Text -- 2 Peter 3:10 (NET)

3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

The day of the Lord ( hēmera kuriou ).

So Peter in Act 2:20 (from Joe 3:4) and Paul in 1Th 5:2, 1Th 5:4; 2Th 2:2; 1Co 5:5; and day of Christ in Phi 2:16 and day of God in 2Pe 2:12 and day of judgment already in 2Pe 2:9; 2Pe 3:7. This great day will certainly come (hēxei ). Future active of hēkō , old verb, to arrive, but in God’ s own time.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

As a thief ( hōs kleptēs ).

That is suddenly, without notice. This very metaphor Jesus had used (Luk 12:39; Mat 24:43) and Paul after him (1Th 5:2) and John will quote it also (Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

In the which ( en hēi ).

The day when the Lord comes.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

Shall pass away ( pareleusontai ).

Future middle of parerchomai , old verb, to pass by.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

With a great noise ( roizēdon ).

Late and rare adverb (from roizeō , roizos ) - Lycophron, Nicander, here only in N.T., onomatopoetic, whizzing sound of rapid motion through the air like the flight of a bird, thunder, fierce flame.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

The elements ( ta stoicheia ).

Old word (from stoichos a row), in Plato in this sense, in other senses also in N.T. as the alphabet, ceremonial regulations (Heb 5:12; Gal 4:3; Gal 5:1; Col 2:8).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

Shall be dissolved ( luthēsetai ).

Future passive of luō , to loosen, singular because stoicheia is neuter plural.

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

With fervent heat ( kausoumena ).

Present passive participle of kausoō , late verb (from kausos , usually medical term for fever) and nearly always employed for fever temperature. Mayor suggests a conflagration from internal heat. Bigg thinks it merely a vernacular (Doric) future for kausomena (from kaiō , to burn).

Robertson: 2Pe 3:10

Shall be burned up ( katakaēsetai ).

Repeated in 2Pe 3:12. Second future passive of the compound verb katakaiō , to burn down (up), according to A L. But Aleph B K P read heurethēsetai (future passive of heuriskō , to find) "shall be found."There are various other readings here. The text seems corrupt.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:10

The day of the Lord

Compare the same phrase in Peter's sermon, Act 2:20. It occurs only in these two passages and 1Th 5:2. See 1Co 1:8; 2Co 1:14.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:10

As a thief

Omit in the night. Compare Mat 24:43; 1Th 5:2, 1Th 5:4; Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:10

With a great noise ( ῥοιζηδὸν )

An adverb peculiar to Peter, and occurring only here. It is a word in which the sound suggests the sense (rhoizedon ) ; and the kindred noun, ῥοῖζος , is used in classical Greek of the whistling of an arrow; the sound of a shepherd's pipe; the rush of wings; the plash of water; the hissing of a serpent; and the sound of filing.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:10

The elements ( στοιχεῖα )

Derived from στοῖχος , a row, and meaning originally one of a row or series; hence a component or element. The name for the letters of the alphabet, as being set in rows. Applied to the four elements - fire, air, earth, water; and in later times to the planets and signs of the zodiac. It is used in all ethical sense in other passages; as in Gal 4:3, " elements or rudiments of the world." Also of elementary teaching, such as the law, which was fitted for an earlier stage in the world's history; and of the first principles of religious knowledge among men. In Col 2:8, of formal ordinances. Compare Heb 5:12. The kindred verb στοιχέω , to walk, carries the idea of keeping in line, according to the radical sense. Thus, walk according to rule (Gal 6:16); walkest orderly (Act 21:24). So, too, the compound συστοιχέω , only in Gal 4:25, answereth to, lit., belongs to the same row or column with. The Greek grammarians called the categories of letters arranged according to the organs of speech συστοιχίαι . Here the word is of course used in a physical sense, meaning the parts of which this system of things is composed. Some take it as meaning the heavenly bodies, but the term is too late and technical in that sense. Compare Mat 24:29, the powers of the heaven.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:10

Shall melt ( λυθήσονται )

More literally, as Rev., shall be dissolved.

Vincent: 2Pe 3:10

With fervent heat ( καυσούμενα )

Lit., being scorched up.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:10

Suddenly, unexpectedly.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:10

Surprisingly expressed by the very sound of the original word.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:10

The elements seem to mean, the sun, moon, and stars; not the four, commonly so called; for air and water cannot melt, and the earth is mentioned immediately after.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:10

Whether of nature or art.

Wesley: 2Pe 3:10

And has not God already abundantly provided for this? 1. By the stores of subterranean fire which are so frequently bursting out at Aetna, Vesuvius, Hecla, and many other burning mountains. 2. By the ethereal (vulgarly called electrical) fire, diffused through the whole globe; which, if the secret chain that now binds it up were loosed, would immediately dissolve the whole frame of nature. 3. By comets, one of which, if it touch the earth in its course toward the sun, must needs strike it into that abyss of fire; if in its return from the sun, when it is heated, as a great man computes, two thousand times hotter than a red - hot cannonball, it must destroy all vegetables and animals long before their contact, and soon after burn it up.

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

The certainty, suddenness, and concomitant effects, of the coming of the day of the Lord. FABER argues from this that the millennium, &c., must precede Christ's literal coming, not follow it. But "the day of the Lord" comprehends the whole series of events, beginning with the pre-millennial advent, and ending with the destruction of the wicked, and final conflagration, and general judgment (which last intervenes between the conflagration and the renovation of the earth).

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

Emphatical. But (in spite of the mockers, and notwithstanding the delay) come and be present the day of the Lord SHALL.

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

Peter remembers and repeats his Lord's image (Luk 12:39, Luk 12:41) used in the conversation in which he took a part; so also Paul (1Th 5:2) and John (Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15).

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

Which the scoffers say' shall "continue" as they are (2Pe 3:4; Mat 24:35; Rev 21:1).

