Reading 1
IN chapter 1, Peter is laying the foundation, but the subject proper to his epistle does not begin until chapter 2:11: " Dearly beloved, I beseech you," etc. In both epistles he lays the foundation of redemption, and then he proceeds to unfold the principles of the government of God under which the Jews had been placed. Take, for instance, the passage, " he that will love life, and see good days," or again, " the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers," that is not redemption for heavenly glory. As far as I have seen, the first epistle is divine government in favor of saints, telling them they will suffer, and so on; and the second epistle is that the same government in respect of the wicked. In chapter 1, he speaks first of redemption, and later on, of how judgment begins at the house of God. And it is very instructive as to the order of the revelations and dealings of God. The epistle is addressed to the Jews scattered throughout Pontus, etc. " Sojourners of the dispersion " it really is.
Ques. " Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles? "
Yes, that is the same. They are converted Jews, Christians, though scattered.
Ques. Was this after the destruction of Jerusalem?
No, before. According to common chronology, Peter was put to death before Jerusalem was destroyed.
Ques. As these saints form part of the church, why are they so addressed?
Peter never says anything about the church as the body, but only as the house; Paul alone speaks of it as the body of Christ, for this was his special ministry. Peter does address them as in their new standing, but it is as individuals in accomplished redemption, not as in the one body united to Christ.
Ques. Does he not speak at the close of the epistle of " the church that is at Babylon "?
I doubt it; " elected " is in the feminine, and there is no word given for " church " at all; many have thought it refers to Peter's wife. Only Paul touches the subject of the body of Christ, and so he alone speaks of the rapture. In John's gospel there is, " I will come again, and receive you unto myself,"
but nothing more. As regards the house, we find this in the second chapter.
Ques. Does it, then, refer to those who had been scattered at the martyrdom of Stephen?
No; I do not know when they were scattered, but they were scattered throughout the world.
Ques. If it is to the scattered Jewish saints, where does the line come in between them and others; it says, " elect "?
They were Christian Jews, converted, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father; it took in any quickened soul among the dispersion.
Ques. Then James writes on a larger scale?
Yes. He addresses " the twelve tribes," and he speaks about anyone coming unto their ' synagogue'; it is addressed to A national body, though he singles out those who are believers.
Ques. And he says " twelve tribes," though ten of them were in captivity?
Yes, that is the language of faith. So, too, with Paul: " Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come." And Elijah also, at Mount Carmel, takes twelve stones.
Ques. How could the apostle say, " instantly "?
Well, it was so, though they were doing it very ignorantly and badly, just as Paul himself had been doing when he was Saul. Ques. Were all really honest Jews doing so?
Yes; they might be doing it in a bigoted way, still, they were serving. Just as there may be a church nearby, kept open day and night; it is kept open whatever else may be there beside the truth itself. Peter was specially the minister of the circumcision.
Ques. If we want the whole instruction of Paul and Peter, we should have to read Galatians as well as Peter?
Yes, but I think Colossians is all to the Gentiles. Paul says to them, " Christ in you," i.e., in you Gentiles. The cross had really ended Judaism though it was continuing still, " Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law "; they were still offering sacrifices, etc., and we see Paul was going on to do as much. What is striking is, that in James we never have a word about redemption; grace we do find there, " Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth."
Ques. James is very puzzling, it is so difficult to make it fit in?
Well, it does fit in pretty close to the conscience if we will only let it. It does not allow will in man at all, only patience. Its general character is practical righteousness, the total destruction of self-will in the Christian, and the renouncing of the world.
Ques. How is that arrived at apart from the cross?
He takes them up where they avowedly are, and he says, " My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations," and so on.
Ques. Does James, then, take the cross for granted?
Yes, but we find in his epistle the grace that quickens us. And it is occupied with the question of the putting down of the working of will in every shape.
Ques. Will there be a period at the end when the epistles of Peter will become more applicable?
