The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude Preached and Explained Part 3

Through the Gospel it is made known to us what Christ is, that we may learn of Him, moreover, that He is our Saviour. He rescues us from sin and death, and helps us out of every evil, reconciles us to the Father, and, apart from our own works, justifies and saves us.

Whoever then does not thus confess Christ must be lost; for although you may know that He is the Son of G.o.d, that He died and has risen, and sits at the right hand of the Father,--still you have not yet truly known Christ, it is all of no avail to you; but you must know and believe that He has done it all for your sake, if your faith is to help you. Therefore that is a vain, senseless doctrine that has been hitherto preached and taught in the great schools, which have had no experience of this knowledge, and have only attained to imagine how the curse afflicted Christ our Lord, and how He sits above in heaven unemployed, and possesses a joy with Himself; and thus their hearts remain barren, so that faith cannot live in them.

But Christ does not stand there for Himself, but He is to be preached that He is ours. For what necessity could there then have been that He should have come down to earth and have shed His blood? But since He has been sent into the world, as He says, John iii., "that the world through Him might be saved." He certainly must have fulfilled this mission, because He was sent from the Father. For this sending forth and proceeding from the Father is to be understood not only of the divine nature, but also of the human nature and of His ministry.

As soon as He was baptized this began, and He has fulfilled it, for which end He was sent and came into the world, to wit, that He might preach the truth and obtain it for us, that all who believe on Him shall be saved. Thus has He revealed Himself, and presented Himself to our knowledge, and offered us grace.

V. 14. _As obedient children._ That is, conduct yourselves as obedient children. Obedience in Scripture means faith. But the Pope, with his high schools and cloisters, has even wrested the word from us, and falsely rendered what is recorded in Scripture concerning this obedience, as the pa.s.sage in I. Kings xv.: "Obedience is better than sacrifice." For while they perceive that obedience is highly praised in Scripture, they have usurped the claim of it to themselves, so that they might blind the people, and that men should think it was obedience to their stuff of which the Scripture speaks.

Thus they would bring us away from G.o.d's word to their lies, and to the obedience of the devil. Whoever hears the word of G.o.d and believes thereon, is an obedient child of G.o.d. Therefore, whatever is not the word of G.o.d, tread it under your feet and pay no attention to it.

_Not conformed to the former l.u.s.ts of your ignorance._ That is, that you should not exhibit such ostentation and lead such a course of life as before, and that you be not found in the same condition in which you formerly were. Once you were G.o.dless, and lived in lewdness, gluttony, drunkenness, avarice, pride, anger, envy and hate, which was an evil, heathen-like state, and one of unbelief, and when you had gone into such a state like the blind, you have not known what you have done. Avoid now those same evil l.u.s.ts. Here you perceive how he makes the charge against ignorance, that all evil proceeds therefrom. For where faith and the knowledge of Christ are wanting, there remains mere error and blindness, so that men are ignorant of what is right and wrong, insomuch that the people fall into every kind of vice.

Thus has it been hitherto: where Christ has been kept out of sight and eclipsed, there error has begun to prevail; and throughout the world the question has torn its way, how man may be saved. This is at once a sign of blindness or ignorance, that the true apprehension of faith is lost, and no one knows anything more about it. Hence the world is so full of such various sects, and all are divided, for every one will devise for himself a way to heaven of his own. In our misfortune we must be continually falling deeper in our blindness, since we cannot help ourselves. Therefore St. Peter would say: Ye have already befooled yourselves enough; now desist therefrom, since ye have been instructed and have attained to a correct understanding.

V. 15, 16. _But according as He that hath called you is holy, so be ye also holy in all your conduct, as it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy._ Here St. Peter quotes a pa.s.sage from the Old Testament, Lev. xix., where G.o.d says: "Be ye holy for I am holy;" that is, since I am your Lord and G.o.d, and ye are my people, ye too must be as I am.

For a faithful master secures that his people shall be like him, and walk in obedience, and be conformed to the master's will. As then G.o.d our Master is holy, so are His people holy also, and we are all holy if we walk in faith. Scripture says not much of the saints that have died, but of those who live on the earth. So David puts forth his claim in Ps. lx.x.xv.: "Lord, preserve my soul, for I am holy."

But here our learned men have for once perverted the pa.s.sage, and they say: the prophet had a particular revelation, in that he called himself holy; whereby they themselves confess that they do violence to faith, and have not the revelation of Jesus Christ, otherwise they would surely be sensible of it. For whoever is a Christian experiences within himself such a revelation; but they who do not experience it are not Christians. For whoever is a Christian enters into a partic.i.p.ation with Christ our Lord, of all his good things.