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

With a rushing noise, like that of a whizzing arrow, or the crash of a devouring flame.

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

The component materials of the world [WAHL]. However, as "the works" in the earth are mentioned separately from "the earth," so it is likely by "elements," mentioned after "the heavens," are meant "the works therein," namely, the sun, moon, and stars (as THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH [p. 22, 148, 228]; and JUSTIN MARTYR [Apology, 2.44], use the word "elements"): these, as at creation, so in the destruction of the world, are mentioned [BENGEL]. But as "elements" is not so used in Scripture Greek, perhaps it refers to the component materials of "the heavens," including the heavenly bodies; it clearly belongs to the former clause, "the heavens," not to the following, "the earth," &c.

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

Be dissolved, as in 2Pe 3:11.

JFB: 2Pe 3:10

Of nature and of art.

Clarke: 2Pe 3:10

The day of the Lord will come - See Mat 24:43, to which the apostle seems to allude

Clarke: 2Pe 3:10

The heavens shall pass away with a great noise - As the heavens mean here, and in the passages above, the whole atmosphere, in which all the terrestrial vapours are lodged; and as water itself is composed of two gases, eighty-five parts in weight of oxygen, and fifteen of hydrogen, or two parts in volume of the latter, and one of the former; (for if these quantities be put together, and several electric sparks passed through them, a chemical union takes place, and water is the product; and, vice versa, if the galvanic spark be made to pass through water, a portion of the fluid is immediately decomposed into its two constituent gases, oxygen and hydrogen); and as the electric or ethereal fire is that which, in all likelihood, God will use in the general conflagration; the noise occasioned by the application of this fire to such an immense congeries of aqueous particles as float in the atmosphere, must be terrible in the extreme. Put a drop of water on an anvil, place over it a piece of iron red hot, strike the iron with a hammer on the part above the drop of water, and the report will be as loud as a musket; when, then, the whole strength of those opposite agents is brought together into a state of conflict, the noise, the thunderings, the innumerable explosions, (till every particle of water on the earth and in the atmosphere is, by the action of the fire, reduced into its component gaseous parts), will be frequent, loud, confounding, and terrific, beyond every comprehension but that of God himself

Clarke: 2Pe 3:10

The elements shalt melt with fervent heat - When the fire has conquered and decomposed the water, the elements, στοιχεια, the hydrogen and oxygen airs or gases, (the former of which is most highly inflammable, and the latter an eminent supporter of all combustion), will occupy distinct regions of the atmosphere, the hydrogen by its very great levity ascending to the top, while the oxygen from its superior specific gravity will keep upon or near the surface of the earth; and thus, if different substances be once ignited, the fire, which is supported in this case, not only by the oxygen which is one of the constituents of atmospheric air, but also by a great additional quantity of oxygen obtained from the decomposition of all aqueous vapours, will rapidly seize on all other substances, on all terrestrial particles, and the whole frame of nature will be necessarily torn in pieces, and thus the earth and its works be burned up.

Calvin: 2Pe 3:10

10.But the day of the Lord will come This has been added, that the faithful might be always watching, and not promise to-morrow to themselves. For we all labor under two very different evils — too much haste, and slothfulness. We are seized with impatience for the day of Christ already expected; at the same time we securely regard it as afar off. As, then, the Apostle has before reproved an unreasonable ardor, so he now shakes off our sleepiness, so that we may attentively expect Christ at all times, lest we should become idle and negligent, as it is usually the case. For whence is it that flesh indulges itself except that there is no thought of the near coming of Christ?

What afterwards follows, respecting the burning of heaven and earth, requires no long explanation, if indeed we duly consider what is intended. For it was not his purpose to speak refinedly of fire and storm, and other things, but only that he might introduce an exhortation, which he immediately adds, even that we ought to strive after newness of life. For he thus reasons, that as heaven and earth are to be purged by fire, that they may correspond with the kingdom of Christ, hence the renovation of men is much more necessary. Mischievous, then, are those interpreters who consume much labor on refined speculations, since the Apostle applies his doctrine to godly exhortations.

Defender: 2Pe 3:10

The very first phase of "the day of the Lord" will be sudden and unexpected when the great rapture of all believers, dead and living will take place (1Th 4:13-17; 1Co 15:51-53). Then, "the day of the Lord" will continue for the seven-year period of tribulation judgments on Earth (Dan 9:24-27; Matthew 24:15-30; Isa 13:9-11) and the thousand-year millennial reign of Christ on Earth following that (Rev 20:6). Because of this thousand-year "day" of the Lord, many expositors, ancient and modern, have interpreted 2Pe 3:8 to teach there would be just six thousand years of history before the millennium, thus making a total of seven thousand years to conform to the six work days plus one rest day of creation week. The main Biblical problem with this concept, however, is that it amounts to setting the day for Christ's return and would have discouraged any Christians during previous generations from looking for Christ's return, as He had instructed them to do (compare 1Th 5:2).

Defender: 2Pe 3:10

The "day of the Lord" will be terminated at the end of the millennium with the long-awaited renovation of the old earth by fire. The earth will not be annihilated, any more than it was annihilated at the time of the Flood, but will be completely changed and purified, made new, as it were. All the elements themselves have been under God's curse (Gen 3:17-19), so they must be burned up, along with the vast evidences of decay and death now preserved as fossils in the earth's crust. Possibly this will be a global atomic fission reaction (note the word "dissolved" in 2Pe 3:11), or else simply a vast explosive disintegration involving transformation of the chemical energy of the elements into heat, light and sound energy. What remains after the global fiery disintegration will be other forms of energy so that, although God's principle of conservation still holds, the solid earth will seem to have "fled away" (Rev 20:11)."

