Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Peter 1:8
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8. if these things be in you ] The Greek verb expresses the idea of permanent property or possession, as in Mat 19:21; 1Co 13:3. For “abound,” better multiply, as expressing the activity of life in each as reproducing itself in manifold acts.
they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful ] The words in italics are not necessary for the meaning and make the structure of the sentence awkward. Better, they make you neither idle nor yet unfruitful. The word for “barren” is found in the “idle” of Mat 12:36; Mat 20:3, and elsewhere. The English “barren” introduces a gratuitous tautology.
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ] Rather, unto or towards, the Greek preposition pointing to “the knowledge ” not as the region in which their activity is to work, but as the goal to which all that activity should be tending. The “knowledge” is the higher epignosis of 2Pe 1:3, and its position here, as the end and crown of the Christian hope, well illustrates its relation to the gnosis which belongs to an earlier and less perfect state.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For if these things be in you, and abound – If they are in you in rich abundance; if you are eminent for these things.
They make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful – They will show that you are not barren or unfruitful. The word rendered barren, is, in the margin, idle. The word idle more accurately expresses the sense of the original. The meaning is, that if they evinced these things, it would show.
(1)That they were diligent in cultivating the Christian graces, and,
(2)That it was not a vain thing to attempt to grow in knowledge and virtue.
Their efforts would be followed by such happy results as to be an encouragement to exertion. In nothing is there, in fact, more encouragement than in the attempt to become eminent in piety. On no other efforts does God smile more propitiously than on the attempt to secure the salvation of the soul and to do good. A small part of the exertions which men put forth to become rich, or learned, or celebrated for oratory or heroism, would secure the salvation of the soul. In the former, also, men often fail; in the latter, never.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Pe 1:8-9
Ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful.
Fruits of the knowledge of Christ
Among the most beautiful emblems of the Christian life in Scripture are those employed to shadow forth its fruitfulness. The choicest and noblest trees, the majesty and gracefulness of whose form delight our eye, or whose fruits regale our taste, are the Divinely chosen types of saved and sanctified men.
I. The supreme importance of Christian fruitfulness. It was not that your leaves might idly wave in the sun, be fanned with the pleasant breath and sprinkled with the refreshing dews of heaven, that you were taken from the wild forest of nature and planted in the garden of God; but that you might reward the husbandmans care with abundance of the fruits of righteousness. And, if this result is not realised, you may read His deep sorrow and anger in the words pronounced over Israel (Isa 5:6). Fearful is the doom of barrenness (Heb 6:7-9).
II. Fruitfulness–in what it consists. It is in a mans works and words and influence that, according to the view of the apostle, we are to find the fruits of the Christian life. Do not tell us of feelings and experiences, of qualities and graces, of which you say you are conscious; unless these inward impulses and affections make your life fertile in holy and loving purposes and performances. It is by what a man does that it becomes known what he is. The fruit proceeds from the tree, but is distinct from it. It is elaborated by the tree from the juices that circulate through root and stem and branch. The air, and light, and moisture, and nutritious elements of the soil contribute the materials; but the tree, out of these, by the power of its wondrous life, forms a product altogether new. And so, like the bounteous fruit-tree, every man who rightly fills his place in Gods vineyard is not a consumer only but a producer. The world is the better for him. What has been taken into his own soul from above and from around–the doctrine of Gods Word–the influences of Gods Spirit–the lessons of nature and Providence–mingles with his being, and is changed and elaborated into holy thoughts, which may refresh thousands of hearts–into precious words of truth and power to become the germs of life in others, and into deeds of holiness and love.
III. The degree in which fruitfulness is attainable. Barren and unfruitful–are not two terms to express the same idea. A fallow field, which yields nothing for the reapers sickle, is barren in the sense here meant. A field which rewards the husbandmans toil with only a scanty crop would be appropriately designated unfruitful. He is far from exhibiting the perfection of the Divine life, who, like the bleak patch beside the lonely cottage on the side of some stony bill, produces but a poor and precarious harvest, although he has made a great and happy transition from the desert barrenness of an unregenerate state. Maturity in grace, with its rich and mellow clusters, is a spectacle as lovely as it is rare. Where it does exist, it is often hidden from the view in many a humble home, in many a sequestered path. It is by our bearing much fruit, our Saviour tells us, that His Father is glorified in us. It is His continual aim that the fruitful branch may become more fruitful still.
IV. The productive energies of the life of faith. To be fruitful, all the functions of a tree must be in a healthy, vigorous state, its roots drawing nutriment from beneath, its leaves drinking in the dew and sunshine, the sap stirring through trunk and branch and leaf. If all its activities are in full and healthy play, its energies will not be wasted in excessive growths of foliage and useless sprays, but it will in its season bring forth fruit. What qualities must our souls possess in order to secure fruitfulness? They are virtue, knowledge, self-restraint, patience, godliness, brotherliness, charity. They impart to the soul a stamina and vigour, which not only preserve its life in the drought of summer and amid the icy winds of winter, but load the boughs with fruit. (W. Wilson, M. A.)
The choir of graces
In ancient Athens there was a class of officers called chorus-leaders, who represented the various tribes and at public festivals or religious rejoicings for a victory, brought out a chorus to lead the songs of the people. These leaders were not always singers or practical musicians, but they equipped the chorus and paid the cost of marshalling it upon public occasions. Hence the term which denoted their office came to mean in general, one who provides supplies, and, therefore, as in the text, add to or supply to faith, virtue, and the whole train of graces. Faith is the leader of this choir; virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly-love, and charity are marshalled under faith as their leader, to swell the praises of Christ from an obedient and loving soul. Faith is the clef which gives the key in which these seven notes of the perfect scale are sounded. Faith organises and sustains the chorus and has a place for each in its well-trained band. When all are assembled faith drills them into harmony. But if any one be wanting faith itself appears defective, and the soul is out of tune. It is as if the first violin were wanting at a Philharmonic concert, or the trumpet obligate should fail to sound in the resurrection scene of Handels Messiah.
