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Introduction

For background on the author of this letter, see Peter.

Peter wrote this letter near the end of his life (2 Pet 1:14). Its theme is preparation for the Second Coming. Since Peter is not going to make it to the end, he wants to make sure others don’t lose sight of what they’ve all been working toward. The purpose of the New Testament church was to learn how to live in the kingdom of God. They did not have a complete, written New Testament widely distributed as we do. They were dependent almost entirely on congregational meetings to complete their training. As the apostles sacrificed themselves for the faith one by one, the letters they left behind took on ever-increasing importance.

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2 Peter 1

2 Pet 1:1 – Peter wanted his fellow believers to know that he did not have some special kind of faith that they did not have. Likewise, though we may vary in the degree of faith we have, the quality of the faith is identical. This is because it is a faith that was authored by Jesus Himself (Heb 12:2) and passed on to us. ***** As for Peter referring to Jesus here as “our God and Savior,” he is using the term “God” in the same way that his friend and fellow apostle John did.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This understanding is consistent with things they learned during the 40-day Bible study Jesus conducted with them between His resurrection in ascension. For example, consider this messianic psalm:

Ps 45:7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

The psalm is directed to the Messiah. Thus both God and the Messiah are called God. During New Testament times, it was not revealed that God and the Messiah were the same person; that would only come out at the Second Coming. But as the glory of Messiah kept increasing throughout the New Testament age, it was inevitably going to create tension because Israel had been told one thing for sure since Moses led them: that there was only one God.

2 Pet 1:2-3 – Peter uses some form of the word “know“ nine times in this chapter. ***** We read the Bible to gain “knowledge” – which brings with it “grace and peace.” ***** The more knowledge we have about Jesus, the more abundant our life will be because the more more godly it will be.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

***** “Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” reminds us that following Jesus was not our idea – He “called” us to do it! Peter was keenly aware of the value of being commanded to do something one would not have the nerve to attempt on his own initiative.

Matt 14:28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
Matt 14:29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

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1 Pet 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
1 Pet 1:15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
1 Pet 1:16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Never forget that the Lord called you. This life was not your idea. If He called you, He’ll equip you. Don’t ever let yourself feel that you’re without a tool or a weapon, because He’ll supply you whatever you need to provide for and protect your family (2 Cor 9:8).

2 Pet 1:4 – As for “His precious and magnificent promises,” Peter is speaking about the new covenant promises from Jesus in the same superlative way that Paul did.

Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

These new promises were not so much the additional things Jesus promised in the red letters, though those are certainly included. Rather, the emphasis here is on the new meaning given to the Old Testament promises. For example, consider this old covenant promise.

Ps 91:16 “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”

Now, re-consider this old covenant promise in the light of the new covenant which views things spiritually rather than according to the flesh. To do this, remember what Paul said about the two covenants:

2 Cor 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,
2 Cor 3:6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

By the letter (that is, literally speaking), the promise of Ps 91:16 is for a long life on earth – but this means that we will still eventually die. But by the spirit, this promise speaks of spiritual life which lasts forever in heaven. That life includes no death at all. Such a promise is indeed “better” (Heb 8:6), “precious” (2 Pet 1:4), and “magnificent” (2 Pet 1:4).

***** As for “having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust,” Peter has already told us that he sees the way to this escape as pursuing the will of God…even if it causes us to suffer.

1 Pet 4:1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
1 Pet 4:2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

2 Pet 1:5-11 – This passage fulfills something Jesus said to Peter.

Matt 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

By this, I mean that Jesus gave Peter and the other apostles the keys to His kingdom, and the apostles pass them on to us. During New Testament times, they passed on these keys through their preaching and teaching; the generations who came after them, including us, receive those keys through their writings. Peter assures us that through “these things” (verse 10) listed in 2 Pet 1:5-7, “entrance” (verse 11) into the “kingdom” (verse 11) will be “abundantly supplied” (verse 11) to us. What else are keys supposed to do but gain us entry?

2 Pet 1:5 – An alternative translation of “moral excellence” in this verse could be “moral goodness” or “virtue.” The same Greek word shows up as simply “excellence” in 2 Pet 1:3 and in Phil 4:8. Its only other appearance in the New Testament is as “excellencies” in 1 Pet 2:9.

