This is the other epistle that I write to you, beloved, in which I awaken and remind you to remember the words that were spoken to you before by the holy prophets and our commandment that we find apostles of the Lord and Savior.
Here St. Peter comes to us again and warns us in this chapter that we should be prepared and wait for the last day at any moment; and says first of all 1) that he wrote this epistle, not to lay the foundation of faith, which he did before, but to awaken them, to remind them, to have them, and to drive them to it.
1) Jenaer and Erlanger: from first.
Do not forget them, and remain in the true sense and understanding that they have of a righteous Christian life. For the office of the preacher, as we have often said, is not only to teach, but also always to exhort and admonish. For since our flesh and blood always cling to us, God's word must be steadfast in us, so that we do not leave room for the flesh, but fight and resist it.
V. 3. 4. And know this first, that in the last days there shall come scoffers, walking after their own lusts, saying, Where is the promise of his future? For after the fathers have fallen asleep, all things remain as they were from the beginning of the creatures.
(2) They are still going back and forth with a book about the end of Christ, in which it is written that before the last day people will fall into such error that they will say there is no God, and they will mock everything that is preached about Christ and the last day. This is true, wherever it is taken from. But it is not to be understood that the whole world will say and hold such things, but the several parts. For it is already present, and will become even more prevalent when the gospel will come to the people in a big way; then the people will be stirred up finely, and many hearts will "break out" in a big way, which are now hidden and not revealed. There have also been many of them who did not think anything of the fact that the last day is to come. St. Peter warns against such scoffers here, and announces to us beforehand that they will come, and even strike themselves into the entrenchment, and live as they please. In Rome and in the Netherlands, this saying has long since been fulfilled, and those who come out also bring out such delusions. Therefore, as they have long done inside, 1) so must the people do outside.
3 For this very purpose, when the last day is now at the door, such people must come forth, that it may be fulfilled which Christ saith Matt. 24:37-39: "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall also the future of the Son of man be. For as they were in the days before the flood, they did eat, they drank, they freed themselves, and were freed, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they knew it not, until the flood came, and took them all away. So shall also the future of the Son of man be." Item v. 44: "The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not think. Item Luc. 21, 35: "That day will come as a snare upon all who dwell on the earth." And again Luc. 17, 24: "As the lightning flashes from heaven above, and shines upon all that is under heaven; so shall the Son of man be in his day." That is, so swiftly and unawares and suddenly he will break in, when the world will live in all certainty and throw God's word to the wind.
1) Jenaer and Erlanger: therein.
4 Therefore this will be the sign of the last day, when it is near, when people live as they please, according to all their lusts, and such talk goes among them, "Where is the promise of his future?" The world has stood so long, and always remained, should it only now become different? So Peter warns us not to fret, and have a sure sign that the day will soon come. Follow on:
V. 5. 6. But willingly they do not want to know that the heavens were also before times, and the earth of water, and consisted in water by the word of God; nevertheless, at that time the world was destroyed by these 2) with the flood of sin.
(5) Such are they, saith he, that do not diligently read the scriptures, but wilfully think not, and know that it was so in time past. When Noah built the box, the world was destroyed by water, which existed and was made by and in the water, and the people were so sure and certain that they thought there was no need; nevertheless they were all destroyed by the water. As if he were to say, "If God then destroyed the world with water, and proved by an example that he can sink it, rather he will do it now, because he has promised it.
But here St. Peter speaks a little sharply of the creation. The heavens and the earth also stood firm in time past, were made of water, and existed in water by the word of God. Heaven and earth have a beginning, have not been eternal; heaven was made of water, and was water above and below. But the earth was made of water and existed in water as Moses describes, which St. Peter touches here. All this is preserved by the Word of God, as it is also made by it, for it is not their nature to exist in this way. Therefore, if God did not uphold it, it would soon all fall apart and perish in the water. For God has spoken a mighty word, when He says Genesis 1:9: "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the waters be gathered into another place.
2) Luther's marginal gloss: "word and water". The editions offer: "the same".
