THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL

OF

S. PETER.

CHAPTER I.

1 Simon Peter, a servant and an Apostle of JESUS CHRIST, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of GOD and our SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST:

Rather, "of our GOD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST."

"Who have obtained like precious faith;" that is, who are, through God's mercy, believers, as we, the Apostles are, in the precious truths of the Catholic Faith; which belief, humble, hearty, and living, makes us to be, through our blessed Redeemer, precious in GOD's sight.

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of GOD, and of JESUS Our LORD,

"Knowledge" here means mature and full knowledge, and this is a channel of grace and peace; for the more our hearts know of GOD, of what He is, and of what He has done for us, and of what He does daily, and of what He yet means to do, if we abide with Him, the more will our hearts be weaned from the world, and

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fixed on Him, and filled with His grace and love.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." And of this we may be assured, as the Apostle goes on to tell us, by what God has already done.

3 According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him That hath called us to glory and virtue:

To glory hereafter, to "an eternal weight of glory," even to His own glory, as it might be translated; and with a view to this He hath called us to virtue here, even to His own virtue. thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."

Then live and suffer, do and bear,

As CHRIST thy pattern here hath done,
And seek His innocence to wear,

And He will count thee then His own.

"If

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

"Whereby:" this word, being plural in the language in which S. Peter wrote, seems to refer to the gifts which God bestows on us, namely, all things necessary for life and godliness; in which case we may understand the HOLY SPIRIT to say, " GOD's gifts are more than gifts; they are promises, or indeed pledges also. In that He gives thee what thou needest for thy life, He wills thee to understand thereby that He will watch over thy life; in that He gives thee what thy soul needeth, in His Word, in the prayers, and faith, and sacraments of His Church, He willeth thee to take that gift as a promise, that if thou abidest with Him, He will make thee perfect in holiness." "Staying thyself, then," the Apostle continues, "on these great and precious promises, go thou on, O Christian, in faith and love, until the Divine nature which He gave thee in thy Baptism, when He took thee out of the corruption which lust had brought into the world, and imparted Himself to thee, and made thee a member of CHRIST, be

1 Gen. iii. 6.

made perfect in heaven."

As GOD the SON, by His Incarnation, took manhood into GOD; so by His SPIRIT dwelling in them He makes men to be Gods.

But it will not suffice for our salvation to have once escaped : we must "grow in grace. Moreover, in addition to what GOD has done, we by His grace must be fellow-helpers with Him : therefore the HOLY SPIRIT continues,

5 And beside this,

Or, for this very reason,

giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge ;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.'

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

For "This is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and JESUS CHRIST Whom Thou hast sent:"2 to know Thee with true and faithful knowledge; to know Thee with inward heart; knowledge arising from Thine own indwelling, O LORD Jesu.

Great indeed is Thy mercy and love, O my FATHER, which will reckon to us as if they were our own doing, the good works which Thou dost enable us to perform. Graft, then, in our hearts, for JESUS' sake, the love of Thy Name, that we may be as trees planted by the water side, which bring forth fruit in due season.

But observe, it is possible, alas! very possible, to have the knowledge of GOD, and yet be unfruitful; to know the LORD JESUS, and what He has done, and yet not to love Him; to have received the SPIRIT, and to have quenched Him. But do Thou pity and help us.

"Virtue," in verse 5, seems to mean that manliness of which S. Paul speaks in 1 Cor. xiii. 11; xvi. 13. So also temperance means general mastery over the passions; the keeping under the body, and the crucifying of the flesh, as S. Paul speaks. Godli

1 Col. iii. 14.

2 S. John xvii. 3.

ness, again, means the open avowed worship and service of the Almighty; while "charity" is the pure and true love of God, and of man for GOD's sake.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind,

He walketh in spiritual darkness; he knoweth neither God's truth nor His justice; nay, he knoweth not the love which would lead us by the path of holiness here-the only path whereby a holy GoD could lead us-to peace and joy hereafter.

and cannot see afar off,

He cannot see the things which are afar off. He can neither "see the King in His beauty," nor the land which is very far off" in its glorious blessedness, nor yet the unutterable misery which awaits "the wicked and all the people that forget GOD," else surely the sight would move him to "bring forth fruits meet for repentance.'

and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

The word "forgotten" here implies wilfulness in forgetting; he hath shut his eyes to the fact that the cleansing of Holy Baptism was the planting him together with CHRIST, that he might bring forth fruit unto GOD; that it was pledging him to confess the faith of CHRIST crucified, and manfully to fight under His banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue CHRIST'S faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren,

That is, since ye have been cleansed in your Baptism,

give diligence to make your calling and election sure:

"Your calling," the SPIRIT means, to holiness, and to being perfect, even as your FATHER Which is in heaven is perfect; for so ye will make sure your election-your being chosen of GOD, in CHRIST JESUS, unto everlasting life.

"Teach me, O LORD, the way of Thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall keep it with my whole heart."

for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

"An entrance" should be "the entrance." As there is but One Who is "the Way," so there is but One Who could say, “I am the Door."

The Apostle's meaning is, "If ye supply your part, He Who hath called and chosen you will richly supply His grace here, and His glory hereafter."

12 Wherefore

As there is need of such unwearied diligence on your part, that ye fail not of the grace of GoD, nor frustrate His gracious pur

pose,

I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

By the words "present truth" the Apostle does not mean the truth of which he was just then speaking particularly, namely, that we must give all diligence "to make our calling and election sure:" he means rather the truth which is now present with you, that is, the faith which is known and professed among you.

13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

The Apostle seems to say, "It is not my business, neither is it nor can it be the duty of any man to invent any new doctrine; my duty is to bring to your remembrance what you have already learned-the faith which was once, and once for all, delivered to the saints, to me as well as to you. Hold that fast, reject all new doctrines."1

14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our LORD JESUS CHRIST hath

showed me.

1 Gal. i. 8.