2 Peter - Intro
Peter’s second letter instructs us on two strong themes:
Knowledge of God.
False teachers.
Peter urges us to know God intimately and to be firmly established in the knowledge that can only come from a close relationship with Him. He begins his second letter “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” and he closes with “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior…”. This repetition shows that Peter expects our knowledge is grounded in grace with certainty through the knowledge we gain in Christ. This knowledge holds the letter together. The word “knowledge” or some form of it appears consistently in his second letter:
1:3/5/6/8/12/14/18/20/21 & 3:1-3/17/18
Peter seems to be emphasizing that if we do not live in the light of His imminent return, we become like scoffers who live only for the present and are given to sins of the flesh (we will study in chapter 2).
What is the result of our having this knowledge? Peter hopes that through it we will be grounded or firmly rooted in our faith (1:12). Peter uses his own painful moments in his life to teach us this lesson using the path of falling and then strengthening. Remember the lesson of love’s warning that we viewed in Christ’s talk with Peter in Luke 22:31-32. While it is a simple lesson, we must grasp how profound it truly is for us even today. We gain knowledge through faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ, and through that knowledge we gain strength to face the trials and temptations that surely will come in the life of a believer.
The early Christian writer, Origen, wrote in the 3rd century of the testimony of this letter. It has long been somewhat coupled with the small book of Jude with the question of which came first and who borrowed from whom. This second letter contains both the theme of Peter’s last will & testament as well as exhortations to those who would receive the letter. The last will theme is reflected in 1:3-11 & 2:1-3 & 3:1-4. With the accepted date of Peter’s death at 67-68 AD in Rome in the persecutions by Nero, it seems likely that Peter wrote the letter from Rome and possibly from prison. This small letter calls to us today of the condition of the Christian, the authority of the Christian, the danger to the Christian, the prospects for the Christian, and finally the call for the Christian to remain steadfast in faith.
It is faith that unites the heart of the believer to the Lord. As we are justified before the Father by the atoning work of the Son, we are therefore purified in spirit toward godliness as only the gift of grace can bestow. Peter had been purified and it is his example, among others, that provides us the stepping stones along our path to eternal life.
Now let us step into 2nd Peter and hear him teach us of strength through the knowledge we will gain through study of the Word.