincide directly with the Word of God; Apostles arent elected, they are called of God), to them who have obtained like Precious Faith with us (proclaims the Faith that Gentiles can now be saved exactly as Jews, in fact all coming the same way) through the Righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (this Righteousness is obtained by the Believer exhibiting Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross):

²Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord (this is both Sanctifying Grace and Sanctifying Peace, all made available by the Cross),

³According as His Divine Power has given unto us all things (the Lord with large-handed generosity has given us all things) that pertain unto life and godliness (pertains to the fact that the Lord Jesus has given us everything we need regarding life and living), through the knowledge of Him Who has called us to Glory and Virtue (the knowledge addressed here speaks of what Christ did at the Cross, which alone can provide Glory and Virtue):

⁴Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and Precious Promises (pertains to the Word of God, which alone holds the answer to every life problem): that by these (Promises) you might be partakers of the Divine Nature (the Divine Nature implanted in the inner being of the believing sinner becomes the source of our new life and actions; it comes to everyone at the moment of being Born-Again), having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (This presents the Salvation experience of the sinner, and the Sanctification experience of the Saint.)

GROWING IN GRACE

⁵And beside this (Salvation), giving all diligence (refers to the responsibility we as Believers must show regarding the Christian life), add to your Faith Virtue (this is Faith in the Cross, which will bring Virtue; the type of Virtue mentioned here is energy and power); and to Virtue knowledge (this is the type of knowledge which keeps expanding);

⁶And to knowledge temperance (self-control); and to temperance patience (our conduct must honor God at all times, even in the midst of trials and testing); and to patience godliness (being like God);

⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness (carries the idea of treating everyone as if they were our own flesh and blood brother or sister); and to brotherly kindness charity (love).

⁸For if these things be in you, and abound (continue to expand), they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Once again, this knowledge refers to what Christ did at the Cross, all on our behalf.)

⁹But he who lacks these things is blind, and cannot see afar off (the reason one may lack these things is he is spiritually blind; in other words, such a one has made something other than the Cross the Object of His Faith), and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (Such a Believer is once again being ruled by the sin nature exactly as he was before conversion, which is always the end result of ignoring the Cross.)

¹⁰Wherefore the rather, Brethren, give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure (this is what Jesus was speaking of when He told us to deny ourselves and take up the Cross daily and follow Him [Lk. 9:23]; every day, the Believer must make certain His Faith is anchored in the Cross and the Cross alone; only then can we realize the tremendous benefits afforded by the Sacrifice of Christ): for if you do these things, you shall never fall (presents the key to Eternal Security, but with the Promise being conditional):

¹¹For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (The entrance into the Kingdom is solely on the basis of Faith evidenced in Christ and the Cross [Eph. 2:13-18; Jn. 3:16].)

GROUNDED IN TRUTH

¹²Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things (as Peter, this is the reason I keep highlighting the Cross), though you know them, and be established in the present truth. (The Truth is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified [Jn. 8:32; I Cor. 2:2].)

¹³Yes, I think it meet (necessary), as long as I am in this tabernacle (refers to the physical body), to stir you up by putting you in remembrance (by ever keeping Christ and the Cross before you);

¹⁴Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle (Peter is saying that He knows he wont live much longer after writing this Epistle), even as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. (This possibly refers to Christs prediction given to the Apostle, recorded in Jn. 21:18-19.)

¹⁵Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. (This presents the third time the Apostle makes reference to keeping in remembrance the conditions of entrance into Eternal Life [Vss. 12-13, 15]. He will use the word again in II Pet. 3:1.)

¹⁶For we have not followed cunningly devised fables (refers to heresies taught by false teachers; in other words, anything that leads one away from Christ and the Cross), when we made known unto you the Power and Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (what Christ could do in ones life, which the Cross made possible), but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. (This pertains to the Transfiguration, which was an actual demonstration of Christ coming in His Glory to Earth to set up His Kingdom [Mat. 16:27-28; 17:1-8; 24:29-31; 25:31-46; Rev. 19:11-21].)

¹⁷For He (Christ) received from God the Father Honour and Glory (pertains to the Majesty of the Son of God, which Peter mentioned in the previous Verse), when there came such a Voice to Him from the excellent Glory (refers to the Voice of God), This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. (God is well-pleased with us only as long as we are in Christ.)

¹⁸And this voice which came from Heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the Holy Mount. (Peter was not relating something secondhand, but rather that which had happened to him personally.)

¹⁹We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy (Peter is speaking here of the Old Testament, which is the Word of God, and even more sure than his personal experience); whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place (in effect, states that the Word of God is the only True Light, which alone can dispel the spiritual darkness), until the day dawn, and the Day Star arise in your hearts (the Day Star is Christ; arising in our hearts pertains to the Rapture):

²⁰Knowing this first (harks back, as stated, to the Old Testament, which, in effect, was the Bible of Peters day), that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. (This refers to the fact that the Word of God did not originate in the human mind.)

²¹For the Prophecy (the word Prophecy is used here in a general sense, covering the entirety of the Word of God, which means its not limited merely to predictions regarding the future) came not in old time by the will of man (did not originate with man): but Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (This proclaims the manner in which the Word of God was written and, thereby, given unto us.)