English · KJV

2 Peter 3:16

“Paul's Testimony and Final Warning”2 Peter 3:15–18

King James Version
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
As G5613 also G2532 in G1722 all G3956 his epistles G1992, speaking G2980 in G1722 them G846 of G4012 these things G5130; in G1722 which G3739 are G2076 some things G5100 hard to be understood G1425, which G3739 they that are unlearned G261 and G2532 unstable G793 wrest G4761, as G5613 they do also G2532 the other G3062 scriptures G1124, unto G4314 their G846 own G2398 destruction G684.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
As one, that in all his Epistles speaketh of these thinges: among the which some thinges are hard to be vnderstand, which they that are vnlearned and vnstable, wrest, as they do also other Scriptures vnto their owne destruction.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
as also in all the epistles, speaking in them concerning these things, among which things are certain hard to be understood, which the untaught and unstable do wrest, as also the other Writings, unto their own destruction.

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
32 Greek words
  1. ὡςhōsasG5613PRTParticle or Disjunctive
  2. καὶkaialsoG2532CONJConjunction
  3. ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
  4. πάσαιςpasaisallG3956A-DPFAdjective Dative Plural Feminine
  5. ταῖςtaistheG3588T-DPFDefinite article Dative Plural Feminine
  6. ἐπιστολαῖςepistolaislettersG1992N-DPFNoun Dative Plural Feminine
  7. λαλῶνlalōnspeakingG2980V-PAP-NSMVerb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
  8. ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
  9. αὐταῖςautaisthemG846P-DPFPersonal pronoun Dative Plural Feminine
  10. περὶpericoncerningG4012PREPPreposition
  11. τούτων·toutōnthese thingsG3778D-GPNDemonstrative pronoun Genitive Plural Neuter
  12. ἐνenamongG1722PREPPreposition
  13. αἷςhaiswhich [letters]G3739R-DPFRelative pronoun Dative Plural Feminine
  14. ἐστινestinareG1510V-PAI-3SVerb Present Active Indicative 3rd Singular
  15. δυσνόητάdusnoētadifficult to be understoodG1425A-NPNAdjective Nominative Plural Neuter
  16. τιναtinasome thingsG5100X-NPNIndefinite pronoun Nominative Plural Neuter
  17. ἃhawhichG3739R-APNRelative pronoun Accusative Plural Neuter
  18. οἱhoitheG3588T-NPMDefinite article Nominative Plural Masculine
  19. ἀμαθεῖςamatheisignorantG261A-NPMAdjective Nominative Plural Masculine
  20. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  21. ἀστήρικτοιastēriktoiunestablishedG793A-NPMAdjective Nominative Plural Masculine
  22. στρεβλοῦσινstreblousindistortG4761V-PAI-3PVerb Present Active Indicative 3rd Plural
  23. ὡςhōsasG5613PRTParticle or Disjunctive
  24. καὶkaialsoG2532CONJConjunction
  25. τὰςtastheG3588T-APFDefinite article Accusative Plural Feminine
  26. λοιπὰςloipasotherG3062A-APFAdjective Accusative Plural Feminine
  27. γραφὰςgraphasScripturesG1124N-APFNoun Accusative Plural Feminine
  28. πρὸςprostoG4314PREPPreposition
  29. τὴνtēntheG3588T-ASFDefinite article Accusative Singular Feminine
  30. ἰδίανidianownG2398A-ASFAdjective Accusative Singular Feminine
  31. αὐτῶνautōnof themG846P-GPMPersonal pronoun Genitive Plural Masculine
  32. ἀπώλειανapōleiandestructionG684N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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This verse

Some things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand, and the unlearned and unstable twist them, as they twist the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

“As also in all his epistles,”

Peter knows a body of Paul’s letters and speaks of them all together.

“speaking in them of these things;”

Most likely the Lord’s return, the judgment and the new creation that Peter has just described.

“in which are some things hard to be understood,”

Dysnóētos, hard to perceive. The depth lies in the truths themselves, and they reward careful study.

“which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest,”

The uninstructed and the unsettled twist these passages out of their true sense.

“as they do also the other scriptures,”

The habit reaches beyond Paul to all of Scripture, and the phrase counts Paul’s letters among the Scriptures.