I dare say it may be so. In James we have positive grace, but it is all the judgment of a man's heart. Peter goes further, for he takes up the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. " Jesus Christ " applies to both these things.
Ques. Is it the obedience of Jesus Christ instead of the law?
No; I take it that the obedience of Jesus Christ is not merely that there is a rule given, but rather is it, " Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God." There was in Him a whole life which had no spring of action except the will of God, and if there was no will of God, He did nothing. At the beginning the Lord says, as it were, to Satan, I am come to live by the word of God.' He could, of course, have turned the stones into bread, but He had not the will of God for doing this, and so He did nothing.
Ques. And we can have that only by virtue of the new nature?
There are two characters of it, obedience such as Christ's, and confiding dependence, or dependent confidence, if you like. " Through sanctification of the Spirit " means that the Holy Ghost has wrought in us to set us apart for these two things.
Ques. Does it refer to election?
Yes. We are elect to these two things, but we are brought into them through " sanctification of the Spirit."
Ques. Is it a personal calling?
No; is, that the Holy Ghost has come and taken man out of the flesh altogether, and put him into this place. And these two things are become, if you please, his life and his death. It is now a different kind of obedience from that of an obedient child; my child wants to run out, and I say to him, ' sit down and do your lesson.' Well, he does so, and that is very pleasant and right. But Christ never obeyed in that way, He never wanted stopping; He says, " I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me."
Ques. In 2 Thess. 2, " sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth " are put together?
It is pretty much the same thing.
Ques. Is it not practical sanctification?
Well, it is, only we must be set apart first. The Holy Ghost comes and sets us apart to God; He sets us apart, out of the flesh, to obedience. It is not so much the fact of the new life, as it is that the word has wrought in me, " Being born again... by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."
Ques. In Hebrews, we have the thought of being sanctified by the blood of the covenant.
That is another aspect of sanctification. But here, the Spirit is the One who brings it into actual operation.
Ques. " By the which will we are sanctified "?
There we have that which sets us apart judicially; but the direct action of God at all times is by the Holy Ghost. So we are born of the Spirit; there is new life communicated, the Holy Ghost giving us a divine mind, bringing that into us, so that our thoughts and feelings are all changed.
Ques. Would it be right to say that we are sanctified by the Spirit in the purpose of God?
I do not know what you mean by the Spirit of God in purpose. It is God's purpose to set us apart by the Spirit. God's purpose is in His own mind; and God gave His Son that through redemption we might be set apart to Him. But all that was whilst we were still sinners. Then the Holy Ghost comes and operates in us, and He sets us actually apart. Sanctification of the Spirit is an actual operation in us. All the operations of God are by the Spirit. We are born of the Spirit, born of the Father in one sense, and the Son quickens whom He will. And the Holy Ghost still goes on, for He takes the word and makes the child grow.
Ques. Why is it here, " sprinkling," and not shedding? Sprinkling is the application of it.
Ques. Is this in opposition to what we had under law?
Well, yes; there was a certain sanctification of Israel to God, but not by the Holy Ghost, and they had the blood of sprinkling in a way, but we are sanctified to the sprinkling of Christ's blood, not to that of the blood of bulls and goats.
Ques. Why does obedience come first?
Because the actual thing to which we are sanctified is the obedience of Christ, but if we are to be before God, it must be by His blood; the sprinkling of blood is for cleansing, and the obedience is His life.
Ques. Would this refer to the sprinkling of blood upon the mercy-seat, or upon the person?
It is general, but persons are more in view here, because the blood, having been put upon the mercy-seat, has made God approachable. It was the LORD'S lot without which we could not have this.
Ques. Does not John use a fuller word when he says, " washed "?
He does.
If God had not been glorified as to the question of sin, which is specifically the LORD'S lot, we could not have had the sprinkling. The two goats make one Christ. But here, it is the general idea of sprinkled blood; sometimes the blood was sprinkled upon the person, sometimes on the altar to God, but then the individual got the benefit of it.