2 Pet 1:12 – Peter sounds like Paul.

Phil 3:1 …To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

2 Pet 1:13-15 – Peter also sounds like Paul on this point.

2 Tim 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

Therefore, we can consider 2 Peter as Peter’s farewell address, and 2 Timothy as Paul’s farewell address.

2 Pet 1:16-18 – Peter is here referring to the vision that he, James, and John (the two sons of Zebedee) saw on the mountain, and that came to be called the Transfiguration (Mt 17, Mk 9, Lk 9). Jesus told the three men that they weren’t to tell anyone about the vision until after His resurrection (Mt 17:9). By giving them this vision – and many other experiences – Jesus was simplifying their job. They didn’t have to “carefully devise tales” about Him; rather, all they had to do was report what they saw and heard.

2 Pet 1:19-21 – Considering that Paul was alluding to the Holy Spirit when he wrote “inSPIRed” below, note how the two men held a common view but expressed it through their different personalities.

2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
2 Tim 3:17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Note that in their respective farewell addresses, these two men both wanted to make sure their readers knew and understood the importance of the Scriptures – especially since they were leaving the scene and would no longer be around to emphasize the point.

With regard to the Scriptures, it’s worth noticing that 2 Pet 1:16-18 dealt with the witness of the apostles and 2 Pet 1:19-21 dealt with the witness of the prophets. And this is just what the Bible is: the New Testament (which is the testimony of the apostles) combined with the Old Testament (which is the testimony of the prophets).

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2 Peter 2

Though the chapter and verses divisions were not of Peter’s making, this entire chapter is given to warning his readers about the false teachers who will multiply after his death in the run-up to the Second Coming. Jesus told His apostles that they would not all die before His return (Mt 10:23; 16:28; 24:34). Another way of saying this was that they would not all live until He came. This was the backdrop for the following exchange Peter had with Jesus about John (who is the one Peter was referring to when he asked Jesus about “him” in the first verse below.

John 21:21 So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”
John 21:22 Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
John 21:23 Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

Thus none of the apostles could be sure he would be alive when the Lord actually returned.

Jesus had also told His disciples that false teachers would multiply as His return drew closer and closer.

Mark 13:19 “For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will.
Mark 13:20 “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
Mark 13:21 “And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him;
Mark 13:22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
Mark 13:23 “But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.

It makes perfect sense, therefore, that as Peter saw his death approaching, he would remember what Jesus said about the proliferation of false teaching as the apostles began being killed off. And remembering this, Peter stresses this point in his final letter. Paul gave a similar warning about these false teachers near the end in his final letter.

2 Tim 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Tim 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
2 Tim 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Tim 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Thus it would not be just a case of an increasing supply of false teachers (as Peter described it) but it was also a case of increasing demand for false teachers (as Paul described it). In other words, it wasn’t just the leadership of the Christian movement that would be corrupted in the last days of its first generation, it was also the people themselves who would “fall away” (1 Tim 4:1) – that is, succumb to “apostasy” (2 Th 2:3).

2 Pet 2:4-16 – What Peter is describing in some detail here follows the pattern he briefly outlined in his first letter.

1 Pet 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Pet 4:18 AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?

That pattern is that the righteous are “tormented” as Lot was in the final days before judgment, but in that judgment, the righteous are delivered while the godless are permanently set back. (Think of the oppressed Israelite slaves escaping through a divided Red Sea and the Egyptian army being drowned when the waters returned to their steady state; the Israelite slaves were also “tormented” by Pharaoh’s actions such as having to gather their own straw to make their bricks.)

2 Pet 2:17-19 – We can certainly see the signs of approaching judgment in our own country and our own age. For one thing, can you think of a more apt description of what our rulers today subject us to than “speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality.” It’s as if they’ve read the Bible’s descriptions of evil and are trying to follow them! Ours is an increasingly “fleshly” and “sensual” age, now corrupting children as well as adults.

2 Pet 2:20-22 – These are such sobering words! We must take the warning seriously. If we fall away – that is, if we allow ourselves to be deceived by false teachings and false teachers – then we will end up being worse people than we were before we began following Jesus. It’s just as Jesus said. (We should not be surprised; everything Peter and the apostles taught, they learned from Jesus.)

Matt 12:43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.
Matt 12:44 “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.
Matt 12:45 “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

We can never maintain the status quo. If we are not becoming more like Jesus every day, we’re going to regress into a worse situation. This is also as Jesus said.

