BibleWise

Search BibleWise

Archived Bible Overview Topics

Books of the Bible

Bible Overview is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in Bible study. Each month we feature a book of the Bible (in order) by Bible scholar and lecturer, Mary Jane Chaignot.

This month we will explore 2 Peter. It is convenient to think of this as the second volume produced by the author of 1 Peter, but many scholars contest that viewpoint. 2 Peter does follow the format of an actual ancient letter, but it also reads like a farewell speech or final testament. The thought was that in someone’s final moments, they would be given special prophetic powers and could provide information about the future of the community. In this letter the author anticipates his death, and hopes, above all, that readers will remember his ethical instructions. If you want to read some of the history previous to this selection, you can find the earlier books in our archives.

The Bible Time-Line is another quick reference for locating individuals or specific books. We encourage readers to share their Bible study success stories on this site. Email us at overview@biblewise.com to be included on next month's site.

2 Peter

There are several sound reasons why scholars do not believe 1 and 2 Peter were written by the same author. First, when someone wrote a “farewell address,” it typically was done so anonymously. Also, the books differ dramatically in style and vocabulary as well as in theological expressions. The book itself is written in very sophisticated Greek, indicating this individual would have been highly educated and very well versed in the art of Greco-Roman rhetoric. He would also have been a very Hellenized Jewish Christian. (Peter was a Galilean fisherman.) Finally, this author seems to be living in the post-apostolic era. That would mean that the original group, the eyewitnesses, the ones who had seen the risen Christ had already passed on, including Peter.

The most likely author, however, could have been from a Petrine school. This group would have been comprised of those who were close associates and followers of the apostle Peter. It was not unusual in antiquity to honor someone by writing in his name, thereby giving him a voice for a new generation or a new situation. Needless to say, this letter would have been given considerable prominence if it was circulated under the guise of having been written by Peter. That probably also accounts for its acceptance into the canon.

But such assumptions raise havoc with issues of date and place and audience. Those scholars who insist that the apostle Peter was the author have to date it prior to his martyrdom – before 64-5CE. Others, however, go out as late as 160CE. Strong arguments have been made for virtually every decade between these two numbers. Oftentimes, these dates are based on other documents, but frequently the dates of such documents are also speculative. It becomes, then, somewhat of a guessing game. Most scholars who do not believe Peter was the author think it could not have been written before 80-90CE. Since there are similarities to other documents originating from Rome, it could also have had its origin in Rome. There are no cogent arguments against this possibility.

The potential audience is much more difficult to pin down. The letter is obviously not written to a specific church. Yet it does make reference to Paul’s letters, so it could have been read at churches that Paul had visited. (Another possibility is that by the time of this writing, Paul’s letters had already been circulating far beyond their original audiences and people everywhere were quite familiar with them). This letter is addressed to Christians who might be somewhat new in the faith and whose faith is already being challenged by false teachers. They are now in danger of backsliding or of adopting these false teachings. Though the exact nature of their teachings is not spelled out, the author indicates that it is derived from the delay of the Parousia, the second coming of Christ. Many of the early Christians were told (and believed) that the second coming would occur before they would “sleep.” This had not happened and provided the occasion for doubt and disclaimers. The false teachers suggested that the apostles had gotten it wrong; their preaching was nothing more than myth, or their own personal interpretation of some imagined truth.

Along with denying the reality of the Parousia, the false teachers also disclaimed any issues of impending judgment. Without the threat of judgment, there was no need to be obedient to God’s commands. Indeed, they may have taken Paul’s doctrine of “freedom in Christ” to its extreme, thinking any restrictions were unnecessary. This would have been a very attractive position for new converts who were excluded from many of the business and social aspects of ancient culture, many of which were tied to the pagan rituals at the temples. This libertine approach was at great odds with what the apostles had been preaching about living a holy and godly life. The situation seemed urgent to the author of 2 Peter because the church leaders really believed the Parousia would happen soon, and people needed to be prepared. He is also very adamant about the fate that would await those who had rejected the faith and particularly those who had led others astray.

Unlike some of the other letters of this era, 2 Peter is not interested in formulating church doctrine or establishing a hierarchy of offices. Its primary goal is to combat a sense of libertinism among false teachers and exhort believers to be faithful to the apostolic teachings. He does this by employing various sophisticated rhetorical techniques. He is also very familiar with the Old Testament, using various examples to make his points and relying upon the prophetic word to establish the truth of his claims. He is quick to point out that God’s vision, his time, his goals are not the same as ours. Not only did God create the world and everything in it, but He also has been active in its governance, intervening many times throughout history. He will do so again. To suggest – as the false teachers now were suggesting – that God is not concerned about humanity or provident in the world is to deny the entire gospel message. The God that Jesus came to reveal stands over against these presumptions. Christians are commanded to love God and their neighbors, to live moral lives, and to forego the immorality of the world. In so doing, they will be morally blameless and completely prepared for the Parousia when it happens.