The water is put aside, and gives room for the earth to come forth, on which one may dwell; otherwise, by nature, the water would float over the earth. Therefore, this is one of the greatest miraculous signs that God still performs today.
Therefore, St. Peter will say: "The scoffers are so stubborn and obstinate that they do not want to honor the Holy Spirit by reading how God preserves the earth in the water, so that they would realize that it is all in God's hand. Therefore, because God drowned the earth that time, He will do it to us 1) as well. For that example should ever move us, because he did not lie there, that he will not lie now either.
V. 7. But the heavens which are yet, and the earth, are preserved by his word, to be kept in the fire in the day of judgment and condemnation of ungodly men.
(8) In the days when God destroyed the world with the flood, the waters came down from above, and went up from beneath, and closed in on every side, so that nothing could be seen but water, and the earth, as its nature was, had to be drowned in water; but now he has promised, and given as a sign the rainbow in the sky, that he will no longer destroy the world with water. Therefore he will consume it by fire and make it dissolve, so that there will be fire just as there was water. St. Paul also says in 2 Thess. 1, 7. 8: "When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with the angels of his power and with flaming fire" 2c. Item, 1 Cor. 3, 13.: "Every man's work shall be made manifest, the day of the LORD shall make ek clear, which shall be opened with fire." So, when the last day comes and bursts in, in a moment all that is in heaven and earth will become powder and ashes, and must be changed by fire, just as it was changed by water. 2c. This shall be the sign that God will not lie, because he has made that a sign.
1) Jenaer and Erlanger: still also.
2) "alleding" - absolutely. Cf. Walch, St. Louis edition, XVIII, 1331.
V. 8-10. But one thing be not withheld from you, beloved, that one day in the sight of the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The LORD does not waste the promise, as some do the delay, but is longsuffering toward you, and wills that no man perish, but that every man repent. But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
(9) With these words, St. Peter meets those of whom he has now said, who are speaking: The apostles said many things, that the last day would soon come, and now so long a time has passed, and yet all things stand as before. And hath taken this saying out of Moses, Psalm 90:4, saying, A thousand years are before thine eyes, as the day that passed yesterday." So this goes: There are two reputations: one before God, the other before the world. So also this life and that life 3) are two; this life cannot be that life, since no one can come to that life except through death, that is, through the cessation of this life. Now this life is eating, drinking, sleeping, sleeping, begetting children 2c., there it goes everything after the number, hours, day and year after each other. If you now want to look at that life, you must put the course of the present life out of your mind altogether, must not think that you can thus count it; there it will all be one day. One hour, one moment.
(10) Since there is no reckoning of time in the sight of God, a thousand years must be before Him as if it were one day. Therefore, the first man, Adam, is as near to Him as the last who will be born before the last day. For God does not see time by length, but by distance. As when you look across a long tree that lies before you, you can grasp both places 4) and corners in your face at the same time. You cannot do that if you look at it lengthwise. Through our reason, we cannot look at time in any other way than by its length,
3) "Life" is missing in the Jena.
4) Place -end.
must begin to count from Adam, one year after another, until the last day. But before God it is all in one heap; what is long before us is short before Him, and again. For there is no measure nor number. So now the man dies, the body is buried and decays, lies in the earth, and knows nothing. But when the first man gets up on the last day, he will think that he has hardly lain there one hour. Then he will look around and realize that so many people were born from him and came after him, of which he knew nothing.
11 Therefore St. Peter says: "The Lord does not spoil the promise, as some scoffers think, but is patient; therefore be prepared for the last day, for it will come soon enough after each one's death, so that he will say: Behold, I have died but now. But it comes too quickly for the world, when people say that there is peace, there is no need, it will break and fall upon them, as St. Paul says 1 Thess. 5, 3. And in such a great crash the day will break and burst, like a great thunderstorm, that everything must be consumed in an instant.
V. 11. 12. If all these things are to pass away, how then shall ye be skillful in holy walk and godly conduct, waiting and hastening to the future of the day of the LORD.