TSK: 2Pe 3:10

the day : Isa 2:12; Joe 1:15, Joe 2:1, Joe 2:31, Joe 3:14; Mal 4:5; 1Co 5:5; 2Co 1:14; Jud 1:6

as a : Mat 24:42, Mat 24:43; Luk 12:39; 1Th 5:2; Rev 3:3, Rev 16:15

in the which : Psa 102:26; Isa 51:6; Mat 24:35; Mar 13:31; Rom 8:20; Heb 1:11, Heb 1:12; Rev 20:11, Rev 21:1

the elements : 2Pe 3:12

melt : Psa 46:6, Psa 97:5; Amo 9:5, Amo 9:13; Nah 1:5

the earth : 2Pe 3:7

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Pe 3:10

But the day of the Lord - The day of the Lord Jesus. That is, the day in which he will be manifested. It is called his day, because he will then be the grand and prominent object as the Judge of all. Compare Luk 17:27.

Will come as a thief in the night - Unexpectedly; suddenly. See the notes at 1Th 5:2.

In the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise - That is, what seems to us to be the heavens. It cannot mean that the holy home where God dwells will pass away; nor do we need to suppose that this declaration extends to the starry worlds and systems as disclosed by modern astronomy. The word is doubtless used in a popular sense - that is, as things appear to us; and the fair interpretation of the passage would demand only such a change as would occur by the destruction of this world by fire. If a conflagration should take place, embracing the earth and its surrounding atmosphere, all the phenomena would occur which are here described; and, if this would be so, then this is all that can be proved to be meant by the passage. Such a destruction of the elements could not occur without "a great noise."

And the elements shall melt with fervent heat - Greek: "the elements being burned, or burning, ( καυσούμενα kausoumena ,) shall be dissolved."The idea is, that the cause of their being "dissolved"shall be fire; or that there will be a conflagration extending to what are here called the "elements,"that shall produce the effects here described by the word "dissolved."There has been much difference of opinion in regard to the meaning of the word here rendered "elements,"( στοιχεῖα stoicheia .) The word occurs in the New Testament only in the following places: Gal 4:3, Gal 4:9; 2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:12, in which it is rendered "elements;"Col 2:8, Col 2:20, in which it is rendered "rudiments;"and in Heb 5:12, where it is rendered "principles."For the general meaning of the word, see the notes at Gal 4:3. The word denotes the "rudiments"of anything; the minute parts or portions of which anything is composed, or which constitutes the simple portions out of which anything grows, or of which it is compounded.

Here it would properly denote the component parts of the material world; or those which enter into its composition, and of which it is made up. It is not to be supposed that the apostle used the term with the same exact signification with which a chemist would use it now, but in accordance with the popular use of the term in his day. In all ages, and in all languages, some such word, with more or less scientific accuracy, has been employed to denote the primary materials out of which others were formed, just as, in most languages, there have been characters or letters to denote the elementary sounds of which language is composed. In general, the ancients supposed that the elements out of which all things were formed were four in number - air, earth, fire, and water. Modern science has overturned this theory completely, and has shown that these, so far from being simple elements, are themselves compounds; but the tendency of modern science is still to show that the elements of all things are in fact few in number.

The word, as used here by Peter, would refer to the elements of things as then understood in a popular sense; it would now not be an improper word to be applied to the few elements of which all things are composed, as disclosed by modern chemistry. In either case, the use of the word would be correct. Whether applied to the one or the other, science has shown that all are capable of combustion. Water, in its component parts, is inflammable in a high degree; and even the diamond has been shown to be combustible. The idea contained in the word "dissolved,"is, properly, only the change which heat produces. Heat changes the forms of things; dissolves them into their elements; dissipates those which were solid by driving them off into gases, and produces new compounds, but it annihilates nothing. It could not be demonstrated from this phrase that the world would be annihilated by fire; it could be proved only that it will undergo important changes. So far as the action of fire is concerned, the form of the earth may pass away, and its aspect be changed; but unless the direct power which created it interposes to annihilate it, the matter which now composes it will still be in existence.

The earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up - That is, whether they are the works of God or man - the whole vegetable and animal creation, and all the towers, the towns, the palaces, the productions of genius, the paintings, the statuary, the books, which man has made:

"The cloud-capp’ d towers, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

And all that it inherits, shall dissolve,

And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,

Leave not one wreck behind."

The word rendered "burned up,"like the word just before used and rendered "fervent heat"- a word of the same origin, but here intensive - means that they will undergo such a change as fire will produce; not, necessarily, that the matter composing them will be annihilated. If the matter composing the earth is ever to be destroyed entirely, it must be by the immediate power of God, because only He who created can destroy. There is not the least evidence that a particle of matter originally made has been annihilated since the world began; and there are no fires so intense, no chemical powers so mighty, as to cause a particle of matter to cease wholly to exist. So far as the power of man is concerned, and so far as one portion of matter can prey on another, matter is as imperishable as mind, and neither can be destroyed unless God destroys it. Whether it is His purpose to annihilate any portion of the matter which He has made, does not appear from His Word; but it is clear that He intends that the universe shall undergo important changes. As to the possibility or probability of such a destruction by fire as is predicted here, no one can have any doubt who is acquainted with the disclosures of modern science in regard to the internal structure of the earth.

Even the ancient philosophers, from some cause, supposed that the earth would still be destroyed by fire (see my notes at 2Pe 3:7), and modern science has made it probable that the interior of the earth is a melted and intensely-heated mass of burning materials; that the habitable world is only a comparatively thin crust (shell) over those internal fires; that earthquakes are caused by the vapors engendered by that heated mass when water comes in contact with it; and that volcanoes are only openings and vent-holes through which those internal flames make their way to the surface. Whether these fires will everywhere make their way to the surface, and produce an universal conflagration, perhaps could not be determined by science, but no one can doubt that the simple command of God would be all that is necessary to pour those burning floods over the earth, just as He once caused the waters to roll over every mountain and through every valley.

