2 Peter
It is believed that Peter wrote this letter shortly before his martyrdom (1:14), thus he was in Rome likely between A.D. 64-66. Since he referred to this as his second letter to them (3:1), he must have the believers in Asia Minor in mind. This shorter letter, however, carries a more urgent tone as he reminds his readers of the suddenness of the coming of our Lord Jesus, and he fiercely rebukes the false teachers of his time.
1:2—The Greeting
(1) Compare what Peter calls himself here with what he says in the first letter (1 and 2 Pet. 1:1):
a. What might be the reason that he calls himself Simon (his Hebrew name) Peter, instead of Peter?
b. Why does he call himself a slave (according to the original Greek word) in addition to an apostle?
(2) As he addresses the recipients of this letter, what is that one precious thing that is common to all be believers that Peter points out?
(3) Can you explain why you also find your faith precious?
(4) As he wishes his readers abundance of grace and peace, what does Peter point out as the source of these blessings?
1:3-11—Making Our Calling and Election Sure—Peter’s first exhortation is about our calling:
(5) Our calling (v. 3)
a. What is meant by saying that God calls us “by His own glory and goodness (or virtue, according to the Greek word; same in v. 5)"?
b. What kind of a life has He called us into?
c. Through what have we received all things needed to fulfill our calling?
(6) Our godly life (v. 4)
a. What are these “very great and precious promises” that have made it possible for us to live a godly life?
b. How do our new lives differ from the old?
(7) Effective and productive knowledge of Christ (vv. 5-9)
a. There are seven qualities that Peter urges us to be diligent to possess in increasing measure (vv. 5-7)
- Do you think there is a logical sequence to these qualities, especially when the list begins with “faith” and yet ends with “agape love”?
- Which of these seven qualities do you need to work on the most?
b. What can one do to “add” to these qualities in increasing measure? (v. 3)
c. What does our (full) knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ yield? (v. 8)
d. How would the possession of such qualities in increasing measure help us to not to be ineffective (original Greek is “barren”) and unproductive (“unfruitful”)?
e. What if we fail to do so? (v. 9)
f. Which is a picture of yourself — v. 8 or v. 9?
(8) Three times Peter mentions about our “(full) knowledge of Christ” (vv. 2, 3 and 8): What does it mean and why is it so important?
(9) Why do we need to make sure (or confirm) our calling and election?
a. Is faith itself not enough?
b. What if we fail to be diligent in adding or living out the aforementioned qualities? (v.10b)
c. What if we are able to do so? (v.11)
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 1:8)
The Apostle Peter mentions about the knowledge of Christ three times as he begins his second, much shorter letter in which he focuses on rebuking the teachings of the false teachers who are dangerously plunging the believers back into a corrupted life. The original Greek word for “knowledge” is a knowledge that is mainly used for our human knowledge of God, and can be literally translated as “full/deeper knowledge”.
The three uses by Peter allow us to understand the importance of this knowledge of God:
1:3—Peter points out that it is by this knowledge of Christ that we have been able to tap into the divine power so that all the things necessary to live out this new life in Christ and in piety have been given to us. In other words, we have no excuse not to live in godliness because we now, by our knowledge of Christ, “participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by our evil desires” (1:4);
1:2—It is through this knowledge of God and of Jesus that we may receive abundant grace and peace. In other words, this is not a stagnant knowledge, but a dynamic one that we need to maintain, or in the more literal sense of the word, go deeper. This echoes the words of our Lord in John 15 that we need to “remain in Him”. Therefore, this is more than an objective knowledge, but a personal one that we need to cultivate.
1:8—Peter points out that it is only by pursuing knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more fully or deeply that our lives will be fruitful. In other words, the qualities that he urges us to have in vv. 5-7 are “fruits” that we need to produce by making every effort to increase our knowledge of Christ. The presence or absence of these fruits will be proof of whether or not we live in constant awareness of our calling and our election, the forgetting of which makes us “nearsighted and blind” (v. 9).