Since, then, Christ is holy, he must also be holy, or deny that Christ is holy. Hast thou been baptized? then thou hast put on the holy garment, which is Christ, as Paul says.

The word Holy means that which is G.o.d's own, and which belongs to Him alone, or as we render it in Dutch (_geweiht_), consecrated. Thus, Peter here says: you are merely required to give G.o.d His own; therefore beware that ye do not suffer yourselves to be led back again to worldly l.u.s.ts, but let G.o.d alone rule, live and work within you; then shall ye be holy, even as He is holy.

Thus he has. .h.i.therto described the grace which is extended to us through the Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, and has taught us how we should therefore conduct ourselves, namely: that we abide in a pure, inviolate mind of faith, since we know that no work that we can do or imagine, can at all help us: when such doctrine as this is preached, reason objects, and says, Ah! if that is true, I need not do any good work. And then the great heads fall foul of it, and from a christian condition, educe a freedom of the flesh, imagining they may do what they will. These St. Peter here meets, and antic.i.p.ates them, and teaches how we are to use our christian freedom only towards G.o.d. For nothing more is needed but faith, to the end that I should give G.o.d the honor due Him, and embrace Him as my G.o.d, confessing that He is just, true and merciful; such faith sets us free from sin and all evil. If now I have made such a return to G.o.d, whatever time I yet live I am to live for my neighbor, so as to serve and help him. The greatest work that follows from faith is this: that with my mouth I should confess Christ, sealing that confession with my blood, and laying down my life for it, if so it be. Yet G.o.d does not need this work; only I am to perform it, that my faith may thereby be tried and known, so that others also may be brought to believe. Thereafter follow also other works, which must all be directed to this end, that I may thereby serve my neighbor,--all of which G.o.d must work in us; for it profits not that we should lead a carnal life and do whatever we please. Therefore St. Peter now says:

V. 17-21. _And since ye call on the Father, who judgeth without respect of persons, according to every man's work, pa.s.s the time of your sojourning here in fear; and be aware that ye are not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold, from your vain conduct in the traditions of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of an innocent and unspotted Lamb, who indeed was provided previously before the world began, but is revealed in these last times for you, who through Him believe on G.o.d, who raised Him from the dead, and hath given Him dominion, that your faith and hope might be in G.o.d._

So says St. Peter: Ye have through faith hereunto attained, that ye are the children of G.o.d, and He is your Father. And ye have obtained an incorruptible inheritance in heaven, (as has been already said.) Thus nothing more now remains, except that the veil be taken away, and that be uncovered which is now concealed, for which ye are still to wait until ye shall behold it. Though ye are now arrived at that state in which ye may joyfully call G.o.d your Father, yet is He so righteous that he will reward every man according to his works, and respect not persons. Wherefore thou art not to imagine, although thou hast that great name so that thou art called a Christian or a child of G.o.d, that He will therefore continue thine if thou livest without fear, and thinkest that it is enough that thou dost glory in such a name. The world indeed judges by the person, since it does not punish all alike, and respects those who are friendly, rich, reputable, learned, wise, and powerful. But G.o.d regards nothing of this kind; it is all alike to him, be the person as great as he may. Thus in Egypt he struck the son of King Pharaoh dead, as well as the son of the poor miller.

Therefore the Apostle would have us expect such judgment from G.o.d, and stand in fear, so that we do not glory in our t.i.tle that we are Christian, and thereupon become negligent, as though he would for this reason pa.s.s us over more readily than others. For in this the Jews were formerly deceived, who boasted that they were Abraham's seed and G.o.d's people. Scripture makes no difference in respect to the flesh, but in respect to the spirit. It is true that Christ was to be born of Abraham's seed and that a holy people should spring from him, but it does not therefore follow that all who are born of Abraham are the children of G.o.d. He also promised that the Gentiles should be saved, but he has not said that he would save _all_ the Gentiles.

But here now a question arises: When we say that G.o.d saves us alone by faith, without regard to works, why does St. Peter say that He judges not according to the person, but according to works? Answer.

What we have taught as to faith alone justifying before G.o.d, is true beyond doubt, since it is so clear from Scripture that it cannot be denied. That which the Apostle here says, that G.o.d judges according to the works, is also true; but we must certainly hold, therefore, that where there is no faith, there can be no good work; and on the other hand, that there is no faith where there are no good works.