“unto their own destruction.”

The twisting ruins the twister, and the ruin is spiritual and eternal.

Passage study2 Peter 3:15–18

Stand Firm and Grow in Grace

15And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 18But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Summary

Peter closes his second letter by telling us how to read the Lord’s long wait before his return. His patience is salvation, the time he gives so that people can repent, and Paul has written the same thing in his letters. Some things in those letters are hard to understand, and the unlearned and unstable twist them, as they twist the rest of Scripture, to their own destruction. Since we have been told all this in advance, we are to guard ourselves against being carried off by the error of lawless men, and to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory now and for ever.

Why the Lord’s patience is salvation

Peter has been answering scoffers who mock the promise of Christ’s coming (2 Peter 3:3–4), and he has already told us why the Lord waits: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Verse 15 takes that up and tells us how to think about it.

“Account” is hēgéomai, a verb that means to lead and, used figuratively as here, to deem or consider. Peter asks us to count the Lord’s patience as what it truly is. “Longsuffering” is makrothymía, a word built from “long” and “temper” or “passion”. It means patience and forbearance, especially under provocation or through a long delay. In God it is his holding back of the judgment he could bring, so that people have time to answer his call. “Salvation” is sōtēría, rescue, safety and deliverance, and here it means the whole of God’s saving work, which brings us back to him and gives eternal life.

So every day the Lord waits is a day in which someone may repent and be saved. That patience belongs to who God is. When he proclaimed his name to Moses he called himself “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6–7), and a psalm says, “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy” (Psalm 145:8). Paul writes that God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).

Does the long wait make Christ’s return uncertain?

The wait has a reason, and the reason is mercy. In the same chapter Peter says that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (2 Peter 3:10), suddenly and surely. God’s patience is a gift with a purpose and an end, given so that people can turn to him before the appointed day of judgment, and his promise stands firm the whole time.

Christ and the patience of God

The Lord’s patience shows most clearly in Christ himself. He came as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and he came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). His first coming opened the time in which the door of repentance stands open and the gospel goes out to every nation, so that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Now he has sat down on the right hand of God, “from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool” (Hebrews 10:12–13). While he reigns and waits there, his patience goes on being salvation.

Our beloved brother Paul

Peter backs his point with Paul’s teaching. He calls him “our beloved brother”, a warm name for a fellow apostle in one faith and one work, and he says Paul wrote “according to the wisdom given unto him”. Paul’s understanding was given to him by God, and that is why his letters carry weight.

Paul does write of God’s patience in the same way. He asks, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Romans 2:4), and he speaks of God who “endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” (Romans 9:22). Two apostles give one message about God’s patience and the coming of Christ.

Things in Paul’s letters that are hard to understand

“As also in all his epistles” shows that Peter knows a collection of Paul’s letters, and he says Paul speaks “of these things” in all of them. These are most likely the things Peter has just taught in this chapter: the Lord’s patience and the coming of his day (2 Peter 3:8–10), the judgment of the world, and the “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

“Hard to be understood” is dysnóētos, difficult to perceive. Some passages in Paul give up their meaning only to careful study, prayer and humility.

Is Peter saying Paul wrote badly?

Peter is honestly admitting that the truths Paul handles are deep: the return of Christ, the mystery of the gospel and the way God saves. The difficulty lies with the reader, who needs maturity and patient study to take them in, as with much else in God’s Word (Psalm 119). Peter, an apostle himself, says this plainly and with respect.

Twisting the Scriptures to their own destruction

“Wrest” is streblóō. Literally it means to twist or to torture, as on the rack, and it is used figuratively of distorting the meaning of words. The word names the distortion and leaves the motive open. Peter gives the people who do it two marks. They are amathḗs, “unlearned”, lacking instruction, and astḗriktos, “unstable”, unsettled and easily swayed. Whether they bend a text through ignorance or for an agenda of their own, they force it into a meaning God never gave it.

The end of it is “their own destruction”. The word is apṓleia, ruin, and here it means spiritual and eternal ruin. Peter has already warned of false teachers “who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1–3), and the whole of 2 Peter 2 describes them. Mishandling God’s Word leads people away from the truth and spreads harm to others.

