Posts: 2 Peter

2 Peter

Peter introduced himself as both a slave and as “one sent,” an apostle. (2 Peter 1:1) These opposing attitudes are reconciled in the leadership style of the church that is described in the New Testament. In the writings of both Peter and Paul, the liberty of the individual is a major theme, with which an authority-driven leadership style is incompatible. Peter presented advice, explanation, and evidence, letting the reader choose the mature models to follow. Such a method would not work in the world, but is essential for the church.

“To those having obtained an equally precious faith with ours in the justification of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:1) Peter considered the faith of the Jewish Christians of Turkey to be equally valuable to his own; he just had a different gift than they. All were redeemed from the justice system by the same God. Such an attitude of equality is unknown in the world, transcending ethnic and social divisions. The church offers not just equal opportunity and equal access, but also equal value and equal attainment.

“Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter 1:2) The faithful are promised character development through the indwelling Spirit so that they will display the gracious nature of God. Further, the faithful are promised peace while passing through physical life on a broken planet. A necessary step in obtaining this grace and peace is being “in” the knowledge of God and of Jesus. The sentence structure implies that the faithful are to be immersed in knowing the nature of God so they will know what the target is.

“Accordingly, His divine power has given to us all things toward life and godliness through the knowledge of the One having called us by His own glory and virtue.” (2 Peter 1:3) The attraction of Jesus is designed to be His character and virtue, which is a big motivation for telling the story of His time on earth. People should not respond out of self-interest, but out of awe resulting from understanding how godly character works in a broken world.

“…by which [knowing Jesus’ character and virtue] have been given to us great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:4) Knowing what God has promised is an essential characteristic of Biblical faith. Through trusting in these promises, the faithful are guaranteed a nature like that of Jesus, and an escape from the oppression of this world while still living in it.

“Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” (2 Peter 1:5 – 6) The development of faith is a step-wise process. Achieving selflessness (love) requires foundational skills. The sequence may seem a bit strange, but it has been recommended by God. So, the faithful should follow the path described by the One who made the path.

“If these things [character traits from faith] are yours and are increasing, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful…” (2 Peter 1:8) Many worry whether their faith is sufficient. Some make up their own benchmarks, but that is always unproductive. Rather, Peter says that faith that is growing is acceptable. Growth implies that neither a minimum nor a pinnacle exists. Rather, one’s faith must always be increasing, whether small or great.

“He who lacks these things [growth of faith] is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:9) Why does the faith of some church-goers plateau or stagnate? Peter wrote that the reason is forgetting redemption, the point at which hopelessness turned to hope. Losing sight of the fact that God came to earth and paid off the justice system for all people leads inexorably to a rule mentality which can be navigated only by self-deception.

“Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things [continue growing faith] you will never stumble, for an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom…” (2 Peter 1:10 – 11) In the rule-oriented church, confidence often becomes in short supply. Certainly, the faithful are expected to pay attention and behave appropriately, but Peter relays the promise that the path is not arduous. Rather, if the faithful just keep growing, the path of the eternal kingdom will become obvious and easy.

“I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things [about constantly growing faith] though you know and are established in the present truth.” (2 Peter 1:12) Reminders do not imply ignorance or forgetfulness. Rather, reminders serve to cut off potential deceit that so often obscures the truth. All the faithful need reminders of the basics every so often, not staying at a beginner’s level all the time, but recalling the foundations upon which the meatier topics are built.

“There were false prophets among the people [Old Testament Israel], even as there will be false teachers among you, who will stealthily bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, through whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” (2 Peter 2:1 – 2) God expects people to think. The ridiculous doctrines promoted by many over the centuries have given the Good News a bad name. Only those who want to find God can sort through it.

“…God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus and delivered them into chains of darkness, into judgment being kept.” (2 Peter 2:4) By the time Peter wrote 2 Peter, he knew he was near the end of his life (1:14), probably in the mid-60’s AD. In his time with Jesus, he had observed many demons. But by the time of this writing, those demons had already been locked up in the “abyss.” Certainly, evil still abounds on this earth. But, don’t blame the incarcerated demons. We have done this to ourselves.