Therefore join together faith and good works, since it is in both that the sum of the whole christian life consists. As you now live, so will it be with you, for thereafter G.o.d will judge you. Therefore, although G.o.d judges us according to our works, still it remains true that works are only the fruits of faith, by which we perceive when there is faith or unbelief; therefore G.o.d will sentence you from your works and convict you, either that you have or have not believed. So it is that no one can convict and judge a liar, except from his words. Yet it is evident that he is not made a liar by the word, but became a liar before he spoke the lie, for the lie must come from the heart into the mouth. Therefore, understand this pa.s.sage thus, in the plainest way: that works are fruits and signs of faith, and that G.o.d judges men according to such fruits which must certainly follow it, so that it shall be openly seen whether there is faith or unbelief in the heart. G.o.d will not judge by this whether you are _called_ a Christian, or have been baptized, but will ask you, "_Art_ thou a Christian? then tell me where are the fruits by which you can evidence your faith."

Therefore St. Peter goes on to say: Since ye have such a Father, who judges not after the person, pa.s.s the time of your pilgrimage in fear; that is, stand in fear before the Father, not of pain and punishment,--as the Christless, and even the devil, is afraid,--but lest He forsake you and withdraw His hand; just as a dutiful child is afraid lest he provoke his father, and do something that might not please him. Such a fear would G.o.d have within us, that we guard ourselves against sin, and serve our neighbor, while we live here upon the earth.

A Christian, if he truly believes, possesses all the good things of G.o.d, and is G.o.d's child, as we have heard. But the time which he yet lives is only a pilgrimage: for the spirit is already in heaven by faith, through which he becomes Lord over all things. But to this end G.o.d permits him yet to live in the flesh, and his body to remain on earth, that he may help others and bring them also to heaven.

Therefore we are to use all things on earth as a guest, who goes on wearily and arrives at an inn where he must tarry over night, and can receive nothing from it but food and lodging; yet does not say that the property of the inn is his. So must we also proceed in regard to our temporal possessions, as though they were not ours, and we enjoyed only so much of them as is needful to sustain the body, and with the rest we are to help our neighbor. Thus the christian life is only a night's sojourning; for we have here no abiding city, but must find it, where our Father is, in heaven. Therefore we should not here live in wantonness, but stand in fear, says St. Peter.

V. 18. _And be aware that ye are not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold, from your vain conduct in the traditions of your Fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ._ This should draw you, he would say, to the fear of G.o.d, wherein ye should stand, that ye should remember how much it has cost that ye might be redeemed.

Before, ye were citizens of the world, and were held in subjection to the devil, but now, G.o.d has rescued you from such a state, and set you firm in another, so that your citizens.h.i.+p is in heaven; but ye are strangers and guests upon earth. And see at how great a cost G.o.d has reclaimed you, and how great the treasure is, wherewith ye are purchased, and brought into this state, to become the children of G.o.d. Wherefore pa.s.s your sojourning in fear, and see to it that ye do not despise such redemption, and lose the n.o.ble, precious treasure.

What now is the treasure wherewith ye are ransomed? Not corruptible gold or silver, but the precious blood of Christ the Son of G.o.d: the treasure is so costly and n.o.ble, that no human sense or reason can conceive it, insomuch that only one drop of this innocent blood were more than enough for the sin of all the world: yet has the Father been willing to dispense his grace so richly upon us, and denied Himself so much as to suffer Christ His Son to shed all His blood for us, and has bestowed upon us the whole treasure. Therefore He would not have us disregard such great grace, and count it as a small matter, but continue on our guard, so as to live in fear, that this treasure be not taken away from us.

And here it is well to remark, that St. Peter says, ye are ransomed from your vain conversation in the traditions of your fathers; for he thereby strikes to the ground all the supports whereon we lean when we imagine our view must be right because it has thus been preserved from of old, and our forefathers all of them have so held it, among whom there were certainly wise and pious people. It is as much as to say, all which our fathers have ordained and done, was evil; what from them has been taught you of the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d, is also evil; for it has cost the Son of G.o.d His blood to redeem the people therefrom; whatever, therefore, has not been washed in this blood, is all poisoned and cursed by reason of the flesh. Thence it follows, the more a man undertakes to make himself righteous and has not Christ, the more only he confounds himself, and sinks deeper in blindness and wickedness, and condemns himself in respect to this precious blood.

External matters, important in themselves, are even trifling in comparison with this, that a man should teach how we may be justified by works, and devise a wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d according to our reason; for thereby the innocent blood is most deeply dishonored and reviled.