Ques. When the blood was sprinkled upon all the people was it not to hold them good under the penalty of death? That was the legal character of it there, but that is not for us. Ques. Is this the new covenant here?
No, it is just what it says; we are set apart to obey, and to all the value of Christ's blood; it is a great thing not to bring into a verse what is not in it. Other verses and other truths there are, and we may get clearer light by putting them together, but it is an amazing help to keep clearly before one what a verse gives. There is nothing about the covenant here; the apostle is addressing a set of people, elect, chosen, and set apart unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Sanctification by blood, in Hebrews, refers to Jews strictly speaking, though we come under it as being in the fatness of the olive tree.
Ques. A person could not walk practically in the path of obedience without the sprinkling of the blood?
Oh! no; we should not be set apart to God at all without it. It is in contrast with Judaism, where, as a matter of fact, they were brought through the Red Sea and so separated from Egypt. Here, it is the Holy Ghost who does it, and it is thus a real thing in the soul. In Hebrews, we do not find the sanctification of the Spirit, though holiness is spoken of; they are sanctified by blood, and they are warned not to fall away; where there was faith, they had, of course, the actual value of it all, and where it is individual, it says, " Perfected forever." It is a great thing to take our verse absolutely and simply; here am I, set apart to have no other will but God's; obedience consists in not having a will of my own, and that is the law of liberty. Just as if I told my child to go off and play in the street, he would be obedient in going off, but he would be doing just what he liked to do. Here, God says, ' I am bringing you out of a sinful world, where the carnal mind is enmity against Me, and I set you apart to Myself, to do My will in the world and nothing else.' And then comes the second blessed thing, namely, the value of Christ's blood.
Ques. In what sense does James speak of the " royal law "? It is an excellent one; there are three, the law of Moses, the royal law, and the law of liberty.
Ques. Would not the royal law be the law of the kingdom? No, and yet it would be that of the kingdom, but that is not the reason why he calls it so.
Ques. Is the law of liberty only in connection with the new creation?
Of course not, for the carnal mind is only enmity and disobedience.
" Blessed be the God and Father " (v. 3) is an expression we often find, and Christ is looked at as Son and as Man-" My Father and your Father... my God and your God." Then it adds, " Of our Lord Jesus Christ." Lord is another title: " God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." And " hath begotten us again unto a lively hope." We were in this state of sin and death, and Christ came and took us out of it, so that now we have a lively hope, and therein we find the key to His government toward us.
" Reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." " Revealed," that is not taking up with theories, but a positive thing from God; the inheritance is kept there for us, whilst we are kept down here by the power of God through faith. God's power keeps us, but it is by keeping our faith, unto a salvation ready to be revealed.
Ques. Is, then, the salvation spoken of here, the full accomplishment of all?
Yes.
Ques. " Ready to be revealed," is this the glory?
Yes; it is the full description of the status of a Christian- and he is kept by the power of God through faith. Peter is showing the way of the government of God; there is nothing about advancement in this world.
Ques. You would not be satisfied to leave a believer in this state now, would you?
But I should like him to have all this.
Ques. In " the day dawn " of the second epistle, there is more?
Yes, there is; but Paul was living in the full light of it; here, it is only dawning. Hebrews is very much upon the same ground as Peter, one passage in the epistle describes the whole millennial blessedness from top to bottom, but we do not find " union."
Ques. We get company?
Yes, but 'fellows' is not union.
Ques. We do not reach as high as priesthood in Peter? That is not Peter's point.
Ques. But we get " brethren " in Hebrews?
If Paul speaks of the Father and of Christ, then he can speak of firstborn among many brethren, but it is individual still. John, too, is always individual, and yet he carries us quite as high, dwelling in God, and God in us, but that is not union with Christ. When we come to union with Christ, we find God raising Christ as man from among the dead. and putting Him at His right hand, and He takes us and puts us into Him there. In Eph. 1, Christ as Head is looked at as the Man whom God has raised.