There are roughly five sections to this letter:
1:1-4 – Introduction/Salutation/Blessing; 1:5-15 – Christian Virtues; 1:16-21 – The Divine Majesty of Christ; 2:1-22 – The Problem of False Prophets and Teachers; 3:1-18 – The Coming of the Day of the Lord.


I -- 1:1-4 – Introduction/Salutation/Blessing This is a typical opening for a New Testament letter The author identifies himself as Simon Peter He is also a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ The addition of “servant” suggests he has been bound to Christ It is addressed to “those who have received a faith as precious as ours” This could suggest the recipients were Gentile Christians Or this could point to the faith common to all believers Their “received” faith was pure gift They received this faith through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ It is unclear whether Peter is speaking of one person or two Like many NT letters, Peter greets listeners with “grace and peace be yours” This should come through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord Those who follow Christ have a fuller knowledge of God and his ways God’s divine power has given us everything we need to live a godly life The only requirement on our part is to be receptive Through Christ’s glory and goodness, he has given us great and precious promises Through these promises we can participate in the divine nature Therefore we can escape the corruption of the world God’s grace does not free us from the obligations of the moral law One cannot go on sinning, thereby mocking the gift of grace The divine nature allows us to withstand the evil desires that lead to sins

II – 1:5-15 – Christian Virtues

1:5-9		List of Christian Virtues It is important that people make every effort to build up their Christian lives Just squeaking by is not an option; this requires time and commitment God has already done His part, the rest is up to us Our lives will demonstrate to others what God’s grace is all about Peter explains how this is to be done; it is all based on faith First comes goodness – the proper fulfillment of anything Then is knowledge – the ability to make right decisions and do right activities Next is self-control – the submitting of one’s passions to Christ Perseverance is next – the patient expectancy that things will work out for the best Godliness follows – the loyalty to God above all else Then is brotherly kindness – those who love God must love their neighbor Lastly is love – We respond with gratitude for what God did through Jesus The presence or absence of these qualities will be obvious in the life of a Christian The believers who practice these virtues will not be ineffective or unproductive Indeed, they will have a growing knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ Those who do not have these virtues will be nearsighted and blind This individual will be closed to spiritual matters He has already forgotten that he has been cleansed of his past sins

1:10-11		The divine initiative In light of their cleansing, they should be all the more eager to make their calling and election sure This is a legal term, indicating they have accepted God’s call with its accompanying responsibilities Working from this aspect of having God in their lives, they will never fall In fact, they will be richly welcomed into the eternal kingdom of our Lord They cannot fathom the provisions God has in store for them Here the divine kingdom is eternal and of the Lord Jesus Christ This kingdom can only be accessed by those who have a living relationship with Jesus Christ

1:12-15		Things to remember They should remember all this; yet Peter does not hesitate to remind them and promises to continue to do so Complacency is dangerous; instead they should strive to grow in grace They might believe they are “firmly established” now, but he knows how easy it is to waver As long as he lives in his body, it is his duty to “refresh your memory” He refers to living in the “tent” of a body – a temporary dwelling He knows that the day is soon coming when he will set aside this “tent” The casual reference of “setting aside” again illustrates the unimportance of body in this world The goal is the “eternal world” that awaits He is trying to prepare them for that time after his departure Perhaps it is a reference to this letter Then, they will remember these things

III – 1:16-21 – The Divine Majesty of Christ

1:16-18		The apostolic eyewitnesses Their apostolic preaching is grounded in historical events These are not “cleverly invented stories” as their opponents were charging The author includes a reference to the transfiguration as evidence of having seen Christ’s glory For him, this experience validates the promise of the second coming of Christ He’s already seen Christ’s glory once The transfiguration is when Jesus received honor and glory from the Father At this point, Jesus was invested as the divine Son (No one was present for the identical words spoken at his baptism) God said: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The repetition of my son and whom I love indicates intimacy and oneness Peter testifies that he heard this voice It was truly a sacred moment