The heathen have committed many great sins, in that they have prayed to the sun and moon, which they held for the true wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d, though this was joined with other sins. But human justification (justification by human works) is mere reviling of G.o.d, and the greatest of all sins that a man commits. So, also, that mode of life wherewith the world is now busied and which it holds as the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d, and piety, is in G.o.d's sight more provoking than any other sin, as is the priestly and monkish order, and which while it appears fair before the world, is yet without faith. Therefore whoever will not obtain favor before G.o.d through this blood, it were better for him that he should never come into G.o.d's presence, for he thereby only the more and more dishonors His Majesty.

V. 19. _As of an innocent and unspotted lamb._ But here St. Peter explains the Scripture,--for this though so short is an exceedingly rich Epistle,--since as soon as he had spoken of their vain course in the traditions of the fathers, he finds much instruction for us in the prophets--as in the prophet Jer. xvi.: "The heathen shall come to you from the end of the world, and say, our fathers have gone astray with lies," as though St. Peter had said, there the prophets foretold that ye should be redeemed from the tradition of your fathers.

So when he says here, ye are redeemed by the blood of Christ, as of an innocent and unspotted lamb, he would again refer to the Scripture, and explain that which is contained in the prophets and Moses--as Is. liii.: "Like a lamb he is led to the slaughter." So as to the type, Ex. xii., of the Paschal Lamb, all this he here explains, and says, this lamb is Christ; and as the one of old was to be unspotted, so must this, also, whose blood is shed for us, be unspotted and innocent.

V. 20. _Which indeed was provided previously, before the world began, but is revealed in these last times for you._ That is, we have not deserved nor even prayed this of G.o.d, that the precious blood of Christ should be shed for us, therefore we can glory in no respect; the glory belongs to none but G.o.d alone. G.o.d has promised and revealed or made known to us, not for any merit of ours, that which He from all eternity had provided and foreordained, before the world was made. In the prophets it is indeed promised, yet dimly and not openly; but now, since Christ's resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit, it is publicly preached and disseminated throughout the whole world.

This is now the latter age (the last time), as St. Peter says, wherein we live--now--from the ascension of Christ until the last day. So the Apostles and prophets, and Christ Himself, also, call it the last hour; not that the last day was to come immediately after Christ's ascension, but because after this preaching of the Gospel of Christ no other should ever come; and there will be no further revelation or manifestation, except as this is explained and revealed. One revelation after another has indeed gone forth.

Therefore G.o.d says, Ex. vi., "By my name Jehovah was I not known to them." For the patriarchs, although they knew G.o.d, yet at that time had not so clear a manifestation of Him as was afterwards put forth through Moses and the prophets; but now there has no more glorious or clear manifestation of Him come into the world than the Gospel.

Therefore it is the last; all dispensations have run their course, but the present,--the last,--which is revealed to us.

Besides, the time hereafter is not long to the end of the world, as St. Peter shows, II. Pet. iii., where he says: "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." And so he would lead us by this reckoning of time, to conclude, after G.o.d's method, that it is the last time, and that the end approaches, but the time which still remains is nothing in the sight of G.o.d. The salvation is already revealed and completed: G.o.d permits the world to stand yet longer, merely that His name may be more widely honored and praised, although He for Himself is now fully revealed.

V. 21. _For you, who through Him believe on G.o.d, who raised Him from the dead, and hath given Him dominion that your faith and hope might be in G.o.d._ For our sakes, he says, is the Gospel revealed. For G.o.d and the Lord Christ have not needed it, but have done it for our profit, that we might believe on them; and that, not through ourselves, but through Christ, who intercedes for us with the Father, whom He has raised from the dead, that He might be Lord over all things; so that whoever believes on Him possesses all His good things, and through Him has access to the Father. Thus we have faith in G.o.d, and a hope through the same faith. Faith alone must save us, but it must be a faith in G.o.d; for if G.o.d does not help us, then we are not holpen; so that it is not enough, although you had all men's friends.h.i.+p, but you must have the friends.h.i.+p of G.o.d, that you may boast that He is YOUR Father, and that you are His child, and confide in Him even more than in your beloved father and mother, that He will help you in all your troubles, and this only through the one Mediator and Saviour, the Lord Christ. Such faith comes not (he says) from human power, but G.o.d creates it in us, because Christ has merited it by His blood; to whom He has given glory, and whom He has seated at His right hand, that He, by G.o.d's power, should produce faith in us.