Paul’s letters among the Scriptures

“As they do also the other scriptures” uses graphḗ, a writing, which in the plural means the sacred writings as a whole. By speaking of “the other scriptures”, Peter counts Paul’s letters among them, beside the writings God’s people already held as Scripture. This is an early witness that the apostles’ letters were received as God’s Word, with his authority.

That makes careful handling all the more important. Paul tells Timothy, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Moses told Israel, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it” (Deuteronomy 4:2), and James calls us to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

Rightly read, Paul’s letters show us Christ. He is the one in whom the mystery of God is found and “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2–3), the head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:22–23), and the one by whom “all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). To twist these writings is to be drawn away from him who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Beware of being led away

“Ye therefore” draws the lesson from the whole chapter: the scoffers (2 Peter 3:3–4), the coming fire and the new heavens and earth (2 Peter 3:7–13), the call to holy and godly living (2 Peter 3:11–14), and the twisting of Scripture. “Beloved” shows the love behind the warning. “Seeing ye know these things before” means that Peter’s readers have been told in advance about the Lord’s return, the burning of the present heavens and earth, the new heavens and earth where righteousness dwells, God’s patience in delaying judgment, and the deceivers who would come. Knowing all this ahead of time makes them responsible to watch, and so are we, who have the same letter (2 Peter 3).

“Beware” is phylássō, to watch, guard, or be on one’s guard. It is a command to take active care against a danger already known. “Lest ye also” includes even the beloved who know these things, so the danger is real for every believer.

“Being led away” is synapágō, to be carried along with others, like a boat taken off course by a current. What carries them is “the error of the wicked”. Plánē means deceit, delusion or error, and the wicked here are áthesmos, lawless men. They are the false teachers of 2 Peter 2, with their deceptive teaching, sensuality, greed, contempt for authority and scoffing at the Lord’s coming. Their error is a delusion that leads into moral corruption.

“Fall” is ekpíptō, to fall from one’s place. “Your own stedfastness” is stērigmós, firmness or stability, from a verb meaning to make firm. It is the settled footing of a believer who is established in faith, sound teaching and righteous living. In Greek it comes from the same root as astḗriktos, the “unstable” of verse 16, so Peter warns us against becoming like the people who twist the Scriptures.

Jesus gave the same warning, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4–5). Paul wants us to be “no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14), and Hebrews says, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God”, and tells us to exhort one another daily (Hebrews 3:12–13).

Where our steadfastness comes from

Falling away is a real danger for people inside the church, and Peter means his warning to be heeded. Our firmness rests on Christ, because our faith is in a Person. God’s divine power has given us all things “through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). Paul writes, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11), and he prays that we will be “preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Steadfastness is God’s gift and his grace at work in us, and the next verse tells us how we hold to it.

Grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ

“But” is dé, a connective that can mean “and”, “now” or “but”, and here it turns from the warning to the remedy. Peter’s answer to the danger of falling is growth. This is his last charge, after the warnings against false teachers (2 Peter 2) and scoffers (2 Peter 3:3–4), the promise of new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:10–13), and the call to holy living (2 Peter 3:11). Growing in grace and knowledge is how we stay firm and get ready for the day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:9–10).

“Grow” is auxánō, to increase or wax, the way a plant grows. It is a command, and it describes a life that keeps moving forward into maturity.

“Grace” is cháris, God’s gracious favour, his influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life. It covers his undeserved favour, his enabling power and the blessings he gives. Grace is a free gift, so to grow in it is to take in more and more fully the favour we already have, to lean on it, and to let it shape our character and conduct.

“Knowledge” is gnōsis, knowing. The New Testament often uses the fuller word epignōsis for full and exact knowledge, and Peter has used it earlier in this letter. Here gnōsis is joined to “our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, and it means a deep, personal knowing of him. Peter already told us to add knowledge to our faith (2 Peter 1:5–8). “Lord” is kýrios, the one with authority and mastery over us, and “Saviour” is sōtḗr, the one who rescued us. We grow in knowing him as both.

Is knowing Christ a matter of the mind?

Knowing Christ includes the mind, and it takes in the whole person. It means learning who Jesus is, his character, his teaching, his saving work and his authority, and it also means trusting him, loving him and obeying him. Jesus said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and in him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Paul prays that our love “may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment” (Philippians 1:9) and that we “may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). This knowledge gives us discernment between truth and error, which is exactly what verses 16 and 17 call for.