As to the question whether it is probable that such a change will be produced by fire, bringing the present order of things to a close, it may be further remarked that there is reason to believe that such changes are in fact taking place in other worlds. "During the last two or three centuries, upwards of thirteen fixed stars have disappeared. One of them, situated in the northern hemisphere, presented a special brilliancy, and was so bright as to be seen by the naked eye at mid-day. It seemed to be on fire, appearing at first of a dazzling white, then of a reddish yellow, and lastly of an ashy pale color. LaPlace supposes that it was burned up, as it has never been seen since. The conflagration was visible about sixteen months."The well-known astronomer, Von Littrow, in the section of his work on "New and Missing Stars"(entitled, Die Wunder der Himmels oder Gemeinfassliche Darstellung der Weltsystems, Stuttgart, 1843, Section 227), observes: "Great as may be the revolutions which take place on the surface of those fixed stars, which are subject to this alternation of light, what entirely different changes may those others have experienced, which in regions of the firmament where no star had ever been before, appeared to blaze up in clear flames, and then to disappear, perhaps forever."

He then gives a brief history of those stars which have excited the particular attention of astronomers. "In the year 1572, on the 11th of November,"says he, "Tycho, on passing from his chemical laboratory to the observatory, through the court of his house, observed in the constellation Cassiopeia, at a place where before he had only seen very small stars, a new star of uncommon magnitude. It was so bright that it surpassed even Jupiter and Venus in splendor, and was visible even in the daytime. During the whole time in which it was visible, Tycho could observe no parallax or change of position. At the end of the year, however, it gradually diminished; and at length, in March 1574, sixteen months after its discovery, entirely disappeared, since which all traces of it have been lost. When it first appeared, its light was of a dazzling white color; in January 1573, two months after its reviving, it became yellowish; in a few months it assumed a reddish hue, like Mars or Aldebaran; and in the beginning of the year 1574, two or three months before its total disappearance, it glimmered only with a gray or lead-colored light, similar to that of Saturn."See Bibliotheca Sacra , III., p. 181. If such things occur in other worlds, there is nothing improbable or absurd in the supposition that they may yet occur on the earth.

Poole: 2Pe 3:10

But the day of the Lord the day of judgment is here called the day of the Lord by way of eminence, as the great day, Jud 1:6 , and the great day of God Almighty, Rev 16:14 , and the day of the Lord Jesus, 1Co 1:8 5:5 2Co 1:14 Phi 1:6,10 .

Will come as a thief in the night as a thief comes suddenly and unexpectedly, when he thinks all in the house are most secure.

In the which the heavens viz. those that are visible, in distinction from the empyreal heaven, or place of glorified spirits.

Shall pass away either wholly, so as to cease to be; or rather, as to their present being and condition, so as to cease to be what they now are, and to give place to the new heaven, Rev 21:1 . The same word is used, Mat 24:35 Luk 16:17 .

With a great noise either swiftly and violently, or with such a noise as is usually caused by such violent and speedy motions.

The elements in a natural sense, as integral parts of the universe, air, water, earth.

Shall melt with fervent heat so 2Pe 3:12 , where another word is used in the Greek, which properly signifies melting, or being on fire, or burning, shall be dissolved or destroyed. So the word signifies, Joh 2:19 1Jo 3:8 .

The earth also the habitable part of the world. Though the earth, as a part of the world, be included in the elements before mentioned, yet here it may be taken with respect to its inhabitants, and the things contained in it.

And the works that are therein shall be burned up not only artificial, men’ s works, but natural, all that variety of creatures, animate and inanimate, wherewith God hath stored this lower world for the present use of man; and so all those delectable things in which carnal men seek their happiness.

PBC: 2Pe 3:10

2Pe 3:10

 2Pe 3:10 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

thief in the night

He is talking about the unregenerate in the world—to the wicked and ungodly it will be as a thief in the night. But to the child of God—to the one who knows Jesus and has the love of God in their heart, they ought to be expecting Him. They ought to be looking for Him every day. When you get up in the morning that ought to be the first thing you look for—wonder if today is the day.

237

A burglar, a "thief in the night," does not send you an engraved notice announcing the precise date and time that he will break into your home. He operates on the element of surprise. He can only succeed if he breaks into your home unannounced and unnoticed till he has done his work. Peter doesn’t indicate that believers will know, but others will not know. Peter is writing to believers and tells them that the precise time of the Lord’s return will be a surprise to them as well as to others. No doubt, many informed believers will have a better indication of the Lord’s return based on the state of the world, but many sincere believers over the last twenty one centuries have sincerely believed that the Second Coming was near, only to be disappointed. Now Peter must deal with the element of surprise, along with a brief description of the actual events that will occur as part of the final event in God’s purpose with this world as we know it now.

The basic premise of the "thief in the night" character of the Second Coming urges constant watchfulness among believers. It also puts us on notice to beware of any who claim to have inside information that the event will occur at a precise time. If they tell you that they know when the Lord will return, they contradict the Holy Spirit who directed Peter to tell us that God has not revealed that information, nor shall He. Many sincere people have developed complex interpretations by which they claimed to know the precise date of the Second Coming. With time each one has been proved wrong. False teachers who predict the exact date and time of the Second Coming are the easiest to prove wrong. Just sit quietly by and let the clock tick. If they are right, at the time they predicted, you will hear the trumpet and see the Lord. If they are false teachers, the date will come and go, but you will not see the Lord coming in His glory.