Ques. Does Peter answer to wilderness experience?
In measure he does, but " ready to be revealed " is a different thing. Paul's revelation in Colossians is more like Peter, and so it is not the rapture, but, " Then shall ye also appear with him in glory "; " called in one body " and " not holding the Head " we have, but even that is not developed.
Ques. Would not Peter here have reference to the Jewish hope by contrast?
Yes, it is the contrast with having Canaan, and all that on earth.
Ques. Then it is not the new birth in verse 3?
Yes, it is; what else is it?
Ques. I understood it to be in contrast with the Jewish hope on earth?
Just so, so it is; here, the inheritance is in heaven; but the difference between this and Ephesians is, that in the latter we are seen sitting in the heavenlies in Christ, i.e., in Christ in glory.
Ques. How could that be a royal priesthood?
Ques. Is it not the highest official dignity here?
Well, yes, as to official dignity, but we are sons.
Ques. Does Peter see that the saints will be in the excellent glory as in the transfiguration?
Well, I suppose he does, he speaks of " an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled," and so on. The one thing we have not in his epistle, is, union with Christ by the Holy Ghost.
Ques. Would you say that we have eternal life in Peter?
It is not developed in Peter. Nor is there a hint about God's love in Peter, though we find the things that flow from it. God has wrought this, and God has given that, and God keeps us safe and so on, but we never have what we find in Paul and John, " God so loved the world." It is a governed world in view, and also a people for whom redemption has been wrought, the perfect standing of a Christian with an inheritance in heaven and the Holy Ghost come down from heaven.
Ques. Why is that in Peter?
Because that is what God employed him to teach.
Peter presents the facts of our redemption and actual standing, but we do not find Peter saying, " Ye are dead "; he does say, " He that hath suffered in the flesh." Paul speaks of " dead to sin," and he goes right to the root; Peter says, " dead to sins," but that is another thing, it is practice, not root. The moment we are in Christ, we are in a totally new place, where man, looked at as born of Adam, is done with. But Peter gives the whole statement of our relationship to God as redeemed and quickened, and as walking down here with a hope up there. And government then comes in-we are kept by God's power through faith. The rapture is not mentioned, for this is an act of grace, not an act of government. But 2 Peter 1:1919We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2 Peter 1:19), is a most interesting passage, for we have this dark world-Satan's darkness-and this light of God to show us how all here is going rapidly on to judgment. In Ephesians, we find the most violent contrast conceivable. " Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor," and then, " Fornication, and all uncleanness,... let it not be once named among you." From speaking of our being imitators of God Himself, Paul drops suddenly down to speak of all that is vile in a man.
In verses 6 and 7, it is government again, but towards us as walking down here, redeemed, and having this inheritance above. In verse 7, the fruits of these dealings in government with us are yet to come out. It is not with Peter the taking up a poor sinner and putting him in the glory with Christ, for that is not his line.
Ques. What is the salvation of soul?
It is, I think, in contrast with the deliverance that Israel had, soul salvation contrasted with temporal deliverance. Then, in verses 10 and 11, comes an orderly statement. The prophets of old spake both of the sufferings of Christ, and of the glories which were to follow; but we stand now between sufferings finished, and glories yet to come. The prophets were foretelling these things; but they had not yet come, and so they searched to see what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, and as they studied thus their own testimonies, it was revealed to them that not unto themselves, but unto us did they minister such things; this is very striking, for so far were they from telling forth the expectations of their own minds, that they had to study their own prophecies to understand them, if possible. But now the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven reports these things to us, things which are yet to be brought unto us, but are reported now.
Ques. Is "the grace that is to be brought unto you," the same as "the grace that should come unto you"?