1:12-15—Reason for Writing the Letter —while Peter has not specified what “these things” are specifically, the reason for reminding his readers obviously applies to all the exhortations in the letter:
(1) In essence, Peter admits that what he is saying is nothing new (v. 12). What reason does he give for refreshing his readers’ memory? (v. 13)
(2) How does he know that he will die soon? (v. 14)
(3) How does he refer to his body? (v. 13) Why?
(4) What should your attitude be in listening to “repeated” messages from your pastor?
1:16-18—First-hand Witness
(5) What particular message appears to be disputed at Peter’s time? (v. 16)
(6) Do Christians in general truly believe in the second coming of our Lord?
(7) In asserting the truthfulness of the gospel that he and other apostles preach,
a. What is the special experience he uses to authenticate the gospel?
b. Pick one of the following passages from the gospel to refresh your memory of the transfiguration of Jesus witnessed by Peter: Matt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36.
c. What is the significance of this experience to Peter and to the truthfulness of the gospel? (vv. 17-18)
1:19-21—Reliable Prophecies
(8) Can you remember at least one prophecy about our Lord that has undoubtedly come true? (You may wish to check with the gospel accounts concerning either the birth or death of Jesus Christ.)
(9) Do you agree with Peter that these prophetic messages are “completely reliable”? (v. 19)
(10) What then should your attitude be toward the prophecies concerning His coming again in power (v. 16)? (v. 19)
(11) What is meant by “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts”? (v. 19; see Rev. 2:28; 22:16)
(12) Which is the true source of biblical prophecies? (vv. 20-21)
(13) What about the rest of the Scriptures? (2 Tim. 3:16)
(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” (2 Pet. 1: 16)
This is the common notion of the world that the Bible is nothing more than human writings, and thus the accounts of the virgin birth and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus are nothing but “cleverly devised stories” of the gospel writers, not to mention the second “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power” (1:16).
Obviously such a notion is not new, even in Peter’s time the genuineness of the gospel accounts has been called into question, and the fact that Peter mentioned, in particular, the second coming of our Lord shows that this is one claim in the Bible that has drawn the most skepticism.
As Peter knows that he is nearing his martyrdom, he seizes this last opportunity to put in writing to affirm the genuineness of all the accounts of the gospel and especially Jesus’ own claim of His coming again by reiterating his first-hand account of the transfiguration which is contained in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36).
In particular, he points out that
- He witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus and in His majestic appearance, and this proves beyond doubt that Jesus is not just a man, but 100% God as well.
- He heard with his own ears the voice of God which said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased”. This proves also beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Son of God.
And since it is Jesus who promised (especially right before His transfiguration in Matt. 16:28) that He will come again, it is not only not a human fabrication, but the very promise of God. Together with all the promises that God has spoken through the prophets in ages past, this promise of His return will certainly come to pass. This is why Peter urges us “to pay attention”, that is to take His promise seriously, and in our hearts, yearn for this to happen, just as Simeon and Anna persevered in their yearning for the first coming of the Messiah (Lk. 2:25-39) and they were greatly rewarded. If we do that, we will certainly be greatly rewarded.
The genuineness of biblical prophecies is now contrasted to the teachings of the false teachers (note: the Greek word used for “false” is “pseudo”).
(1) Why is the appearance of “false teachers” not unexpected? (v. 1)
(2) The Introduction of Heresies (v. 1)
a. Why does Peter say that heresies are “secretly” brought in by the false teachers?
b. These false teachers deny the Sovereign Lord who bought them.
- Whom do these false teachers claim themselves to be?
- In the early days of Christianity, among the popular heresies is the denial of either Jesus’ humanity or His divinity: How does each of these heresies “deny the Sovereign Lord"?
- What swift destruction will they bring upon themselves?
