Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

1:19 something more sure. Some have understood "more sure" as an affirmation that the prophetic writings of the OT are even "more sure" than Peter's spectacular personal experience at the Transfiguration, thereby underscoring the complete reliability of written Scripture. Others have understood that Peter's experience of the Transfiguration provides confirmation of OT prophecy, making the already-sure prophecy of the OT even "more sure" as confirmed by the experience of the Transfiguration. In either case, believers are admonished to pay attention to the certainty of the prophetic word. In the contrast between "we have" and "you will do well," Peter is apparently emphasizing that the interpretation of the apostles ("we") is to be regarded as authoritative for the church ("you"). Day dawns and morning star both refer to the second coming. The day of the Lord is the day of final judgment and salvation, as the OT often teaches (Isa. 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18, 20). Jesus' second coming will not only be an objective event in history, it will also rise in your hearts as the full light of Christ's presence transforms the hearts of his church to perfect purity.

1:20 Two main views of this verse have been proposed: (1) The first view, the one most in harmony with the ESV rendering, understands the verse to explain the origin of the prophecies of OT Scripture, namely, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from (i.e., originates out of) someone's own interpretation (i.e., from someone's individual understanding of events, visions, or other things), but rather, that "all prophecy of Scripture" came about from the Holy Spirit's leading (see v. 21). (This takes the Gk. word ginomai in its most common sense, as meaning "come into existence".) According to this first view, then, Peter is assuring his readers that all the OT Scriptures that pointed to Christ were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that the readers should pay close attention to them (v. 19), perhaps in contrast to false teachers who were denigrating Scripture. (2) The second view understands the verse to be speaking of how OT prophecies are to be interpreted, therefore some translations render this verse, "no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of [or "for"] one's own interpretation." According to this second view, Peter is saying that one must interpret the OT Scriptures as they are interpreted by the apostles, and hence the interpretations of the OT by the false teachers should be rejected. Although this second view is possible, the first seems more likely, in light of the immediate context and Peter's overall emphasis on the authority of Scripture.

1:21 No biblical prophecy was ever produced merely because a man wanted to prophesy (by the will of man). The prophecy in Scripture was given only by God through men, who "spoke" as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the active, revelatory agent working within the OT prophets and through their lives and circumstances as they prophesied. This is a key verse for the doctrine of Scripture, indicating that Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but at the same time men spoke God's words, using their own personalities, knowledge, background, vocabulary, and style. "They were carried along" implies that the inspiration of Scripture was invisibly directed by the Holy Spirit, though without overriding the personalities of the human authors. Thus Scripture is fully the Word of God, even though it is recorded in the words of human beings. The exact way in which this was accomplished remains a divine mystery. What is true of OT prophecy is true of "all Scripture" (see 2 Tim. 3:16 and note).