Occasionally people who do not wish to deal with the details that Peter sets forth in this lesson regarding the events that will occur at the Second Coming, nor with the information that Peter gives us about heaven, will interpret this lesson as an allegory, usually representative of the New Testament church. We find nothing in this context that indicates an allegorical interpretation. Peter wrote the whole letter to warn his readers of false teachers. In the first chapter he was quite simple and specific regarding the equipment that we should acquire and become skilled in using to avoid the enticing errors brought forth by false teachers. In the second chapter he deals at length with the diabolical character of the false teachers. Now in the third chapter he deals in equally direct form with the actual teachings of the false teachers that prompted his letter. When confronting error, the best strategy is to be simple and concise. The worst strategy is to present your thoughts in allegorical or other symbolic form.

Peter’s language is too broad and encompassing to be viewed as applicable to only the city of Jerusalem, the interpretation offered by the extreme preterist school of interpretation that I’ve mentioned in earlier chapters. The "heavens," the "elements," the "earth," and the "works" that are in the earth are not localized terms suitable for any reasonable interpreter to apply to Jerusalem, or any city in first century Judah. A reasonable person reading these words with a basic knowledge of language will readily understand that Peter intended to describe a universal and cataclysmic event, not a local holocaust inflicted by Roman soldiers against the city of Jerusalem.

D. A. Carson summarizes this lesson in his typically concise manner. "The argument concerning the certainty of Christ’s coming is rounded off with a further reminder of the fact and its suddenness. Peter then comments on the consequences this will have for the physical world as we know it and the consequences knowledge of this should produce in the life of the believer. Since the new heavens and new earth will be the home of righteousness, we ought to be ‘making ourselves at home’ here and now."[i]   We will deal more extensively with the point in a later chapter, but Carson makes a convincing point in this citation. The Christian’s deep conviction in the reality of the Second Coming and God’s final and universal judgment at the end are frequently used in Scripture to urge faithfulness in present difficulties. If all these prophecies culminated with the devastation of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, there would be no incentive whatever for believers today to live in godly graciousness toward each other. The event might be an interesting lesson in history, even in God’s temporal judgment against a rebellious nation, but it would have no relevance to personal godliness in the present age.

In this theological teaching, as in other areas of Biblical studies, balance is essential to a healthy and mature faith. Although I have dealt rather directly in the last few chapters with the extreme preterist view of eschatology (end times events), I reject with equal conviction the flood of contemporary teaching that, in my view of Biblical teaching, is fully as alien to Scripture as the extreme preterist view. Most contemporary teaching that deals with a secret rapture of believers (for example, the Left Behind series of novels) began with J. N. Darby and the Plymouth Brethren around 1827. For almost the next hundred years leading Christian scholars largely rejected these ideas as wholly alien to Biblical teaching and historical Christian interpretation. In the early twentieth century the ideas resurfaced in the publication of the Scofield study Bible. The Scofield notes launched the Darby theme into mainstream Christianity.

In no passage does the New Testament describe the Lord’s glorious appearance at the end of time as a secret event. Quite to the contrary, "...every eye shall see him". {Re 1:7} Simultaneously this single verse (though not at all standing lonely by itself in New Testament teaching) refutes both extreme preterism and extreme dispensationalism that never saw the light of day prior to 1827. While a more conservative form of millennialism appears quite early in the writings of early church fathers, historical millennialism is significantly different in its content than the contemporary Darby concept. These two views represent two ditches on either side of historical Biblical truth. Extreme dispensationalism relies on a faulty strategy of occasional over-literalizing passages and certain foundational assumptions that are never proved by Scripture itself. Extreme preterism relies on a rather shameless redefinition of Biblical hermeneutics and myopic Olivet Sermon interpretations that are as void of historical support as the dispensational excesses of our time. Both views lack the balance that a rather wide variety of eschatological views have claimed throughout most of Christianity’s history.

The most natural linguistic interpretation of Peter’s teaching in this chapter leads one to a rather simple view of the Second Coming. While its arrival will be as a thief in the night, its actual unfolding, once it begins, will be quite public and universal. In his rebellious sin, beginning at Eden, man brought cataclysmic judgment upon himself and upon the whole of God’s creation. In order to cleanse the universe of sin in every quarter God will melt it all down.

Once a reporter asked atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell what he would do if, after death, he faced God and realized that he had been wrong in his bold assertions for atheism. He responded that he would complain to God for not leaving more evidence of his existence. Interestingly, Paul {Ro 1:18-23} affirms the mirror opposite view. God has given abundant evidence of his existence, and supernatural role in the natural creation of the universe. In his fallenness man willfully ignores the evidence, claiming that it doesn’t exist. If in fact Russell faces God and has any opportunity to protest his claim, God shall declare for all to hear and know that Russell willfully chose to ignore the evidence that God made available. May we seek balance and a more gracious spirit in our eschatological dialogue with other believers.

275

[i] Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary: 21st century edition. Rev. ed. of: The new Bible commentary. 3rd ed. / edited by D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer. 1970. (4th ed.). {2Pe 3:10} Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA: Inter-Varsity Press.

Haydock: 2Pe 3:10

The heavens, &c. He puts the faithful in mind not to regard these profane scoffers, but to be convinced of the truths revealed, and that the world shall be destroyed a second time by fire. Reflect that the time of this life, and all the time that this world shall last, is nothing to eternity, which has no parts, no beginning, nor end; so that in the sight of God, who is eternal, a thousand years are no more to be regarded than one day, or one moment. The long time that hath hitherto passed, must not make you think that God is slack as to his promises, or that they shall not infallibly come to pass at the time and moment appointed by his divine providence. God's infinite mercy, and his love for mankind, bears patiently with the provocations of blind and unthinking sinners, not willing that any of them should perish, but that they should return to him by a sincere repentance and true penance, and be saved. But watch always, according to the repeated admonition of our blessed Redeemer. (Mark xiii. 37. &c.) For both the day of your death, and the day of the Lord to judge the world, will come like a thief, &c. (Witham)

