II Peter
Purpose
Second Peter is Peter's farewell letter, written as he faces his approaching death "because I know that the putting off of my body will be soon," to secure the church against two threats: scoffers who mock the promise of Christ's coming and a swelling immorality that follows from denying his return. Peter first urges believers to supplement their faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, and he anchors the gospel not in "cleverly devised myths" but in the eyewitness testimony of Christ's transfiguration and in the prophetic word, "a lamp shining in a dark place." Against the false teachers who exploit with deceptive words and the scoffers who ask "where is the promise of his coming?", he answers that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and the apparent delay is patience — God not willing that any should perish — but the Day will come like a thief, the heavens will pass away, and "the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed." The letter calls believers to lives of holiness and godliness, looking for and hastening the new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, and to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Author
Peter the apostle
Time Period
Written c. 64-68 AD, shortly before Peter's death (per the letter itself)
Key Themes
- Growing in true knowledge
- False teachers and scoffers
- The certainty of Christ's return
- The Day of the Lord
- Holy and godly living
Outline
Adding to faith and the witness of Christ (ch. 1): confirm your calling, the transfiguration eyewitness, and Scripture as a reliable lamp. False teachers exposed (ch. 2): destructive heresies, their depravity and greed, the examples of angels, the flood, and Sodom, and the vanity of their boasts. The Day of the Lord and holy living (ch. 3): scoffers in the last days, the Lord's patience for repentance, the dissolution of the elements, and the promise of new heavens and a new earth, calling for holiness and growth in grace.