Yes. It does not state that we have got it, but the glory is reported, and that by the Holy Ghost sent down. Until Pentecost, the Holy Ghost was not, i.e., had not come; but that which distinguishes Christianity is, that the Holy Ghost has come down here. Just as of old, Christ, looked at as corning down here, was not. All this does not go on into Paul's statement, nor into John's. Peter's is complete and perfect in itself.
Ques. Christianity and " this salvation " are not the same?
No, we have soul salvation and eternal life, and Christianity makes us wait for them. It is a report now. We are changed, but we have not a single thing excepting life and the Holy Ghost. Of the things that belong to us as being alive, we have nothing but the earnest of the inheritance.
Ques. We have the new nature?
Yes, that is eternal life, and yet, even as to that, in the full purpose of God, the end is everlasting life. God has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, He has called us to His own kingdom and glory, but we are not there yet. We are waiting for that. The grace of God has appeared teaching us to wait for the glory; it is all revealed, and we have the life that enjoys it as a revelation, but we have not yet come into the estate.
Ques. Then verses 6-9 are a parenthesis?
Yes; only that when the revelation comes by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, other things are brought in. As the Lord says to Nicodemus, " If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? " It was necessary even for the Jews to be born again for their earthly things.
Ques. Is the “last time" a Christian term?
Well, we get, “in the last days." “The world to come " was a Jewish term.
Ques. Is it like John's " last time "?
Well, there we find antichrist; the day of the Lord and the days immediately preceding it are the last time. Messiah is come, and He is not come; Elias is come and he is not come, and we never see clearly a statement of this kind until we see that. Messiah shall be cut off, and shall have nothing. As yet, He has none of the things that belong to Him.
The moment the Son was here, the Father's name was revealed though they did not understand it. And as soon as the Holy Ghost came down we have the Spirit of adoption, and Christ's place where we are heirs; but all this did not form part of Jewish promises, any more than the church did.
The whole state in Peter is different, without going to Paul, because the vail is rent. Present relationship with God is made perfectly clear, by redemption, and the new nature, and the Holy Ghost, too, and that is an immense thing. In this very chapter we read, " Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory." Do we mean to say that God gave His Son for us? Then there is perfect love in the heart of God; I believe in God by Christ, and I say, ' Out of the depth of His own heart God would have me with Himself,' and this He has shown by rending the vail from top to bottom. Certain privileges were not thereby revealed, but, as brought to God, my soul's relationship with Him is revealed. " Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end.". So we are calling upon the Father as children during the time of our sojourning here, and this is our place of relationship with God during all this present time (vv. 13-17). This is practically where we are.
Ques. "In fear"?
Fear is a very good thing, " Happy is the man that feareth alway," " Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?" " The fear of the Loed is the beginning of wisdom." Of course, it has nothing to do here with final judgment, Peter does not think of that with fear. But though we are calling on the Father, and His name has been revealed, and the Holy Ghost has come down from heaven, and the Father is keeping His children, still it is as a holy Father, so let us mind what we are about.
Ques. " Judgeth according to every man's work," is this a present thing?
Quite so; otherwise, " the Father judgeth no man." He then goes to the foundation of it all, " Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things."
Ques. Why does he bring in silver and gold?
It is the general character of the infinite price with which we have been redeemed, contrasted with poor corruptible things such as silver and gold.
Ques. People sometimes ask how we know it is the last time?
We find it from Scripture, as we have seen in John. The Jews understood the term very well. Jude speaks of the corruption of the Church, brought in by false brethren, and John, of their going out from us in apostasy. The two characters of the last days are (1) turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and (2) apostasy or giving it up. This is all going on openly to-day; but then, it crept in. Though the last days are spoken of, and perilous times also, yet the Lord allowed the evil to come out in germ at that time, so that we should have the word of God about it all. Enoch prophesied about them.
Ques. If it were the last time then, does it not show that time is not now marked?
The moment Christ was rejected, all was closed, except the present time of mercy. As Christians, we do not belong to this world at all.