How grace and knowledge belong together

The two kinds of growth are distinct and deeply joined. God’s grace enables us to seek Christ, and knowing Christ better deepens our gratitude for his grace, which is why Peter ties grace and knowledge together from the start of his letter (2 Peter 1:3–8). Both come from Christ himself, for “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9), and his death on the cross is the greatest display of that undeserved favour.

Glory to Christ, now and for ever

Peter’s letter ends in praise. “To him” is autós, “him”, and it points to Jesus Christ, just named. So the closing doxology gives glory to Christ, and it moves our eyes from our duty to his majesty. “Glory” is dóxa, honour, praise and worship, the acknowledgment of his majesty and his worthiness to be praised by all creation.

“Both now and for ever” covers the present and all that is to come. Nŷn is “now”, this present time, and the words behind “for ever” are aiṓn, an age or eternity, and hēméra, day. Christ is worthy of glory in this age of waiting and in the eternal day that follows it. “Amen” is amḗn, “so be it” or “verily”, and at the close of a prayer or a doxology it is the speaker’s own assent. Peter puts his “so be it” to the praise, and we add ours.

Paul ends a long passage the same way, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36), and in Revelation every creature cries, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:13). Every bit of our growth in grace and knowledge ends here, in honour given to Christ.

Living well while the Lord waits

When the Lord’s coming feels long in arriving, you can count each day as salvation. Someone you love may yet repent, and that gives us both urgency and compassion in sharing the gospel. The same patience God shows us is ours to show others, in bearing with them and in enduring trials.

When you meet a passage in Paul, or anywhere in Scripture, that is hard to understand, you are in good company, for an apostle said the same. Take it slowly and humbly, compare Scripture with Scripture, pray for the Spirit’s light, and listen to sound teaching. The answer to hard passages is patient study, and the danger lies in forcing them to say what we would like.

Guard your footing. Error rarely announces itself, and it carries people along gradually, so stay close to God’s Word and to believers who will exhort you daily. Above all, keep growing. The best protection against being swept away is a life that keeps drinking in God’s grace and coming to know Jesus Christ better, until the day we see him and give him the glory that is his now and for ever.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers 2 Peter 3:11–18. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 8 verses
Passage under comment2 Peter 3:11–18
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

The apostle, having instructed them in the doctrine of Christ's second coming,

I.Takes occasion thence to exhort them to purity and godliness in their whole conversation:

all the truths which are revealed in scripture should be improved for our advancement in practical godliness: this is the effect that knowledge must produce, or we are never the better for it. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. Seeing all these things must be dissolved, how holy should we be, that are assured of it, departing from and dying to sin, that has so corrupted and defiled all the visible creation that there is an absolute need of its dissolution! All that was made for man's use is subject to vanity by man's sin: and if the sin of man has brought the visible heavens, and the elements and earth, under a curse, from which they cannot be freed without being dissolved, what an abominable evil is sin, and how much to be hated by us! And, inasmuch as this dissolution is in order to their being restored to their primitive beauty and excellency, how pure and holy should we be, in order to our being fit for the new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness! It is a very exact and universal holiness that he exhorts to, not resting in any lower measure or degree, but labouring to be eminent beyond what is commonly attained - holy in God's house and in our own, holy in our worshipping of God and in our conversing with men. All our conversation, whether with high or low, rich or poor, good or bad, friends or enemies, must be holy. We must keep ourselves unspotted from the world in all our converses with it. We must be perfecting holiness in the fear of God, and in the love of God too. We must exercise ourselves unto godliness of all sorts, in all its parts, trusting in God and delighting in God only, who continues the same when the whole visible creation shall be dissolved, devoting ourselves to the service of God, and designing the glorifying and enjoyment of God, who endures for ever; whereas what worldly men delight in and follow after must all be dissolved. Those things which we now see must in a little while pass away, and be no more as they now are: let us look therefore at what shall abide and continue, which, though it be not present, is certain and not far off. This looking for the day of God is one of the directions the apostle gives us, in order to our being eminently holy and godly in all manner of conversation. "Look for the day of God as what you firmly believe shall come, and what you earnestly long for." The coming of the day of God is what every Christian must hope for and earnestly expect; for it is a day when Christ shall appear in the glory of the Father, and evidence his divinity and Godhead even to those who counted him a mere man. The first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he appeared in the form of a servant, was what the people of God earnestly waited and looked for: that coming was for the consolation of Israel, Luke 2:25. How much more should they wait with expectation and earnestness for his second coming, which will be the day of their complete redemption, and of his most glorious manifestation! Then he shall come to be admired in his saints, and glorified in all those that believe. For though it cannot but terrify and affright the ungodly to see the visible heavens all in a flame, and the elements melting, yet the believer, whose faith is the evidence of things not seen, can rejoice in hope of more glorious heavens after these have been melted and refined by that dreadful fire which shall burn up all the dross of this visible creation. Here we must take notice,

