Introduction to 2 Peter: Letter From a Roman Jail
This morning we are going to begin a study of Peter’s second letter found in God’s Word. This second letter was most likely sent to the same group of people who received Peter’s first letter, the followers of Jesus who were scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Those five provinces, which were part of the Roman Empire, are today part of the nation of Turkey.
Whenever we begin to study a book of the Bible it is important for us to first stop and try and find the answers to some important questions. We need to learn who wrote it, when it was written, why it was written, and who were the recipients of the letter. Understanding the context will give us great insight as we try and understand what has been written. Far too often today, we read God’s Word and simply ask what we think it means for us, but the most important question is what it meant to those who first received the letter. I believe that only when we understand the meaning of the letter for those who first received it, can we then understand how God would have us apply the teaching for our own lives. We will talk about all four of those questions this morning.
Before we dig into our questions and then take a look at an overview of the entire three chapters, it is important to point out that the book of 2 Peter has often been called the “ugly stepchild” of the New Testament. This second letter from Peter has gotten that tag, not so much because of the contents of the letter, but because of two issues. First, the question of the authorship of the book. Did Peter really write this letter? Many Bible teachers say, “No way!” We will talk about why they believe that in a little while. The second issue is the “canonicity” of the book. We don’t often hear the word “canon” in relation to the Bible so I want to take just a moment and help us understand why this word is so important.
The word canon comes from the Greek word, “κανών” (kanon), which originally referred to a reed stick that was used as a measuring rod. Eventually the word was used to describe a “standard by which something was measured.” The early church used the word to speak about the books of the Bible as canonical. The writings which were not judged to be Scripture were called “noncanonical.” There was a question about the authority or the canonicity of 2 Peter early on and there are still those today who question the canonicity of Peter’s letter.
Determining the canonicity of a book for early Christians was largely dependent on two things: First, an important criteria had to do with a writing’s connection to Jesus, the author had to have been someone who knew Jesus directly or someone who knew someone who knew Jesus personally. An example of this would be the Gospel of John. John was an apostle, a disciple of Jesus. Another example of someone who was not a disciple, but was connected to a disciple would be Mark. Mark wasn’t a disciple of Jesus, but most everyone believes that his Gospel was largely dependent on Peter’s experience with Jesus.
A second criterion of recognizing the canonicity of a writing was “orthodoxy,” or aligning with the teachings of the apostles who had direct connection with Jesus. There were many writings that failed to be recognized as canonical because they failed one or both of these two tests of canonicity.
The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I think it is important for you to be able to give an answer to those people today who will say to us, “How do you know these are the books that are supposed to be in the Bible? Didn’t people just choose which books they wanted in the Bible?” That’s the furthest thing from the truth. The 66 books that are in our Bible were not chosen by the Church, but they were recognized as authoritative writings given to us by God. The great Bible teacher J.I. Packer said,
The church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity. God gave us gravity, by His work of creation, and similarly He gave us the New Testament canon, by inspiring the individual books that make it up. (J.I. Packer)
That is such a beautiful description of how we got our Bible. Newton discovered the law of gravity, but he certainly didn’t create it. The 66 books we have in our Bible were not randomly chosen by the Church, but they were recognized as the Word of God given to us. Let’s move on.
2 Peter says that it was written by Simon Peter. It is right there in the very first verse of the letter. Take a look at it with me.
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: (2 Peter 1:1 NIV)
One of the biggest reasons why those who doubt Peter wrote 2 Peter is that the style and vocabulary of the two letters are very different. I don’t think that is an issue when you consider that the two letters address two different topics. In Peter’s first letter he was writing to encourage the followers of Jesus who were being persecuted for their faith. In Peter’s second letter, he knows the end of his life is near and he is writing to encourage the church to grow in their faith and to be ever alert for false teachers who would come in and try to draw them away from Jesus. Two different subjects.
This letter from Peter has undergone incredible scrutiny through the years, going all the way back to the early church fathers. Some had questions if Peter was actually the author and some of the questions centered around the fact that there were other works attributed to Peter that were circulating like “The Acts of Peter, “The Revelation of Peter,” and “The Gospel of Peter.” It was not uncommon for people, some who meant well and others who were trying to slip in their false teaching, to use the name of a well known follower of Jesus, like one of His disciples. We know this was happening, even as Paul, Peter, and others were traveling about and sharing the Gospel. Paul writes, in his letter to the Thessalonians,
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don't be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don't believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 NLT)
We can see that forgeries were happening and the Church had to scrutinize everything in order to make sure that none of the forgeries were viewed as authoritative. Bible teachers call these forgeries, “pseudepigrapha,” or writings which falsely claim they were written by a particular author. The word “pseudepigrapha” comes from two Greek words, “ψευδής” (pseudes) which means “false” and “ἐπιγραφή” (epigraphe) which means “name” or “inscription.” Because there were so many writings attributed to Peter, there was suspicion about both letters that we find in the Bible. The fact that 2 Peter has been held under a microscope and examined in every possible way should give us great confidence that Peter is the author of the letter.