1:19-21		Old Testament prophecies Along with his personal experience, the author finds scriptural evidence “The word of the prophets” is literally the prophetic word All that has been said is made more certain by the transfiguration The prophetic word is like “a light shining in a dark place” This will have to suffice until the “day dawns and the morning star rises” Both are references to the last day – the Parousia On that day God’s glorious revelation of Christ will so flood people’s hearts that prophetic “lights” will no longer be needed This will be true even though no prophecy came through the prophet’s own interpretation It was never their own thought or idea “Its origin was not in the will of man”; it was from the Spirit of God Prophets were God’s messengers and their words should be heeded Likewise, readers need to look to that same Spirit in their study of the texts The Spirit will reveal the true message If someone has a preconceived idea of what a text says, they might need to reconsider and listen to what the Spirit reveals

IV – 2:1-22 – The Problem of False Prophets and Teachers

2:1-3		Warning against false teachers Just like there were false prophets during the time of prophecy, there are false teachers in this time False prophets and teachers threaten to poison the spiritual life of the community Their teachings are insidious – secretly introduced By smuggling in false doctrines, they pervert the truth The result is “destructive heresies,” denying the sovereign Lord that bought them In so doing, they are deliberately rejecting the divine truth This will bring “swift destruction” upon themselves Their goal is to get others to follow their “shameful ways” In so doing, they will “bring the way of truth” into “disrepute” The way of the world will always be more attractive than the way of Christ But when Christians act this way, they bring scandal to the Christian faith These false teachers are motivated by greed and will exploit with made-up stories They will benefit at the expense of others

2:4-10a		Examples of previous judgment and deliverance Those who follow these false teachers can be assured of retribution and judgment Three examples are given Fallen angels (Gen 6:1-4) were sent to hell Though angels, they were not exempt from the consequences of their sinful behavior They were kept in gloomy dungeons to await the judgment of the final days The flood (Gen 7:1-7) is his second example Though the world was destroyed, one man and his family were saved Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” This might refer to the example of his godly life God was able to save one righteous family while the wicked were destroyed God is able to protect his believers The third example refers to Sodom and Gomorrah These cities were destroyed by being burned to ashes It is a familiar pattern by now – unrepentant sinners are judged and destroyed So it will be for those who are ungodly now The author describes Lot as a righteous man (This does not mesh well with the accounts in Gen 13:10-14; Gen 19:1-16) Yet the point is made that God rescued Lot Clearly Lot did not “earn” this as a reward; it was God’s gracious gift The author claims Lot was “tormented in his soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard” Despite his many flaws, God was able to rescue him This demonstrates that God is able to rescue righteous people from all sorts of trials as well as to hold the unrighteous accountable for the last day This is meant to encourage those who feel the sinful are gaining ground God is still in control and always will be Like the people of ancient times, the false teachers will be judged for their actions They are defined as “those who follow the corrupt desires of the sinful nature” Secondly, they “despise authority” (including the designated church leaders) Mostly, they are not following Christ

2:10b-16		The impudence of the false teachers The false teachers are “bold and arrogant” Bold means to trample on the rights, interests, or opinions of others Arrogant is to do exactly as one pleases without regard for the feelings of others They “slander celestial beings” – make fun of the spiritual world The angels do not stoop to their level in responding to these accusations even though they are more powerful and could easily do so In contrast to the angels who show humble restraint, the false teachers “blaspheme in matters they do not understand” They are no different than brute beasts who live only by their instincts The destiny of such individuals is to be caught or destroyed, just like the animals Ultimately, they will be accountable for the harm they have caused The issue seems to be self-indulgent, materialistic, fleshly pleasures This can only lead to more extreme and eventually self-destructive behaviors They will “carouse in broad daylight” – an example of degenerate activity While they feast with you, they will be “reveling in their pleasures” Their eyes “are full of adultery”; they never stop sinning The author compares them to Balaam (Num 22-24) He was out for personal gain at the expense of God’s people A donkey set him straight The false teachers think they can disregard God Eventually they will fare no better than Balaam

2:17-22		The weakness of the false teachings The false teachers are “springs without water” and “mists driven by a storm” In both examples much is promised, but nothing is delivered A thirsty traveler depends on a flowing spring A mist cannot provide much moisture to a parched earth These people bring darkness, but the “blackest darkness is reserved for them” This is another reference to the fact that God is in control – always and forever He describes them this way because of their influence upon new converts People who are untested and new in the faith are easy targets While they might have misgivings about leaving their old life behind, along come the false teachers who “appeal to the lustful desires of sinful human nature” Their spiel promises greater freedoms – a Christian libertinism Yet, they themselves are slaves to their own depravity They once were free from the corruption of the world True freedom is only possible through knowing God and our Lord Now, however, they have slipped back and are “entangled” in the world’s evil They are, in fact, worse off than before because they have rejected the gospel It’s one thing to have never known the truth of the gospel But those who know it and then reject it have “turned their backs on the sacred command” Furthermore, they haven’t just lost it for themselves, but for all their followers This is a far worse sin The author concludes with two proverbial sayings involving a dog and a sow Their natures are not affected by a sudden cleansing Both animals were considered to be unclean by Jews In like manner, the false teachers are not affected by a temporary outward cleansing