(3) Given the clear teachings of the Apostles in the first century, why would “Christians” follow the teachings and the depraved conduct of these false teachers? (v. 2)
(4) What is the motive of these false teachers? (v. 3a) Is it always true of all false teachers?
(5) What condemnation will they face? (vv. 3b-6)
a. What are the three examples that Peter cites concerning their condemnation? (vv. 4-6; see Note 1 below)
b. What are the things common among these examples and with the false teachers? (see v. 9b as well)
(6) In citing the example of Noah and Lot (vv. 7-9),
a. What was common among them?
b. How may we emulate the examples of Noah and Lot?
(7) What are the marks of false teachers? (vv. 10-11; see Note 2 below)
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
“If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” (2 Pet. 2:9)
The Apostle Peter cites three examples of how God held the unrighteous for punishment in the past to warn the false teachers of their “swift destruction” (2:1, 4-6). At the same time, he also uses two of the examples to encourage us to persevere in godliness and they are the examples of Noah and Lot. However, Peter uses the two as more than examples of perseverance, but as examples of how should conduct ourselves in the midst of a lawless and godless society:
Peter now launches into a fierce attack of the false teachers. While not all false teachers are alike, Peter presents a general picture of the false teachers of his time:
(1) They are like animals (vv. 12-13a)
a. In what way are they like animals? (v. 12b)
b. What have they done to deserve such a verbal assault by Peter? (v. 12a)
c. What will their punishment be? (v. 13a)
(2) Pleasure, adultery and greed (vv. 13b-14)
a. While people normally seek pleasure and feast at night, these false teachers like to do so even in broad daylight: What kind of persons are they?
b. Why do pleasure seeking and feasting blemish one’s life?
c. Do you think pleasure seeking and adultery are necessarily related? Why or why not? (v.14)
d. What have pleasure, adultery and greed together made them to be? (v. 14b)
(3) The way of Balaam (vv. 15-16)
a. Balaam was supposed to be a prophet: What had led him astray? (v. 15; Numbers 22:17)
b. How was he finally stopped? (v. 16; Num. 22:21 ff)
c. In what way do these false teachers follow the way of Balaam?
(4) They promise freedom, but deliver slavery.(vv. 17-19)
a. Whom do they target as their victims? (v. 18b)
b. How do they entice people? (v. 18a)
c. Why can they not deliver their promised freedom? (v. 19)
d. What does Peter liken them to? (v. 17a) Why?
e. What will their punishment be? (v. 17b)
(5) A return to their former corruption (vv. 20-22)—Peter makes the assumption that they once knew the Lord:
a. If so, what do their false teachings signify? (v.20)
b. Why does Peter say that it is better for them not to have known the Lord? (v. 21)
c. What analogies does Peter use to describe them? (v. 22—not v. 22a is his quote from Prov. 26:11)?
d. How fitting are these analogies?
(6) With the above description, is it hard to tell who a false teacher is? Why or why not?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (2 Pet. 2:3)
One has to wonder how people could be so gullible to follow the false teachers. If they cannot discern their false teachings, they have to be able to see their corrupted lifestyle. As much as Peter relentlessly attacks the false teachers and their follies together with other Apostles like Paul and Jude, we know such false teachings have not stopped but mushroomed after the passing of these first-generation Apostles. Numerous pseudo/spurious gospels surfaced in the next few centuries—the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of the Egyptians and Pseudo-Matthew, to name but a few. Many of these spurious gospels contain fairy tales of the childhood of Jesus, turning Him into a miracle-worker even in His younger years. Some of these fairytales have made their way into the Koran.
