Daniel A. Keating > Quotes

“The truth expressed here is that when people have come to know Christ and then turn back to their old way of life they are worse off than those who never came to know Christ at all.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Verse 19 is extremely significant. Peter claims that these false teachers promise freedom to the new converts, though they themselves are slaves of corruption. With a touch of irony he shows that their offer of freedom is empty: how can those who are enslaved lead anyone to freedom?”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“New Testament often uses the language of “sharing,” “participation,” and “communion” when referring to our life with God. For example, we are called to share in God’s own holiness (Heb 12:10); we are made “partakers” of the Holy Spirit (Heb 6:4) and have “communion” with the Spirit (2 Cor 13:13; Phil 2:1); and we have “communion” with Christ in the Eucharist (1 Cor 10:16). Christian life is not just something we do—that is, ethics—but is grounded in a real communion with God, a sharing in his own life.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“sacrifice that resulted in the forgiveness of our sins. Why does Peter speak of Christ’s body “upon the tree”?”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Peter the flood serves as the prime biblical model for how God acts to judge, demonstrating his radical intervention in the world. The flood, then, is a †type of the greater judgment to come (see Matt 24:37–39).[186] In other words, the world has not always been as it is, as the scoffers claim. It was originally formed by God’s word through water, then deluged with water, and finally made new with the receding of the waters. Peter charges the false teachers with “deliberately” or “willfully” ignoring this—they don’t want to believe in God’s judgment, and so they overlook and ignore the clear biblical testimony.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“This points to the gratuitous nature of eternal life—we must “make every effort,” but in the end it is the grace of God that provides our entrance into eternal life. There is a paradox here: God is the source of our call and election, and our entire life from beginning to end is dependent on his grace; yet his purpose for us will not come to completion without our “making every effort” and “making our call and election firm.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“The verb is in the present active tense, indicating ongoing, active patience by the Lord. He is giving space for all to come to repentance. Along with 1 Tim 2:4, this is one of the strongest biblical assertions of God’s universal desire that all come to salvation. The Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but desires repentance (Ezek 18:23); his kindness is meant to lead to repentance (Rom 2:4), and he waits to have mercy on all (Rom 11:32).”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“For Peter, our salvation is both present and future; it is something that we have already entered into through faith and baptism but that will be completed only when Christ comes again.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Peter’s aim is to show that the Christian life, characterized by a living hope and deep joy, will also be marked by suffering for the sake of Christ.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“way of truth” is a technical term for the Christian way of life, the life of the †gospel. By teaching, permitting, or modeling immoral sexual activity, these false teachers cause the Christian way of life to be reviled, literally, “blasphemed.” They claim to be Christian teachers, but they are modeling a way of life directly contrary to the gospel and so give Christianity a bad name among non-Christians.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“According to the New Testament we are living now in the last days between the first coming of the Lord and his second, final coming (Acts 2:17; Heb 1:2).”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) from the Second Vatican Council affirms the common priesthood of all the faithful, distinct from but complementary to the ordained priesthood: “The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order that through all those works . . . they may offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the power of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. . . . The faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active charity,”b thus making an offering of their daily lives (Rom 12:1).”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Because God himself is holy and because Christ has offered himself for us as a pure and holy sacrifice, we in turn can become holy and are called to full holiness of life. And it is our “living hope” (v. 3) that surrounds and energizes our efforts to live this holy life.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“The image of a “house” predominates here, both as a noun (oikos), but also as embedded in the verb “to be built into” (oikodomeō). This is no ordinary house made of lifeless stones but the true spiritual temple of God that has living members, with Christ himself the cornerstone of the temple (see Eph 2:19–22).”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“By saying “above all,” Peter gives the second practice pride of place: above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. By repeating the call to love (see 1:22; 2:17) Peter underlines the fundamental place love holds in the Christian life. This is in keeping with Christ’s injunction to put love of God and neighbor in first place (Mark 12:30–31) and with the constant teaching of the apostolic letters (1 Cor 13:1–13; Col 3:14; 1 John 4:7–11).”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“His simple point is that God is ready to judge those who disobey even now, though the final judgment will wait until the last day.[167]”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Since man’s freedom has been damaged by sin, only by the aid of God’s grace can he bring such a relationship with God into full flower.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“The term “licentiousness” means “disordered sexual activity” (NJB: “debauched behavior”)—this is one of the main charges Peter makes against these false teachers (2:2, 7, 18).”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“flood is an apt type of the judgment to come. “Noah, preserved from the old world to be the beginning of the new world after the flood, is a type of faithful Christians who will be preserved from the present world to inherit the new world after the judgment.”[”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“The call to wait for this day is the standard New Testament exhortation.[191] But the notion of “hastening” this day’s coming is unusual. What does Peter mean? He may mean that by our prayers and manner of life we can participate in God’s purpose to shorten the time and hasten the day of his return. The day of God will come when God so wills, and not according to our efforts or calculation, but our prayers and way of life may help prepare the way for the Lord’s return.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Here Peter says something extraordinary. After saying that Christian slaves should bear up patiently under unjust masters, he now declares that unjust suffering is their vocation—and by extension the vocation of every Christian. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“The phrase, “chosen sojourners of the dispersion,” taken together, identifies the audience vividly with the elect people of God now living outside their true home, waiting for their full redemption, in continuity with the people of Israel described in the Old Testament.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“True knowledge will be a central focus of this letter, in contrast to the false teaching that threatens the good of the Christian people. While this includes true knowledge about God and Christ, in 2 Peter true knowledge always means a personal knowledge of them (1:2, 3, 8; 2:20; 3:18).[151]”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“The title “savior” is a favorite of 2 Peter (1:1, 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18), used more frequently here than in any other New Testament writing. By returning to the title “savior” again and again, Peter underlines the saving work of Christ who has delivered us from the corruption and falsehood of this world.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“The traditional rule for biblical interpretation applies here: interpret the more difficult and obscure passages by those that are clear and more evident, within the context of the living tradition of the Church.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“doing good.” In a closing line, Peter sums up our redemption in Christ: for you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. The imagery shifts subtly here. The one whom Peter has just portrayed as dying innocently as a lamb (Isa 53:7) is now named as the shepherd of the straying sheep. By bearing our sins on the cross Jesus has fulfilled the role of shepherd (see Luke 15:4–6).[70]”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“know Christ Jesus, and through this knowledge and by his power he has begun the fulfillment of his very great promises that will be fulfilled completely in the age to come.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“He does not develop the practical implications here, but we should note that he is not referring specifically to the ordained priesthood. Rather, it is the entire Christian people by virtue of their baptism into Christ who have entered into the inheritance given to the people of Israel to be a “royal priesthood” (v. 9; Exod 19:6). We are all called to stand before the Lord as priests, offering our lives as living sacrifices (see sidebar below on 1 Pet 2:9–10, “The Common Priesthood”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“Christ’s suffering is both a work on our behalf that we could never have done for ourselves and a model that we are meant to imitate according to our own manner and circumstances. He suffered uniquely for the salvation of the entire human race, but he also set us an example for how we too can bear up under suffering. The”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):

“believed in the “living stone” established by the Father. He announces that believers in Christ have become a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own. The four phrases build upon one another with powerful effect and together communicate the staggering dignity that is ours in Christ.”
― Daniel A. Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture):