The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Peter — Section 33

Scripture does not so much contain promises; it is rather one great promise, God's Word of promise, Christ being the Gift promised, We shall never understand the promises by t.~king a text here and a text there, but only by pondering the whole volume as the revel!\• c1on of Jesus; only thus can we have a true idea of the height, and depth, and length, and brcadt.h of what God assures us of in his beloved Son. Look at him in any nspect, and, like the glittering facets of a precious stone, promises glel\m on us from him at every point. (1) Think,for ir.stane,e, of the glo1-y ef his Pe,·son. 'l'he goodness, the grace, the majesty, the tenderness, the truth, embodied in him;. and if he is ours (as ho is), this alone is full of promise. (2) The revelation of God which he is. He shows us God, l!O holy that he cannot pass by sin without atonement, though that atonement involved the sacrifice of himself. He shows us too the heart of God, telling us, when we pray, to say, "Our Father." Why, that one sentence involves the promise of all we need, all that God can give. (3) The greatness of his work. He undertakes to be our Saviour in th_e thr:eefold capacity of Prophet, Priest, and King; and his undertaking these functions 1s the assurance that he will fulfil them. (4) The declaration of his will. Every purpose of Christ is a promise; it is Obrist saying, "I will." And so also every command carries a promise of all grace needed for obedience to it. (5) The closeness of his relat1·onship with his people. He, their Life and Head, and so having nothing which they shall not share. 2. Tlte ch,:zracter of the Promise-,-. Each of God's promises is the expression of his loving-kindness to sinful men, and if his mercy could not rest till he had given them, it cannot rest till he has fulfilled them; going on giving, and giving, and giving, till his beloved can receive no more. (1) He is '11,nchanging. "I, the Lord, change not." (!1) Be is able to f'll,lfil his will. Omnipotence is behind each promise. "What he bath promised he is able al8o to perform." (3) In every promise his honour is pledged. "It is impossible for God to lie." "He is faithful that bath promised." Read the promises, then, and scatter doubt by asking," Hath he spoken, and shall he not do it?" 3. The conditions attached to the promise. The only conditions are- conscious need of the thing promised, and trust that for the Promiser's own sake it will be given. Need and trust are our capacity for receiving. II. THE BA.NOTIFYING POWER OF THE PROMISES. The promises deliver us from the world's corruption, and work in us the image of God. Sanctification is something "put off" and something " put on." The "old man" is "put off," and the "new man ', is •• pnt on;" and this is said here to be effected by the promises, or by the Word of promise. 1. The Word ofpromise conveys the knowledge of what we may have. From the heights of this sacred book all things lie beneath us, stretching away like a vast landscape into the dim horizon beyond which human sight cannot follow; and as we hear a voice saying, "All things are )'ours," surely nothing can deliver us from the bondage o~ the world as that can. One affection is only destroyed by another. Let the soul consc10usly possess better, and, depend upon it, it will turn away from the best that this world can give. 2. The Word of promise imparts the faith by which we receive from God. •• Partakers of the Divine nature." Of bow much of it? Of so much as exhausts the promise. " That ye might be filled unto all the fulness of God," Why, then, do we not receive it in that measure? Because God can only give according to the measure of our faith. Now, faith depends on the promises, it feeds on them, and thereby the soul's capacity to receive increases. 3. 'I7v: Word of promise inspires the strength by which we conquer Satan. His effort is to make us doubt; that was his aim with Christ. He would take us back to the old bondage, and weaken the faith which holds us to God. Have we not often felt bow doubt closes the heart to the incoming of the Divine nature? we can fight no more, but are led easy captives. Satan can deprive us of all, if he can only get us to doubt. Now, against that assault the promises are our refuge. God is in them; they are the ut~rances of hie lips, the purpose of his heart; his resources and perfections are pledcred 0 to their fulfilment; there is perfect safety in trusting them; by them we can defy Satan and the powers of darkness. Between the bondage of corruption and the liberty of participation in the Divine nature is the Divine promise. 'l'ruet it, tread it without a fear; it will not give way beneath you, the adversary cannot follow you there, and on the other side is the beginning of heaven.-C. N. Vere. 5-11.-Personal diligence needed for sanctification. The former verses say that God gives the knowledge of himself in the Word of promiso, iis the means by which 01t. I, 1-21.] THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PfTER. 27