Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
IrUroduetion. 1 PETER. Introduction.
again of God , By the motive of hope to which God has regenerated us (v. 3-12); hrinp;iii>; forth the fruit of faith, coii Bidering the costly price paid for our redemption from sin (v, 14 21). I'eiiig purified by tlie Spirit unto love of the brethren as begotten of God's eternal word, as spiritual priest-kings, to wliom alone Chri.st is precious {t>. 22, eh. 2.
10) ; after Christ's example in sufl'ering, maintaining a good conversation in every relation [v. 10, ch. 3. 14), and a good profession of failh as having in view Christ's once-of Tered sacrifice, and His future coming to judgment (v. 15. ch. *.
11) ; and exhibiting patience in adversity, as looking for future glorification witti Christ, (1.) in general as Christians, v.
12-19; (2.) each in his own sphere, ch. 5. l-ll. "Thititle ' Beloved' marks the separation of the second part from the first, ch. 2. 11; and of the third part from the second," ch. 4. 12. [Benijel.] (III.) The conclusion. Time and Place of Wkiting.—It was plainly before the open and si/.t!emalic persecution of the later years of Nero had begun. That this Epistle was written after Paul's Epistles, even those written during his imprisonment at Rome, ending in a. i>. C.3, appears from the acquaintance wliich Peter in tliis Epistle shows he has witli them. Cf. ch. 2. 13 with 1 Timothy 2. 2-4; 2. 18 with Ephesiaus 6. 5; 1.2 with Ephesians 1. 4-7; 1. 3 with Ephesians 1.3; 1.14 with Romans
12. 2; 2. 6-10 with Romans 9.32, 33; 2. 13 with Romans 13. 1-4; 2. 16 with Galatians 5. 13; 2. IS witli Ephesians 6. 5; 3. 1 with Ephesians 5. 22; 3. 9 with Romans 12. 17 ; 4. 9 with Philippians 2. 1 1 and Romans 12. 13 and Hebrews 13. 2; 4. 10 with Romans 12.6-8; 5. 1 with Romans 8.18; 5. 5 with Ephesians 5.21; Phili ppians 2. 3, 5-S; o. S wi tlr 1 Thessalonians 5. fi; .5. 14 with 1 Corinthians 16. 20. Moreover, in ch. 5. 13, Mark is mentioned as with Peter in Babylon. This must have been after Colossians 4. 10 (A. D. fil-f)3), when Mark was willi Paul at Rome, but intending? to go to Asia Minor. Again, in
2 Timothy 4. U (a. n. 67 or 68), Mark was in or near Eplusus, in Asia Minor, and Timothy is told to bring him to Rome. So that it is likely it was after this, viz., after Paul's martyrdom, that Mark joined Peter, and consequently that this Epistle was written. It is not likely that Peter would have entren(^hed on Paul's field of labour, the churc'nes of Asia, Minor, during/ Paul's lifetime. The death of the ap')stle of the uncircumcision, and the consequent need of some one to follow up his teachings, probably gave occasion to the testimony given by Peter to the same churcl'.es, collectively addressed, in behalf of the sanie truth. Tlie relation in which the Pauline Gentile churches stood towanls the apostles at Jerusalem favours this view. Even the Gentile Christians would naturally look to the spiritual fatliers of the Church at .Tei-usalem, the centre whence the Gospel liad emanated to them, for counsel wherewith to meet the pretensions of Judaizing Christians and heretics; and Peter, always prominent among the apostles in .lerusalem, would even when elsewhere feel a deep interest in them, especially when tl\ey were by death bereft of Paul's guidance. BiRKS, Ilor<e Evangelicoe, suggests that false teachers may have appealed from Paul's doctrine to that of James and Peter. Peter then would naturally write to confirm the doctrines of grace, and tacitly show there was no dirt'erenee between his teaching and Paul's. Birks prefers dating the Epistle A. n. 58, after Paul's second visit to Galatia, when Silvanus was with hira, and so could not have been with Peter (A. D. 51), and before iris imprisonment at Rome, when Mark was with him, and so could not have been with Peter (A. D. 62); perhaps when Paul was detained at Cjesarea, and KO debarred from personal intercourse witli those churches. I prefer the viiw pr<!v\ously stated. Tliis sets aside the tradition that Paul and Peter suffered martyrdom together at Rome. OuiGiiX and EusEBlus' statement that Peter visited the churches of Asia in person seems very probal>le.
The Place of writing was doubtless Babylon on the Euphrates (ch. 5. 13). It is most improbable that in the midst of writing matter-of-fact communications and salutations in a remarkably plain Epistle, the symbolical language Of prophecy (viz., " Babylon" for Rome) should be used. Josephus, Antiquities, 15. 2, 2; 3. 1, states that there was a greil multitude of Jews in the Chaldean Babylon ; it is therefore likely that " the apostle of the circumcision" would at some time or other visit them. Some have maintained that the Babylon meant was in Eaypt, for that Mark preached in and around Alexandria after Peter's death, and therefore it is likely lie did so along with tliat apostle in the same region previously. But no mention elsewhere in fleripture is made of this Egyptian Baliylon, but only of the Chaldean one. And though towards the close of Caligula's reign a persecution drove the Jews tiienee to Seleucia, and a plague five years after still furtlier thinned their numbers, yet this does not preclude their return and mCiUiplication during the twenty years that elapsed between the plague and the writing of the Epistle. Moreover, the order in whicli the countries are enumerated, from north-east to south and west, is such as wouhl be adopted by one writing from the Oriental Babylon on the Euphrates, not from Egypt or Rome. Indeed, Cosmas Indicoplkustes, in the sixth century, unilerstood the Babylon meant to be outside the Roman empire. Silvanus, Paul's companion, became subsequently Peter's, and was t he carrier of this Epistle.» Style.—Fervour .and practical truth, rather than logical reasoning, are the characteristics of this Epistle, as they were of its energetic, warm-hearted writer. His familiarity with Paul's Epistles shown in the language accords with what we should expect from the fact of Paul's having " communicated the Gospel which he preached among the Gentiles" (as revealed specially to him) to Peter among others "of reputation." Individualities occur, such as baptism, "the answer of a good conscience toward God" (ch. 4. 21); "consciousness of God" (.Greek), ch. 2. 19, as a motive for enduring sufferings; "living hope" (ch. 1.3); "an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away"
(ch. 1. 4); " kiss of charity" (ch. 5. 14). Christ is viewed less in relation to His past sufferings than as at present exalted and hereafter to be manifested in all His majesty. Glory and hope are prominent features in this Epistle (ch. l.S), so much BO that Weiss entitles him " the apostle of hope." The realization of future bliss as near causes him to regard believers as but "strangers" and "sojourners" here. Chastened fervour, deep humility, and ardent love appear, just as we should expect from one who had been so graciously restored after his grievous fall. " Being converted," he truly (Ices "strengthen his brethren." His fervour shows itself In often repeating the same thought in similar words. In some pa-ssages he shows familiarity with the Epistle of James, the apostle of especial weight with the Jewish legalizing party, whose inspiration he thus conflrms (cf. ch. 1.6,7 with James 1.2,3; 1.24 with James 1. lO; 2.1 with James 1.21; 4. 8 wltli James 5.20, both quoting Proverbs 10.12; 5. 5 with James 4.6, both quoting Proverbs 3.34). In most of these cases Old Testament quotations are the common ground of both. "Strong susceptibility to outward Impressions, liveliness of feeling, dexterity in handling subjects, dispose natures like that of Peter to repeat afresU the thoughts of others." [Steigeb.] The diction of this Epistle and of his speeches in Acts is very similar: an undesigned coincidence, and so a mark of genuineness (cf. ch. 2.7 with Acts 4. U ; 1. 12 with Acts 5. 32; 2. 24 with Act,s 5. 30; 10. 30; 5. 1 with Acts 2. 32; 3. 15; 1. 10 with A'cts .3. 18; 10.43; 1.21 with .\cts .3. 15; 10.40; 4.5 with Acts 10. 42; 2. 24 with Acts 3. 19, 26). There is, too, a recurrence to the language of the Lord at the last Interview after His resurrection, recorded in John
21. Cf. "the Shepherd . . . of . . . souls," ch.2. 25; " Feed the flock of God," " the chief Shepherd." ch. 5. 2, 4, with John ». 15-17; "Feed my shoep , lambs;" also " Whom ... ye love," ch. 1,8; 2,7, with Jolin 21. 15-17; "I>ovest thou nieT
The Apostle Messes God 1 PETER I. for His Manifold Spirilucd Graeet.
nnd 2 Peter 1. 14, with John 21. 18, 19. Wiesinger well says, "He who in loving impatience cast himself into the sea to meet the Lord, is also the man who most earnestly testifies to the hope of his return ; he who dated liis own faith from the sufferings of his Master, is never weary in holding up the suffering form of the Lord before his readers to comfort and stimulate them; he before whom the death of a martyr is in assured expectation, is llie man who, in the greatest variety of aspects, sets forth the duty, as well as the consolation, of suf Tering for Christ; as a rock of the Church he ground.s his readers against the storm of present tribulation on the true Rock of ages."