Hitherto we have heard St. Peter admonis.h.i.+ng us that we should gird up the loins of our mind, that we may remain undefiled and live in faith; then, also, that which meanwhile is so important, that we should walk in fear and never forget that we are called Christians, since G.o.d is a judge who respects none, but judges one like the other, without distinction of persons.

V. 22-25. _And purify your souls, through obedience of the truth in the Spirit, to unfeigned love of the brethren, and have fervent love toward one another, out of pure hearts, as those who have been born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, namely, of the living word of G.o.d, which endures forever. For all flesh is as gra.s.s, and all the glory of man like the flower of gra.s.s. The gra.s.s withereth and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever; and this is the word which is preached unto you._

Paul, in Gal. v., points out the fruits which follow faith. The fruits of the Spirit, he says, are joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. So St. Peter speaks here of the fruit of faith,--to wit, that we should purify our souls, through obedience to the truth in the Spirit. For where there is real faith it brings the body in subjection to itself, and controls the fleshly l.u.s.t; and although it does not entirely destroy it, yet it makes it subject and obedient to the Spirit, and holds it in check.

St. Paul implies the same thing when he speaks of the fruits of the Spirit. It is a great achievement that the Spirit should attain control over the flesh, and restrain the evil l.u.s.t which descends to us from our parents: for it is not possible that we should succeed without grace in leading a chaste life in the married state, to say nothing of the unmarried.

But why does he say then, purify your souls? He is well aware that the desires of the flesh remain with us after baptism, even to the grave. Therefore it is not enough that a person should refrain from works and remain pure outwardly, while he permits evil l.u.s.ts to cleave to his heart, but must thereafter beware that the soul be pure, as well as whatever proceeds out of the heart, and that the soul be opposed to these wicked l.u.s.ts and desires, and continually contend therewith, until it is free from their power.

And here he adjoins an excellent provision: that we should purify our souls,[3] _through obedience to the truth in the Spirit_. Much has been preached on chast.i.ty, and many books have been composed on the subject. They have said, we should fast for so long a time, we should not eat flesh, we should not drink wine, etc., that we may be free from temptation. These things may perhaps have aided somewhat to that end, but it has not been enough, it has not subdued l.u.s.t.

[Footnote 3: Make them chaste.]

So St. Jerome writes of himself, that he had mortified his body to such an extent that he had become like a Moor; still it had been of no avail, and he had dreamed of being at Rome at a revelry among harlots.

St. Bernard also subjected himself to such austerities, and so mortified his body that it became offensive, as I said above. They endured severe temptation, and purposed thus to subdue it by external methods. But since it is external, it is only an outward plaster, with no inward application. So that it does not suffice to subdue l.u.s.t.

But here St. Peter has prescribed an appropriate remedy,--namely, obedience to truth in the Spirit, as Scripture also has done in other places,--as Isaiah xi.: "Faith shall be the girdle of his reins."

This is the true plaster that girds the reins, for it must proceed from within outward, not from without inward. For it has penetrated into the flesh and blood, the marrow and other parts of the living system; it is not outward in the dress or clothing. Therefore it is not to be expected that we should subdue l.u.s.t with outward things; we may weaken the body and destroy it with fastings and labors, but the evil l.u.s.ts are not thereby banished; yet faith can subdue them, and guard them, that they shall be compelled to give the Spirit place.

So likewise speaks the prophet Zachariah, ix., of the wine which Christ has, whereby the pure grow, and of which he gives them to drink. Other wine usually invites to wicked l.u.s.t, but this wine,--that is, the Gospel,--subdues it, and makes the heart chaste.

This is what St. Peter speaks of when any one heartily embraces the truth, and is obedient to it in spirit. This is the true help and the most powerful remedy for it, since you will find none which can still all evil thoughts like it; for if this enters our hearts, evil inclinations quickly leave; let whoever will try it, he shall find it true, and whoever has tried it, knows it well; but the devil lets no one easily attain it, and comprehend the word of G.o.d so as to delight in it; for he well knows how powerful it is to subdue evil l.u.s.ts and thoughts.

St. Peter, therefore, would here say, if you would remain chaste, then must you render obedience to the truth in the Spirit, that is,--we must not only read and hear the word of G.o.d, but apprehend it in our hearts. Therefore it is not enough that a man should preach or hear the Gospel once, but he must ever press after it and persevere; for such grace does the word possess, that the more we taste it the more delightful it is; although there is, throughout, one and the same doctrine of faith, yet it cannot be listened to too much where the heart is not wanton and untamed.