1. That one who is wanting in these graces and takes no pains to cultivate them has no warrant to believe himself a Christian. Every one of these virtues being thus inward and spiritual, and having an intimate and necessary relation to faith in Christ, where these are wanting there can be no living germinating faith. I do not understand the apostle to teach that completeness in each of these virtues, and the exact proportion and harmony of the whole are essential to a Christian character; but are not these graces themselves, each and all of them, so essential to that character that if any one of them is wholly wanting, neither possessed nor sought after, he who is thus deficient is blind and destitute as to the Christian character and life? A true Christian may betray a lack of moral courage in certain emergencies, as did Peter after the arrest of Jesus. But suppose Peter had continued to deny Christ at every approach of danger, should we not have classed him with the apostate Judas? One may be a true Christian whose knowledge of Christian doctrine is meagre, and who makes frequent mistakes in practice. But if, after five, ten, twenty years, one knows no more of the Bible and has no more heart-knowledge of Christ, shall we continue to regard his experience of conversion as genuine? A Christian may sometimes neglect a call of charity, or set aside a real claim upon his love. But if he never heeds such a call, can he be a child of our Father in heaven? Moreover, since all these graces may be imitated, the positive and entire lack of one proves the rest to be counterfeit or superficial.
2. A full and symmetrical development of these graces is the most satisfactory evidence and the most beautiful exhibition of Christian faith. The mind delights its symmetry. The symmetrical development of the human form, in which each member and feature, perfect in itself, is well proportioned to every other, is our ideal of beauty. This symmetry of form and feature, extending to every line of the countenance and every muscle of the anatomy, is the life-like perfection of the statue; proportion is indispensable to beauty in architecture; symmetry and perspective to the harmony of colours, to the effect of painting; chord and harmonies, preserved even in the most difficult combinations of sound, are the highest charm of music; rhythm, the measured and regular succession of sounds, is essential to good poetry; the proportion of numbers and of mathematical laws enters into every science which aims at completeness. But in nothing is this symmetry so strenuously insisted upon as in moral character. The sharp and sometimes carping criticism of men of the world upon the faults and even the peccadilloes of professed Christians shows the demand of conscience for completeness of character, and does homage to Christianity itself as a complete system of morality. Hence the New Testament lays much stress upon completeness of Christian character; for the word perfection signifies not so much the absolute sinlessness of a sanctified nature, as the completeness, the full symmetrical development of the renewed man in all the graces of the Christian life. This conscious, steady, visible growth in all the graces is the best evidence of a renewed heart. This full and symmetrical development of the Christian graces makes to the world a most beautiful and convincing exhibition of the Christian faith. A perfect Christian character is one in enumerating whose graces you can always say and, and never interpose a but. The average Christian character is sadly marred by that little disjunctive conjunction–He is a very good man–but; He is kind and charitable at heart–but rough and irritable in manner; he is temperate and patient–but lacking charity; he is reverent and devout–but lacks moral courage.
3. The abounding of these graces in the soul will make it fruitful in the knowledge of Christ–will insure for it a progressive and rewarding piety. The relation of heart-culture to the enjoyment of religion is like that of good agriculture to a good crop. You cannot have a garden by merely purchasing a place. The soil may be of excellent quality, and the situation most favourable; the title may be well secured, and the party of whom you buy may make most abundant promises as to the fertility and beauty of the ground; but unless you give all diligence to make and stock the garden, unless you dig and plant, and weed and trim, your title, deed, and promises will not give you a single shrub or flower. If well-selected fruits and flowers are in your garden and abound, they will make you fruitful in the knowledge of its capacities and in the enjoyment of its pleasures. Two reflections are obvious here.
1. If Christians find no enjoyment in religion, it is because they have failed to cultivate its particular and combined graces.
2. The highest fruitfulness of a Church is to be secured by the perfecting of personal character in its members. (Joseph P. Thompson.)
Two sorts of Christians
I. The bright picture of what every christian may and should be.
1. Every Christian may have for his own in assured possession that whole series of lustrous beauties of character (2Pe 1:5-7). You may be strong and discerning and temperate, etc. It is a prize within your reach; is it in any sense a prize within your possession?
2. We may each have an increasing possession of all these graces. If these things be yours and abound, or, as the word ought more accurately to be rendered and increase. The expression suggests that if in any real sense they are in you, they will be increasingly in you. The oftener a man lavishes the treasures of his love the richer is the love which he has to lavish. The more rigidly he schools and disciplines himself the more complete becomes his command over his unruly nature.
3. We may all, if we will, have these graces making us diligent and faithful. The meaning of the word rendered barren is, as the Revised Version and the margin of the Authorised give it, idle. Well, that seems a little thing, that all that aggregation of Christian graces has only for its effect to make men not idle, not unfruitful. And it seems, to some extent, too, illogical, because all these graces are themselves the result of diligence, and are themselves fruit. But the apparent difficulty, like many of the other anomalous expressions of Scripture, covers deep thoughts. The first is this–Look after your characters and work will look after itself. The world says, Do! do! do! Christianity says, Be! be! be! If you are right, then, and only then will you do right. So learn this lesson, do not waste your time in tinkering at actions, go deeper down and make the actor right, and then the actions will not be wrong. The highest exercises of these radiant gems of Christian graces is to make men diligent and fruitful, Again, it takes the whole of these Christian graces to overcome our natural indolence. The pendulum will be sure to settle into the repose that gravitation dictates unless the clock be kept wound up, and it needs all the wheels and springs to keep it ticking for its four and twenty hours. The homely duty of hard work, the prosaic virtue of diligence, is the very flower and highest product of all these transcendent graces. Then, still further, there is a lesson here in the collocation of the words before us, namely, an idle Christian is certain to be a barren one. And now the last point in this picture of what all Christian people may be is–by the exercise of diligence and fruitfulness attain to a fuller knowledge of Christ. Literally rendered, the text reads, towards the knowledge. There be two measures of knowledge of Christ. There is that initial one which dawns upon a heart in the midst of its sin and evil, and assures it of a loving friend and of a Divine Redeemer; and there is the higher, constantly expanding, deepening, becoming more intimate and unbroken, more operative on the life and transforming in the character, which is the reward and the crown of earth, and the crown and heaven of heaven. And it is this knowledge which the apostle here says, will follow if, and only if, we have striven to add to our faith all these graces, and they have made us strenuous in service and fruitful in holiness.
