The Second Letter of Peter
Written by the apostle Peter
Location unspecified
Written to Christian friends, possibly the same audience as First Peter, date uncertain
Written to testify to his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration and to warn about the coming end of all things
GOD IMPARTS HIS OWN NATURE Read II Peter 1:1-4
Peter's second general letter, directed to Christians everywhere, opens with a warm greeting to those who, like himself, have received the gift of faith through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
When God called us [says Peter] he equipped us with power by imparting his own nature to us, and so enabled us to escape the corrupting influences of our environment.
MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE Read 1:5-11
To the gift of faith we are now to add integrity, knowledge, self-control, the power to endure, a devout spirit and love. Lacking these, a man may well forget that he was cleansed from his sin. So, brethren, strengthen your calling and election, and trust God to see you into his kingdom.
MY DAYS HERE ARE NUMBERED Read 1:12-18
My purpose in writing is to arouse you about these things, and if I seem at some pains it is because the Lord has made it clear
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that my time on earth is drawing swiftly to a close. It is no invented myth that we have passed on to you, brethren, for as you know, we were eyewitnesses of the magnificence of Jesus Christ. We stood on the Mount of Transfiguration with him [Mark 9:2-9] and heard God the Father speak the words: "This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I have delight."
THERE WILL BE LIGHT FOR YOU Read 1:19-21
Also, brethren, we have continuous illumination breaking forth from the prophetic word, which will serve until the great day dawns, and Jesus, the morning star, shall arise in your hearts. We need to understand that the scriptures are of divine and not human origin.
FALSE PROPHETS WILL BE PUNISHED Read 2:1-9
However, not all those who spoke in former days were holy men of God. Some were pseudo-prophets, and such people are regrettably still with us today, speaking destructive teaching, denying the Lord who bought them, winning adherents and exploiting believers.
But if God could handle the rebellious angels and the antediluvians who laughed at Noah, and the evil men of Sodom and Gomorrah, and could deliver Lot, we can trust him properly to punish these unjust and unrighteous troublemakers at the great judgment.
THE TRUE NATURE OF THESE MEN Read 2:10-22
For these men are daring, unruly, self-willed, corrupt, superficial, sex-crazed and animalistic by nature. They are followers of Balaam, the prophet whose burro showed more sense than he did.
They talk big, these dried-up waterholes. They promise freedom even though they are themselves slaves to sin, and want to enslave you too.
But if a man ever manages to elude the world's stain through Christ, and then lets himself again be involved and succumbs, like a dog returning to its own vomit, that man is in worse shape
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than he was at the beginning. It would be better for him had he never known the way of righteousness.
THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING Read 3:1-10
So I have written again to remind you of the words of our Lord's prophets and apostles, and to put you on your guard against skeptics and mockers. These types like to point to the continuity of the universe and to ask, "Where is the promise of his coming?" They refuse to see that God's creation is being sustained by his will alone until the day of judgment.
"When will Christ come?" What, indeed, is time to God? A thousand years is as a day; God is never late, for he keeps his own schedule. It is his long-suffering love that now holds back the end, for he doesn't want to lose anyone through failure to repent. But when the day of the Lord does come, it will be sudden.
A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH Read 3:11-18
In that day the elements will melt, the earth will burn to a crisp and the heavens will dissolve in roaring flames; while God will provide new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Meanwhile, what should Christians be doing? We are to be about our Lord's business in peace, as Paul tells us. We are to keep away from those who violate their consciences, and to seek growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory.
The second letter of Peter was one of the last to be included in the canon of New Testament books. Early Christian writers record a reluctance on the part of some churches to accept the letter as authentic, and the debate has continued down to our own time. One problem has been the marked resemblance between 2:1-6, 10-17, and verses 4-13 of the letter of Jude.
However, today Second Peter is firmly fixed as part of the Bible; and since we believe that the selection of the canon was made by men under the guidance of the Spirit of God, we need
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to examine this book with extra care. The study will be a rewarding one, for the three chapters are rich in spiritual truth.
In 1:16 we are told that this letter deals not with myths but with facts. We have therefore no reason to challenge the authenticity of Peter's personal testimony (1:16-18). Brushing aside profitless speculation, we can proceed to study these pages by faith, in the assurance that when God wishes to release more evidence he will do so.
Since August 6, 1945, people inside the church and out have been reading Second Peter with increasing fascination. In fact, it could be said that as people anxiously scan the skies of the future, no New Testament book holds more interest for them than this one. Verses 3:7-13 have been quoted in scientific academies around the world and published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
The letter grapples courageously and honestly with the question of our Lord's return (3:4). It should stir your Bible study group to a warm discussion, for this subject is paramount in Second Peter. As you compare Scripture with Scripture, we trust that your study of the second advent of Jesus Christ will make it appear even more clearly to you as the one blessed hope of his church.