11. 2, prove "foreknowledge" to be forrconlinaiion. God's foreknowledge is not the perception of any ground of action out of himself; still in it liberty is comprehended, and all absolute constraint debarred. [Anselm in Steigkr.] For so the Son of God was " foreknown" (so the Greek for " foreordained," d. 20) to lie the sacrificial Lamb, not against, or without His will, but His will rested in the will of the Father; this includes self-conscious action; nay, even cheerful acquiescence. The Jleln-eiv and
CHAPTER I.
Ver. 1-25. Address to the Etected of the Godhead: Thanksgiving for the Living Hope to which we are Begotten, Producing Joy amidst Sufferings: This Salvation an Object of Deepest Interest to Prophets AND to Angels : Its Costly Price a Motive to Holiness and Love, as we are Born again of the Ever-abiding Word of God. 1. Peter— Greek form of Cephas, 9na« of rock, an apostle of Jfesns Clirlst—"He who preaches otherwise than as a messenger of Christ, is not tobelieard; if he preach as such, then it is all one as if thou didst hear Christ speaking in tliy presence." [Luther.] to tUe strangers scattereil— " sojourners
Greek "know" include approval and acknowledt/ing a3 one's own. The Hebrew marks the oneness of loving and choosing, by having one word for both, Jiacliar (LXX.,
&)'eek, hairetizo), Peter descends from the eternal " election" of God through the »i<?i<' birth, to the beli&ver's " sanctification," that from thi he might again raise them through the consideration of their new birth to a "living hope" of the heavenly "inheritance" [Heidegger.] The Divine three are introduced in their respective functions in redemption. tUrougU— G'reeA-, "in;" the element in which we are elected. The "election" of God realized and manifested itself "in'' their sanclification. Believers are "sanctified through the ottering of Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10. 10). "Thou must believe and know that thou art holy; not, however, through thine own piety, but through the blood of Christ." [Luther.] This is the true sanctification of the Spii it, to oliey the Gospel, to trust in Christ. [Bullinger.] sanctificiition—the Spirit's setting apart of the saint as consecrated to God. The execution of God's choice (Galatians 1. 4). (Joil the Father gives us salvation by gratuitous election ; the .Son earns It bj His blood-shedding; the Holy Spirit applies the merit of the Son to the soul by the Gospel word. [Calvin.] Ct Numbei-s 0. 21-2(i, the Old Testament triple blessing. nut« obedience—the result or end aimed at by God as respects of the dispersion ,-" only in John 7.35 and James 1. 1, in New Testament, and LXX., Psalm 147. 2, "the outcasts of Israel;" the designation peculiarly given to the Jews in their dispersed state throughout the world ever since the Babylonian captivity. These he, as the apostle of the circumcision, primarily addresses, but not in the limited temporal sense only; he regards their temporal condition sifi a shadow ol their spiritual calling to be strangers and pilgrims on earth, looking for the heavenly Jerusalem as their home. So the Gentile Christians, as the spiritual Israel, are included secondarily, as having the same high calling. He (ch. 1. 14; 2. 10; 4. 3) plainly refers to Christian
Oe7itiles (cf. v. 17; ch. 2. 11). Christians, if they rightly consider tlieir calling, must never settle themselves here, but feel themselves travellers. As the Jews in their diipersion dif Tiised through the nations the knowledge of the one God, preparatory to Christ's first advent, so Christians, by lh>'ir dispersion among the unconverted, diffuse the knowh dgpof Christ, preparatory to His second advent. "The childn n of God scattered abnwd" constitute one whole in Christ, who "gathers them together in one," now partially and in Spirit, hereafter perfectly and visibly. "Elect," in tlie Greek order, conies l)efore "stransrus, the o6edie?!ce which consists in faith, and that which flows from faith; "obeying the truth through the Spirit"
(v. '^2). RoTnans 1. 5, "obedience to the faith," and obedi ence the fruit of faith, sprinkling, Ac—not in justification through the atonement once for all, which ise.vpressod in the previous clauses, but (as the order proves) the daili/ being sprinkled bi/ C/irist's blood, and so cleansed from all sin, v,-h\ch is the pri vilege of one already justified and "walkingin tlielighl." tJruce—tliesonrce of " peace." be iiiulJi|jlle<l—still further than Jilready. Daniel 4. 1, " Yf have now peace and grace, but still not in perfection, therefore, ye must go on increasing until the old A<lan\ be dead." [Luther.] 3. He begins, like Paul, in opening his.ers;" elect, in relation to heaven, .iCnoir/c?-*, in relation tq the earth. The election here is that of individuals to eternal life by the sovereign grace of God, as the sequel shows. "While each is certified of his own election by the Spirit, he receives no assurance concerning others, nor are we to be too inquisitive (John 21.21,22]; Peter numbers them among tiie eZcc<, as they carried the appear.ance of havhig been regenerated." [Calvin.] He calls the whole (.'huich by the designation strictly belonging only to the. better portion of them. [Calvin.] Tlio election to hear inr/, nnd that to eternal life, arc distinct. Kealizatioti of our election is a strong motive to holiness. The nJnIster invites all, yet does not hide the truth that In none but the elect will the preaching effect eternal blessing. As the chief fruit of exhortations, and even of threaten I n';s, redounds to "the elect;" therefore, at the outset, Peter addresses them. .Sti;ioki{ trann/ates. To "the elect pilgrims who form the dispersion in Pontiis," <Sc, The order of tlie provinces is that in which they would l)e viewed l)y one writing from the east from Bah,i/li>n (ch. 5.
Ki)lstles with giving thanks to God for the greatness of the salvation ; herein he looks forward (1.) into the liifirn
(v. .^-9); (2.) bnrkward into the past (r. Ii)-I2). [Ai.kord.) Blessed — A distinct Greek word {eulogeios, "Hle-ssed BE") is used of God, from that used of man {eulogemenvs, " Blessed is"). Piitber—This whole F.plstle accoids with the Lord's prayer; "Fnl lu r," eh. I. ;?, II, 17, 'i'?; '2. 2; "Our," oh. 1. 4, end ; "In heaven," eh. 1. 4; "Hallowed Ix? thy name," eh. 1. 15, II); .'?. 15; "Thy kingdom come," ch. 2. !»; "Tiiy will l)e done," ch. 2. 15; 17; 4. 2, I!); "dully bread," ch.r).7; "forgiveness of sins," eh. 4. 8, 1 ; "temptation," ch. 4. 13; " dell veranoe," eh. 4. Iff [Henhkl.]; cf. ch. ;!. 7 ami
13); from north-east soutliwards to (Jalatia, south-east to Cappadocia, then Asia, and back to Hifhynia, west of Pontus. (;oiitiast the ordi'r. Acts 2. !). He now was mhii Bteriiig to tliose same peoples as he prea(!hed toon Pentecost: "I'arthians, Medes, IiJlaniltes,dvv( Hers in Mesopotamia and Jud(!a," i. e., the .lews now KUlijtM-t to the Parthians, whose capital was Babj/lon, where he lalioured Jn person; "dwellers in (!Mp|)adocia, I'ontus, Asia, PluyRla, Itilhynia," tli<! Asiatic dispersion deriveil fiom Ual)ylon, wlioin he ministers to by letter. 3. INirekiioxvktigK—/iireor<Jmuinf/ love (11.20), inseiiarable from God's foreknowledfie, the origin /mm which, and pattern iieconling to which, election takes place. Acts 2. 'Zi.and Konuuis 498
4. 7, for allusions to i>rai/er. Jlarak, Uebrrir " bless," is lit.