II. The contrasted outlines of the black picture of what some of us are.
1. It is possible for a man to be purged from his old sins and yet not to be growing. It is a case of arrested development, as you sometimes see a man with the puny limbs of childhood; or, as you sometimes see a plant, which you cannot say is dead, but it has not vitality enough to flower or to fruit.
2. Further, such a one is blind, or, as the apostle goes on to explain, or, if you like, to correct himself, he cannot see afar off. The apostle employs a unique word to express cannot see afar off, which, if you will pardon the vulgarism for the sake of the force, I would venture to translate blinks. There was a time when you had clear vision. The smoky roof of your cabin was rent, and you saw through it up to the Throne, but your eyes have gone dim because you have been careless to develop your faith; and where there is no development of faith there is retrogression of faith. Therefore, all the far-off glories have faded, and the only things that you see are the things that are temporal, the material, the pressure of present cares, and the like.
3. Let me remind you of the last point in this sad picture. He hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Yes! These idle unfruitful Christians have in their memories, if they would only open the cupboard door and look, a blessed gift long ago given that might, and that ought to stimulate them. They are their own worst condemnation. There was a time when they felt the burden of sin upon their consciences when they hated it and desired to be free from it. And what has it all come to? The sins forgiven have come back; the sins hated have reasserted their dominion; Pharaoh has caught them again. The moments emancipation has been followed by a recrudescence of all the old transgressions. So they contradict themselves and their own past and contravene the purpose of God in their pardon, and, with monstrous ingratitude, are untouched by the tender motives to growth in holiness which lie in the pouring out of the blood which cleanses from all sin. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.—
Our Lord Jesus Christ
As He is Lord He can, as He is Jesus He will, as He is Christ He doth, as He is Our He shall save us. Lord; consider His righteousness. Jesus; consider His sweetness. Christ; consider His willingness. Our; consider His goodness that gives us interest in Himself and vouchsafes us to challenge His mercy. Lord, in regard of His dominion (Psa 99:1). Jesus, in regard of His salvation (Psa 68:20). Christ, in regard of the promise (Joh 7:26; Joh 7:41). Our, in regard of His appropriating Himself unto us (Heb 2:16). Lord, in His power, His works declare Him to be the Lord (Psa 135:6). Jesus, in being made (Gal 4:4; Joh 1:14). Christ, in being sacrificed and crucified for us (1Co 11:24). Our, in respect of the covenant (Heb 8:10). Infinite mercy! The Lords Christ is become our Jesus (Luk 2:26). (Thos. Adams.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. For if these things be in you and abound] If ye possess all there graces, and they increase and abound in your souls, they will make-show, you to be neither , idle, nor , unfruitful, in the acknowledgment of our Lord Jesus Christ. The common translation is here very unhappy: barren and unfruitful certainly convey the same ideas; but idle or inactive, which is the proper sense of , takes away this tautology, and restores the sense. The graces already mentioned by the apostle are in themselves active principles; he who was possessed of them, and had them abounding in him, could not be inactive; and he who is not inactive in the way of life must be fruitful. I may add, that he who is thus active, and consequently fruitful, will ever be ready at all hazard to acknowledge his Lord and Saviour, by whom he has been brought into this state of salvation.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For if these things be in you, and abound; if ye not only have these graces in you, but abound or grow in them, both as to the inward degree and outward exercise of them.
They make you; either they make you, or declare you, not to be barren, or both; they will be both the causes and evidences of your not being barren.
Barren; or, slothful, idle, unactive.
Nor unfruitful; void of good works, which are frequently compared to fruits, Mat 3:10; 7:17-19; Gal 5:22.
In the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; i.e. the faith of Christ. But more is implied here than expressed; q.d. They will make you be active and fruitful in the knowledge of Christ, and declare you to be so, and thereby make it appear that ye have not in vain learned Christ.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. beGreek, “subsist”that is, supposing these things to have an actual subsistencein you; “be” would express the mere matter-of-fact being(Ac 16:20).
aboundmore than inothers; so the Greek.
make“render,””constitute you,” habitually, by the very fact ofpossessing these graces.
barren“inactive,”and, as a field lying fallow and unworked (Greek), sobarren and useless.
unfruitful inrather, .. . in respect to, “The full knowledge (Greek)of Christ” is the goal towards which all these graces tend. Astheir subsisting in us constitutes us not barren oridle, so their abounding in us constitutes us notunfruitful in respect to it. It is through doing His will,and so becoming like Him, that we grow in knowing Him (Joh7:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For if these things be in you,…. Are wrought in you by the Spirit of God, and exercised and performed by his assistance, who works in his people both to will and do:
and abound; increase in their acts and exercises by the frequent performance of them: they make you; both by way of influence and evidence,
[that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a knowledge of Christ which is barren and fruitless; and those that have it are so in their conversations, and it will be of no avail to them another day: and this is a mere notional and speculative knowledge, such as is not attended with any inward experience and application of Christ to themselves, or any fruits of righteousness in their lives, and is a bare theory of things relating to his person, offices, and works; but there is a knowledge of him that is spiritual and experimental, by which a soul not only approves of Christ, but places its trust and confidence in him, and appropriates him to himself, and practically observes his commands and ordinances in the faith of him; and in love to him he performs the above duties, and exercises the above graces; from whence it appears, that he is neither barren nor unfruitful himself in the profession of his knowledge of Christ; “or in the acknowledgment of him”, as it may be rendered; nor is that a vain, empty, and useless thing: he is not like the barren fig tree, or the earth that bears briers and thorns, and is nigh to cursing and burning, but like a tree planted by a river of water, and is green, flourishing, and fruitful. This is used as an argument to enforce the foregoing exhortation, to add to, that is, to exercise and perform the above graces and duties, in conjunction with each other.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
For if these things are yours and abound ( ). Present active circumstantial (conditional) participles neuter plural of and (see 1Th 3:12) with dative case , “these things existing for you (or in you) and abounding.”
They make you to be (). “Render” (present active indicative of , old verb, Jas 3:6), singular because neuter plural.
