SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:10
Por lo cual, hermanos, procurad tanto ms de hacer firme vuestra vocacin y eleccin; porque haciendo estas cosas, no caeris jams.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 1:10
Verse 10. Wherefore] Seeing the danger of apostasy, and the fearful end of them who obey not the Gospel, and thus receive the grace of God in vain; give all diligence, spoudasate, hasten, be deeply careful, labour with the most intense purpose of soul. To make your calling] From deep Gentile darkness into the marvellous light of the Gospel.
And election] Your being chosen, in consequence of obeying the heavenly calling, to be the people and Church of God. Instead of klhsin, calling, the Codex Alexandrinus has paraklhsin, consolation.
Sure] bebaian? Firm, solid. For your calling to believe the Gospel, and your election to be members of the Church of Christ, will be ultimately unprofitable to you, unless you hold fast what you have received by adding to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, &c.
For if ye do these things] If ye be careful and diligent to work out your own salvation, through the grace which ye have already received from God; ye shall never fall, ou mh ptaishte pote, ye shall at no time stumble or fall; as the Jews have done, and lost their election, Rom. xi. 11, where the same word is used, and as apostates do, and lose their peace and salvation. We find, therefore, that they who do not these things shall fall; and thus we see that there is nothing absolute and unconditional in their election. There is an addition here in some MSS. and versions which should not pass unnoticed: the Codex Alexandrinus, nine others, with the Syriac, Erpen's Arabic, Coptic, AEthiopic, Armenian, later Syriac with an asterisk, the Vulgate, and Bede, have ina dia twn kalwn (umwn) ergwn, THAT BY (your) GOOD WORKS ye may make your calling and election firm.
This clause is found in the edition of Colinaeus, Paris, 1534, and has been probably omitted by more recent editors on the supposition that the edition does not make a very orthodox sense. But on this ground there need be no alarm, for it does not state that the good works thus required merit either the calling and election, or the eternal glory, of God. He who does not by good works confirm his calling and election, will soon have neither; and although no good works ever did purchase or ever can purchase the kingdom of God, yet no soul can ever scripturally expect to see God who has them not. I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat; thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: go, ye cursed. I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; &c., &c.; come, ye blessed.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence , etc.] To exercise the afore mentioned graces, and to perform the above duties, since this is the way to make your calling and election sure ; by calling is not meant a call to any office in the church, nor an external call, either by the voice of nature, or by the ministry of the word; but an internal and effectual call by special grace, to grace here, and glory hereafter; instead of calling, the Alexandrian copy reads, comfort: and by election is meant, not a national, nor church election, but a particular and personal one, since scattered saints, and particular believers, are here written to, and each called upon to be diligent to make their own, and not another's, calling and election sure; nor is a choice of persons to an office designed, seeing the apostle writes not to officers of churches in particular, but to believers in common; nor a separation of persons from the world by the effectual calling, since these two are both mentioned here, and as distinct from each other, and to be made sure; but an election of particular persons to eternal life and salvation is here intended, which is an eternal act of God, arises from his free grace and favour, and is according to his sovereign will and pleasure; and is absolute, and independent of any condition, foreseen, or required in men, as faith, holiness, and good works; all which are fruits and effects, and not causes and conditions of electing grace. These may be made sure, not in themselves, or with respect to God, for in this sense they cannot be made surer than they are: effectual calling is according to the purpose of God, which cannot be frustrated, and is, without repentance, irreversible, and irrevocable, and is inseparably connected with eternal glory; and election stands not upon the foot of works, but upon the free grace of God, which cannot be made void, and upon the will of God, which cannot be resisted; and is also closely connected with glorification; (see Romans 8:30) nor are those to be made sure by saints, with respect to themselves; for though they may sometimes be at a loss about them, and may have some scruples and doubts in their minds concerning their interest in them, and an assurance of their being both called and chosen, may be after all attained unto by them; yet this is not their work, but it is the work of the Spirit of God, to certify and make sure unto them, or assure them of their calling and election of God: but the sense is, that diligence is to be used by the saints, to make their calling and election sure to others; not their election by their calling only, which is to themselves; for both are to be made sure, and that to others, and by some third thing; either to their fellow Christians, which they may do by giving them an account of the work of God upon their souls, joined with a testimony of their good lives and conversations; or rather to the world by good works, as the Vulgate Latin version and two copies of Beza's read; or by your good works, as the Alexandrian copy and the Syriac and Ethiopic versions read; or by the exercise of the graces, and the discharge of the duties before mentioned, whereby the men of the world may be certified and assured, by the best evidence the saints are capable of giving to them, or they of receiving, that they are the called and chosen of God, they profess themselves to be; and which is a reason why those things should be done: and another follows, for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall ; or sin, as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions render it; not that they should never fall at all, or in any sense, for in many things we all offend or fall; or should ever commit any act of sin, or fall into sin, for there is no man that lives, and sins not; or that they should not fall from a degree of the lively exercise of grace, or from a degree of steadfastness in the doctrine of faith, but that they should never sin the sin against the Holy Ghost, or fall totally and finally; for though they fall, they should rise again by faith and repentance, through the grace and power of Christ, who is able to keep them from falling: and besides, while they were exercising those graces, and doing those duties, they should not fall; for these are the means of final perseverance, and therefore the rather to be regarded. Another argument, strengthening the exhortation, follows:
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-11 - Faith unites the weak believer to Christ, as really as it does the strong one, and purifies the heart of one as truly as of another; an every sincere believer is by his faith justified in the sight of God Faith worketh godliness, and produces effects which no other grace in the soul can do. In Christ all fulness dwells, and pardon, peace grace, and knowledge, and new principles, are thus given through the Holy Spirit. The promises to those who are partakers of a Divin nature, will cause us to inquire whether we are really renewed in the spirit of our minds; let us turn all these promises into prayers for the transforming and purifying grace of the Holy Spirit. The believe must add knowledge to his virtue, increasing acquaintance with the whole truth and will of God. We must add temperance to knowledge moderation about worldly things; and add to temperance, patience, or cheerful submission to the will of God. Tribulation worketh patience whereby we bear all calamities and crosses with silence and submission To patience we must add godliness: this includes the holy affection and dispositions found in the true worshipper of God; with tende affection to all fellow Christians, who are children of the sam Father, servants of the same Master, members of the same family travellers to the same country, heirs of the same inheritance Wherefore let Christians labour to attain assurance of their calling and of their election, by believing and well-doing; and thus carefull to endeavour, is a firm argument of the grace and mercy of God upholding them so that they shall not utterly fall. Those who ar diligent in the work of religion, shall have a triumphant entrance int that everlasting kingdom where Christ reigns, and they shall reign with him for ever and ever; and it is in the practice of every good wor that we are to expect entrance to heaven.
Greek Textus Receptus
διο 1352 μαλλον 3123 αδελφοι 80 σπουδασατε 4704 5657 βεβαιαν 949 υμων 5216 την 3588 κλησιν 2821 και 2532 εκλογην 1589 ποιεισθαι 4160 5733 ταυτα 5023 γαρ 1063 ποιουντες 4160 5723 ου 3756 μη 3361 πταισητε 4417 5661 ποτε 4218
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. The rather (mallon). The adverb belongs rather with the verb give diligence. Render, as Rev., give the more diligence.
Brethren (adelfoi). The only instance of this form of address in Peter, who commonly uses beloved.
Fall (ptaishte). Lit., stumble, and so Rev. Compare Jas. iii. 2.