(12) Knowing that all things must pass away, both heaven and earth, think how ready you must be with holy and godly lives and beings to meet that day. So Peter describes this day as coming already now, that they should be ready for it, hope for it with joy, and also hurry to meet it, as the one who redeems us from sin, death and hell.
V.13. In which the heavens will be dissolved by fire, and the elements will be melted by heat. But new heavens and a new earth, according to his promise, we await, in which righteousness dwells.
God promised through the prophets that He would create new heavens and earth; as Isa. 65:17: Behold, I will create new heavens and earth.
Create a new heaven and a new earth, wherein ye shall rejoice, shout, and leap. Item, Cap. 30, 26: "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the brightness of the sun shall be seven times as bright," as if seven days were joined together. And Christ says Matth. 13, 43: "The righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom." How this will happen, we cannot know, unless it is promised that such heaven and earth shall be, wherein shall dwell no sin, but righteousness, and the children of God, as St. Paul says in Romans 8, "There shall be love, joy and gladness, and nothing but the kingdom of God.
14 Here one may wonder whether the blessed will dwell in heaven or on earth. The text here sounds that they will dwell on earth, that is, that all of heaven and earth will be a new paradise in which God dwells. For God does not dwell in heaven alone, but in all places; therefore the elect will also be where He is.
V. 14. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting, be diligent that you may be found undefiled before him and blameless in peace.
(15) Because ye have escaped such calamities (he says), and come to such great joys, ye shall be moved to despise willingly all things that are on earth, and to suffer gladly those things which ye ought; wherefore ye shall take care that ye live blamelessly and irreproachably.
V. 15. And the longsuffering of our Lord Jesus Christ is respected for your salvation.
16 So that he spares and consumes and does not judge soon, consider that your gain. He would have cause to be angry and to punish, but he does not do so out of mercy.
V. 16. As our dear brother Paul also wrote according to the wisdom given him, as he also speaks of it in all the epistles, in which some things are difficult to understand, which confuse the unlearned and reckless, as well as the other writings, to their own condemnation.
17 Then St. Peter gives testimony of his teaching to the apostle Paul, which is sufficient.
indicates that this epistle was written long after St. Paul's epistles. 1) And this is one of the sayings that might cause someone to think that this epistle is not St. Peter's, as there was one before in this chapter, saying, v. 9: The Lord does not want anyone to be lost, but that everyone should repent. For he goes down a little under the apostolic spirit. But it is believable that it is no less of the apostle. For since he writes here not of faith but of love, he also lets himself down, as is the way of love, that it goes under itself toward the neighbor, as faith goes over itself.
18 But he saw that many reckless spirits confused and perverted St. Paul's words and teaching, so that some things in his epistles are difficult to understand. For example, when he says Rom. 3, 28, that no one is justified by works, but only by faith. Item, Gal. 3, 19: The law was given to make sin greater. Rom. 5:20: Where sin abounds, grace abounds still more, and more such sayings. For if they
1) The following section up to the end of this paragraph has been omitted in the Wittenberg edition. The reason for this omission will be the concern Luther expresses regarding the apostolic writing of the letter.
When they hear this, they say: If this be true, let us go idle, and do no good work, and so become godly. As they say now, we forbid good works. For if St. Paul's words were perverted, what wonder that ours also should be perverted?
But ye, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, take heed lest ye be deceived with them through the error of the wicked, and escape out of your own stronghold. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; to Him be praise now and forever, amen.
(19) Knowing, saith he, all things that are spoken above, and seeing that many false teachers must come, which deceive the world, and such scoffers as pervert the scriptures, and will not understand them; take heed to yourselves, be diligentlyware of them, lest ye fall from the faith through erroneous doctrine, and grow stronger day by day in the continual exercise and preaching of the word of God. See how much the apostle cares for those who have believed, which also drove him to write the two epistles, in which everything is abundantly written that a Christian should know, as well as what is to come. May God grant us His grace to grasp and retain it, amen.