The book of 2 Peter

1. The Book of 2 Peter - 16th April 2016
“The Lord is not slowin keepingHis promise,as some understandslowness.He ispatient with you,not
wantinganyoneto perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).
The book specificallystatesthatthe apostle Peterwasthe authorof 2 Peter. “SimonPeter, a servant
and apostleofJesus Christ.To those whothrough the righteousnessof our Godand SaviorJesus Christ
have received a faithas precious as ours”( 2 Peter 1:1). But Peter’sauthorshipof 2 Peterhasbeen
challengedmore thanthatof any otherbookin the New Testament.However,the earlychurchfathers
foundnogood reasonto rejectit.We findno goodreasonto rejectPeter'sauthorshipof 2 Peter. The
Bookof 2 Peterwaswrittentowardthe endof Peter’slife.Since PeterwasmartyredinRome duringthe
reignof Nero,hisdeathmusthave occurred priorto A.D.68. He verylikelywrote 2PeterbetweenA.D.
65 and 68. Peterwasalarmedthat false teacherswere beginningtoinfiltrate the churches. He calledon
Christianstogrowand become strongintheirfaithso thattheycoulddetectand combatthe spreading
apostasywhich meansrenouncingordisassociatingoneself fromaparticularreligionorcertainreligious
beliefs. He stronglystressedthe authenticityof the Wordof God and the sure returnof the Lord Jesus.
Knowingthathistime wasshort we can learnwhenPeterstatedin2 Peter 1:13-15, “I thinkit is right to
refresh your memory as longas I live inthe tent of thisbody, 14
becauseI know that I will soon putit
aside,as our Lord Jesus Christhas made clear to me. 15
AndI will make every effort to see that after
my departure you will alwaysbe able to remember these things”.He alsoadvises these churchesfaced
immediate dangeraswe can learnfrom 2 Peter 2:2-3, “Manywill followtheir depravedconduct and
will bringthe way oftruth into disrepute. 3
In their greed these teachers will exploit youwith
fabricatedstories. Their condemnationhaslongbeen hanging over them, andtheir destruction has
not been sleeping”. Peteralsocalleduponthe readerstorefreshtheirmemories aswe readabove in 2
Peter1:13.
Petertellsthe leaderstoalso stimulate theirthinking aswe can read in 2 Peter 3:1-2, “Dear friends,this
is nowmy second letter to you.I have written bothof them as reminders to stimulateyou to
wholesomethinking. 2
I wantyou to recall the words spoken inthe pastby the holyprophetsand the
commandgivenby our Lord andSaviorthrough yourapostles” He alsoadvisesthem sothat they
wouldrememberhisteaching assaidin 2 Peter 1:15, “AndI will make every effort to see that after my
departure you will alwaysbe able to remember these things”.He challengedthe believerstobecome
more mature in theirfaithbyaddingto itspecificChristiansvirtues,therebybecomingeffective and
productive intheirknowledgeof JesusChrist aswe can learnfrom 2 Peter 1:5-9. Peterdesiredthey
become strongintheirfaithto withstandthe false teachersthathadcrept inand adverselyaffectedthe
churches.
In Peter’s denunciationof them,he describedtheirconduct,theircondemnation,andtheir
characteristics in2 Peter2. Peteralsorefersto an occurrence where these falseteacherseven ridiculed
the Lord’s SecondComing aswe can learnfrom 2 Peter 3:3-5, “Aboveall,you must understandthat in
the last daysscoffers will come, scoffingandfollowingtheirownevil desires. 4
They will say,“Whereis
this ‘coming’hepromised?Ever since our ancestorsdied, everythinggoes on as it hassince the
beginningofcreation.” 5
But they deliberatelyforget that longago by God’s word the heavens came
intobeing andthe earth was formedout of water and by water”.For the Christians,Petertaughtthat
the SecondComingisthe incentive forholyliving.Afterafinal warning,Peteragainencouragedthemto
grow inthe grace and knowledgeof theirLordandSaviorJesusChrist.He concludedwithaword of

2. praise to hisLord andSavioras foundin 2 Peter 3:18, “Butgrow in the grace and knowledgeof our
Lord and SaviorJesus Christ.To him be gloryboth now andforever! Amen”.
As Christians livinginthe 21st century,we are nearer to our Lord’sreturnthan the first-century
Christianstowhomthisepistle waswritten.Throughtelevisionandothermeansof mass
communications,mature Christiansare aware thatmanycharlatansare paradingas true Christian
leaders,andthatimmature Christianshave been “takenin”bytheirquackeryandfalse interpretation
of Scriptures. Butasborn-againChristians we need tobe sowell groundedinthe Wordthat we will be
able to discerntruthfromerror. The same prescriptionforgrowthinfaiththat Petergave in 2 Peter 1:5-
11, whenappliedtoourlives,will assure usalsoarich reward“intothe eternal kingdomof ourLordand
SaviorJesusChrist”.We can learnthisin 2 Peter 1:10-11, “Therefore, my brothers andsisters,[a]
make
every effortto confirmyour callingandelection.For ifyou do these things,you will never stumble,
11
andyou will receive a richwelcome into the eternal kingdomof our Lord andSavior JesusChrist”.
The foundationforourfaithis andalwayswill be the same Word of God that Peterpreached.
We can learnof some keyversesinthisapostle:We can readin 2 Peter 1:3-4, “Hisdivinepower has
givenus everything we need forlife andgodlinessthroughour knowledgeof Him who calledus by His
own gloryand goodness.Throughthese He has givenus His very great andprecious promises,sothat
throughthem you may participatein the divinenature and escape the corruptionin the world caused
by evil desires.” We can also learn in 2 Peter 3:18: But grow inthe grace andknowledge ofour Lord
and SaviorJesus Christ.To Him be glory bothnow and forever! Amen.”

3. “The Lord isnot slowinkeepingHispromise,assome understand slowness. He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9