Introduction to 2 Peter by Pastor Rich Paradis

“Beware of Attacks from the Inside”

Introduction and 2 Peter 1:1

 

In this second letter from Peter to the persecuted saints of modern day Turkey, Peter will continue his thoughts related to provision for difficult times. He has addressed persecution from the outside in 1 Peter. Now he will take on the persecution that comes from the inside, the false teacher inside the church / community of faith. What does Peter think of those that seek to de-rail these hurting people? What help will he provide? Is there any hope that they can look forward to, even as they go through any difficulty? Let’s see what Peter will say to them, and to us, as this letter unfolds.

 

I.                 Some background and introductory remarks (Adapted from Rich’s lesson “Introduction to 1 Peter”)

a.      Of the 12 original apostles, 3 of them were chosen to write inspired books of the New Testament. (Matthew, John, and Peter) Of course, the apostle Paul wrote many of our NT books but is not a part of the original apostleship.

b.     The fact that Peter is writing only 2 of our NT books should give us no indication of the importance of this man of God. He would spend over 30 years in public ministry in locations from Jerusalem to Rome.

c.      Many have considered Peter the apostle of Hope, while Paul is considered the apostle of Faith, and John the apostle of Love.

d.     Some helpful information:

                                                    i.     Writer of the letter: The apostle Peter, one of the earliest of the original apostles according to Matthew 4:18. He was born Simon and was from Bethsaida, according to John 1:44. Some have argued against his authorship on the basis that the Greek utilized is too high a quality for someone with his “blue collar” background of fishing and hard work. That concern would seem to be handled for 1 Peter by 1 Peter 5:12 which notes that Silas (or Silvanus) assisted in the writing or scribal work of the letter. 2 Peter is a bit harder to discern in that there is no one listed in the text as his amanuensis. And in addition to the differences in the quality of the Greek language utilized and other concerns, there are also great similarities (Peter refers to himself as the writer in 1:1, 1:16-18 as he refers to the Transfiguration, the use of the personal pronoun “I” in 1:12-15, the idea of hapax legomena; or unique words to these letters or only used once in the NT. Of 686 of these in the NT, 116 are used in the Petrine letters) in the two letters indicating the same writer. Tradition says that Peter would ultimately die by crucifixion upside down, feeling that he was unworthy to be executed in the same way as his Savior Jesus. This execution would happen in around 68 A.D.

                                                  ii.     Date and place of writing: The dates of both letters would seem to be near the end of Peter’s life (2 Peter 1:14). 1 Peter seems to be before his eventual arrest, while most think that 2 Peter was written after his arrest and before his execution. The date of 1 Peter writing seems to be somewhere in the area of 63-64 A.D. from a place referred to as “Babylon”. 2 Peter would also seem to be written from this “Babylon” although the text does not spell it out and the date would be somewhere between the completion of the first letter and Nero’s death in 68 A.D. While there is some conjecture as to whether this “Babylon” is the ancient place of the same name literally, I think he is rather speaking of a figurative “Babylon”. That “Babylon” would be the city of Rome, where Peter spent time during the latter years of his life. This city was without question all that you would think of when you think of a place called “Babylon”. It was a place of sin and godlessness to be sure. But, even if the location is literally Babylon of old, the situation is very similar and the directives are as well. The timing of these letters are also during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius as the word of persecution of Christians was becoming well known and would be lived out fully during the reign of the next Roman Emperor, a man named Nero.

                                                iii.     Recipients and Reason for Writing: According to 2 Peter 3:1, the recipients were the same audience of 1 Peter; both Hebrew and Gentile believers that were scattered throughout 5 Roman provinces that roughly make up modern-day Turkey. The reason seems to be persecution of these dispersed believers in 1 Peter, while the reason in 2 Peter is false teaching that has made its way into the church.

 

II.               Some important themes in this letter

a.      There seem to be a handful of helpful themes in this letter, but the overarching theme is “The grace of God both transforms and empowers Christians to live righteously even in the face of opposition”. Among the other themes that Peter will charge the reader in 2 Peter with:

                                                    i.     The Call to Christian Growth (Chapter 1) – One of the greatest defenses against the enemy is a consistent and growing Christian. Remember the old story of the bank employees that studied real money so carefully that when they saw the counterfeit it stuck out right away as bogus and unusable.

                                                  ii.     The Combating of False Teaching (Chapter 2) – The same God that has taken care to both reveal the ungodly imposter and protect the righteous believer will again handle this false teacher.

                                                iii.     Watchfulness In Light of Christ’s Return (Chapter 3) – There will be those that try to de-rail right doctrine and teaching by introducing teaching that may seem horizontally logical but is demonic in its intent. The antidote is both the continued growth mentioned above, but also a view of Christ and His return which will put perspective on the issue of the day and provide hope when discouragement threatens to take over.

 

III.             An Application For All Of Us

a.      The church of the times of this letter’s writing was being threatened with false teaching. That problem is alive and well in the church even today. There continue to be imposters that “in the name of Christ and His Church” distribute false teaching. This teaching comes in all kinds of flavors from self-exaltation to outright idolatry in the name of “freedom in Christ”. For instance:

                                                    i.     When the teaching promotes an experience over a relationship with Jesus… it is false teaching.

                                                  ii.     When the teaching promotes personal happiness over personal holiness… it is false teaching.

                                                iii.     When the teaching promotes a feeling over the facts… it is false teaching.

b.     The false teacher or preacher that seems to be gaining priority and fame will ultimately be exposed by God and judged.

c.      The timing of God is often a demonstration of His patient and longsuffering nature. Instead of mocking it or falling into disbelief we should understand that ultimately His desire is that all come to repentance and salvation (3:9).