Not idle nor unfruitful ( ). Accusative predicative plural with understood, both adjectives with alpha privative, for see Jas 2:20 and for Mt 13:22.
Knowledge (). “Full (additional) knowledge” as in 1:2.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Be in you [] . Rev., are yours; following the sense of possession which legitimately belongs to the verb; as Mt 19:21, that thou hast; 1Co 13:3, goods. In the sense of being the verb is stronger than the simple einai, to be; denoting being which is from the beginning, and therefore attaching to a person as a proper characteristic; something belonging to him, and so running into the idea of rightful possession as above.
Barren [] . From aj, not, and ergon, work. Hence, more correctly, as Rev., idle. Compare “idle word” (Mt 12:36); “standing idle” (Mt 20:3, 6); also, 1Ti 5:13. The tautology, barren and unfruitful, is thus avoided.
In the knowledge [] . Rev., more correctly, unto. The idea is not idleness in the knowledge, but idleness is pressing on and developing toward and finally reaching the knowledge. With this agrees the compound ejpignwsin, the constantly increasing and finally full knowledge.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For if these things be in you and abound.” For these things (Seven Christian Virtues) (Greek huparchonta) “being in you” and (Greek pleonazonta) abounding or existing in great quantity, Pro 28:20; Rom 15:13; 2Co 8:7.
2) “They make you that ye shall be neither barren.” Not barren, unproductive, or (Greek argous) “unresponsive” or idle they make you.
3) “Nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Nor (Greek akarpous) unfruitful, like a non-bearing tree, in the (Greek epignosin) overseeing or full, experimental knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fruit, more fruit, and much fruit the Lord desires of His children, Joh 15:1-5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. For if these things be in you. Then, he says, you will at length prove that Christ is really known by you, if ye be endued with virtue, temperance, and the other endowments. For the knowledge of Christ is an efficacious thing and a living root, which brings forth fruit. For by saying that these things would make them neither barren nor unfruitful, he shews that all those glory, in vain and falsely, that they have the knowledge of Christ, who boast of it without love, patience, and the like gifts, as Paul also says in Eph 4:20,
“
Ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put off the old man,” etc.
For he means that those who possess Christ without newness of life, have never been rightly taught his doctrine.
But he would not have the faithful to be only taught patience, godliness, temperance, love; but he requires a continual progress to be made as to these endowments, and that justly, for we are as yet far off from the goal. We ought, therefore, always to make advances, so that God’s gifts may continually increase in us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2Pe. 1:8-9 For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle or unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he that lacketh these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.
Expanded Translation
For if these things are your possessions and superabound, you are not caused to be lazy (idle, at leisure) or unfruitful (not developing good works or personal virtues) as you direct your minds toward a full and accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he who does not possess these things (mentioned above) is blind (to the truly good life) being near-sighted; having taken on a short memory (i.e., being forgetful) concerning the cleansing from his old (former) sins.
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For if these things are yours
That is, the things spoken of in 2Pe. 1:5-7. The verb are yours (huparcho) here refers to ones goods, possessions, or propertythat which he himself possesses.
and abound
To superabound, be more than enough, to have in abundance, The word is pleonazo, which is from the root verb pleo, to fill. We must strive to fill our cup up and let it run over with these graces!
they make you to be not idle
Argos, according to Thayer, is compounded from the alpha negative plus ergon, work. Hence, literally, one without work or one who does not workan inactive, idle person. His definition here is, lazy, shunning the labor which one ought to perform.
or unfruitful
Akarpos, bearing no fruit. A fruitful person is one who, as he grows older in the faith, produces in his life those Christian virtues that are a blessing to himself, God, and man.[49] He leads other souls to Christ, reproducing after his own kind, and dispenses to others such fruits as are edifying and nourishing.
[49] See Joh. 15:1-8, Heb. 13:15, Tit. 3:14, Mat. 7:15-23, Php. 1:11, and Col. 1:10 on the subject of fruitbearing.
unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
That is, as we direct our minds toward the acquisition of the knowledge of Christ. Here again we have the significant word epignosis for knowledge (see 2Pe. 1:2). We noticed the normal word for knowledge (gnosis) appeared in 2Pe. 1:6 as one of those virtues to be added as we obtain the full, rich, and intimate knowledge (epignosis) of Christ for which we are striving. All of the qualities of 2Pe. 1:5-7 are necessary as abounding possessions if we would have the epignosis of Christ.
for he that lacketh these things is blind, seeing only what is near
The last five words are only one in the originalmuopazon, a present participle which might be rendered being near-sighted, or being dim-sighted. It specifies the particular kind of blindness that afflicts this manpurblindness. Heaven, and the things that pertain to the spiritual life are pictured here as off in the distanceperceptible only to those with good eyesight (spiritual eyes); for some, having eyes, see not (Mar. 8:18). The Laodicean church was so blinded (Rev. 3:17). Spiritual truths, to such a one, are covered with a blanket of smoke,[50] and he does not perceive their true significance.
[50] The verb tuphloo, to blind, is from the root tupho, to raise a smoke, to darken by smoke. Now, when the air is filled with smoke, ones vision is limitedthe more smoke, the less vision. Discernment is difficult, except for things near. So it is with ones spiritual discernment, when his mind is beclouded with the affairs of this life. He sees only the nearby thingsthe things of this corrupt world!
Do not fail to notice who the blind one is in this passage. It is the man who fails to see his need of adding these traits (2Pe. 1:5-7) to his life, and therefore does not possess them. The immediate, convenient, and lustful things attract himbut they lead to damnation!
having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins
His eyesight is short and so is his memory! Isaiah reminded the righteous of Israel, look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and the hole of the pit whence ye were digged, (Isa. 51:1). To become forgetful and unmindful of what a blessing it is to have our sins removed is disastrous to our souls! Blessed is he David said, whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psa. 32:1. See also Psa. 103:1-4). If we do not frequently recall to our minds the great blessing of being clean through the blood of Jesus, we will soon go back to the dogvomit and the sow-wallow (2Pe. 2:22).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(8) For if these things be in you.First reason for the preceding exhortationthe benefit of having these graces. The original of be in you is a strong expression, implying permanent and not mere momentary existence.
And abound.Strictly, and multiply or increase. (Comp. Rom. 5:20, and Note there; Rom. 6:1; 2Th. 1:3, where the same inadequate translation occurs in the Authorised version.)
Neither be barren nor unfruitful.Better, not idle nor yet unfruitful. Cranmer, Tyndale, and Geneva all have ydle. The Greek word literally means without worki.e., doing nothing, as unfruitful means producing nothing. That ye shall be is not in the Greek, and is not needed. The two adjectives idle and unfruitful exactly correspond to the two verbs be in you and increase. If these things be in you, you will be morally active; if they increase, you will be morally productive.
In the knowledge.Rather, unto the knowledge; the fuller, more advanced knowledge of 2Pe. 1:2-3, and 2Pe. 2:20. This is the goal towards which all these virtues tend, the fruit which they tend to producethe perfect knowledge of Christ. Those who are the most like Christ in their lives have the fullest knowledge of Him in this world, a knowledge to be perfected in the next world, when, purified from sin, we shall see Him as He is. This clause, without the negatives, accurately describes the condition of the false teachers whom the Apostle has in view. They were both idle and unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. They neither did nor produced anything that in any degree advanced such knowledge either in themselves or others. The list of virtues just commended (2Pe. 1:5-7) constitutes a solemn indictment against them. Practical infidelity leading to vicious conduct; a hollow and pretentious philosophy leading to libertinism; an impatience of control leading to utter godlessness; a selfish indifference to the claims of those nearest to them ending in absolute heartlessness towards all mensuch is the charge brought against them, by implication here, directly in 2 Peter 2.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. These things The graces just enumerated.
Be in you Not merely existing, but residing.
Abound Increase and grow, as they ought and will, if, while God does his part, we are careful to do ours toward becoming partakers of the divine nature.
They make you Such is their true function. Sanctification is by faith, indeed, but these things must accompany the faith.
Barren Better, Inactive.
In the knowledge Rather, Toward the full knowledge. This is the goal. The culture and increase of these graces leave no room for idle dreams; and work produces its fruit in a true progress toward the perfect knowledge of our Lord, the Sovereign; Jesus, the Saviour; Christ, the Messiah.
‘For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
The importance of these ‘virtues’ is now brought out. Those who abound in them will neither be idle nor unfruitful with regard to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be stirred to activity in testifying to Christ (1Pe 3:15) and in good works which reveal Christ (1Pe 2:9; Mat 5:16), and they will study to show themselves approved to God (1Pe 2:2; 2Ti 2:15). Thus will they grow daily in their knowledge of Him.
The fruitful diligence of the Christians:
v. 8. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
v. 9. But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
v. 10. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall;
v. 11. for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Having depicted the way of sanctification, the development of a Christian in holiness, the apostle shows how self-evident is the life of good works: For as these virtues exist and increase to you, they will not set you forth idle or unfruitful toward the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. With the very first beginning of faith the Christian will show, will give evidence of, its presence in good works and deeds. But there is no such thing as standing still in sanctification; a Christian must constantly increase and grow in good works, as the fruits and the outflow of the faith and the disposition and inclination toward all good virtues which live in his heart. Their power is so great as simply to render it impossible for a believer to be barren, like a withered tree, or unfruitful, like one that has foliage, but no fruit. Faith is a living, active power in the heart of the believer, and the more this power gives evidence of its existence in the entire life of the Christian, the more he will grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the blessing which the Lord has laid upon the faithfulness for which He is ready to supply the Christian with new strength day after day. Col 1:10-11.
On the other hand, it is also true: For he with whom these virtues are not present is blind, being short-sighted, having assumed forgetfulness of the former cleansing of his sins. If a person does not possess faith and love toward God in his heart, even if he is a member of a Christian congregation, he is at least partially blind, since he is so short-sighted that he cannot look beyond the temporal things nearest at hand. His mind is engaged only with earthly matters, because he has forgotten what wonderful gifts the Lord imparted to him through the forgiveness of sins applied to him at the time when he came to faith. In other words, his behavior shows that he has lost the faith which was given him at the time of his conversion, he no longer has any eyes for the glories of heavenly things.
The admonition of the apostle, therefore, is altogether timely: So be all the more eager, brethren, to make sure your calling and election; for, doing this, you will never stumble. God has issued to us the call of grace in the Gospel, thus assuring our hearts of His justifying and saving grace, Rom 8:30. And this is in accordance with His election: for to this end God has predestinated and foreordained us, that we should be called, be justified and sanctified through faith, and be given eternal salvation, 1Th 1:4-5. This call and election of God is sure on His part, 1Pe 1:5; Joh 10:27-30. But it would be the height of foolish arrogance for a Christian to argue that he can act and live as he chooses in the world; for, according to the will of God, His elect children are to walk forward to the realization and enjoyment of their hope on the paths of sanctification, 2Th 2:13-14; Eph 1:4. The argument of the true believer, therefore, is this, that he will be happy only on the ways of righteousness, in order that he may be certain and comfort himself with the assurance that he belongs to the elect of God, Eph 4:1: Php_2:12 . Those that foolishly risk their soul’s salvation by a life of sin and self-indulgence will soon find that they will stumble and fall, never to arise again. God will not be mocked.
The believers that are in every way conducting themselves as true children of God have the comforting assurance: For thus shall be richly furnished to you the entrance to the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If Christians thus follow the will of their heavenly Father in making their calling and election sure, then God will mercifully reward their faithfulness. He will offer to them, He will open up before them, the way, the entrance to the riches of His mercy, that they may enter into, and enjoy to the fullest extent, the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Note the heaping up in this verse of words suggesting splendor and richness.
2Pe 1:8. For if these things be in you, and abound, &c. For your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ will not be barren and fruitless, if these virtues take place and improve in you. Heylin. The words make youneither barren nor fruitless, are, by a meiosis, put for will make you very diligent and fruitful. One grand end of our Christian knowledge andtruth is, that we may be diligent and fruitful, in works of holiness and righteousness. Tit 3:8; Tit 3:14.
2Pe 1:8 . Reason for the foregoing exhortation.
