2 Peter 1:10 - Exposition

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence. The two first words, διὸ μᾶλλον , "wherefore the rather," are by some understood as referring only to the last clause; as if St. Peter were saying, "Rather than follow those who lack the graces enumerated above, and forget that they were cleansed from their former sins, give diligence." ΄ᾶλλον is not unfrequently used in this antithetical sense, as in 1 Corinthians 5:2 ; Hebrews 11:25 . But it seems better to refer διό to the whole passage ( Hebrews 11:3-9 ), and to understand μᾶλλον in its more usual intensive sense, "all the more," as in 1 Thessalonians 4:10 , etc. Because God has bestowed such gifts on men, because the use of those gifts leads on to the full knowledge of Christ, therefore all the more give diligence. The word σπουδάσατε , "give diligence," recalls the σπουδὴν πᾶσαν , "all diligence," of 1 Thessalonians 4:5 . The aorist seems, as it were, to sum up the continued diligence of daily life into one vivid description. This is the only place in which St. Peter uses the vocative "brethren;" he has "beloved" in the First Epistle ( 1 Peter 2:11 ) and in 2 Peter 3:1 , 2 Peter 3:8 . Both words imply affectionate exhortation. Two ancient manuscripts, the Alexandrine and the Sinaitic, insert here, "Through your good works ( διὰ τῶν καλῶν ἔργων , or τῶν καλῶν ὑμῶν ἔργων )." To make your calling and election sure. Alford calls attention to the middle voice of the verb, "Not ποιεῖν , which lay beyond their power, but ποιεῖσθαι , on their side, for their part. But the verb must not be explained away into a pure subjectivity, 'to make sure to yourselves;' it carries the reflexive force, but only in so far as the act is and must be done for and quoad a man's own self, the absolute and final determination resting with Another." The calling and election are the act of God. All the baptized, all who bear the name of Christ, are called into the Church, but few comparatively are chosen, elect ( ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί , Matthew 20:16 ). We look, as it were, from far below up to the mysteries of God's sovereign government; we cannot read the list of blessed names written in the Lamb's book of life; we cannot lift ourselves to a point high enough to comprehend the secrets of God's dealing with mankind, and to reconcile the Divine foreknowledge and omnipotence with the free agency of man. But we feel the energy of that free agency within us; we know that Holy Scripture bids us to work out our salvation, and tells us of some who receive the grace of God in vain ( 2 Corinthians 6:1 ), or frustrate the grace of God ( Galatians 2:21 ); and we feel that when the apostle tells us to make our calling and election sure, he means that we must try to realize that calling and election, to bring its solemn responsibilities and its blessed hopes to bear upon our daily life, to live as men who have been called into God's Church, who are elect unto eternal life, and so to ratify God's election by our poor acceptance. He calls us into covenant with himself; we answer, as the children of Israel said at Mount Sinai, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient" ( Exodus 24:7 ). Our obedience makes the covenant sure to us; holiness of life is the proof of God's election, for it implies the indwelling presence of "that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. "If ye do these things;" i.e., "If ye make your calling and election sure." "The plural shows that the apostle considered this making sure a very many-sided act" (Dietlein, in Huther). Others refer the ταῦτα , "these things," to the graces just enumerated. Ye shall never fall; literally, ye shall never stumble ( οὐ μὴ πταίσητε ) . πταίειν is "to strike one's foot against some obstacle," and so to stumble. St. James says, "In many things we offend ( πταίομεν ) all" ( James 3:2 ). St. Peter here means to stumble so as to fall ( Romans 11:11 ); while Christians "do these things," while they make their calling and election sure by holiness of life, they cannot stumble; it is in unguarded moments that they fall into temptation.