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It has become apparent that the much-vaunted freedom of the false teachers is quite illusory. They have fallen into a common trap of misunderstanding freedom as absolute autonomy. They wished to be free of any obligation to anyone or anything, free to please only themselves. But human beings are not made to be autonomous. Those who try to be end up subject to all manner of things which dominate and degrade their lives, including their own excessive physical drives and their own insatiable appetite for self-gratification. The most dedicated pursuers of selfish pleasure remain addicted to their pleasures long after they have ceased to enjoy them. The author’s most significant comment on the false teachers’ way of life is 2:19: “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for 'people become slaves of whoever overpowers them.” (Bauckham, p 71)
In this passage Peter shows us two things about preaching and teaching. First, preaching is very often reminding a man of what he already knows. It is the bringing back to his memory that truth which he has forgotten, or at which he refuses to look, or whose meaning he has not fully appreciated. (Barclay)
1:12
Not only have his readers heard already about the importance of pursuing godliness, they have also been obedient to the exhortation. As Peter puts it, they are firmly established in the truth." Yet Peter knows well how prone believers are to lose the fine edge of their zeal for godliness, for the world keeps trying to “squeeze us into its mold” (cf. Rom. 12.2 LBP), and false Christians arise to propagate their own brand of faith without fervor. (Moo, p 62)
We must heed the memorable words written by Robert Murray McCheyne to the Rev. Dan Edwards on 2 October 1840 after his ordination as a missionary to the Jews: ‘I trust you will have a pleasant and profitable time in Germany. I know you will apply hard to German; but do not forget the culture of the inner man,—I mean of the heart. How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are God’s sword,—His instrument,—I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.’ (Stott, p 120)
Truth needs to be repeated. The future hope is indeed well known to Christians. Yet reminders of it and exhortations regarding its application to life and service are essential. (Blum, p 272)
The last statement implies a relatively fixed body of truth… (Blum, p 272)
The preacher and teacher should be an intense student of the Word, bringing to his hearers fresh, new truth … But there is a place for the repetition of the old truths which the saints know well. (Wuest, p 29)
“Certainly no document would redeem the apostles’ promise so well as a gospel; and if a gospel is meant, the reference can hardly be to any other than that of St. Mark.”[86, Bigg, p. 265.]
“We must not glide lightly over Peter’s concern about reminding the readers of already known and familiar truth. The history of the Church as a whole shows how careless the Church can be about clinging to divine revelation. So bad have things become in our own day, that the truth of justification by faith alone and of salvation as a free gift has already been submerged and lost among many evangelicals. The Reformation almost needs to occur again!”[82, Hodges, “Exposition of …,” 3:1:3.]
1:13–14
For Christian’s death should hold no terrors; it is like putting off old clothes… or an exit… from old age. (Blum, p 272)
The verb rendered “refresh” (diegeirō) literally means to “wake up” or “arouse.” (Blum, p 272)
1:16
Here Peter links himself with the other apostles … in certifying that their message is based on their own eyewitness experience of Jesus and on hearing of God’s attestation of him. Peter denies that they have followed “cleverly invented stories” (sesophismenois mythois, “stories,” “myths”). The words refer to fables about the gods. ¶ The NT always uses mythos in a negative sense and in contrast to the truth of the gospel (1 Tim 1:4, 4:7; 2 Tim 4:4; Titus 1:14). (On myth, cf. F.F. Bruce in DNTT, 2:644-47). It is likely that the false teachers claimed that the Incarnation, Resurrection, and coming kingdom the apostles spoke about were only stories. These teachers may have been men like Hymenaeus and Philetus, who said that “the resurrection has already taken place” (2 Tim 2:17-18). Apparently they denied a future aspect of eschatology or else reinterpreted it so as to lose its intended meaning. (Blum, p 273)
Peter sees his preaching of the Second Coming as being based on his eyewitness observation of the transfiguration of Jesus (cf. vv. 17-18 with Matt 16:28-17:5). (Blum, p 273)
1:17
Verses 17-18 explain how and when Peter was an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus Christ. God the Father gave honor and glory to Jesus. The “honor” is the public acknowledgment of his sonship (cf. Ps 2:6-7; Matt 3:17; Luke 3:22), and the “glory” is the transfiguration of the humiliated Son into his glorious splendor. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus’ face “shone like the sun,” his clothes “became as white as the light” … (Blum, p 273)
1:18
In 1:16-18 our author (writing in Peter’s name) denies this charge and claims that the teaching of the apostles about the Parousia was not invented, but based on their eyewitness testimony to the transfiguration of Jesus. In other words, it was an integral part of the special teaching role of the apostles which was to testify to that of which they had been eye-witnesses (cf., Acts 1:21-22). (Bauckham, p 81)
As we shall see quite clearly as we go on, the great aim of this letter is to recall men to certainty in regard to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The heretics whom Peter is attacking no longer believed in it; it was so long delayed that people had begun to think it would never happen at all. (Barclay)
1:19
Christians are to ponder and keep the word of God “until the day dawns.” (Blum, p 274)
The morning star in the physical world is the star (actually a planet, usually Venus) that appears late at night, just before dawn, and announces the arrival of a new day. Just so, Jesus Christ’s return at the Rapture will signal the beginning of a new day: the day of the LORD. (Constable)
1:20
The morning star in the physical world is the star (actually a planet, usually Venus) that appears late at night, just before dawn, and announces the arrival of a new day. Just so, Jesus Christ’s return at the Rapture will signal the beginning of a new day: the day of the LORD. (Constable)
1:21
The prophets did not simply give their own views (interpretation) of how things were or would be (v. 20). They spoke as God’s mouthpieces and articulated His thoughts in words that accurately represented those thoughts. (Constable)
“‘Spake’ [spoke] implies that, both in its original oral announcement, and now even when in writing, it has been always, and is, the living voice of God speaking to us through His inspired servants.”[99, Jamieson, et al., p. 1489.]
Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, all numbered notes that are URL linked are retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and sometimes include other citation information from Constable.
Bauckham, Richard. Jude, 2 Peter. Word, 1990. Source:
https://archive.org/details/jude2peter0000bauc.
Blum, Edwin A. “2 Peter.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 12, ed. Frank Gaebelein, et al., Zondervan, 1981.
Moo, Douglas. 2 Peter, Jude. “The NIV Application Commentary,” ed. Terry Muck, et al., Zondervan, 1996.
Stott, John R. W. The Preacher’s Portrait, Some New Testament Word Studies. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1961, p. 120. Stott cited Andrew A. Bonar, Memoir and Remains of the Rev. R. Murray M’Cheyne (Oliphants, 1892), p. 282.
1.3