to kneel. God, as the original source of l)li'sstnK, nnist l)e blessed through all His works. aUundniit — f.'rec/l-- " much," " full." That God's " niercy " should reach us, gullt.v and enemies, proves its fulness. " Mercy " met our misi'n/ ; "grace" our guilt, begotten us n},';ii>ii—of tho iS/iirit by the word (v. '2i); wlu-ii as we weie chililren of wrath naturally, aiid di-ttd in sins. u>i(<>—solhat wr have, lively— (Jreci:, " living." It has lite in itself, gives lilo.and looks for life as its object. [DkWkttk.] lAring \». a favourite expiessiou of St. Peter [v. 2.1; ch. i. 4, 5). lie de-
The Aposlle Blesses God 1 PETER I. for His Manifold Spirihial Gnices.
the elect, in order to encourage and exhort them. 5. kept —Greek, " who are being guarded." He answers the objection. Of what use is it that salvation is "reserved " for us in heaven, as in a calm secure haven, when we are tossed in tlie world as on a troubled sea in the midst of a thousand wrecks? [Calvin.] As the inheritance is "kept" lights In contemplating overcoming death in the believer. Jailh and love follow hope (f. 8. 21, 22). " (Unto) a lively hope" is further explained by "(To) an inheritance Incorruptible . . . fadeth not away," and " (nnto) salvation . . . ready to be revealed in the last time." I prefer with Bengel and Steiger to join as in Greek, "Unto a hope living (possessing life and vitality) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Faith, the sul)jeclive means of the spiritual resurrection of the soul, is wrought by the same power whereby Christ was raised from the dead.
(u. 4) safely for the far distant "heirs," so must they be "guarded" in their persons so as to be sure of reaching it. Neither shall it be wanting to them, nor they to it. " Wo are guarded in the world our inheritance Sskept in heaven." This defines tlie " you " of v. 4. The inheritance, remember, belongs onlj' to those who "endure unto the end," being "guarded " by, or in "the power of God, through
Baptism is an objective means (ch. 3. 21). Its moral fruit
Is a new life. The connection of our sonship with the resurrection appears also in Luke 20. 36; Acts 13. 33. Christ's resurrection is the cause of ours, (1.) as an efficient cause (1 Corinthians 15. 22); (2.) as an exemplary cause, all the saints being about to rise after the similitude of His resurrection. Our " hope" is, Christ rising from the dead hath ordained tlie power, and is become the pattern of tlie believer's resurrection. The soul, born again from its natural state into the life of grace, is after that born again unto the life of glory. Matthew 19. 28, "regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the tlirone of His glory ;" the resurrection of our bodies is a kind of coming out of the womb of the earth and entering upon immortality, a nativity into another life. [Bishop Pearson.] The four causes of our salvation are, (1.) the primary cause, God's mercy; (2.) the proximate cause, Christ's deatli and resurrection; (3.) the formal cause, our regeneration; (4.) the final cause, our eternal bliss. As Joliu is the disciple of faith." Contrast Luke 8. 13. God Himself is our sole guarding power. " It is His poM-'cr which saves us from our enemies. It is His long-xvffering which saves us from ourselves." [Bengel.] Jude 1, " preserved in Christ Jesus;" Philippians 1. ti; 4.7, "keep," Greek, "guard," as here. This guarding is effected, on the part of God, by His "power," the efficient cause ; on the part of man, "through faith," the effective means, by— Greek, "in." Tlie believer lives spiritually in God, and in virtue of His power, and God lives in him. " In " marks that the cause is inherent in the means, working organically tlirough them witli living influence, so that the means, in so far as the cause works organically througli tlieui, exist also in the cause. The power of God which guards the believer is no external force working upon him from without with mechanical necessity, but the spiritual power of God in which he lives, and with wliose Spirit he is clothed. It cotnes down on, and then dwells in him, even as he is in love, so Paul of faith, and Peter of hope. Hence, Peter, most of all the apostles, urges the resurrection of Christ; an undesigned coincidence between the history and the Epistle, aud so a proof of genuineness. Christ's resurrection was the occasion of his own restoration by Clirist after his fall. 4. To an liilierltance—the object of our " hope " it. [Steiger.] Let none flatter himself lie is being guarded by the power of God unto salvation, if he be not walking by faith. Neither speculative knowledge and reason, nor works of seeming charity, will avail, severed from faith. It 4s through faith that salvation is both received and kept, unto salvation—the final end of the new birth. "Salvation," not merely accomplislied lor us in title by Christ, and made over to us on our believing, but actually manifested, and finally comjtleted. ready to be revealed "When Christ shall be revealed, it shall be revealed. The preparations for it are being made now, and began when Christ came: "All tilings are now ready;" the salvation is already accomplished, and only waits the Lord's time to be manifested: He "is ready to judge." last time—the last day, closing the day of grace ; the day' ofjudgnient, of redemption, of the restitution ol all things, and of perdition of the ungodly. 6. Wliert-Sn—In which prospect of final salvation, greatly rejoice—"axult with joy:" "are exuberantly glad." Hahalion is realized by faith (v. 9) as a thing so actually present as to cause exulting joy in spite of existing aHlictions. for a season Greek, " for a little time." if need be—"if it be (Jod's will that it should be so" [Alford], for not all believers are afflicted. One need not invite or lay a cross on himself, but only "take up" the cross which God imposes ("liis cross''). 2 Timothy 3. 12 is not to be pressed too far. Not every believer, nor every sinner, is tried with at Uictions. [Theophylact.] Some falsely think that notwitijstanding our forgiveness in Christ, a kind of atonement, or expiation by suffering, is needed, ye are in licavinesM
(v. 3), which is therefore not a dead, but a "living" hope. The inheritance is the believer's already by title, being actually assigned to him ; tlie entrance on its possession is future, and hoped for as a certainty. Being " begotten again " as a "son," he is an " heir," as earthly fathers beget childr. n who shall inherit their goods. The inheritance
Is " salvalion " (t). 5, »); "the grace to be brought at the revelation of Christ" (v. 13); " a crown of glory that fadeth not away." incorruptible—not having within thegerms Of death. Negations of the imperfections which meet us on every side here are the chief means of conveying to our minds a conct-plion of the heavenly things which " have not entered into the lieart of man," and which we have not faculties nowc Mpahle of fully knowing. Peter, sanguine, impulsive, and highly susceptible of outward impressions, was the more likely to feel painfully the deep Beated corruption whicli, lurking under the outward splendour of tlie loveliest of earthly things, dooms them soon to rottenness and decay, iindeiiled—not stained as earthly goods by sin, either in the acquiring, or in the using of them; unsusceptible of any stain. "The rich man
Is either a dishonest man himself, or the heir of a dishonest man." [Jerome.] Even Israel's inheritance was defiled by the people's sins. Defllement intrudes even on our holy things now, whereas God's service ought to be Undeflled. tliat fadetU not away—Contrast v. 2t. Even the most delicate part of the heavenly inheritance, its bloom, continues itn/ading. " In substance incorruptible ; In pur?'/^ undefiled ; in /;t'«M<2/ unfading." [Alfokd.] reaerveil—ki-pt up (Colossians 1. 5, "laid up for you in heaven," 2 Ti mothy i. 8) ; Greek perfect, expressi ng a fixed and abiding slate, "which has lieen and is reserved." The inheritance is in security, beyond risk, out of the reach of Satan, though we for whom it is reserved are still in the midst of dangers. Still, if we be believers, we too, as well aa the inheritance, are " kept " (tlie same Greek, John 17.