1.What true Christians look for: new heavens and a new earth, in which a great deal more of the wisdom, power and goodness of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ will be clearly discerned than we are able to discover in what we now see; for in these new heavens and earth, freed from the vanity the former were subject to, and the sin they were polluted with, only righteousness shall dwell; this is to be the habitation of such righteous persons as do righteousness, and are free from the power and pollution of sin; all the wicked shall be turned into hell; those only who are clothed with a righteousness of Christ, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, shall be admitted to dwell in this holy place.

2.What is the ground and foundation of this expectation and hope - the promise of God. To look for any thing which God has not promised is presumption; but if our expectations are according to the promise, both as to the things we look for and the time and way of their being brought about, we cannot meet with a disappointment; for he is faithful who has promised. "See therefore that you raise and regulate your expectations of all the great things that are to come according to the word of God; and, as to the new heaven and new earth, look for them as God has allowed and directed by the passages we have in this portion of scripture how before you, and in Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22, to which the apostle may be thought to allude."

II.As in 2 Peter 3:11 he exhorts to holiness from the consideration that the heavens and the earth shall be dissolved, so in 2 Peter 3:14 he resumes his exhortation from the consideration that they shall be again renewed. "Seeing you expect the day of God, when our Lord Jesus Christ will appear in his glorious majesty, and these heavens and earth shall be dissolved and melted down, and, being purified and refined, shall be erected and rebuilt, prepare to meet him. It nearly concerns you to see in what state you will be when the Judge of all the world shall come to pass sentence upon men, and to determine how it shall be with them to all eternity. This is the court of judicature whence there lies no appeal; whatever sentence is here passed by this great Judge is irreversible; therefore get ready to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ: and see to it,"

1."That you be found of him in peace, in a state of peace and reconciliation with God through Christ, in whom alone God is reconciling the world to himself. All that are out of Christ are in a state of enmity, and reject and oppose the Lord and his anointed, and shall therefore be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power. Those whose sins are pardoned and their peace made with God are the only safe and happy people; therefore follow after peace, and that with all." (1.) Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (2.) Peace in our own consciences, through the Spirit of grace witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God. (3.) Peace with men, by having a calm and peaceable disposition wrought in us, resembling that of our blessed Lord.

2.That you be found of Christ without spot, and blameless. Follow after holiness as well as peace: and even spotless and perfect; we must not only take heed of all spots which are not the spots of God's children (this only prevents our being found of men without spot), we must be pressing towards spotless purity, absolute perfection. Christians must be perfecting holiness, that they may be not only blameless before men, but also in the sight of God; and all this deserves and needs the greatest diligence; he who does this work negligently can never do it successfully. "Never expect to be found at that day of God in peace, if you are lazy and idle in this your day, in which we must finish the work that is given us to do. It is only the diligent Christian who will be the happy Christian in the day of the Lord. Our Lord will suddenly come to us, or shortly call us to him; and would you have him find you idle?" Remember there is a curse denounced against him who does the work of the Lord negligently, Marg. Jeremiah 48:10. Heaven will be a sufficient recompence for all our diligence and industry; therefore let us labour and take pains in the work of the Lord; he will certainly reward us if we be diligent in the work he has allotted us; now, that you may be diligent, account the long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation. "Does your Lord delay his coming? Do not think this is to give more time to make provision for your lusts, to gratify them; it is so much space to repent and work out your salvation. It proceeds not from a want of concern or compassion for his suffering servants, nor is it designed to give countenance and encouragement to the world of the ungodly, but that men may have time to prepare for eternity. Learn then to make a right use of the patience of our Lord, who does as yet delay his coming. Follow after peace and holiness, or else his coming will be dreadful to you." And inasmuch as it is difficult to prevent men's abuse of God's patience, and engage them in the right improvement thereof, our apostle quotes St. Paul as directing men to make the same good use of the divine forbearance, that in the mouth, or from the pen, of two apostles the truth might be confirmed. And we may here observe with what esteem and affection he speaks of him who had formerly publicly withstood and sharply reproved Peter. If a righteous man smite one who is truly religious, it shall be received as a kindness; and let him reprove, it shall be as an excellent oil, which shall soften and sweeten the good man that is reproved when he does amiss. What an honourable mention does this apostle of the circumcision make of that very man who had openly, before all, reproved him, as not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel!

