the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
Filipino Cebuano Bible
2 Pedro 1:8
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalDevotionals:
- EveryContextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
in you: John 5:42, 2 Corinthians 9:14, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Philippians 2:5, Colossians 3:16, Philemon 1:6
and abound: 1 Corinthians 15:58, 2 Corinthians 8:2, 2 Corinthians 8:7, Philippians 1:9, Colossians 2:7, Colossians 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:3
they: John 15:7, John 15:8, 2 Corinthians 5:13-17
barren: or, idle, Proverbs 19:15, Matthew 20:3, Matthew 20:6, Matthew 25:26, Romans 12:11, 1 Timothy 5:13, Hebrews 6:12
unfruitful: Matthew 13:22, John 15:2, John 15:6, Titus 3:14
in: 2 Peter 1:2
Reciprocal: Matthew 13:21 - root Matthew 25:18 - and hid Mark 4:19 - unfruitful Mark 4:20 - which Colossians 1:10 - fruitful 2 Peter 3:18 - knowledge
Cross-References
Gill's Notes on the Bible
For if these things be in you,.... Are wrought in you by the Spirit of God, and exercised and performed by his assistance, who works in his people both to will and do:
and abound; increase in their acts and exercises by the frequent performance of them: they make you; both by way of influence and evidence,
[that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a knowledge of Christ which is barren and fruitless; and those that have it are so in their conversations, and it will be of no avail to them another day: and this is a mere notional and speculative knowledge, such as is not attended with any inward experience and application of Christ to themselves, or any fruits of righteousness in their lives, and is a bare theory of things relating to his person, offices, and works; but there is a knowledge of him that is spiritual and experimental, by which a soul not only approves of Christ, but places its trust and confidence in him, and appropriates him to himself, and practically observes his commands and ordinances in the faith of him; and in love to him he performs the above duties, and exercises the above graces; from whence it appears, that he is neither barren nor unfruitful himself in the profession of his knowledge of Christ; "or in the acknowledgment of him", as it may be rendered; nor is that a vain, empty, and useless thing: he is not like the barren fig tree, or the earth that bears briers and thorns, and is nigh to cursing and burning, but like a tree planted by a river of water, and is green, flourishing, and fruitful. This is used as an argument to enforce the foregoing exhortation, to add to, that is, to exercise and perform the above graces and duties, in conjunction with each other.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
For if these things be in you, and abound - If they are in you in rich abundance; if you are eminent for these things.
They make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful - They will show that you are not barren or unfruitful. The word rendered “barren,” is, in the margin, “idle.” The word “idle” more accurately expresses the sense of the original. The meaning is, that if they evinced these things, it would show.
(1)That they were diligent in cultivating the Christian graces, and,
(2)That it was not a vain thing to attempt to grow in knowledge and virtue.
Their efforts would be followed by such happy results as to be an encouragement to exertion. In nothing is there, in fact, more encouragement than in the attempt to become eminent in piety. On no other efforts does God smile more propitiously than on the attempt to secure the salvation of the soul and to do good. A small part of the exertions which men put forth to become rich, or learned, or celebrated for oratory or heroism, would secure the salvation of the soul. In the former, also, men often fail; in the latter, never.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. For if these things be in you and abound — If ye possess all there graces, and they increase and abound in your souls, they will make-show, you to be neither αργους, idle, nor ακαρπους, unfruitful, in the acknowledgment of our Lord Jesus Christ. The common translation is here very unhappy: barren and unfruitful certainly convey the same ideas; but idle or inactive, which is the proper sense of αργους, takes away this tautology, and restores the sense. The graces already mentioned by the apostle are in themselves active principles; he who was possessed of them, and had them abounding in him, could not be inactive; and he who is not inactive in the way of life must be fruitful. I may add, that he who is thus active, and consequently fruitful, will ever be ready at all hazard to acknowledge his Lord and Saviour, by whom he has been brought into this state of salvation.