] i.e. the virtues above mentioned.
] For c. dat. cf. Act 3:6 ; intensifies the idea ; for , cf. my commentary to 1Ti 1:14 ; it means either: “to be present in abundance,” strictly, to exceed the measure (abundare), or: “to become more, to increase (crescere).” Here the first of these two meanings seems to deserve the preference; though not so in the judgment of Brckner, Wiesinger, Schott, Steinfass, Hofmann. The participles may be resolved into “in that,” “since” (Dietlein), or “if” (Brckner, Wiesinger, Schott); the latter is to be preferred, inasmuch as this verse refers back to the exhortation 2Pe 1:5 , and in “2Pe 1:9 the opposite is assumed as possible” (Brckner); thus: “ for if these virtues exist in you, and that in rich measure ;” Luther in his translation has combined the two translations.
] is to be supplied. Hornejus: est, cum ait: non inertes neque infructuosos pro operosos et fructuosos; Dietlein: “the and belong to the adjectives, not to .”
For , cf. 1Ti 5:13 ; Tit 1:12 ; , equivalent to “active;” cannot mean only “without fruit,” but “barren” also; cf. Eph 5:11 (as against Schott).
: the present is not put here for the future (Hornejus). According to Dietlein, Wiesinger, and Schott, should mean “to cause to appear, to exhibit,” so that the sense would be: “he who possesses these virtues, he thereby appears as bringing forth fruit with regard to the . . .,” by which is meant that his knowledge manifests itself as an active one; this is, however, incorrect, for: (1) A meaning is thereby attributed to which it never has, either in the classics or in the N. T. (not even in Jas 3:6 ; Jas 4:4 , and Rom 5:19 ); it means “to set up ,” but not to set forth , to exhibit, to manifest, etc. (2) It gives a meaning to such as that word has nowhere else, since the object with which it is to be taken is always to be thought of as the end , and that even in the more loose connection in which is equal to “with regard, with respect to.” (3) It is a somewhat idle, because a self-evident reflection, that if knowledge produce the above-named virtues, it thereby manifests itself as a knowledge that is not inactive. [35] It is also inaccurate to translate with Luther: “where such is present in abundance in you, it will let you be neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge,” etc., for is not equal to . The verb denotes in connection with an adjective: reddere, to make into, to set one up as; cf. Pape, s.v. ; and the preposition expresses the direction, so that the thought is: those virtues make you (or more exactly, place you as) active and fruitful with regard to knowledge, i.e. by them you are advanced with regard to knowledge; cf. Col 1:10 : (cf. Meyer in loc .); de Wette: “The author considers all these virtues only as steps to the knowledge of Jesus Christ; and this knowledge he regards not merely as theoretical, but as one to be obtained practically, a living into Him, and, at the same time, perfect;” thus, too, Brckner, Fronmller, Steinfass.
[35] This third reason also contradicts Hofmann’s interpretation, which he expresses thus: “The believer possesses the knowledge of Christ. If then, in aiming at it, he be neither inactive nor unfruitful, he makes this aiming the rule of all his actions, but so that they should be its work, its fruit.”
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ver. 8. If these things be in you ] What God doth for us, he doth by grace in us. And it is the growing Christian that is the assured Christian. While we are yet adding to every heap, we shall be both aetuosi et fructuosi; and so get more abundant entrance, and farther into the kingdom of Christ.
8, 9 .] Reasons for the foregoing exhortations : 1. positive , the advantage of these Christian graces in bringing forth fruit towards the mature knowledge of Christ: 2. negative , the disadvantage of their absence from the character.
8 .] For these things (the above-mentioned graces) being in you ( of previous subsistence, of mere matter-of-fact being: see note on Act 16:20 ) and multiplying (not merely as E. V. “ abounding :” see reff.) render you (not pres. for future, but as expressing the habitual character and function of these virtues) not idle ( = ) nor yet ( introduces a slight climax: a man may be in some sense not unworkful, but yet unfruitful) unfruitful towards ( not = as E. V. after Luth., Calv., Grot., al.: these virtues are all regarded as so many steps in advancing towards the of Christ, which is the great complex end of the Christian life) the perfect knowledge (here, considering the place which it holds, it is well to give the full sense of ) of our Lord Jesus Christ (in Him are hid, ethically as well as doctrinally, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: the knowledge of Him is the imitation of Him: for as it is true that hereafter the seeing Him as He is will ensure our being perfectly like Him, so it is true that here the only way in any degree increasingly to see Him as He is, is to become increasingly like Him. He only can declare Christ, who reflects Christ).
2Pe 1:8-11 . Further emphasis on the connexion between faith and morality, and its reward . “If you have these virtues, and are not sparing in your use of them, you will not be ineffective and unfruitful in the direction of deepening your Christian experience. Where these virtues are not present a man is blind, near-sighted as it were, and entirely forgetful of the great fact that he is purified from the sins of the past. With this danger in view, your earnest purpose ought to be to make sure your calling and election. Steadily practise these virtues and you will not stumble; for thus there will be ministered unto you an abundant entrance into the eternal kingdom.”