(1.)He calls him brother, whereby he means not only that he is a fellow-christian (in which sense the word brethren is used 1 Thessalonians 5:27), or a fellow-preacher (in which sense Paul calls Timothy the evangelist a brother, Colossians 1:1), but a fellow-apostle, one who had the same extraordinary commission, immediately from Christ himself, to preach the gospel in every place, and to disciple all nations. Though many seducing teachers denied Paul's apostleship, yet Peter owns him to be an apostle.

(2.)He calls him beloved; and they being both alike commissioned, and both united in the same service of the same Lord, it would have been very unseemly if they had not been united in affection to one another, for the strengthening of one another's hands, mutually desirous of, and rejoicing in, one another's success.

(3.)He mentions Paul as one who had an uncommon measure of wisdom given unto him. He was a person of eminent knowledge in the mysteries of the gospel, and did neither in that nor any other qualification come behind any of all the other apostles. How desirable is it that those who preach the same gospel should treat one another according to the pattern Peter here sets them! It is surely their duty to endeavour, by proper methods, to prevent or remove all prejudices that hinder ministers' usefulness, and to beget and improve the esteem and respect in the minds of people towards their ministers that may promote the success of their labours. And let us also here observe,

[1.]The excellent wisdom that was in Paul is said to be given him. The understanding and knowledge that qualify men to preach the gospel are the gift of God. We must seek for knowledge, and labour to get understanding, in hopes that it shall be given us from above, while we are diligent in using proper means to attain it.

[2.]The apostle imparts to men according as he had received from God. He endeavours to lead others as far as he himself was led into the knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel. He is not an intruder into the things he had not seen or been fully assured of, and yet he does not fail to declare the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27.

[3.]The epistles which were written by the apostle of the Gentiles, and directed to those Gentiles who believed in Christ, are designed for the instruction and edification of those who from among the Jews were brought to believe in Christ; for it is generally thought that what is here alluded to is contained in the epistle to the Romans (Romans 2:4), though in all his epistles there are some things that refer to one or other of the subjects treated of in this and the foregoing chapter; and it cannot seem strange that those who were pursuing the same general design should in their epistles insist upon the same things. But the apostle Peter proceeds to tell us that in those things which are to be met with in Paul's epistles there are some things hard to be understood. Among the variety of subjects treated of in scripture, some are not easy to be understood because of their own obscurity, such are prophecies; others cannot be so easily understood because of their excellency and sublimity, as the mysterious doctrines; and others are with difficulty taken in because of the weakness of men's minds, such are the things of the Spirit of God, mentioned 1 Corinthians 2:14. And here the unlearned and unstable make wretched work; for they wrest and torture the scriptures, to make them speak what the Holy Ghost did not intend. Those who are not well instructed and well established in the truth are in great danger of perverting the word of God. Those who have heard and learned of the Father are best secured from misunderstanding and misapplying any part of the word of God; and, where there is a divine power to establish as well as to instruct men in divine truth, persons are effectually secured from falling into errors. How great a blessing this is we learn by observing what is the pernicious consequence of the errors that ignorant and unstable men fall into - even their own destruction. Errors in particular concerning the holiness and justice of God are the utter ruin of multitudes of men. Let us therefore earnestly pray for the Spirit of God to instruct us in the truth, that we may know it as it is in Jesus, and have our hearts established with grace, that we may stand firm and unshaken, even in the most stormy times, when others are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.