Gill: 2Pe 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,.... That is, the Lord will come in that day, which he has fixed, according to his promise, than which nothing is more certain; and he will come as a thief in the night: he will come "in the night", which may be literally understood; for as his first coming was in the night; see Luk 2:8; so perhaps his second coming may be in the night season; or figuratively, when it will be a time of great darkness; when there will be little faith in the earth, and both the wise and foolish virgins will be slumbering and sleeping; when it will be a season of great security, as it was in the days of Noah, and at the time of the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, leave out the phrase, "in the night": and the Alexandrian copy uses the emphatic article, "in the night": and he will come, "as a thief", in the dark, indiscernibly; it will not be known what hour he will come; he will come suddenly, at an unawares, when he is not expected, to the great surprise of men, and especially of the scoffers; when the following awful things will be done:

in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise; not the third heaven, the seat of angels and glorified saints, and even of God himself; but the starry and airy heavens, which shall pass away, not as to their matter and substance, but as to some of their accidents and qualities, and the present use of them; and that with a great noise, like that of a violent storm, or tempest; though the Ethiopic version renders it, "without a noise"; and which is more agreeable to his coming as a thief, which is not with noise, but in as still a manner as possible; and some learned men observe, that the word signifies swiftly, as well as with a noise; and, accordingly, the Syriac version renders it "suddenly"; and the Arabic version "presently", immediately; that is, as soon as Christ shall come, immediately, at once, from his face shall the earth and heavens flee away, as John in a vision saw, Rev 20:11;

and the elements shall melt with fervent heat: not what are commonly called the four elements, earth, air, tire, and water, the first principles of all things: the ancient philosophers distinguished between principles and elements; principles, they say ^h, are neither generated, nor corrupted; τα τε στοιχεια κατα την εκπυρωσιν φθειρεσθαι, "but the elements will be corrupted, or destroyed by the conflagration"; which exactly agrees with what the apostle here says: by the elements seem to be meant the host of heaven, being distinguished from the heavens, as the works of the earth are distinguished from the earth in the next clause; and design the firmament, or expanse, with the sun, moon, and stars in it, which will be purged and purified by this liquefaction by fire;

the earth also will be purged and purified from everything that is noxious, hurtful, unnecessary, and disagreeable; though the matter and substance of it will continue:

and the works that are therein shall be burnt up; all the works of nature, wicked men, cattle, trees, &c. and all the works of men, cities, towns, houses, furniture, utensils, instruments of arts of all sorts, will be burnt by a material fire, breaking out of the earth and descending from heaven, for which the present heavens and earth are reserved: this general conflagration was not only known to the Jews, but to the Heathens, to the poets, and Platonist and Stoic philosophers, who frequently ⁱ speak of it in plain terms. Some are of opinion that these words refer to the destruction of Jerusalem; and so the passing away of the heavens may design the removal of their church state and ordinances, Heb 12:26, and the melting of the elements the ceasing of the ceremonial law, called the elements of the world, Gal 4:3, and the burning of the earth the destruction of the land of Judea, expressed in such a manner in Deu 29:23, and particularly of the temple, and the curious works in that, which were all burnt up and destroyed by fire, though Titus endeavoured to prevent it, but could not ^k: which sense may be included, inasmuch as there was a promise of Christ's coming to destroy the Jewish nation, and was expected; and which destruction was a prelude of the destruction of the world, and is sometimes expressed in such like language as that is; but then this must not take place, to the exclusion of the other sense: and whereas this sense makes the words to he taken partly in a figurative, and partly in a literal way; and seeing the heavens and the earth are in the context only literally taken, the former sense is to be preferred; and to which best agrees the following use to be made of these things.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Pe 3:10

¹ tn Grk “in which.”

² tn Or “pass away.”

³ tn Or “hissing sound,” “whirring sound,” “rushing sound,” or “loud noise.” The word occurs only here in the NT. It was often used of the crackle of a fire, as would appear appropriate in this context.

⁴ tn Grk “elements.” Most commentators are agreed that “celestial bodies” is meant, in light of this well-worn usage of στοιχεῖα (stoiceia) in the 2nd century and the probable allusion to Isa 34:4 (text of Vaticanus). See R. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 315-16 for discussion.

⁵ tn Grk “be dissolved.”

⁶ tn Grk “being burned up.”

⁷ tn Grk “the works in it.”

⁸ tc One of the most difficult textual problems in the NT is found in v. 10. The reading εὑρεθήσεται (Jeureqhsetai), which enjoys by far the best support (א B K P 0156^vid 323 1241 1739^txt pc) is nevertheless so difficult a reading that many scholars regard it as nonsensical. (NA²⁷ lists five conjectures by scholars, from Hort to Mayor, in this text.) As R. Bauckham has pointed out, solutions to the problem are of three sorts: (1) conjectural emendation (which normally speaks more of the ingenuity of the scholar who makes the proposal than of the truth of the conjecture, e.g., changing one letter in the previous word, ἔργα [erga] becomes ἄργα [arga] with the meaning, “the earth and the things in it will be found useless”); (2) adoption of one of several variant readings (all of which, however, are easier than this one and simply cannot explain how this reading arose, e.g., the reading of Ì⁷² which adds λυόμενα [luomena] to the verb – a reading suggested no doubt by the threefold occurrence of this verb in the surrounding verses: “the earth and its works will be found dissolved”; or the simplest variant, the reading of the Sahidic mss, οὐχ [ouc] preceding ἑυρεθήσεται – “will not be found”); or (3) interpretive gymnastics which regards the text as settled but has to do some manipulation to its normal meaning. Bauckham puts forth an excellent case that the third option is to be preferred and that the meaning of the term is virtually the equivalent of “will be disclosed,” “will be manifested.” (That this meaning is not readily apparent may in fact have been the reason for so many variants and conjectures.) Thus, the force of the clause is that “the earth and the works [done by men] in it will be stripped bare [before God].” In addition, the unusualness of the expression is certainly in keeping with the author’s style throughout this little book. Hence, what looks to be suspect because of its abnormalities, upon closer inspection is actually in keeping with the author’s stylistic idiosyncrasies. The meaning of the text then is that all but the earth and men’s works will be destroyed. Everything will be removed so that humanity will stand naked before God. Textually, then, on both external and internal grounds, εὑρεθήσεται commends itself as the preferred reading.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 3:10

^{( 10 )} But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great ^{( d )} noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

^{( 10 )} A very short description of the last destruction of the world, but in such sort as nothing could be spoken more gravely.