2Pe 1:8 . : “abound”. In classical use = “exaggerate”. The word here again emphasises the display of a regal, uncalculating and unwearied spirit in the practice of the Christian graces. . Perhaps “ineffective” or “ineffectual,” a meaning which is further emphasised in . In The Didache, 12, are given directions for discriminating genuine from false among the itinerant teachers. “If he wishes to settle with you and is a tradesman, let him work and let him eat. If he has no trade, according to your wisdom provide how he shall live as a Christian among you, but not in idleness ( ). If he will not do this, he is making merchandise of Christ. Beware of such men.” Here is illustrated the passage from the ordinary sense of , which really signifies “idle” for want of occupation, and not by choice, to the ethical significance. Cf. Jas 2:20 , “Faith without works is ”. Mat 20:6 , “Why stand ye here all the day, ?” and the reply. Cf. also use of in 2Pe 2:3 . In P. Par. II. 4(9) (iii. B.C.), certain quarrymen complain that they “are idle ( ) for want of slaves to clear away the sand”. Cf. P. Par. II. 20. . P. Lond. 208 (2. A.D.). . In P. Lond. III. p. 27 (a census-return of 160 or 161 A.D.) a certain Apollonius is described as belonging to “the leisured class of Memphis”. ( ). P. Fior. 1. P. Amh, 97? (both ii. A.D.) = “an oil-press which is out of working order” . Here the writer returns to the idea, introduced by in 2Pe 1:4 , that morality and religion are intimately connected. Some have sought to interpret the words as meaning “with reference to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” on the ground that has already been postulated as the source of “all things needed for life and godliness,” and cannot now be regarded as an end to be attained. Yet may be regarded as both the beginning and the end of morality ( cf. 2Pe 3:18 , Col 1:6 ff. Phi 1:9 ). The translation of A.V. is correct ( = in, expressive of result). . contrasted with marks “a higher degree of intensity, an energy of deeper penetration. It is not a quiescent state, the resting in an acquirement, but the advance of one to whom easy attainment is but the impulse of fresh effort; one who is not content to know, but ever, in Hosea’s words (Hos 6:3 ), follows on to know” (Paget, Spirit of Discipline , p. 112). Each advance in the Christian life deepens and widens our spiritual understanding. “Die . ist ihrer Natur nach etwas, was wchst” (Von Soden).
if, &c. = these things existing (Greek. huparcho. See Luk 9:48) in you, and abounding.
make = render. Greek. kathistemi. First occurance: Mat 24:45.
neither = not. App-105.
barren = useless. Greek. argos. See Mat 12:36.
nor. Greek. oude.
in. App-104.
8, 9.] Reasons for the foregoing exhortations: 1. positive, the advantage of these Christian graces in bringing forth fruit towards the mature knowledge of Christ: 2. negative, the disadvantage of their absence from the character.
2Pe 1:8. , these things) Virtue, moderation, etc. A condition is involved: If you have these things, then indeed you have true knowledge. Comp. 2Pe 1:9, for.- , if they are in you) in truth. The same phrase occurs, Act 3:6. The expression, not barren, refers to this.- , and abound) copiously. Abundance quickly follows truth. The expression, nor unfruitful, refers to this: that is, you shall have the fruit, which the knowledge of Jesus Christ produces, in excellence and abundance: ch. 2Pe 1:3.-, they render or establish) at present.-, in) Comp. , in, in respect to, Rom 4:20.-, the acknowledging) the recognition, united with the cleansing from sins.
in you: Joh 5:42, 2Co 9:14, 2Co 13:5, Phi 2:5, Col 3:16, Phm 1:6
and abound: 1Co 15:58, 2Co 8:2, 2Co 8:7, Phi 1:9, Col 2:7, Col 3:16, 1Th 3:12, 1Th 4:1, 2Th 1:3
they: Joh 15:7, Joh 15:8, 2Co 5:13-17
barren: or, idle, Pro 19:15, Mat 20:3, Mat 20:6, Mat 25:26, Rom 12:11, 1Ti 5:13, Heb 6:12
unfruitful: Mat 13:22, Joh 15:2, Joh 15:6, Tit 3:14
in: 2Pe 1:2
Reciprocal: Mat 13:21 – root Mat 25:18 – and hid Mar 4:19 – unfruitful Mar 4:20 – which Col 1:10 – fruitful 2Pe 3:18 – knowledge
2Pe 1:8. In you and abound. Thayer defines the original for the last word, “To superabound; to exist in abundance; to increase, be augmented.” It is one of the outstanding principles of the teaching in the Bible that the life of a servant of God should be one of growth. Hence the Christian should determine to make these “seven graces” increase in his life as the days go by. If he will do so it will assure him that he will be neither barren nor unfruitful. These words have about the same meaning and are used together as a matter of emphasis. The first specifically means “idle or inactive,” and that condition would necessarily result in absence of fruit-bearing. The particular kind of fruit just here being considered is worded knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. If a tree fails to bear fruit it may be attributed to a lack of moisture and other ingredients necessary to produce fruit, or to the failure of the plant to absorb those materials that are near it. Likewise if a disciple is inactive in the matter of acquiring the kno ledge of Christ that is within his reach in the Gospel (verses 2, 3), it can only result in a life that bears no fruit unto God. Such a state is dangerous for Jesus declares that all such trees will he hewn down and cast into the fire (Mat 7:19).
2Pe 1:8. For these things subsisting for you and multiplying. The A. V. throws this into the hypothetical formif these things, etc. The writer rather speaks of the graces as already in the readers, and thus gives both greater courtesy and greater force to his recommendation. The suggestive courtesy of the statement appears also in the phrase which the A. V. renders be in you, and the R. V. are yours, but which means rather subsisting for you. The word selected there is not the simple verb to be, but another which implies not only existence but continuous existence, and looks at the possession of graces as a thing characterizing the readers, not merely now, but in their original spiritual condition. It is the phrase which is used, e.g., in Php 2:6 of Christ as being in the form of God; in Act 7:53, of Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost; in 1Co 13:3, of all my goods; in Mat 19:21, sell all that thou hast. In these and similar cases, it implies rightful, settled possession, and looks back from the present moment to the antecedent condition of the subjects. The A. V. also misses the point of the other participle, the idea of which is not that of abounding, but rather that of increasing or multiplying (cf. Rom 5:20; Rom 6:1; 2Th 1:3). What is taken for granted, therefore, is not that these graces are in these believers in profusion, or in larger measure than in others, but that, being in them, they are steadily growing and expanding, and exhibiting all the evidence of vitality.
make you not idle nor yet unfruitful. The make is here expressed by a term which means to establish or constitute. The two adjectives are dealt with by the A. V. as if they meant the same thing. There is a clear distinction, however, between them. The latter means unfruitful. The former, however, means not barren but (as Cranmer, Tyndale, and the Genevan render it) idle. It is applied, e.g., to the idle word (Mat 12:36); to the useless idlers in the marketplace (Mat 20:3; Mat 20:6,a parable which may have been in Peters mind when he penned the passage); to the younger widows who are described as idle, wandering about from house to house (1Ti 5:13). The idea, therefore, is that where these graces are ones permanent inward property, at his command, and growing from strength to strength like things that live, they put him in a position, or create in him a constitution, under which it cannot be that he shall prove himself either a useless trifler doing no honest work, or an unprofitable servant effecting what is of no worth even when he gives himself to action.
unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The A. V. is again astray in rendering in the knowledge, etc. This knowledge (again with the intense sense of full, mature knowledge, as in 2Pe 1:2-3) is represented not as the thing in which they are to be not idle nor yet unfruitful, but as that with a view to which all else is enjoined,the goal toward which all else is meant to carry us. The sevenfold symmetry of the spiritual character, and the furnishing forth of all these varied graces, are recommended not as ends to themselves, but as means toward the higher end of an ever enlarging, and at last perfect, knowledge of Christ Himself. The fact that these graces minister to so blessed a result is one great reason why we should set ourselves to cultivate them with all diligence. They require for their cultivation both the Divine endowment of all things serviceable to life and godliness, and sedulous application on our side. But the object which is set before us is worth all the expenditure, both human and Divine. The dependence of knowledge upon holiness, or of vision upon purity, which is stated in the most absolute form in such passages as Mat 5:8, Heb 12:14, and in relation to practical obedience to Gods will in Joh 7:17, is presented here in connection specially with the need of completeness in the Christian character and fruitful ness in the Christian life. So, in Col 1:10, Paul speaks of being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.
To encourage Christians to grow and improve in the fore-mentioned virtues and graces, our apostle here lays before us, 1. The great advantage of such a proficiency and growth; If these things be in you and abound, that is, the fore-mentioned graces, they will both cause you, and evidence you not to be barren and unfruitful in your profession of Christianity and faith in Christ: the exercises of divine graces are the best evidenves of our being made partakers of the divine nature.
Observe, 2. The miserable state of those whose faith is not fruitful in good works; He that lacketh these things, that is, who doth not live in the exercise of the afore-mentioned graces, is spiritually blind, and really destitute of that knowledge which he pretends to, blinded by his passions and lusts, and sensual affections, and sees not the great end and design of Christianity, forgetting that in baptism he solemnly vowed all this, and that he was sacramentally washed from his old sins.
Avoiding Spiritual Myopia by Developing Eternal Vision
Since verses 8 and 9 are true, Christians want to strive with all their might to make sure their calling and election. They have been called through the gospel ( 2Th 2:13-14 ). The gospel is for all ( Mar 16:15 ; Rom 1:16 ), but not all receive the call with an obedient spirit and thus fail to be of the elect ( Mat 7:21 ; 1Th 1:3-6 ). One can be sure of his calling and election if he does the things Peter has set forth. Peter assures such individuals will never fall. How can one make sure that which has never been unsure? Thus, this passage teaches the possibility of apostasy. The near-sighted will fall, but those whose sight is set on the far goal of heaven will not fall.
Because Christians diligently work to make their call and election sure, they will enter heaven. Christians are already in the kingdom and look forward to being in the eternal kingdom, or heaven ( Col 1:13 ; Heb 12:28 ; Rev 1:9 ; Mat 25:34 ; Act 14:21-22 ; 2Ti 4:18 ). Remember, the A.S.V. said Christians must have a faith which supplies virtue and virtue knowledge, etc. (verses 5-7). If one supplies the graces and abounds in them (verse 8), God will abound (“abundantly”) supply (“ministered”) heaven, which is the eternal kingdom ( 2Pe 1:10-11 ).
2Pe 1:8. For if these things be in you This faith, this courage, this knowledge, &c. Not if they be understood and professed by you merely, but if they be in you, experienced in your hearts, and evinced in your lives; and abound Increase more and more, otherwise you fall short; they make you They cause; that ye shall neither be barren Or rather, slothful, as signifies; nor unfruitful Cumberers of the ground; or taking pains to do good, but without success, your efforts being fruitless through your want of one or other of these graces. But these graces, possessed by you and kept in lively exercise, will neither suffer you to faint in your minds, nor be without fruit in your lives. Observe, reader, if there be in us less faithfulness, less watchfulness and care, less tenderness of conscience, less fervour of spirit, and diligence in working out our salvation: and serving God, and his cause, and people, since we were pardoned, than there was before; less outward obedience to the law of God, and less zeal and conscientiousness in doing his will, and glorifying him in and with our body and spirit, which are his, than when we were seeking remission of sins and regenerating grace, we are both slothful and unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ That is, in the faith, which in that case does not, cannot work by love.
1:8 {7} For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(7) As those fruits do spring from the true knowledge of Christ, so in like sort the knowledge itself is fostered and grows by bringing forth such fruits, in so much that he that is unfruitful, did either never know the true light, or has forgotten the gift of sanctification which he has received.
We must continue to grow in these qualities as well as possessing them; we must grow in grace (2Pe 3:18). Failure to do so will make us "useless" (Gr. argous) in God’s hands as His tools in the world (cf. Jas 2:20; cf. Mat 20:3; Mat 20:6), and "unfruitful" (Gr. akarpous) as communicators of His life (Joh 15:2; Joh 15:4; cf. Mar 12:12-14; Mar 12:20-26). This is so even though we have received everything necessary for godly living through the knowledge of Christ (2Pe 1:3). "Render you neither useless nor unfruitful" is a litotes, a figure of speech that affirms an idea by denying its opposite.
"’Idle’ (argous) is literally ’unworking’; it is not a picture of one unavoidably unemployed but of one who avoids labor for which he should assume responsibility." [Note: Hiebert, Second Peter . . ., p. 56. Cf. Matthew 20:3, 6.]
When we diligently add these virtues to our lives we will be both useful and fruitful, and we will evidence true knowledge (Gr. epignosis) of our Lord Jesus Christ. True knowledge of Him involves not just intellectual understanding then, but knowledge that comes through obedience. This growth should be the goal of every believer (cf. 2Pe 3:18).
"Some of the most effective Christians I have known are people without dramatic talents and special abilities, or even exciting personalities; yet God has used them in a marvelous way. Why? Because they are becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. They have the kind of character and conduct that God can trust with blessing. They are fruitful because they are faithful; they are effective because they are growing in their Christian experience." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:439.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)