John Wesley

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

“The faith of those who have not seen, being equally precious with that of those who saw our Lord in the flesh. Through the righteousness - Both active and passive.”

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

“That pertain to life and godliness - To the present, natural life, and to the continuance and increase of spiritual life. Through that divine knowledge of him - Of Christ.”

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

“Superadd the latter, without losing the former. The Greek word properly means lead up, as in dance, one of these after the other, in a beautiful order.”

and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

“The more knowledge you have, the more renounce your own will; indulge yourself the less. "Knowledge puffeth up," and the great boasters of knowledge (the Gnostics) were those that "turned the grace of God into wantonness." But see that your knowledge be attended with temperance.”

Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

“To make your calling and election firm - God hath called you by his word and his Spirit; he hath elected you, separated you from the world, through sanctification of the Spirit. O cast not away these inestimable benefits!”

And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

“And we - Peter, James, and John. St. John was still alive. Being with him in the holy mount - Made so by that glorious manifestation, as Mount Horeb was of old, Exod. iii, 4, 5.”

We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt.

“Till the day should dawn - Till the full light of the gospel should break through the darkness.”

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.

“Ye do well, as knowing this, that no scripture prophecy is of private interpretation - It is not any man's own word. It is God, not the prophet himself, who thereby interprets things till then unknown.”

Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.

“Either the heresies are the effect of denying the Lord, or the denying the Lord was the consequence of the heresies. Even denying - Both by their doctrine and their works. The Lord that bought them - With his own blood.”

if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

“And spared not the old, the antediluvian, world, but he preserved Noah the eighth person - that is, Noah and seven others, a preacher as well as practicer, of righteousness.”

The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight.

“They count it pleasure to riot in the day time - They glory in doing it in the face of the sun. They are spots in themselves, blemishes to any church.”

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

“The way of Balaam the son of Bosor - So the Chaldeans pronounced what the Jews termed Beor; namely, the way of covetousness.”

They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

“While they promise them liberty - From needless restraints and scruples; from the bondage of the law. Themselves are slaves of corruption - Even sin, the vilest of all bondage.”

If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their…

“Have escaped the pollutions of the world - The sins which pollute all who know not God. Through the knowledge of Christ - That is, through faith in him, chap. i, 3.”

Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

“The dog, the sow - Such are all men in the sight of God before they receive his grace, and after they have made shipwreck of the faith.”

“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”

“Saying, Where is the promise of his coming - To judgment (They do not even deign to name him.) We see no sign of any such thing. For ever since the fathers - Our first ancestors.”

But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

“Of old - Before the flood. The aerial heavens were, and the earth - Not as it is now, but standing out of the water and in the water - Perhaps the interior globe of earth was fixed in the midst of the great deep…”

through which the world of that time perished in the flood.

“Through which - Heaven and earth, the windows of heaven being opened, and the fountains of the great deep broken up. The world that then was - The whole antediluvian race.”

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

“The Lord is not slow - As if the time fixed for it were past. Concerning his promise - Which shall surely be fulfilled in its season. But is longsuffering towards us - Children of men.”

But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its…

“In which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise - Surprisingly expressed by the very sound of the original word.”

as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.

“Hastening on - As it were by your earnest desires and fervent prayers. The coming of the day of God - Many myriads of days he grants to men: one, the last, is the day of God himself.”

But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

“We look for new heavens and a new earth - Raised as it were out of the ashes of the old; we look for an entire new state of things. Wherein dwelleth righteousness - Only righteous spirits.”

Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.

“And account the longsuffering of the Lord salvation - Not only designed to lead men to repentance, but actually conducing thereto: a precious means of saving many more souls.”

He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters.

“Nor was he at all disgusted by what St. Paul had written concerning him in the Epistle to the Galatians. Speaking of these things - Namely, of the coming of our Lord, delayed through his longsuffering, and of the circumstances preceding and accompanying it.”