“The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust into the day of judgment under punishment.” (2 Peter 2:9) Peter’s examples of righteous people who were rescued were Noah and Lot (and their families). God does not leave the faithful to battle through life on a broken planet. Rather, God promises to provide the way of escape from every temptation. The faithful just need to keep their eyes open for the exits.

Even during the time when the original apostles were still preaching and performing great miracles, false teachers were having significant success at enticing some of the faithful to follow them. How? Peter gave a short summary (2 Peter 2:10 – 19): exploiting those who want to have more “stuff,” speaking harshly about those who disagree with them, despising the authority of those who were specifically chosen by Jesus, and mastering the art of persuasion without content. Things haven’t changed much.

“Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:4) Even in the mid-60’s AD, the impatience of people raised objections to the promise of Judgment Day. Peter pointed out that God has made radical changes before (remember the Flood?), so be patient. God’s patience is the very reason for the longevity of the earth: to allow time for people to figure out that they need God. Many in every generation have both wanted God to fix things yet doubted that He would. If the faithful trust God, they know that He will end the world at just the right time.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” (2 Peter 3:10) Both Jesus and Paul used the same illustration (Luke 12:39, 1 Thessalonians 5:2). Yet, every generation has had its predictors of the end, even in the time of the original apostles. Such purveyors of doom confidently assert that they can see “the signs of the times.” Yet, Jesus, Paul, and Peter all said that such knowledge is not possible. Such distractions attract the self-possessed, rather than those who finally respond to the goodness of God.

“Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” (2 Peter 3:12) Can the faithful influence when the end will happen? Peter thought so. The primary task of all the faithful is to bring the good news to the potentially faithful. It seems that, if we will just complete the task, we can all go home. When we are slow about it, God either needs to send someone else or motivate the slacker (think about Jonah and that big fish), and the schedule gets pushed back. Delays only mean we must spend longer on this broken planet.

2 Peter 1:1, “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those having obtained a faith equally precious with ours, in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Peter made a point to assert that the faith of his readers was equally valuable as his own because they were all in the “rightness” of Jesus, the rightness that is by faith. Obviously, the faith of some is more consistent than that of others. Each faithful person can learn from the faith of others. But all are equally valuable to God, who is building His family from those of faith.

2 Peter 1:3, “…His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and mastery of life…” The earthly Jesus demonstrated a mastery of life on this broken planet and displayed a parade of godly character traits (the definition of “glory”). This picture of successful life on earth calls us to use the tools granted exclusively to the faithful.

2 Peter 1:4, “…have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” The faithful, while still living on earth, have been granted escape from the brokenness of this world, if they will accept their new-found access to being transformed into the image of Jesus.

2 Peter 1:5 – 8, “Giving all diligence, add to your faith mastery of life, to your mastery of life knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love. For if these are yours and are increasing, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Growth is essential. Peter presents the steps from faith to love, both of which are required to be adopted into the family of God. Those who get stalled just need to back up a step and try again.

2 Peter 1:16, “We did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” The foundation of Christianity is physical evidence. No other religion can substantiate such a claim. The originators of this message gained neither wealth nor power, rather persecution and suffering, yet never wavered. Christianity represents reality.

2 Peter 1:20 – 21, “…No prophesy of Scripture is of personal application, for prophesy never came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” For nearly 2000 years, various people have viewed Scripture such as it meant to them, rather than searching for the applications given by the inspired authors. The uninspired “what it means to me” is of no value compared to the purpose for which God gave the message.

2 Peter 2:1 – 2, “There were also false prophets among the people, even so there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” Simply dismissing the opposition as “false teaching” does not solve the problem, but rather blithely accepts that one’s own way, presumed to be “the way of truth,” will suffer, also. Instead, discuss.

2 Peter 3:12, “ Looking for and hastening the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.” How can the faithful hasten the end of time, the last day? Peter does not say. Perhaps when the faithful take evangelism seriously as an essential characteristic of faith, all the potentially faithful will become actually faithful. Then God could justly end it all.

2 Peter 3:18, “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” In many places, a New Testament sentence may be read two ways, generally both ways being correct. The faithful are “in” Christ, so their graciousness and knowledge grow by virtue of their position. Alternately, Peter wants his readers to develop their graciousness and knowledge further. The function of the indwelling Spirit covers both ideas. The faithful have the Spirit by virtue of being in Christ, and that Spirit aids in developing those traits.