The most disturbing thing about these spurious gospels is that upon more recent discovery of some of these manuscripts, simply because they were old manuscripts (although clearly they were much later than the Canonical Gospels), the secular minds use them as propaganda in their effort to discredit the Canonical Books of the Bible. However, these spurious works have been carefully studied and ruled out by the early Church Fathers like Eusebius (circa 3rd century, AD) as nothing more than “fabricated stories” (2 Pet. 2:3):
“That we have it in our power to know both these books (the canonical) and those that are adduced by the heretics under the name of the apostles such, namely, as compose the gospels of Peter, of Thomas, and of Matthew, and certain others beside these or such as contain the Acts of Andrew and John, and of the other apostles, of which no one of those writers in the ecclesiastical succession has condescended to make any mention in his works: and, indeed, the character of the style itself is very different from that of the apostles, and the sentiments, and the purport of these things that are advanced in them, deviating as far as possible from sound orthodoxy, evidently prove they are the fictions of heretical men: whence they are not only to be ranked among the spurious writings but are to be rejected as altogether absurd and impious.”
(Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, 111, 25)
3:1-2—Purpose of Writing
(1) What is Peter’s purpose in writing his two letters? (v. 1)
(2) Why does our wholesome (or sincere) thinking need to be stimulated? (v. 2)
3:3-13—The Last Days and Jesus’ Return
(3) Why do people scoff at Jesus’ promised return? (v. 4)
(4) According to Peter, what is the real problem with these scoffers? (v. 3)
(5) Now, Jesus’ promise is the same as God’s word (v. 5).
a. How did our present heavens and earth come about? (v. 5)
b. While the world at Noah’s time was destroyed by water (Gen. 6),
- Why do the present heavens and earth still exist? (v. 7)
- Will they be preserved forever? Why or why not?
(6) Peter explains why Jesus does not come sooner to judge (vv. 8-9):
a. How does God look at time? (v. 8)
b. Is it a new teaching? (Ps. 90:4)
c. What is the reason for the “apparent delay” of Jesus’ coming? (v. 9)
(7) What will happen at the return of Christ (vv. 10-13)?
a. What is meant by coming like a thief? (Matt. 24:43-44)
b. What will happen to the present heavens (i.e. the sky)?
c. What will happen to the elements (likely referring to the heavenly bodies)?
d. What will happen to the earth and everything in it?
e. How then shall we live now? (vv. 11-12)
f. For believers, what can we look forward to in that day? (v. 13)
(8) Living in anticipation of the Lord’s return (vv. 14-18):
a. What kind of a life should we live? (v. 14) Why?
b. Since the Lord’s patience means salvation, what then should we do? (v. 15)
c. Peter appears to be echoing Paul’s words in Romans 13:11-14.
- What does he say about some of Paul’s writings (v. 16)
- Have you found it to be true?
- How does Peter treat Paul’s writings?
d. Having given them the warning against the false teachers (vv. 17-18,
- Defensively what should they do? How?
- Positively what should they do? How?
(9) As we come to the end of the letter, take a bit of time to reflect on your notes or scan through the letter once again, and see what might the key messages be to you and how you can apply them to your life.
“They will say, ‘Where is this coming He promised? Ever since
our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of
creation.’” (2 Pet. 3:4)
Although Peter is talking about the scoffers who sneer at our belief in the return of Christ, I wonder whether we might also doubt if it is really going to happen. Peter’s scoffers opine that everything goes on as usual in the universe since the day of creation; nothing appears to have changed, not to mention that by then, it had been at least 30 years since the resurrection of Christ, and there is no sign at all of His imminent return. If it had been 30 years for them, it has been almost 2,000 years for us. No wonder, the world is full of scoffers who mock at our belief in the Lord’s return. In fact, many so-called Christian scholars openly doubt if this is literally what Jesus has promised.
As inspired by the Holy Spirit, Peter
quotes and paraphrases from Moses, saying,
“With the Lord a day is like a
thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (Ps. 90:4).
In other words, he is not drumming up an
excuse for God, but he is reminding us that God looks at time very differently
from our perspective,
However,
he points out that it is even more important for us to understand that,
“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness, instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (3:9).
In using the word, "you", Peter is not really addressing the believers, but the non-believers and all those, like the false-teachers, who have turned their back on the Sovereign Lord (2:1).