Luke 8:18 “So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”

What is true of you is true of your children. Approach their graduation from your household as the apostles approached the second Coming. Know that the last days will be the hardest. …for everyone knows that the teenage years are the hardest of all childrearing.

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2 Peter 3

As everything in the previous chapter was about the proliferation of false teachers just before the Second Coming, so this chapter is about the Second Coming itself.

2 Pet 3:1-2 – For us, “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets” are the Old Testament, and “the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles” is the New Testament. Let us therefore do as Peter asked us to do as he was about to die: “remember” them. This is the Bible – the twofold testimony (that is, the prophets and the apostles), just as Peter showed at the end of his first chapter.

2 Pet 3:3-10 – The water of the flood was literal water because it was in the time of the old covenant, but the fire of judgment is a figurative fire because it took place, and continues to take place, in the time of the new covenant. That is, the figure is of fire which takes a wide variety of physical forms. Remember: the old covenant is of the flesh, but the new covenant is of the spirit. The old covenant takes the Law of Moses literally (physically_; the new covenant interprets it spiritually (that is, the unseem realm where God, the devil, angels, and demons dwell and operate).

2 Pet 3:11-13 – Peter uses the word “destroyed” twice in this short passage, and that is fitting because destruction is one of the most notable features of “the day of God.”*

Is 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

* The expression “day of God” is but one of many variations of the expression “day of the Lord.” For others, see the list in The Second Coming.

The phrase new heavens and new earth is used only three other times in the Bible besides this one: Is 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1. In order for people to go to heaven when they die, there needed to be a new heavens and earth because the spiritual reality was that people had been going below to Sheol/Hades ever since Adam and Eve. I explain this in the books The Biblical Case for Everyone Going to Heaven and The Biblical Case for the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact.

2 Pet 3:14-15a – Let’s break down the three phrases used here:

• “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things,” – Why would someone look for “judgment” that is “destruction” instead of trying to avoid it? For the same reason the Israelites looked for the deliverance they found in crossing the Red Sea that drowned the Egyptians. That is, judgment is God delivering the righteous from their tormenters.
• “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,” – Jesus had promised that His coming would be like “a thief in the night” (Mt 24:43; 1 Th 5:2) – like Passover. The Lord’s finds those who are looking for Him and the rest are left to destruction.
• “and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation;” – The patience of the Lord only means that He’s giving people longer to repent. When enough time has elapsed, He pulls the trigger.

2 Pet 3:15b-16 – “Hey, Pete! It’s not just Paul who writes ‘some things hard to understand’!” ***** Levity aside, Peter is amazed at some of Paul’s insights because Paul was not part of the original twelve. Not only did Paul not live with Jesus for roughly three years as Peter and the other apostles did, neither did he get to participate in the 40-day Bible study that Jesus gave His apostles between His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven. Rather, Paul received visions and revelations of an extraordinary quantity and nature (2 Cor 12:1-10). In this way, even though Peter had been among the three apostles closest to Jesus in His earthly life, he could still learn things about Jesus from Paul. It helped that everything Paul taught was from “the Scriptures.” This is because His revelations were revelations of Scripture, and his visions illustrated truths of Scripture. Thus Peter – and the rest of us – have a source for what Paul taught besides just Paul.

2 Pet 3:17-18a – This is now the third time Peter has commended his readers to the Scriptures in this letter. Quite fitting for a farewell from a man of God. The two previous times were 2 Pet 1:19-21 and 2 Pet 3:1-2. ***** As for “the error of unprincipled men,” Paul is referring to the false teaching from false teachers that he spent his entire second chapter addressing. (In this regard, note especially Peter’s use of “error” in 2 Pet 2:18, and “unprincipled” in 2 Pet 2:7.) ***** As for “fall from your own steadfastness,” the “steadfastness” is to the Scriptures Peter has just mentioned, and the “fall” to avoid was into “the error of unprincipled men.” ***** Then, like a master communicator, Peter ends up where he started. By this, I mean that “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ“ ties back to the opening verses of the letter.

2 Pet 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
2 Pet 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

2 Pet 3:18b – “To Him be the glory” refers to “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” This glory is the reward of His suffering (Suffering and Glory). As for “the day of eternity,” it began when the Lord came again (The Second Coming). It’s His day!

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