(rree/c, " ye were grieved." The "grieved" is regarded as past, the "exulting joy" present. Because the realized joy of the coming salvation makes the present grief seem as a tiling of the p«.vi!. At the first shock of affliction ye were grieved, but now by anticipation ye rejoice, regarding the present grief as past, tlirough— ffcccA-, "in:" the element in which the grief has place. ninn Jfold-many and of various kinds (ch. 4. 12, 13). tetiiptitllons—" trials " testing your faith. 7. Aim of the " temptations," trial— testing, proving. That your faith so proved " may he found (aorist : once for all, as the result of its being proved on the judgment-day) unto (eventuating in) praise," &c., viz., the praise to be licstowed by the Judge, titan tliat of gold rather "than gold." though—" which perislieth, yet is tried with Hre." If gold, though perishing (v. 18), is yet tried witli fire in order to remove dross and test its gec> uineness, how much more does your faith, which shall
12) by Jesus safely (ii. 5). in lieaven— G/w/c, "In the heavens," where it can neither be destroyed nor plundered, ^t does not follow that, because it is ?iow laid up in heaven. It shall not hereafter be on earth also, for you—It
Is secure not only in ilself from all misfortune, but also from all alienation, so that no other can receive it in your
(itead. He had said Ds(i'. 3), he now turns his address to
Salvation in Clirist no New Thing, 1 PETER I. hut a Thing Pruphesicd of Old.
never perish, need to pass through a fiery trial to remove whatever is defective, and to test its fenuiueness and full value? glory— " Honour " is not so st rong as "glory." As "praise" is iu woi-ds, no "liouour"is in deeds: honorary reward. aiiitearing—lVanslate as in v. 13, " revelation." At Christ's revelation shall take place also the revelation of the sons u/ God (Romans S. 19, " manifestation," Greek, "revelation;" 1 John 3.2, Greek, "manifested . . . manilested," lor "appear . . . appear"). 8. not Having seen, ye love—though in other cases it is knoivledge of the person that produces love to him. They are more " blessed that have not seen and yet have believed," than they who believed because they have seen. Ou Peter's own love to Jesus, cf. John 21. lo-17. Tliough the apostles had seen Him, tliey now ceased to know Him meiely after the flesh, in wliom—connected with "believing :" the result of which is " ye rejoice " {Greek, exult). now 171 the present state, as contrasted witli tlie future Btate when believers "shall see His face." nnspea Uable —(1 Corinthians 2. 9.) full of glory Greek, "gloritied." A joy now already encompassed with glory. The "glory"
Greek, "In reference to what, or what manner of time."
lK/ia( expresses the time absolutely: what was to be the era of Jlessiah's coming; " ivliat manner of li)ne wliat events and features should characterize the lime of Ilia coming. The "or" implies that some of the prophets, if they could not as individuals discover the exact ti7ne, searched into its characteristic features and events. Tlie Greek for "time" is the season, the epoch, the fit lime in God's purposes. Spirit of flirlst . . . in tlieiu—(Acts Hi.
7, in oldest AISS., " the Spirit ol Jesus ;" Revelation 1!). 10.) So Justin Maktyr says, "Jesus was He who appeared and communed with Moses, Abraham, and the other patriarchs." Clemens Alexanukinus calls Him "the Prophet of prophets, and Lord of all the prophetical spirit." did signify—" did give intimation." of— Greek, "the sufterers (appointed) lui/o Clirist," or /orc/oW in regard to Christ. " Christ " the anointed Mediator who.se sufferings are the price of our "salvation " {v. 1), 10), and who is the channel of " the grace that should come unto you." tlie glory— Gj-ee/c, "glories," uiz., of His resurrection, of His ascension, of His judgment and coming kingdom, the necessary consequence of the sufl'eriiigs. tlial sliould follow—Greek, "after these (sufferings)," ch. 8. 5. 1. Since " the Spirit of Christ " is the Spirit of God, Christ is God. It is only because the Son of God was to becom(> our Christ that He manifested Himself and the Father tlirough Ilim in the Old Testament, and by the Holy Spirit, eternally proceeding from the Father and Himself, spake is partly in present possession, througli the presence of Christ, " the Lord of glory," in tliesoul; partly in assured anticipation. "The Christian's jo.i/ is bound up with love to Jesus: its ground is faith; it is not therelore either self-seeking or sell-sultieient." [SteiGKU.J 0. Keceiving —in sure antici))atiou ; " the end of your faith," i.e., its crowning consummation, finally-completed "salvation" (Peter here coutirms Paul's teaching as lo justification by ill the prophets, la. Not only was the future revealed to them, but this also, that these revelations of the future were given them not for themselves, but for our good in Gospel times. This, so far from disheartening, only quickened them in unseltishl.v testifying in the Spirit fur Ihe partial good of their own generation (only of believers), and for the full benefit of posterity. Contrast in Gospel times. Revelation 22. 10. Not that their prophecies were unattended with spiritual instruction as lo the Redeemer to their own generation, hut the lull light was not to be given till Messiah should come; it was well that they should have this" revealed'' lo them, lesi they should be disheartened in not clearly discovering with all their inquiry and search the full particulars of the coming "salvation." To Daniel (Daniel 9.25,26) the "lime" was revealed. Oi(rjniniense privileges are thus brought forth faith): also receiving 'rtotu the title to it and llie tirst-fruits of it. In the next verse id. 10) the " salvation " is represented 0,6 already present, whereas "the prophets" had it not as yet present. It must, therefore, in this verse, refer to tlie present: Deliverance now from a stale of uratit: believers even now "receive salvation," though its full "revelation" is future, of . . . souls—Tlie imrao.ital soul was what was lost, so "salvation" primarily concerns the soul; tlie f/0(/.(/ shall sliare in redeinptioii hereafter; Ihe soul of the believer is saved already: an .additional proof that "receiving . . . .salvation" is here a thing present. 10. The magnitude of this "salvation" is proved by the earnestness with which "prophets" and even "angels" searched into it. pjven from the beginning of the world this salvation lias been testilied to by the Holy .Spirit, propliets—Though there is no Greek artib.v contrast with theirs, nolwitlistanding that tli. y had the great honour of Christ's Spirit speaking in them ; and this, as an incentive to still greater earnestness on our part than even they manifested (t>. 18, itc). us — Tlie oldest MSS. read "you," as in r. 10. This verse implies that we. Christians, may understand tlie pioplieeies b.v the Spirit's aid in their most important part,i'(2., so far as they have be en already fulfilled, with tiic Holy Uliost cle, yet English Version is right, " the prophets" geiierall.v (including all the Old Testament inspii-ed authors), as "the angels" similarly refer to tliem in general, inquired—^erseveringly : so the Greek. Much more is manifested to us llian by diligent inquiry and search the propliets attained. Still it is 'not said, they searched after it, tint "concerning " (so the Greek for "of") it. Tliey were already ci'itain of the redemplicni being about to come. They did not like us fully see, but they desired to see the one and the same Christ whom we fully see in s«'«it down—on Pentecost. The oldest Jlss. omit Greek preposition en, i. e., "in;" then translate, "hy." The Kvangelists speaking by the Hol.v Spirit were intallible witnesses. "The Spirit of Christ" was in llie prophets also (11. 11), but not iiianifestl.v, as in the case of the Christian Church and its first preachers, "siiNT down from heaven." How favoured are we in being miuisleri'd to, as to "salvation," by prophets and apostles aliki, the latter now announcing the same things as aciually fulspirit. "As Simeon .was an.\iousIy desiring previously, and tranquil in peace only when he lind se(>n Christ, so all the Old Tt slatnent saints saw Christ only hidden, and as it were absent—absent not in power and grace, but Inasmucli as He was not yet manifested in the flesh." [Calvin.] The prophets, as private individuals, had to reflect on tlie hidden and far-reaching senses ot their own filled wliiih the former foretold, wlilch lliinj;s— " the things now reported unto you" by Ihe evangelistic pi oplu cies; because their words, as proj>!iets, in their public function, were not so much tlieir own as lli(> Spirit's, speaking by and in them : thus Caiaphas. A si rlking testimony to Verbal inspiration; the words wlii<-h the inspired authors wrote are God's words ex|)ressliig the mind of the .Spirit, which the writers themselves sea relied Into, to liithom Ihe deep and precious im aning, oven as the believing readers did. "Searched " Implies that they had determinate ni.arks to go by In their search, llie grace that kIxiuUI <:ome unto you viz., the grace of the New Testament: an earnest of "the grace" of perfected "salvation " " to he brought at the (second) revelation of Christ." Old Testament believers also possessed the grjice of God; .they were children of God, but it was as children In their nonage, soas to be likeservants ; whereas we enjoy the full privileges of adult sons. 11. ivliut— 600 pi-ea< hers, " Christ's sulhu ings and the glory that sliould follow" ti'. 11, 12). nngtls—still higlier than "the prophets" (i;. 10). Augels do not an.v more than oursilves possess an INTUITIVE knowledge of redenipl ion. "To look into" in Greek is lit., to bend over so as to look dee/Uy intoaml see to the botloni of a thing. See note on s.inie word. James
1.2.'). As Ihe cherubim stood bending over llie mercyseat, the emblem of rodeniptlou, in the holiest place, so the angels intently gazi; upon and desire to fathom the depths of " the great mystery of godliness, (hid manifest In the fli'sh, jnstiiieil in the i>\ni \{, seen of angels." Their "ministry lo the heirs of .salvation" naturally disposes them to wish to penetiale this m.\stery as retlectlug such glory on the love, Justice, wisdom, and jiower ol their and our God aud Lord. They can know It ouiy
Ve are Exhorted to be Sober, 1 PETEE I. and Hopeful for the Grace of Christ.