Second, let’s talk about when this letter was written. We know that Peter wrote this letter sometime before 68 A.D. We know this because Peter was executed by Emperor Nero in Rome and Nero committed suicide in 68 A.D. We don’t read about the death of Peter in the Bible, but early church fathers like Clement of Rome, who knew both Paul and Peter, and who died in 99 A.D. wrote about their executions. Paul was beheaded and Peter was crucified. Peter wrote his second letter near the end of his life and most likely from prison in Rome. He writes,
14 For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, 15 so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. (2 Peter 1:14-15 NLT)
Third, we need to try and understand the reason Peter took the time to write his letter. Peter understood that his time on earth was drawing to a close and he wanted to make sure the followers of Jesus in those five Roman provinces were reminded of what was most important going forward, after he was gone. As I mentioned earlier, Peter wrote his first letter to encourage the persecuted followers of Jesus. In his second and last letter he was most concerned that they continue to grow in their faith and stay fully aware that false teachers were coming who would try and lure them away from the faith that they had been taught.
As I have been reading 2 Peter over and over again during the past month it has struck me how both Peter and Paul, when they wrote their “goodbye” letters to the brothers and sisters in Christ, both warned of the false teachers who were sure to come. Paul’s last letter was written to a young pastor named Timothy and in 2 Timothy he warns about false teachers. Also, in the Book of Acts, Paul met with the Ephesian elders for the last time. Turn with me to Acts 20. While Paul is saying his farewell, he gives them instructions as they seek to lead the church in Ephesus. Let’s read verses 28-31 together.
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. (Acts 20:28-31 NIV)
It is no coincidence that both Paul and Peter’s final instructions included being on the lookout for false teachers. A distorted gospel is no gospel. We need to be every bit as concerned about false teaching today as those who lived in Paul and Peter’s day.
Last of all, to whom did Peter write this letter? Most likely, Peter wrote to the same group of believers that he had written to in his first letter. We can know this because of Peter’s own words. Turn with me to 2 Peter 3:1-2 and let’s read it together.
1 Dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you; in both letters, I want to develop a genuine understanding with a reminder, 2 so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. (2 Peter 3:1-2 CSB)
What was Peter’s connection to these believers? We know that Peter traveled like Paul did, but we don’t have as extensive of a record of Peter’s travels. We do know he traveled to Caesarea where he preached the gospel to a Gentile named Cornelius and all of his friends and family were saved (Acts 10). We don’t know if he ever traveled to any of the five provinces who received the letter. He probably knew some of the believers there because there were men from Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia who were present when Peter preached at Pentecost in Jerusalem. The best connection of all is when the Lord puts a group of people on our heart and gives us a desire to minister to them. Whatever other connection there might have been, the Lord had certainly burdened Peter’s heart with this group of believers, so he wrote his two letters to encourage and warn them.
Let’s spend the rest of our time taking a look at the highlights of the three short chapters of Peter’s letter. I hope you have taken the time to read it before this morning. In these three short chapters we will find Peter focused on sharing five important truths with the brothers and sisters in these churches. They are…
The need for continual spiritual growth.
The danger of false teachers and moral corruption.
The trustworthiness of apostolic testimony and Scripture.
The certainty of Jesus’ return and final judgment.
The call to holy living.
In the first chapter of Peter’s letter he reminds the believers that God has provided for them everything they need to live a godly life, a life that honors Jesus and is a witness to an unbelieving world. Let’s read 2 Peter 1:2-3 together.
