2 Peter
Author: Peter
Peter writes, knowing his death is near, to stir up the memory of believers against teachers who deny the Lord’s coming.
Outline
A faith that grows (1)
Precious promises and a list of virtues lead to Peter’s reminder that he will soon put off his tabernacle.
False teachers (2)
Destructive heresies, the example of fallen angels and of Sodom, and the way of Balaam are set side by side.
The day of the Lord (3)
Scoffers ask where the promise of his coming is, and the delay is explained as patience.
Key verses
2 Peter 1:3
God’s divine power has given everything that pertains to life and godliness.
2 Peter 1:21
Prophecy came not by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish.
Second Peter presents itself as a second letter to the same people, written so that they may be mindful of the words spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of the apostles. Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, writes to those who have obtained like precious faith through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. He knows he will not be with them long. The Lord Jesus Christ has shown him that he must shortly put off this tabernacle. He will endeavor that after his decease they may be able to have these things always in remembrance. The letter is a reminder left on purpose.
Grace and peace are multiplied through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. If these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He that lacks these things is blind and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Peter will not be negligent to put them always in remembrance of these things, though they know them and are established in the present truth. He was an eyewitness of Christ’s majesty on the holy mount. The voice came from heaven. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
False teachers will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and many will follow their ways. God spared not the angels that sinned, the old world, or Sodom, and he delivered Noah and Lot. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly and to reserve the unjust unto judgment. These teachers follow the way of Balaam. They promise liberty and are themselves the servants of corruption.
Scoffers will ask where the promise of his coming is. They ignore that the world once perished by water and that the present heavens are reserved unto fire. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years. He is not slack concerning his promise, but is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish. The day of the Lord will come as a thief. Believers look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Paul’s letters, Peter says, contain some things hard to understand, which the unstable twist. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Second Peter is a last reminder that a delay in the Lord’s coming is patience rather than absence.