::iiough its manifestation in the Cnurch, as tliey personally lias-e not llie direct share in it that we have. "Angels have only llie contrast between good and evil, without offspring indicate similarity to the Father." [AuGUaTINB.] conversation—deportment, course of life: one's way of going about, as distinguislied from one's internal nature, to which it must outwardly correspond. ChrLstians are already holy unto God by consecration; they must be so also in their outward walk and behaviour in all respects. The outward must correspond to the inward man. 16. Scripture Is the true source of all authority in questions of doctrine and practice. Be ye . . . for 1 aiu —It is me ye have to do with. Ye are mine. Therefore abstain from Gentile pollutions. We are loo prone to have respect unto men. [Calvin.] As I am the fountain of holiness, being holy in my essence, be ye therefore zealous to be partakers of holiness, tliat ye may be as I also am. [Didvmus.] God is essentially holy: the creature is holy in so far as it is sanctified by God. God, in giving the command, is wiiling to give also the power to obey it, viz., through the sanctifying of the Spirit (v. 2). 17. it—i.e., "seeing that ye call on," for all the regenerate pray as children of God, "Our Father who art in heaven." the Father—rather, "Call upon Father Him wlio without acceptance of persons (Acts 10.
llie power of conversion from sin to righteousness : witnessing such conversion in the Church, they long to penetrate the knowledge of the means whereby it is brought about." [HOFMAN in Alford.] 13. Wlierefore—Seeing that the prophets ministered unto you in these liigh Gospel privileges whicli they did not themselves fully share
In, though "searching" into them, and seeing that even %r.;els "desire to looli into" them, Iiow earnest you ought to be and watchful in respect to them ! gird up . . . loins —referring to Clirist's own words, Luke 12. 35; an image taken from the way in which the Israelites ate the passover with the loose outer robe girded up about the waist with a girdle, as ready for a journey. Workmen, pilgrims, runners, wrestlers, and warriors (all of whom are types of the Christians), so gird themselves up, both to shorten the garment so as not to impede motion, and to gild up the body itself so as to be braced for action. The believer is to have his mind (mental powers) collected and always ready for Christ's coming. "Gather in the strength of your spirit." [Hensdjr.] Sobriety, i. e., spiritual self-restraint, lestone be overcome by the allurements of the world and of sense, and patient hopeful waiting for Christ's revelation, are the true ways of "girding up the loins of the mind." to the »jnd— rather, " perfectly," so that there may be nothing deficient in your hope, no casting away of your confidence. Still, there may be an allusion to the "end" mentioned v. 9. Hope so perfectly (Oree/c leleios) as to reach unto the end (telos) of your faith and hope, viz., "the grace that is being brought unto you in (so the Greek)the revelatiim of Christ." As grace shall then be perfected, so you ought to hope perfectly. "Hope"
?,i ; Romans 2. II ; James 2. 1, not accepting the Jew above the Gentile, 2 Chronicles 19. 7; Luke 20. 21; properly .said of ajudge not biassed in judgment by respect of persons) judgeth," &c. The Father Judgelh by His Son, His Uepresentative, exercising His delegated authority (John 5.
2'2). This marks the harmonious and complete unity of the Trinity, work—Each man's ivork is one complete whole, whether good or bad. The particular works of each are manifestations of the general character of liis life-work, whether it was of faith and love whereby alone we can please God and escape condemnation, pass Greek, "conduct yourselves during." sojoiiniing—the outward state of the Jews in their dispersion is an emblem of the sojoumer-like state of all believers )H tills world, away from our true Fatherland, fear—re v-erontial, not slavish. He who is your Father, is also your Judge—a thought which may well inspire reverential fear. Theophylact observes, A double fear is mentioned in Scripture: (I.) elementary, causing one to become serious; (2.)per/ec«i)e.- the latter is here the in^)tive by which Peter urges them as sons of God to be obedient. Fear is not here opposed to assurance, but to carnal security : fear producing vigilant caution lest we otfend God and backslide. "Fear and hope flow from the same fountain : fear prevents us from falling away from hope." [Benqel.] Though love has no fear in it, yet in our present state of imperfect love, it needs to have fear going ALONG WITH it as a subordinate principle. This fear drowns all other fears. The believer fears God, and so has none else to fear. Not to fear God is the greatest baseness and lollj'. The martyrs' more than mere humsjn courage flowed from this. 18. Another motive to reve ential, vigilant fear (v. 17) of displeasing God, the considt ration of the costljprice of our redemption from sin. Observe, is repeated from v. A. The two appeirances are but different stages of the one great revelation of Christ, comprising the New Testament from the beginning to the end. 14. From sobriety of spirit and endurance of hope he passes to obedience, holiness, and reverential fear. As Marking their present actual character as "born again"
(v. 3, 22). obedient Greek, "children of obedience:" children to whom obedience is their chaiacteristic and ruling nature, as a child is of the same nature as the mother and father. Contrast Ephesians 5. 6, "the children of disobedience." Cf. v. 17, "obeying the Father" whose " children" ye are. Having the obedience of /at<A
(cf. ». 22) and so of practice (cf. v. 16, 18). "Faith is the highest obedience, because discharged to the highest command." [IjUTHer.] fas Uionlng—The outward fashion (Oreek schema) is fleeting, and merely on the surface. The " form," or conformation in the New Testament, is Bomethiug deeper and more perfect and essential, the former lusts in— wliicli were characteristic of your state of ignorance of God: true of both Jews and Gentiles. The sanctilication is first described negatively (v. H, " not feshioning yourselves," &c. ; the putting off the old man, even in the outward fashion, as well as in the inward conformation), then positively (v. 15, putting on tlie new man, it is we who are bought by the blood of Christ, not heaven. The blood of Christ is not in Scrii)ture said to buy heaven for us: heaven is the "inheritance" (v. i) given to us as sons, by the promise of God. corruptible —Cf. u. 7, "gold that perisheth," 23. silver and j;old— Greek, "or." Cf. Peter's own words. Acts 3. G: an undesigned coincidence, redeemed—Gold and silver being liable to corruption themselves, can tree no one from spiritual and bodily death ; they are therefore of too lli'tle value. Contrast v. 19, Christ's "precious blood." The Israelites were ransomed with half a shekel each, which went towards purchasing the iamb for the dat:y saci illce (Exodus 30.12-16; cf. Numbers 3. H-51). But the Lamb who redeems the spiritual Israelites does so "without money or price." Devoted by sin to the justice of God, the Church of the flrst-born is redeemed from sin and the curse with Christ's precious blood (Matthew 20. "28; 1 Timothy 2. 6; Titus 2. H; Revelation 5. 9). In all theso passages there is the idea of substitution, the giving of one for another by way of a ransom or equivalent. Man l8 "sold under sin" as a slave; shut up under conaeuinatiou and the curse. The ransom was, therefore, paid t« cf. Ephesians 4. 22, 24). "Lusts" flow from the original birth-sin (inherited from our first parents, who by selficilled desire brought sin into the world), the lust which, ever since man has been alienated from God, seeks to fill up with eartlily things the emptiness of his being; the manifold forms which the mother-lust assumes are called in the plural lusts. In the regenerate, as far as the new man is concerned, which constitutes his truest self, "sin" no longer exists; but in the flesh or old man it does. Hence arises the conflict, uninterruptedly maintained through life, wherein the new man in the main prevails, and at last completely. But the natural man knows only the combat of his lusts with one anotluu-, or witli the I'lw, without power to conquer them. 15. Lit., "But (rather) after the pattern of Him who hath called you (whose characteristic is that He Is) holy, be (Greek, be-
ye yourselves also holy." God is our grand model. Ood's calling is a frequently-urged motive in Peter's Episties. Every one that begets, begets an offspring re Mmbliug himself. [Kpipbanius.] "Let the acts of the
We are Eedeeyncd with the Blood of Clirist, 1 PETER I. more Precious than Siiver mid Gold.