III.The apostle gives them a word of caution, 2 Peter 3:17, 2 Peter 3:18, where,

1.He intimates that the knowledge we have of these things should make us very wary and watchful, inasmuch as there is a twofold danger, 2 Peter 3:17.

(1.)We are in great danger of being seduced, and turned away from the truth. The unlearned and unstable, and they are very numerous, do generally wrest the scripture. Many who have the scriptures and read them do not understand what they read; and too many of those who have a right understanding of the sense and meaning of the word are not established in the belief of the truth, and all these are liable to fall into error. Few attain to the knowledge and acknowledgment of doctrinal Christianity; and fewer find, so as to keep in the way of practical godliness, which is the narrow way, which only leadeth unto life. There must be a great deal of self-denial and suspicion of ourselves, and submitting to the authority of Christ Jesus our great prophet, before we can heartily receive all the truths of the gospel, and therefore we are in great danger of rejecting the truth.

(2.)We are in great danger by being seduced; for,

[1.]So far as we are turned from the truth so far are we turned out of the way to true blessedness, into the path which leads to destruction. If men corrupt the word of God, it tends to their own utter ruin.

[2.]When men wrest the word of God, they fall into the error of the wicked, men without law, who keep to no rules, set no bounds to themselves, a sort of free-thinkers, which the psalmist detests. Psalm 119:113, I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. Whatever opinions and thoughts of men are not conformable to the law of God, and warranted by it, the good man disclaims and abhors; they are the conceits and counsels of the ungodly, who have forsaken God's law, and, if we imbibe their opinions, we shall too soon imitate their practices.

[3.]Those who are led away by error fall from their own stedfastness. They are wholly unhinged and unsettled, and know not where to rest, but are at the greatest uncertainty, like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. It nearly concerns us therefore to be upon our guard, seeing the danger is so great.

2.That we may the better avoid being led away, the apostle directs us what to do, 2 Peter 3:18. And,

(1.)We must grow in grace. He had in the beginning of the epistle exhorted us to add one grace to another, and here he advises us to grow in all grace, in faith, and virtue, and knowledge. By how much the stronger grace is in us, by so much the more stedfast shall we be in the truth.

(2.)We must grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Follow on to know the Lord. Labour to know him more clearly and more fully, to know more of Christ and to know him to better purpose, so as to be more like him and to love him better." This is the knowledge of Christ the apostle Paul reached after and desired to attain, Philippians 3:10. Such a knowledge of Christ as conforms us more to him, and endears him more to us, must needs be of great use to us, to preserve us from falling off in times of general apostasy; and those who experience this effect of the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will, upon receiving such grace from him, give thanks and praise to him, and join with our apostle in saying, To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Historical interpretation

Eight Centuries of Reception

10 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

10 quotes · AD 220–1022
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly MedievalMedieval
2003004005006007008009001000

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 220TertullianAnte-NiceneSourceOn Fasting
But all these (instances) I believe to be unknown to those who are in a state of agitation at our proceedings; or else known by the reading alone, not by careful study as well; in accordance with the greater bulk of "the unskilled" among the overboastful multitude, to wit, of the Psychics.
d. AD 220TertullianAnte-NiceneSourceThe Prescription Against Heretics
Now, unquestionably, the Divine Scriptures are more fruitful in resources of all kinds for this sort of facility. Nor do I risk contradiction in saying that the very Scriptures were even arranged by the will of God in such a manner as to furnish materials for heretics, inasmuch as I read that "there must be heresies, which there cannot be without the Scriptures.
d. AD 325Lucius Caecilius Firmianus LactantiusPost-NiceneSourceThe Divine Institutes, Book 2, Chapter III
False religious systems, therefore, have been attacked by more sagacious men, because they perceived their falsehood; but the true religion was not introduced, because they knew not what and where it was. They therefore so regarded it as though it had no existence, because they were unable to find it in its truth. And in this manner they fell into a much greater error than they who held a religion which was false. For those worshippers of fragile images, however foolish they may be, inasmuch as they place heavenly things in things which are earthly and corruptible, yet retain something of wisdom, and may be pardoned, because they hold the chief duty of man, if not in reality, yet still in their purpose; since, if not the only, yet certainly the greatest difference between men and the beasts consists in religion. But this latter class, in proportion to their superior wisdom, in that they understood the error of false religion, rendered themselves so much the more foolish, because they did not imagine that some religion was true. And thus, because it is easier to judge of the affairs of others than of their own, while they see the downfall of others, they have not observed what was before their own feet.

