2 Peter 2 Peter
2 Peter
Introduction
At a Glance
Author: The apostle Peter
Audience: Churches in northwestern Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey
Date: AD 64–66
Type of Literature: A letter
Major Themes: God, humanity, salvation, ethics, eschatology, the church, and doctrine
Outline:
Letter Opening — 1:1–11
Peter’s Reason for Writing — 1:12–15
Issue 1: The Power and Appearing of Our Lord — 1:16–18
Issue 2: The Reliable and Valid Prophetic Message — 1:19–21
Issue 3: False Teachers and Their Sure Destruction — 2:1–22
Issue 4: The Delay and Destruction of the Lord’s Day — 3:1–13
Letter Closing — 3:14–18
About 2 Peter
God has given us a treasure through the writings of the fisherman turned apostle, Simon Peter. With descriptive terms, this tremendous man writes a letter that will guard our souls through the revelation of God’s triumphant grace. Not long before Peter was martyred he took up the quill to write to those who shared with him the glorious hope of eternal life. Read these three chapters to learn, to grow, and to be warned. We can accept all that he tells us, for it is the Word of God.
Peter, the one who was asked three times, “Do you burn with love for me,” has filled his letter with multiple references to love. It is the perfect expression of the life of Christ within every believer. Love triumphs over troubles and pain. It perseveres in the truth when false teaching surrounds us. A fiery, endless love for Christ is the antidote to stagnancy in our spiritual lives. Peter will not let you forget the importance of this love, especially when it comes to your growth in Christ.
Spiritual growth is a process of learning to love, so Peter speaks about growing in God’s triumphant grace and becoming fully mature as those who share the divine nature with Christ (1:4). It begins with faith and virtue but it ends with love. Our diligence to hold to our faith will be rewarded in time with a greater love for God and for his people.
And finally, Peter brings the return of Christ to prominence. He speaks of the end of time and what will happen. He points us to the sure word of prophecy, rising like a daystar in our hearts, affirming within us that Christ is coming back. Be prepared to find ample reasons in 2 Peter for your faith to grow, even if it means enduring hardships. We thank God for the words Peter has left us—words that will never fade away.
Purpose
Peter writes as one who is facing imminent death. He describes being an eyewitness to the transfiguration of Christ. The two major themes of 2 Peter that outline his purpose for writing could be described as truth triumphant and love unending. It is necessary to address false teaching wherever it may be found. But have no fear, truth will triumph every time—especially when we speak the truth in love.
The burden that motivated Peter to write this letter seems to be the multiple false teachings that were beginning to threaten the health of the churches. Apparently, the false teachers taught the people that our freedom in Christ meant that sexual immorality was not an issue that should trouble us (2:14). They even made a mockery of the second coming of Christ (3:3–4). How we need Peter’s wise exhortation today to stay pure until the coming of the Lord! As such, one could view 2 Peter as his farewell letter to the churches he loved, urging them to stay the course until Christ’s coming.
Author and Audience
Although the authorship of 2 Peter is the most contested of all the New Testament books in our Bible, there should be no doubt that the beloved Peter the “rock” is the human author of this inspired letter. In the third century Origen was the first of the church fathers to state that Peter was indeed the author, yet he did acknowledge that it was disputed by others. The stylistic differences are quite different between his first and second letter, but some scholars attribute this to a different amanuenses (secretary). Depending on the exact year Peter was martyred, we can approximate the date of writing this letter to AD 64–66.
It is believed that Peter was writing to churches within northwest Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey. These communities included the Roman regions of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Based on the content of the letter and purpose that drove Peter to write it, a number of false teachers had begun influencing them in a moral direction that ran contrary to their calling as God’s children in Christ. Peter was concerned they were vulnerable to these teachers. So he wrote to them as a pastor, to stimulate them to wholesome, Christ-centered thinking, believing, and living.
Major Themes
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Unlike 1 Peter, God the Father is only mentioned a handful of times. Peter reveals he has created the cosmos and inspired the prophets; he is the ruler of angelic beings and human beings; the final judgment is described as “the coming of the day of God” (3:12), yet he is also patient and merciful. However, where God the Father was prominent in letter one, in letter two he is more in the background.
Not true of God the Son! Jesus is clearly in the foreground in Peter’s second letter, yet in a way that’s unique: Jesus is most often mentioned with a corresponding descriptive expression. He is “our God and Savior” (1:1); he is “our Lord” (1:2); he is “our Lord and Savior,” as well as “the Messiah” (1:11); and he is described as “the Master,” our sovereign Lord (2:1). He is the God-Savior, anointed by the Father, who reigns as supreme Lord.
Peter mentions the Holy Spirit only explicitly in 1:21, but he is also implied in 1:20. Though he occupies a small role in the letter, it isn’t a minor one. For Peter’s aim is to counter the false prophets affecting what these communities believed and how they lived. He wrote to remind the believers of their need to live a godly life and to confirm their calling. How are we to do that? We have “been given the prophetic word . . . reliable and fully validated” (1:19). And we can trust that message to guide our believing and behaving because those prophets were “inspired by the moving of the Holy Spirit” (1:21).
Entrapped Humanity and Divine Deliverance. Peter reveals something important about our human condition: humanity is entrapped by corrupt desires, and God’s goodness has opened a way to escape that corruption through deliverance. First, Peter makes known in his letter the reality that the world is filled with “corrupt desires” (1:4). In fact, these desires are so powerful that they become entangled and defeated by them once again, to the point of turning their backs against “the sacred obligation that was given to them” in Christ (2:21).
And yet, Peter also makes known the revelation-truth that everything you need to “keep you from being inactive or fruitless in your pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ more intimately” and fully experiencing his deliverance has “already [been] planted deep within” (1:8). That’s because through his divine initiative and by his divine power, God has called each of us by name and invited us to the rich experience of knowing Christ personally! For Peter, the idea of “knowing” is a crucial aspect of salvation. The Greek word epignosis carries with it the idea of acknowledging and recognizing Jesus as Lord and Savior, which leads to grace and peace, and the blossoming of Christian virtue.
Living in Light of the End. In 2 Peter, ethics (how we live) and eschatology (the end of the world) are intimately connected. In his final chapter, Peter draws our attention to the judgment that God will unfold on this reality, in preparation for a whole new one. But we aren’t just waiting for the end; we’re called to live in these “last days” in light of the end, the coming “day of God.” Why? Because, as Peter reveals, in the end “every activity of man will be laid bare” (3:10). In light of this coming revelation and destruction he asks rhetorically, “don’t you see how vital it is to live a holy life?” Which is why “We must be consumed with godliness” (3:11), and why he urges his readers to “be eager to be found living pure lives when you come into his presence, without blemish and filled with peace” (3:14).
False Teachers and False Teaching. One of the main reasons Peter wrote his letter was to urge the believing communities to guard against false teachers who would slip into their churches, secretly infiltrating them in order to divide and confuse them with destructive false teaching. Such people deny the sovereign Lord, live and teach immoral lifestyles, exploit true believers for their greedy gain, and pervert all kinds of Christian teachings and practices. While Peter does promise that “in their destruction they will be destroyed” (2:12), he also forewarns us not to be led astray by their lawlessness. Because for Peter, there is a very real threat of believers returning back to the very corrupt world system they escaped from in Christ! Peter believes right teachings are vital to the ongoing purity of the church and our individual godly lives.
2 Peter
Triumphant Grace
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2 Peter 2 Peter: TPT
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