joined as together forming one truth ; where rrpei Uance is, there /«i^/t Is; when one knows (jod the Father spiritually, then he must know the Son by whom alone we can come to the Father. In Christ we have life : if we have not the doctrine of Christ, we have not (Jod. The only living way to God is tlirougli Christ and His sacrithe righteously-incensed Judge, and was accepted as a vicarious salisfaction for our sin by God, iiiasinuf h as it was Kis own love as well as righteousness which appointed it. An Israelite sold as a bond-servant for debt might be redeemed by one of his bretlireii. As, Therefore, we could not redeem ourselves, Christ assumed our nature in order to become our nearestof kin and brotiier, and so our God or Redeemer. Holiness is tlie natural fice, that raised him—The raising of Jesus l)y God la the special ground of our "believing:" (1.) because by it God declared openly His acceptance of Him as our righteous sul>stitute; (2.) because by it and His gloritication He received power, viz., the Holy Spirit, to impart to His elect "faith :" the same power enalding us to believe as raised Hii;! from the dead. Our failh must not only be in Christ, but by and through Christ. "Since in Christ's resurrection and consequent dominion our safety is grounded, there 'faith' and ' hope' find their stay." [Calvin.] tliat your faitli and hope might be In God—the object and elfect of God's raising Christ. He states what was the actual result aud fact, not an exhortation, except indirectly. "Vour faith flows from His restn-reetion ; your hope from God's having "given Him glory" (cf. v. 11, "glofruit of redemption "from our vain conversation;" for He 6^ whom we ai'e redeemed is also He for wliom we ixre redeemed. "Without the righteous abolition of the curse, either there could be found no deliverance, or, what is impossible, the grace and righteousness of God must have come in collision" [Steigek]; but now, Christ having borne the curse of our sin, frees from it tliose who are made God's cliildrea by His Spirit. va Jis—selt-ileceiving, unreal, an<i unprofitable: promising good wliich it does not perform. Cf. as to the Gentiles, Acts U. 15; Romans 1.21; Ephesians i. 17; as to human philosophers,
1 Corinthians 3. 20 ; as to the disobedient Jews, Jeremiah
4. 14. conversation—course of life. To know what our Bin is we must know what it cost, received by tradition from your fathers—The Jews' traditions. " Huniau piety is a vain blasphemy, and the greatest sin that a man can commit" [L.UTHER]. There is only one Father to be imitated, v. 17; cf. JIatthew 23. 9, tlie same antitheries"). Remember God's having raised and glorified .Tesus as the anchor of your faith and hope in God, and so keep alive these graces. Apart from Christ we could have only feared, not believed and hoped in God. Cf. v. 3, 7-9, 13, on hope in connection witli faith : lore is introduced in i'. 22.
sis. [Bengel.] 19. precious—of inestimable value. Tlie Greek order is, "W'itli precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish (in itself) and without spot (contracted by con-
2r4. purified . . . in obeying tlie truth Greek, "in your (or tlie) obedience of (i. e., to) the trutli" (the Gospel way of salvation), i. e., in the fact of your believing. Faitli jHiri ties the heart .as giving it tlie only pure motive, love to God (Acts 15. 9; Romans 1. 5, "obedience to the faith"), through tlie Spirit—Omitted in the oldest MSS. The Holy Spirit is the purifier by bestowing the obedience of faith (v. 2; 1 Corinthians 12. 3). unto with a view to: the proper result of the purifying of your hearts by faith. "For what end must we lead a chaste life'? That we may thereby be saved? No: but for this, that we may serve our neighbour.'' [Luthku.] unfeigned-Ch. 2. 1,2, "laying aside . . . hypocrisies . , , sincere.'' love of the brethren— I. e., of Christians, Urotlui'ly lore is distinct from common love. " The Christian loves primarily tliose In Christ; secondarily, all who miglit he in Christ, viz., tact with others), [even the blood] of Christ." Though very man, He remained pure in Himself (" without blemish"), and uninfected hy any impression of sin from ivithoul ("without spot"), which would have unfitted Him for being our atoning Redeemer: so the passover lamb, and everj' sacriflcial victim ; so too, the Churcli, the Bride, by her union witli Him. As Israel's redemption from Egypt required the blood of the paschal lamb, so our redemption from sin and the cui-se required the blood of Christ; "foreordained" (t>. 20) from eternity, as the passover lamb was taken upon the tenth day of the month, ao. God's eternal foreordination of Christ's redeeming sacrifice, and completion of it in these last times for us, are an additional obligation on us to our maintaining a holy walk, considering how great things have been thus done for us. Peter's language in the liistory corresponds with this here: au undesigned coincidence and mark of genuineness. Redemption was no afterthought, or remedy of an unforeseen evil, devised at the time of its arising. God's foreordaining of the Redeemer refutes the slander that, on the Christian theory, tliere is a period of 4000 years of nothing but an incensed God. God chose lis in Christ before the foundation of the world. manifest—in His Incarnation in the fulness of the time. He existed from eternity before He was manifested, in these last times— 1 Corinthians 10. 11, "the ends of all men, as Christ as man died for all, and as he hopef that they, too, may become his Christian hrelhren." [Steigek.] Bengel. remarks that as here, so in 2 Peter 1.
5-7, "brotherly love" is preceded by the purifying graces,
"faith, knowledge, and godliness," Ac. I,ove to the bretliren is the evidence of our regeneration and justification by faith, love one anotlier—When the purifying by faith into love of the bretliren has formed the liabil, then the act follows, so tliat the " love" is at once habit and act. with a pure heart—The oldest 5ISS. read, "(love) from the heart." fervently— Crj-ep/c, " intensely :" witli all the powers on the stretch (ch. 4. 8). "Instantly" (.\c!s 2(1. 7).
'Z'i. Chrislian brotherhood dows from our new birlh of an imperishable seed, the abiding word of God. This is the consideration urged here to lead us to exercise brotlivrlj/ tlie world." This last dispensation, made up of " times" marked by great changes, but still retaining a general unity, stretches from Christ's ascension to His coming to judgment, ai. by him—(;f. " the yVnV/i which love. As natural relationship gives rise to natural att'ection, so spiritual relationship gives rise to spiri tual, and therclbre abiding love, even as the seed from which It springs is abiding, not transitory as earthly iliins. of
Is by Him," Acts 3. 16. Throngli Christ: His Spirit, obtained for us in His resurrection and ascension, enabling us to believe. This verse excludes all who do not " by Him believe in God," and includes all of every age and clime that do. Lit., "are believers in God." Tobelicvc I'S (.Greek cis) God expresses an internal trust: "by believing to love God, going into Him, and cli-aving. . . of . . . by—"Tlu word of (Jod" is not tlie iiiatei'ial of the spiritual new birth, but its mean or medium. By means of the word the man receives the Incorruptlblo seed of the Holy Spirit, and so Ijecomes one " born again :" John 3.3-5, "Born of wafer and the Spirit:" where Ihero being but one Greek article to the two nouns, rtc close connection of the sign and the grace, or new birth signito Him, Incorporated Into His memljcrs. liy tliis laidi the ungodly is justified, so that Uiencefurlh faith itself begins to work liy love." [P. Lomhaku.] To believe on (Greek cjii, or dative case) God, expresses the conddeiioe, whicli grounds Itself on God, reposing on Him. "Faith IN (Greek en) His Idood" (Romans 3. 2.')) implies that fied, is implied. The loord is the remote and anterior instrument; baptis7n, tlie proximate and sacramentaL Instrument. The word is the iiislrumeiit in iclatioii to tlie individual; baplism, in relation to llie Cliurch as a society (James 1. 18). We are born again of the Spirii, yel not without the use of means, lait by the word of (iod. The word is not llie hegeuliig principle llself, but i-nly that by which It works: the veliicle of the my.slerlous germinating powei. [ \ j.koui).] which livetit nud nbldeth for ever— It is because the Spirit of liod no-
Ills l)lood is the element in which faith has its proper and abiding place. Cf. with this verse, Acts 20. 21, " Repentance toward (Greek eis, 'into,' turning towards and going into) God and faith toward (Greek eiii, 'into') Christ:" where, as there is but one art Udo to both 'repentance" and "faith," the two are inseparably 60a
Dehortalion against the Breach of Cliarlty. 1 PETER II. We are to Desire the Sincere Milk of the Word.