V – 3:1-18 – The Coming of the Day of the Lord

3:1-10		The certainty of the Last Days The author addresses his friends again He claims this is his second letter (a potential reference to 1 Peter but discounted by most scholars who do not believe the same person wrote both of these letters.) These letters will be permanent “reminders” of the message they contain They may be copied and shared forever Their purpose is to “stimulate you to wholesome thinking” This is their defense against the false teachers He wants them to recall the words spoken by the prophets of old They should also recall the message of “your” apostles The author may be speaking on behalf of all apostles or ones from that area One sign that the “End” is near is when people scoff at the very notion of it The scoffers will “follow their own evil desires” When this happens, believers should take heart – the end is near They will scoff: “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?” This is a direct challenge to the word of the Lord promoting doubt and disbelief They will argue that things have continued unhindered “since our fathers died” Life has gone on since the beginning of creation – and nothing’s happened yet They forget the lessons of Scripture – how God created the world by his word They also forget the time that the world was deluged and destroyed The world exists at God’s behest and He may intervene at any time The Scriptures told about the flood and have foretold a judgment still to come It behooves people to pay attention The coming of Christ is a certainty All of creation is being kept for that Day of Judgment he only uncertainty is the date With the Lord a day can be a thousand years, or a thousand years can be a day We may think the Lord is slow – but He is not He keeps his promises and He is very patient His desire is that everyone should come to repentance Still, the Day of the Lord will “come like a thief” There will be cosmic upheaval on a calamitous scale It will involve the heavens, the elements, and the earth – all will be laid bare

3:11-16		The moral implications of the Day of the Lord All will be destroyed What are the implications for people? As people, what should they do? They should live “holy and godly lives” This is not to terrify them, but to impel them toward righteous living In doing so, they will have nothing to fear and will, in fact, help usher in the final days The whole point is that the material world is transient and undependable Those who trust in God and live helpful lives will experience eternal reality Despite the dramatic events of a destroyed world, the real goal is God’s promises God has promised to create a new heaven and a new earth These will be the permanent homes for his righteous people They will be in a perfect relationship with God; there will be no evil Believers should be preparing themselves for this right now They should make every effort to be spotless, blameless, and at peace Then they will have nothing to fear Another reason for possible delay of the Parousia is due to the Lord’s patience He is holding back on the Day of Judgment, thereby allowing for maximum repentance among nonbelievers This is similar to Paul’s argument Paul wrote “with the wisdom that God gave him” Some of Paul’s words are hard to understand Some people deliberately distort and misread them This will be to their own destruction

3:17-18		Final summary The author exhorts them to “be on your guard” and “grow in grace” They are to stand as an alert sentinel over the true doctrine Then they will not be carried away by the errors of lawless men To fall for their false teachings would be to fall from their secure position in Christ Instead, they should keep on growing Continuous growth is essential for maintaining a strong relationship The way to grow is to have a healthy relationship with God through Jesus Christ Not only will they grow in grace, but they will also increase in knowledge “To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

The author ends 2 Peter with a doxology that sums up all needs for the present. The letter ends by giving glory to Christ, now and forever. He has warned believers of the dangers of the false teachers. But it is not enough to be wary; they must also grow in grace and progress in the Christian way of life.

Bibliography

Barclay, William. “The Letters of James and Peter.” Daily Study Bible. Philadelphia,
PA: Westminster Press. 1975.

Bauckham, Richard. “Jude, 2 Peter.” Word Biblical Commentary. Thomas Nelson
Publishers. 1983.

Duling, Dennis and Norman Perrin. The New Testament. Proclamation and
Parenesis, Myth and History. Philadelphia, PA: Harcourt Brace College
Publishers. 1994.

Elliot, John. I-II Peter/Jude. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament.
Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing. 1982.

Hillyer, Norman. “1 and 2 Peter, Jude.” New International Biblical Commentary.
Peabody, MA: Hendrickson. 1992.

Gaebelein, Frank. “2 Peter.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing. 1985.

Keck, Leander, ed. “2 Peter.” The New Interpreter’s Bible. Nashville, TN: Abingdon
Press. 1998.