The sum of the matter is this: The unlearned and the foolish esteem false religions as true, because they neither know the true nor understand the false. But the more sagacious, because they are ignorant of the true, either persist in those religions which they know to be false, that they may appear to possess something; or worship nothing at all, that they may not fall into error, whereas this very thing partakes largely of error, under the figure of a man to imitate the life of cattle. To understand that which is false is truly the part of wisdom, but of human wisdom. Beyond this step man cannot proceed, and thus many of the philosophers have taken away religious institutions, as I have pointed out; but to know the truth is the part of divine wisdom. But man by himself cannot attain to this knowledge, unless he is taught by God.
d. AD 430Augustine of HippoPost-NiceneSourceEIGHT QUESTIONS OF DULCITIUS 1
If it is both true and clear that those lacking in good works will be thrown into the fire, without doubt another interpretation of Paul’s sayings must be sought and his teaching must be adapted in those matters which the apostle Peter says are difficult to understand but ought not to turn people to their own destruction, so that, contrary to the most obvious testimony of Scripture, they make the most wicked confident of obtaining salvation, although they most stubbornly cling to their sin and are not changed by correction or penance.
d. AD 444Cyril of AlexandriaPost-NiceneSourceCATENA
It seems that some people find Paul hard to understand, no doubt because he speaks about the wisdom which comes from above, for in him Christ himself is speaking.
d. AD 449Hilary of ArlesPost-NiceneSourceINTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 2 PETER
Peter says this because he himself was overwhelmed by Paul’s brilliance.
d. AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceCommentary on the Catholic Epistles
In which there are some things hard to understand, etc. All the Scriptures are corrupted by heretics. For there is no book of either the New or the Old Testament in which they have not understood many things perversely. But they have often perverted the Scriptures themselves from their status, by either removing, adding, or changing whatever their treachery dictated. As it is evident that the Arians erased from the Gospel what the Savior said: "Because God is spirit" (II Cor. III), because they did not want to believe that the Holy Spirit was Almighty God. He rightly calls them unlearned and unstable, because they have neither the light of knowledge nor the stability of mind, so that they might remain among the learned until they are educated. For the only remedy for the unlearned is to humbly provide their ears to the words of the learned with stability. Since heretics do not have the grace of stability, like light chaff in the wind, they are even taken away from the Church by the wind of pride. About whom it is well added:
d. AD 749John DamasceneEarly MedievalSourceBARLAAM AND IOASAPH 16.134
The enemy of our souls has made some people turn away from the straight road and divided them by strange teachings and taught them to interpret certain sayings of the Scriptures falsely. But the truth is one, and it is that which was preached by the glorious apostles and inspired Fathers and which shines in the universal church.
AD 990Pseudo-OecumeniusEarly MedievalSourceCommentary on 2 Peter
Just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, speaking in almost all his letters about these things: among which are some things hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
"Just as our beloved brother Paul," And where did Paul say anything of this sort? In these words when he says: "The goodness of God invites you to repentance." (Rom. 2:4) If the patience of God invites to repentance, then repentance is certainly beneficial for us, and the patience of God is for our benefit and salvation.
However, he says that the things hard to understand are interpreted by the wicked in a perverse way; for this means to be twisted, and to demonstrate the whole matter from one point, as Paul said, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more," (Rom. 5:20) they perverted this to mean that we sin more so that we may be forgiven more abundantly.
However, they do this, he says, to their own destruction. Just as those who killed the prophets and apostles are liable to the same judgment, so too are those who distort their words: for those killed them so that those who were being taught salvation by them could not be helped by them; and likewise, these distort the words so that no one may work salvation through them.
d. AD 1022Symeon the New TheologianEarly MedievalSourceDISCOURSES 15.2
It is not divine Scripture which suffers from those who twist it according to their own desires and who corrupt themselves in their own passions but rather those who disfigure it.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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