the second epistle of st. peter. the 2 nd epistle of st. peter author: + the apostle peter, who was...

The Second Epistle of St. Peter

The 2nd Epistle of St. Peter

Author:

+ The apostle Peter, who was one of the twelve disciples, is the author as stated in the salutation. St. Peter mentioned his Hebrew name ‘Simon’, along with the new name given to him by the Lord Christ, pointing to His grace that He had bestowed on him and the change happened in his life:

“Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Chris” (2 Peter 1:1)

Recipients:

+ The letter was addressed to those who had obtained the Christian faith, either from the believing Jews or those from the Gentiles:

“To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the…


righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1)

+ The author noted this to be the second epistle he had written to them, thus the initial audience would be the same as his 1st epistle, and those were the Christian pilgrims, who were living in Asia Minor:

“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder)”

(2 Peter 3:1)

“To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1-2)


Date and Location of Writing:

+ St. Peter wrote the epistle near his departure, where he claimed to have had special revelation from the Lord concerning his imminent demise. Hence, it was written between (A.D. 64-68):

“Knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me”

(2 Peter 1:14)

+ The place of writing is uncertain, though mostly from Egypt. There is another opinion suggesting it to be written from Rome, if written while imprisoned shortly before his death.


Characteristic Points about of the Epistle:

1. The epistle is considered to be St. Peter’s farewell discourse, which makes its words more sound and effective towards the audience. He wrote down the points of his most concern as his final admonitions to the church before leaving to Heaven.

2. St. Peter was mainly concerned to refute the heresies which were being spread by false teachers. Those heretics threw doubts in regards to the Lord’s second coming and they claimed the body to be evil, that it could have no enduring relation with the spirit. Hence, they would let the body sin as it wished, whereas worshipping God was a matter concerned with the spirit only.

3. St. Peter made many references to the Old Testament, for he was the apostle of the circumcision, having the believing Jews as his primary audience:


“And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly”

(2 Peter 2:5)

“So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive”

(Genesis 7:23)

4. St. Peter made a mention of St. Paul and his epistles partly to show their agreement and consent in doctrine; and partly to recommend him to the Jews, to whom he writes; as also to set us an example to speak well of one another, both as ministers and private believers:


“And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures”

(2 Peter 3:15-16)

“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

(Romans 2:4)

5. There is a great resemblance between this epistle, especially its second chapter, and that of St. Jude. This similarity is not only in the meaning and the goal, but also in style and wording. This resulted in different…


assumptions made by the scholars:

a) One of the two apostles quoted from the other:

- However, this assumption is weak. What is more acceptable is that as they were both disciples of Lord Jesus and their source and inspiration was one, Who is the Holy Spirit, and having fellowship together and probably met and discussed what had come upon the church of heresies and false teachings. Hence, the two apostles unified their opinions and decisions.

b) The epistle of St. Peter preceded and the epistle of St. Jude carried many points that came clarifying what had been mentioned in St. Peter’s:

- St. Jude mentioned that the apostles prophesized about those events, and probably he meant St. Peter among those, referring to what he…


wrote in his 2nd epistle.

- Therefore, St. Peter had been prophesizing about things that were to happen in the future, whereas St. Jude declared them as facts that were already occurring:

“Who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction”

(2 Peter 2:1)

“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4)


The Purpose of Writing the Epistle:

+ Knowing his death is imminent, St. Peter wanted to deliver his final commandments to the church, urging the believers to:

1. Keep their Steadfastness, Growing in Faith and Knowledge:

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble”

(2 Peter 1:10)

2. Beware of False Teachers:

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you… By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and…


their destruction does not slumber” (2 Peter 2:1,3)

3. Look for the Lord’s Return:

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10)

Contents:

I. Introduction: (Ch. 1)

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”

(2 Peter 1:2)


II. Grow in Grace and Knowledge: (Ch. 1)

1. With Precious Gifts from God:

“As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which 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” (2 Peter 1:3-4)

2. Abounding in the Knowledge of Christ the Lord:

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly...


kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:5-7)

“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”

(2 Peter 1:8)

“For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins”

(2 Peter 1:9)

“For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”

(2 Peter 1:11)

3. Stirred Up by Careful Reminder:


“For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you”

( 2 Peter 1:12-13)

“Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease”

(2 Peter 1:15)

“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty”

(2 Peter 1:16)

4. Heeding to the Prophetic Word:


“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts”

(2 Peter 1:19)

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”

(2 Peter 1:20-21)

II. Denunciation of False Teachers: (Ch. 2)

1. Their Destructiveness:

“And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed”

(2 Peter 2:2)


2. Their Doom:

“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment”

(2 Peter 2:4)

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)”

(2 Peter 2:6-8)

“Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and…


to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority”

(2 Peter 2:9-10)

3. Their Depravity:

“They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet”

(2 Peter 2:15-16)

“These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever”

(2 Peter 2:17)


“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage”

(2 Peter 2:19)

“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning”

(2 Peter 2:20)

“For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them”

(2 Peter 2:21)


“But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to his own vomit, and, a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire”

(2 Peter 2:22)

III. The Day of the Lord: (Ch. 3)

1. God’s Promise is not Slack:

“That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior”

(2 Peter 3:2)

“Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying: where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they…


were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter

3:2-4)

“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7)

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”

(2 Peter 3:8)

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”

(2 Peter 3:9)


2. Expecting the Return of the Lord:

“Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”

(2 Peter 3:11-12)

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells”

(2 Peter 3:13)

“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless”

(2 Peter 3:14)


“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked”

(2 Peter 3:17)

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen”

(2 Peter 3:18)

the second epistle of st. peter. the 2 nd epistle of st. peter author: + the apostle peter, who was...

Documents