companies it that the word carries in it tlie germ of life. Tney wlio are so born again live and abide for evei; in contrast to those wlio sow to the flesh. "Tlie Gospel bears Incorruptible fruits, not dead works, because it is itself Incorruptible." [Bengel.] Tlie word is an eternal Divine power. For though the voice or speech vanishes, there still remains the kernel, the truth comprehended tn the voice. This sinks into the heart ancys living; yea.
against love. Out of malice springs guile; out ol guile, hypoa-isies (pretending to be what we are not, and not showing what we really are; the opposite of "love unfeigned," and "without dissimulation"); out of hypocrisies, envies of those to whom we think ourselves obliged to play the hypocrite; out of envies, evil-speaking, malicious, envious detraction of others. Guile is the permanent disposition ; hypocrisies the acts flowing from it. The guileless knows no envy. Cf. v. 2, " sincere," Greek, " guileless." "ilfa Jice delights in another's hurt; eni'jpinesat another's good; guile imparts duplicity to the heart; hypocrisy (flattery) imparts duplicity to the tongue; evil-speakings wound the character of another." [Augustine.] 3. newhorn babes—altogether without " guile" («. 1). As long as we are here we are "babes," in a specially tender relation to God (Isaiah 40.11). The childlike spirit is indispensable if we would enter heaven. "Milk" is here not elementary truths in contradistinction to more advanced Christian truths, as in 1 Corinthians 3.2; Hebrews 5. 12, 13; but in contrast to "guile, hypocrisies," &c. (v. 1); the simplicity of Christian doctrine in general to the childlike spirit. The same "word of grace" which is the instrument in regeneration, is the instrument also oI buildiyig up. "The mother of the child is also its natural nurse." [.Steiger.] The babe, instead of clieniically analyzing, instinctively desires and feeds on the milk; so our part
It Is God Himself. So God to Moses, Exodus i. 12, "I will be with thy mouth." [Luther.] The life is in God, yet
It is communicated to us through the word. "The Gospel Bhall never cease, though its ministry shall." [Calov.] The abiding resm-reciion glory is always connected with our regeneration by the Spirit. Regeneration beginning with renewing man's soul at the resurrection, passes on to the body, then to the whole world of nature. 34. Scripture proof that the word of God lives for ever, in contrast to man's natural frailty. If ye were born again of flesh, corruptible seed, ye must also perisli again as the grass; but now that from which you have derived life remains eternally, and so also will render you eternal, fleshman in his mere earthly nature, as—Omitted in some of the oldest M.SS. of man—The oldest MSS. read, "of it" (i.e., of the flesh). "The glory" is the wisdom, Btrength, riclies, learning, honour, beauty,art, virtue,and righteousness of the natural man (expressed by "flesh"), which all are transitory (Joiin 3. 6), not of man (as Engis not self-sufficient rationalizing and questioning, but simply receiving the truth in the love of it (Matthew 11.
lish Version reads) absolutely, for the glory of man, in his true ideal realized in the believer, is eternal, witliereth — Cfreefc aorist: lit., "withered," i. e., is withered as a thing of the past. So also the Greek for "falleth" is "fell away," i. e., is fallen away: it no sooner is than it is gone, thereof—Omitted in the best MSS. and versions. "The grass" is the fiesh: "the flower" its glory. 35. (Psalm 119.
2o). desire— Greek. " have a yearning desire for," or " longing after," a natural impulse to the regenerate, "for as no one needs to teach new-born babes what food to take, knowing instinctively that a table is provided foithem in their mother's breast," so the believer of himself thirsts after the word of God (Psalm 119). Cf. Tatins' langui>,ge as to Achilles, of the word—Not as Alfohd, "spiritual," nor "reasonable," as English Version in Romans 12. 1. The Greek logos in Scripture is not used of the reason, or mind, but of the word; the preceding context requires that theword should be meant here; theadjective logikos follows the meaning of the noun logos," woriX." James 1.21, "Lay apart all filthiness, iS:c.,and receive with meekness the engrafted word," is exactly i>ara!lel, .inj. confirms English Version here, sincere Greek, "guileless." Cf. V. 1, " laying aside guile." Ireneus says of heretics, They mix chalk witli the milk. The article "the," implies that besides the well-known pure milk, tlie Gospel, there is no other pure, unadulterated doctrine; it alone can make us guileless (v. 1). grow—The oldest JISS. and versions read, "grow unto salvation." Being born again unto salvation, we are also to grow unto salvation. The end to which growth leads is perfected salvation. "Growth is the measure of the fulness of that, not only rescue from destruction, but positive blessedness, which
89.) this Is tJie word . . . preached iiitto yo«—That is eternal which is born of incorruptible seed {v. 24): but ye have received thfe incorruptible seed, the word (v. 25); therefore ye are born for eternity, and so are bound now to live for eternity (v. 22, 23). Ye have not far to look for the word; it is among you, even the Joyful Gospel message which we preach. Doubt not tliat the Gospel preached to j/ou by our brother Paul, and which ye have embraced, is the eternal truth. Thus the otiencss of Paul and Peter's creed appears. See my Introduction, showing Peter addresses some of the same churches as Paul laboured among and wrote to.
CHAPTER II.
Ver. 1-25. Exhortations: To guileless feeding on the word by the sense of their privileges as new-born babes, living stones in the spiritual temple built on Christ the chief corner-stone, and royal priests, in contrast to their former state: also to abstinence from fleshly lusts, and to walk worthily in all relations of life, so that the world without which opposes them maybe constrained to glorify God In seeing their good works. Christ, the grand pattern to follow in patience under suffering for well-doing. 1. laying aside—once for all: so the Greek aorist expresses, as a garment put off. The exhortation applies to Christians alone, for in none else is the new nature existing which, as "the inward man" (Ephesians 3.
Is implied in salvatioti." [Alford.] thereby Greek, " lit
It ;" fed on it ; in its strength (Acts 11. 11). " The word is to be desired with appetite as the cause of life, to be swallowed in the hearing, to be chewed as cud is by rumination with the understanding, and to be digested by faith." [Tertullian.] 3. Peter alludes to Psalm 34. S, The first taites of God's goodness are afterwards followed by fuller and happier experiences. A taste whets tho appetite. [Bengel.] gracious — &VeeA:, "good," benignant, kind; as God is revealed to us in Christ, " the Lord"
18), can cast ofT the old as an outward thing, so that the Christian, through the continual renewal of his inward man, can also exhibit himself externally as a new man. But to unbelievers the demand Is addressed, that inwardly, in regard to the nous (mind), they must become changed, meto-noets Wiaf (re-pen<). [Steiger.] The "therefore" resumes the exhortation begun in ch. 1. 22. Seeing that ye are born again of an Incorruptible seed, be not again entangled in evil, which "has no substantial being, but is an acting In contrariety to the being formed In us." [Theophylact.] " Malice," &c., are utterly inconsistent with the "love of the brethren," unto which ye liave "purified your souls" (ch. 1. 22<. The vices here are those which olfend against tne brotherly love Inculcated above. Each succeeding one springs out of that which Immediately precedes, so as to form a genealogy of the sins
(v. i), we who are born again ought so to be good and kind to the brethren (ch. 1. 22). "Whosoever has not tasted the word to him it is not sweet; it has not reached the heart; but to them who have experienced it, who with the heart believe, 'Christ has been .sent for me and is become my own; my miseries are His, and His life mine,' it tastes sweet." [Luther.] 4. coming drawirig near (itnme Greek as here, Hebrews 10. 22) by faith continually; present tense : not having come once for all at conversioji. stone —Peter (i. e., a stone, named so by Christ) desires tliat all similarly should be living stones built on CiiRrsT, thk TRUE foundation-stone; cf. his speech in .\cls ). 11 An undesigned coincidence and mark of genuintness. The Spirit foreseeing the Romanist perversion of Matthew 16.