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:2-3 NIV)
Because of what Jesus has done on their behalf, and because of what Jesus has done on our behalf, all of the followers of Jesus, past and present, have been given everything we need to live a godly life. That should be a great assurance to you and me, but this is not the end of the story. We are to continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord. This is incredibly important for all of us to understand. There are many people today who become followers of Jesus and never grow. In their minds they have their ticket to heaven and that is enough. They simply go about living their lives just like they did before they announced they wanted to follow Jesus. After Peter states that they have been given everything they need to live a godly life, he writes,
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 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 Peter 1:5-8 NIV)
What Peter is describing is the process of growth, becoming more and more like Jesus as the days, months, and years go by. Not only is this critically important for our relationship with the Lord, but it is critically important for the mission we have been given. After Jesus’ resurrection, He gave His parting instructions to His followers before He ascended to the right hand of the Father. He told them, in Matthew 28:19-20,
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)
I am constantly bombarded with study after study and article after article describing the decline of Christianity in the United States. They list all kinds of reasons for the decline, but I am convinced that the fundamental reason is that unbelievers see absolutely no difference between their lives and ours. Brennan Manning said it best.
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. (Brennan Manning)
In the second chapter of Peter’s letter he warns the believers about false teachers who will come their way. Peter says they will “secretly introduce destructive heresies.” Their denial that there will be a final day of judgment when all people will stand before God and give an account of the life we have lived allows them to live immoral lives with no accountability. Turn to 2 Peter 2:1-3 and let’s read what Peter has written.
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-- bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 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 Peter 2:1-3 NIV)
The false teachers Peter has in mind are greedy, they exploit people with their made up stories to try and impress others, they are immoral in their lifestyle, and their goal is to lure people away from the truth so they can gain more followers. Before Paul warned Timothy or the Ephesian elders about the false teachers who would most certainly come their way, and before Peter warned the people in the five provinces of the Roman Empire, Jesus sounded the alarm in Matthew 7.
15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:15-20 NIV)
The warning is as much needed today as it has ever been needed in the past. False teachers who are filled with charisma and conviction, twist the gospel and lure people into their sphere of influence time and time again in our day. How can we know the difference between what is true and what is false? We desperately need to study God’s Word and to continue to stay in God’s Word.
In the final chapter of Peter’s letter he reassures the followers of Jesus of the certainty of Jesus’ return. All of Scripture teaches that when Jesus returns the Day of the Lord will have arrived and that day will be a day of judgment when all people, believers and unbelievers alike, will stand before God and give an account of the life we have lived. Some will receive eternal life and an eternity in the presence of our glorious God and Savior in heaven, a place that we cannot even imagine. Others will be eternally separated from God, eternally separated from God.
It is important for me to point out that those who receive eternal life will not be granted that wonderful gift because of anything they have done. Eternal life is a gift from God, a gift that was won on the cross when Jesus died for our sins. Those who confess they are sinners, desperately in need of forgiveness, and willing to receive the forgiveness that only comes through a relationship with Jesus, are reconciled with God and promised eternal life in His presence. Those who will spend eternity separated from God are those who reject Jesus' sacrifice on their behalf and are therefore still alienated from God.
There were those in Peter’s day who scoffed at the idea that Jesus would return just like there are many today, even some Christians, who have serious doubts that Jesus is coming back again. Peter wants to make something perfectly clear–the Day of the Lord is coming. Look at 2 Peter 3:10-13 with me.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13 NIV)
Now, those in Peter’s day were merely a few decades removed from Jesus' death and resurrection and they were questioning why He was slow in returning. It is understandable that so many in our day question His return as well isn’t it? Has He not come because He is not coming? Was it all a myth, a legend, a story fabricated by the church or a promise made by Jesus that He couldn’t fulfill? Well, first of all, there was nothing written in Scripture about Jesus that was a myth or legend. Secondly, Jesus never made a promise that He didn’t fulfill so I would rule out that He simply can’t deliver on His promise. Then why has His coming taken so long? That’s a great question and Peter answers it for us in 2 Peter 3:9. Read it with me.
9 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. (2 Peter 3:9 NIV)
Why has Jesus not returned yet? Why has the Day of the Lord not taken place yet? It is because He is patient with you, it is not His desire that you should spend eternity separated from Him.
I remember the first time I read that verse after I became a follower of Jesus. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that the Lord delayed His return until I recognized my need for Him. There are those I love and care for who have still not recognized their need for Him and I am so grateful He is patiently waiting for them to recognize their need for Him…aren’t you? There may be someone here this morning who has heard the good news of Jesus time and time again, but you’ve resisted, you’ve given every reason under the sun why you don’t believe, won’t believe. I want to urge you this morning to recognize the patience of God towards you my friend. He has been so patient, but the day is coming when His patience will run out and He will return. Won’t you receive the gift of forgiveness and become a follower of Jesus this morning?
Mike Hays
Britton Christian Church
January 18, 2025
