The book of 2 Peter

The writings of the epistles of the New Testament must be understood in light of the central truth of the Gospels, that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so that we can be reconciled to God and that He can come to live in us.  If we lose sight of the fact that Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime and that we are at peace with God through what Jesus has done, then the epistles can be a source of confusion or condemnation to us.  If we realize that Jesus paid for all sins, past, present and even future sins, then the epistles open up and we can begin to make sense of these writings.  The epistles declare that our sins are forgiven and that Christ has come to live in us.  Since we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we should learn to walk in holiness.  Holiness brings peace and order to our lives and allows the love of Jesus to be seen in us.  This is the grace of God for us, just as much as His forgiveness of our sins.  Many of the epistles are also correcting the errors that had crept into the first century churches.   

Many of the New Testament epistles were not written until 20 to 30 years after Jesus arose from the dead and ascended into heaven.  The church had been proclaiming the gospel and remission of sins during that timeframe.  All of the original disciples were Jewish.  These believers largely witnessed to other Jewish people for the first several years of the church's existence.  They were raised under the teachings of the Old Testament and Jewish Law.  These Jewish believers had a very difficult time letting go of the Old Testament law.  They also struggled greatly with the idea of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles or non-Jewish peoples, as seen in Acts chapter 10, even though Jesus had told them to go into all the world and preach the gospel.  Even after these Jewish Christians began to preach the gospel to Gentiles, many of them wanted to initiate these new Gentile believers into the Jewish commandments, rites and rituals of the Old Testament.  This became a source of great tension in the early Christian church.  Even though it was decided by the church leadership, as seen in Acts 15, that Gentile believers would not be put under bondage to keep the Law, many Jewish believers continued to press this issue among Gentile believers.  Many of the epistles address this issue directly, declaring that the Gentiles are not under the Law, either as a requirement to be saved or for spiritual growth. 

Also, as the church declared that Jesus had died for our sins and reconciled us to God, some false teachers began to turn the grace of God into lewdness or as an excuse to sin.  Since Jesus had paid the penalty for all sins to be forgiven, the false teachers declared that sin doesn't matter.  The false teachers said "Where is the promise of His coming?" 2 Peter 3:4  They said Jesus isn't coming back, so you might as well enjoy the pleasures and lusts of the flesh.  The epistle of 2 Peter is addressing this error among the believers and stressing the importance of holiness and godly behavior.  Some of these believers had initially received the teaching of holiness and escaped the corruption and pain of sin, but were fooled by this error and ended up in sin and corruption again.  2 Peter 3:20-22. These verses say that their end was worse for them than the beginning.  Does this mean that God sent these believers to hell for sinning? No. It means that through holiness, their lives had become peaceful and orderly and they were experiencing the joy that comes from holy living.  When they were deceived and went back to the works of the flesh, these believers suffered the pain and confusion that comes from sinning.  Peter declares that the Christian life requires diligence to walk in holiness and godliness and love so that we escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.  This diligence is not to make us right before God.  Jesus accomplished that in His death and resurrection.  He paid the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime.  We are reconciled to God by faith in His mercy and grace demonstrated in Jesus, not by any of our good works.  Our effort or lack thereof cannot add to or subtract from what Jesus has done for us.  This should bring us great peace and joy and comfort.  Our diligence is for our benefit and the benefit of those around us.  Peter declares that without holiness and love, we will be barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord.

2 Peter 1:1  "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ."  We are saved and have received that saving faith by the righteousness of our Savior Jesus, not by our own good works.  Jesus was sinless, but He bore the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime, past, present and even future sins.  We are now justified before God by faith in His mercy and grace alone.  As we shall see in 2 Peter, we are justified before men through our good works.  Our good works are benefical to us and to those around us.

2 Peter 1:1-4 "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 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."

As we grow in our understanding of God and His great love for us, grace and peace are multiplied to us.  We can relax in His mercy and grace.  We know that the sins of our entire lifetime have been punished in Jesus.  When we are born again, the divine nature of God, which is love, comes to dwell in us.  God gives us great and precious promises in His Word to remind us of who we are and what He has done for us.  Through these promises, we have the potential to be partakers of that divine nature of love which is inside of us, and we escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.  Our bodies are not yet redeemed.  That is why Peter tells us in His first epistle to abstain from lusts or desires that emanate from our flesh.  1 Peter 2:11.  This is the suffering in the flesh and ceasing from sin that Peter describes in his first epistle. 

2 Peter 1:5-7  "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." 

For this very reason, so that we can be partakers of the divine nature of love within us and escape the corruption that is in the world through the lust of the flesh, we must be diligent.  This will not come naturally.  We live in a fallen world and we live in bodies that are not yet redeemed.  So it will take diligence.  I know diligence and effort seem to be disliked words when speaking of grace, but you will have to blame Peter.  He wrote it.  As we renew our minds to who we are in Christ, we add to our saving faith virtue, which is moral excellence.  To virtue or moral excellence we add knowledge of God's Word.  We begin to understand the idea of Christ in us.  To this knowledge of Christ in us, we can begin to exercise self-control.  We are at peace.  To self-control, we add perseverance.  We must persevere in self-control and moral excellence because we live in a body that is not yet redeemed. We add godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.  These emanate from the divine nature of love within us when we are born again.  But remember that all of this requires diligence.  And also remember that this diligence does not add to our right-standing before God.  We are justified by His grace and mercy alone.  Our diligence will benefit us and those around us.  Our lives will be peaceful and in order.  We will be walking in love toward those around us.   

2 Peter 1:8 "For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."  If we know who we are in Christ, and walk in self-control and godliness and kindness and love, we will experience the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, and peace in our lives.  As we are patient and kind and loving toward others, we can help to win their hearts for the Lord. 

2 Peter 1:9 "For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins."  If we are not walking in moral excellence and holiness and godliness and love, we have lost sight of the fact that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins, not just so we could be forgiven, but so that we can actually stop committing sins.  Even though we are forgiven, sin still hurts us and damages those around us.  If we are to express the divine nature of love within us, we must turn from destructive behavior.

2 Peter 1:10-11 "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."  This is not talking about receiving rewards when we go to heaven, although that is included.  The everlasting kingdom of God is within us now.  He has called us to holiness.  That is our calling.  If we learn to express the divine nature of love, we will enjoy the fruits of the Spirit in our lives now.  That is the kingdom of God within us.  Paul said in Romans 14:17 that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.                   

Keith Oliver