18 (cf. 16, "Son of the Living God," which coincides with 503
Christ the Foundation-stont 1 PETER II. whereon we are Built.
his language here, " the living stone"), presciently makes tians he goes back to Christ ps tnt sole source ot it. 6> Wliereforc also—Tlie oldest MSS. read, " Because that." The slalemeiit aluive is so "because it is contained iu Scripture." Behold—Calling attention to the glorious announcement of His eternal counsel, elect—So also believers (i'. 9, "chosen," Greek, " etect generation"), precioHs—In Hebrew, Isaiali 28.16, "a corner-stone of preciousness." S^^e all my yote there. So iu v.7, Christ i8 said to be, to believers, "precious," Greek, " pkeciousNESS." confounded — Same Greek as in Romans 9. 33 (Peter here as elsewhere confirming Paul's teaching. See Introduction, also Romans 10. 11), "ashamed." In Isaiah
Peter himself to refute it. He herein contirins Pavil's teaching. Omit tlie unto of English Version. Christ is positively termt-d the "living stone;" iii'irtsr, as leaving life in Himself from the beginning, and as raised from the dead to live evermore (Revelation 1. 18) after His rejection Dy men, and so the source of life to us. Like no earthly rocA;, He lives and gives life. Cf. 1 Corintliians 10. 4, and the type, Exodus 17. 6; Numbers 20. 11. disallowed— rejected, reprobated; referred to also by Christ Himself: also by Paul ; cf. the kindred prophecies, Isaiah 8. U ; Luke
2. 3-1. chosen of GoA— lit., " with (or in the presence and judgment of) Gou elect," or chosen out (v. 6). Many are
28. 16, " make haste," i.e., flee in sudden panic, covered with the shame of confounded liopes. 7. Application of the Scripture just quoted first to the believer, then to the unbeliever. On the opposite etl'ects of the same Gospel on dil Terent classes, cf. John 9.39; 2 Corinthians 2. 15, 16. precious Greek, "the preciousness" 6). To you believers belongs the preciousness of Christ just mentioned, disobedient—to the faith, and so disobedient in practice, the stone wlitch, &c., liead of . . . corner—(Psalm 118.
alienated from the Gospel, because it is not everywhere in favour, but is on the contrary rejected by most men. Peter answers that, though rejected by men, Christ is peculiarly the stone of salvation honoured by God, first
BO designated by Jacob in his deathbed prophecy. 5. Ye also, as lively stones—partaking of the name and life which is in " the living stone" (v.i.\l Corinthians 3. 11). Many names which belong to Christ in the singular are assigned to Christians in the plural. He is "the Son," "High Priest," "King," "Lamb;" they, "sons," "priests," "kings," "sheep," "lambs." So the Shulamite called from Solomon. [Bengel.] arc bnllt wp— Greek, "are being built up," as in Ephesians 2. 22. Not as Alforp, "Be ye built up." Peter grounds his exhortations, t'. 2,
22). Those who rejected the Stone were all the while in spite of themselves unconsciously contributing to its becoming Head of the corner. The same magnet has two poles, the one repulsive, the other attractive; so the Gospel lias opposite efi'ects on believers and unbelievers respectively. 8. atone of stumbling, &c.—Quoted from Isaiah 8. 14. Not merely they stumbled, in that their prejudices were ofi'ended ; but their stumbling implies the judicial punishment of their reception of Messiah: they hurt themselves in slunibiing over the corner-stone, as "stu able" means in Jciemiah 13. 10; Daniel 11. 19. at the wori<—rather join "iniiig disoiiedient to the word :" so ch.J.l; 4.17. •vvliereunio— to penal stuinbting ; to the judicial punishment of their unbelief. See above, also— an additional thought; God's ordination; not that God ordains or appoints them to sin, but they are given up to "the fruit of their own ways" according to the eternal counsel of God. The moral ordering of tlie world is altogether of God. God appoints ttie ungodly to be given up unto sin, ixnd IX reprobate mind and its necessary penalty. "Were appointed," Greek, "set," answers to "/ lay," Greek, "set," v. 0. God, in the active, is said to appoint Christ and the elect [directlyj. Unbelievers, in tlie passive, are said to he ai>poinlcd [God acting less directly la
11, &e., on their conscious sense of their high privileges as living stones in the course of being built up into a si Jiritu(d house (/. e., "the habitation of the Spirit"), pricslliood— Christians are at once the spiritual ^empeand ihe 2>riests of the temple: There are two Greek words for "temple;" hieron {the sacred place), the whole building, including the courts wherein the sacrifice iwas killed; and iiaos {the dwelling, viz., of God), the inner shrine wherein God peculiarly manifested Himself, and where, in the holiest place, the blood of the slain sacrifice was presented before Him. All l)elievfrs alike, and not merely ministers, are now the dvvelling of God (and are called the naos Greek, not the hieron) hik\ priests unto God (Revelation 1.0). The minister is not, like the .Jewish priest (Gree/c /n'ercH*), admitted nearer to God than the people, but merely for order's Kake leads tlie spiritual services of the people. Priest is the abbreviation of presbyter in the Church of England Prayer Book, not corresponding to the Aaronic priest
(hiercus, who offered literal sacrifices). Christ is tlie only literal hiereus-priest in the New Testament through whom alone we may always draw near to God.
tlie appointment of the sinner's awlul coursej. [Benokl.] God ordains the wicked to punishment, not to crime. [J. Cappel.] "Appointed" or "set" (not here "FOREordaiiied")
Cf. V. 9, "a royal priesthood," i. e., a body of prieslrefers, not to the eternal counsel .so directly, as to the penal justice of God. Through the same Christ whom sinners rejected, they shall be rejected; unlike believers, they are by God appointed unto wrath as ki ttkI) for it. The lost shall lay all the blame of their ruin on their own sinkings, such as was Melchi.sedec. Tlie Spirit never, in New Testament, gives the name hicreus, or sacerdotal priest, to ministers of tlie Gospel, holy—consecrated to God. spiritual sacrlflceg—not the literal one of the muss, as the Romish self-styled disciples of Peter teach.
ful perversity, noton God's decree; the saved shall ascribe all the merit of their salvation to God's electing love and grace. 9. Contrast in the privileges and destinies of believers. C!f. the similar contrast with the preceding context, chosen—"elect" of God, even as Christ your Ixird
Ct. Isaiah 5fi. 7, which cf. with " acceptable to God" here : 19.
21; Psalm 4.5; 50.14; 51.17,19; Hosea 14.2; Philippians 4.
la. "Among spiritual sacrifices the first phUHi lielongs to the general oblation of ourselves. For never Cim we oiler anything to God until we have offered ourselves [2 Corinthians 8. 51 In sacrifice to Him. There follow afterwards prayers, giving of thanks, alms-deeds, and all exercises of ))iely" (Cai>vin.J Clirlstlan houses of worship are never is. generation— Implying the unity of spiritual origin and kindred of believers as a class distinct from the world, royal—kingly. Believers, like Christ, the antitypical Melchlsedec, are at once kings and priests. Israel, in a spiritual sense, was designed to be the same among the nations of the earth. The full realization on earth of
temples, because thetemptewasa phice tor sacrifice,
Wlilch lias no place in the Christian dispensation; tlie Christian temple is the congregation of spiritual worshippers. The synagogue (where reading of .Scripture and jiraycr constituted the worship) was the mo<lel of the (Jhrlsllan house of worship (cf. JMote, .James 2.2, Greek, "synagogue;" Acts 15.21). Our sacrifices are those of prayi r, praise, and self-denj'lng services in the cause of Christ (V. 9, end), by Jeaus Chrliit—as our medial ing High Priest before God. Connect these words with "ofl'er up." Christ is both jirecions Himself and makes us aerepted. [Bknoki,.) As the temple, so also the pi-iesltiood, Is huilt on Christ (v. 4, 5). [ISkza.] Imperfect as an; our services, we all! not wllli unbelieving timidity, wlihdi Is close akin to refined self-righteousness, to doubt their acceptance THKOUOH tlHKiHT. After extolling the dignity of cin ih504 this, both to the literal and the spiritual Israel, Is as yet future, holy nation — antltyplcal to Israel, peculiar people lit., "a people for an acquisition," i. e., whom God chose to he peculiarly His: Acts 20. 28, " purchased," lit., acquired. God's "peculiar treasure'" above others. sho\r forth—/)i(6/tA7t abroad. Not their oufn praises but IJin, They have no reason to magnify theii Lselves above others for once they had been in the same darkness, and only throtigli God's grace had liecii brought to llie light wliicll they must heiuv'lDrl h .s/ioic forth to olticrs. pi-alaes Grecit, "virtues," " excidlenclcs :" His glory, wiccc,;/ (r. lU), goodness ( Greek, v. 3 ; Numbers 14. 17, Is ; Isaiah 03. 7). The saiuw ti'rm is applied to believers, 2 I'eterl. 5. of hliii « ho hutli called you—(2 Peter 1, 3.) out of dnrknes*- uf