^{( d )} With the violence of a storm.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Pe 3:1-18

1 He assures them of the certainty of Christ's coming to judgment, against those scorners who dispute against it;

8 warning the godly, for the long patience of God, to hasten their repentance.

10 He describes also the manner how the world shall be destroyed;

11 exhorting them, from the expectation thereof, to all holiness of life;

16 and again to think the patience of God to tend to their salvation, as Paul wrote to them in his epistles.

MHCC: 2Pe 3:5-10

Had these scoffers considered the dreadful vengeance with which God swept away a whole world of ungodly men at once, surely they would not have scoffed at his threatening an equally terrible judgment. The heavens and the earth which now are, by the same word, it is declared, will be destroyed by fire. This is as sure to come, as the truth and the power of God can make it. Christians are here taught and established in the truth of the coming of the Lord. Though, in the account of men, there is a vast difference between one day and a thousand years, yet, in the account of God, there is no difference. All things past, present, and future, are ever before him: the delay of a thousand years cannot be so much to him, as putting off any thing for a day or for an hour is to us. If men have no knowledge or belief of the eternal God, they will be very apt to think him such as themselves. How hard is it to form any thoughts of eternity! What men count slackness, is long-suffering, and that to us-ward; it is giving more time to his own people, to advance in knowledge and holiness, and in the exercise of faith and patience, to abound in good works, doing and suffering what they are called to, that they may bring glory to God. Settle therefore in your hearts that you shall certainly be called to give an account of all things done in the body, whether good or evil. And let a humble and diligent walking before God, and a frequent judging of yourselves, show a firm belief of the future judgment, though many live as if they were never to give any account at all. This day will come, when men are secure, and have no expectation of the day of the Lord. The stately palaces, and all the desirable things wherein wordly-minded men seek and place their happiness, shall be burned up; all sorts of creatures God has made, and all the works of men, must pass through the fire, which shall be a consuming fire to all that sin has brought into the world, though a refining fire to the works of God's hand. What will become of us, if we set our affections on this earth, and make it our portion, seeing all these things shall be burned up? Therefore make sure of happiness beyond this visible world.

Matthew Henry: 2Pe 3:9-10

We are here told that the Lord is not slack - he does not delay beyond the appointed time; as God kept the time that he had appointed for the delivering of Israel out of Egypt, to a day (Exo 12:41), so he will keep to the time appointed in coming to judge the world. What a difference is there between the account which God makes and that which men make! Good men are apt to think God stays beyond the appointed time, that is, the time which they have set for their own and the church's deliverance; but they set one time and God sets another, and he will not fail to keep the day which he has appointed. Ungodly men dare charge a culpable slackness upon God, as if he had slipped the time, and laid aside the thoughts of coming. But the apostle assures us,

I. That what men count slackness is truly long-suffering, and that to us-ward; it is giving more time to his own people, whom he has chosen before the foundation of the world, many of whom are not as yet converted; and those who are in a state of grace and favour with God are to advance in knowledge and holiness, and in the exercise of faith and patience, to abound in good works, doing and suffering what they are called to, that they may bring glory to God, and improve in a meetness for heaven; for God is not willing that any of these should perish, but that all of them should come to repentance. Here observe, 1. Repentance is absolutely necessary in order to salvation. Except we repent, we shall perish, Luk 13:3, Luk 13:5. 2. God has no delight in the death of sinners: as the punishment of sinners is a torment to his creatures, a merciful God does not take pleasure in it; and though the principal design of God in his long-suffering is the blessedness of those whom he has chosen to salvation, through sanctification of the spirit, and belief of the truth, yet his goodness and forbearance do in their own nature invite and call to repentance all those to whom they are exercised; and, if men continue impenitent when God gives them space to repent, he will deal more severely with them, though the great reason why he did not hasten his coming was because he had not accomplished the number of his elect. "Abuse not therefore the patience and long-suffering of God, by abandoning yourselves to a course of ungodliness; presume not to go on boldly in the way of sinners, nor to sit down securely in an unconverted impenitent state, as he who said (Mat 24:48), My Lord delayeth his coming, lest he come and surprise you;"for,

II. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, 2Pe 3:10. Here we may observe, 1. The certainty of the day of the Lord: though it is now above sixteen hundred years since this epistle was written, and the day has not yet come, it assuredly will come. God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, and he will keep his appointment. It is appointed to men once to die, and after this the judgment, Heb 9:27. "Settle it therefore in your hearts that the day of the Lord will certainly come, and you shall certainly be called to give an account of all things done in the body, whether good or evil; and let your exact walking before God, and your frequent judging yourselves, evidence your firm belief of a future judgment, when many live as if they were never to give any account at all."2. The suddenness of this day: It will come as a thief in the night, at a time when men are sleeping and secure, and have no manner of apprehension or expectation of the day of the Lord, any more than men have of a thief when they are in a deep sleep, in the dark and silent night. At midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom comes, (Mat 25:6), and at that time not only the foolish, but also the wise virgins slumbered and slept. The Lord will come in a day when we look not for him, and an hour when men are not aware. The time which men think to be the most improper and unlikely, and when therefore they are most secure, will be the time of the Lord's coming. Let us then beware how we in our thoughts and imaginations put that day far away from us; but rather suppose it to be so much nearer in reality, by how much further off it is in the opinion of the ungodly world. 3. The solemnity of this coming. (1.) The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The visible heavens, as unable to abide when the Lord shall come in his glory, shall pass away; they shall undergo a mighty alteration, and this shall be very sudden, and with such a noise as the breaking and tumbling down of so great a fabric must necessarily occasion. (2.) The elements shall melt with fervent heat. At this coming of the Lord it shall not only be very tempestuous round about him, so that the very heavens shall pass away as in a mighty violent storm, but a fire shall go before him, that shall melt the elements of which the creatures are composed. (3.) The earth also, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. The earth, and its inhabitants, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. The earth, and its inhabitants, and all the works, whether of nature or art, shall be destroyed. The stately palaces and gardens, and all the desirable things wherein worldly-minded men seek and place their happiness, all of them shall be burnt up; all sorts of creatures which God has made, and all the works of men, must submit, all must pass through the fire, which shall be a consuming fire to all that sin has brought into the world, though it may be a refining fire to the works of God's hand, that the glass of the creation being made much brighter the saints may much better discern the glory of the Lord therein.

And now who can but observe what a difference there will be between the first coming of Christ and the second! Yet that is called the great and dreadful day of the Lord, Mal 4:5. How much more dreadful must this coming to judgment be! May we be so wise as to prepare for it, that it may not be a day of vengeance and destruction unto us. O! what will become of us, if we set our affections on this earth, and make it our portion, seeing all these things shall be burnt up? Look out therefore, and make sure of a happiness beyond this visible world, which must all be melted down.

Barclay: 2Pe 3:10

It inevitably happens that a man has to speak and think in the terms which he knows. That is what Peter is doing here. He is speaking of the New Testament doctrine of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, but he is describing it in terms of the Old Testament doctrine of the Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord is a conception which runs all through the prophetic books of the Old Testament. The Jews saw time in terms of two ages--this present age, which is wholly bad and past remedy; and the age to come, which is the golden age of God. How was the one to turn into the other? The change could not come about by human effort or by a process of development, for the world was on the way to destruction. As the Jews saw it, there was only one way in which the change could happen; it must be by the direct intervention of God. The time of that intervention they called the Day of the Lord. It was to come without warning. It was to be a time when the universe was shaken to its foundations. It was to be a time when the judgment and obliteration of sinners would come to pass and, therefore, it would be a time of terror. "Behold the Day of the Lord comes, cruel with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it" (Isa 13:9). "The Day of the Lord is coming, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom, a day of clouds and of thick darkness" (Joe 2:1-2). "A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (Zep 1:14-18). "The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes" (Joe 2:30-31). "The stars of the heaven and their constellations shall not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light.... Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger" (Isa 13:10-13).

What Peter and many of the New Testament writers did was to identify the Old Testament pictures of the Day of the Lord with the New Testament conception of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Peter's picture here of the Second Coming of Jesus is drawn in terms of the Old Testament picture of the Day of the Lord.

He uses one very vivid phrase. He says that the heavens will pass away with a crackling roar (roizedon, 4500). That word is used for the whirring of a bird's wings in the air, for the sound a spear makes as it hurtles through the air, for the crackling of the flames of a forest fire.

We need not take these pictures with crude literalism. It is enough to note that Peter sees the Second Coming as a time of terror for those who are the enemies of Christ.

One thing has to be held in the memory. The whole conception of the Second Coming is full of difficulty. But this is sure--there comes a day when God breaks into every life, for there comes a day when we must die; and for that day we must be prepared. We may say what we will about the Coming of Christ as a future event; we may feel it is a doctrine we have to lay on one side; but we cannot escape from the certainty of the entry of God into our own experience.

Constable: 2Pe 3:1-16

V. THE PROSPECT FOR THE CHRISTIAN 3:1-16

Peter turned from a negative warning against false teachers to make a positive declaration of the apostles' message to help his readers understand why he wrote this letter. His language had been strong and confrontive, but now he spoke with love and encouragement in gentle and endearing terms.

"While in chapter 2 the writer delivered a fervid denunciation of the false teachers and their immorality, in this section he renews his pastoral concern to fortify his readers in regard to another aspect of the danger facing them, namely, the heretical denial of Christ's return."¹²⁹

"In the third chapter Peter refutes the mockers' denial of Christ's return (vv. 1-7), presents the correct view concerning Christ's return (vv. 8-13), and concludes with timely exhortations to his readers in view of the dark and dangerous days facing them (vv. 14-18)."¹³⁰

Constable: 2Pe 3:7-10

C. End-time Events 3:7-10

Next Peter outlined what will surely happen so his readers would understand what will take place.

3:7 God has given orders that the present heavens and earth (vv. 5-6) will experience another judgment yet future. Then God will with His word destroy them by fire rather than by water (cf. vv. 10, 12). This will evidently take place after the great white throne judgment and before the creation of the new heavens and new earth (cf. Rev. 20:11-15; 21:1).¹⁴⁰ The world is presently "reserved" for fire in the sense that this is its inevitable destiny (cf. Deut. 32:22; Isa. 34:4 LXX; 66:15-16; Zeph. 1:18; Mal. 3:19).

3:8 Again Peter reminded his readers to remember what they had learned previously (v. 1) and not to forget, as the scoffers did (v. 5). As far as God's faithfulness to His promises, it does not matter if He gave His promise yesterday or a thousand years ago. He will still remain faithful and will fulfill every promise (cf. Ps. 90:4). The passage of a thousand years should not lead us to conclude that God will not fulfill what He has promised. The passing of time does not cause God to forget His promises.¹⁴¹

This verse does not mean that God operates in a timeless state. Time is simply the way He and we measure the relationship of events to one another. The idea of a timeless existence is Platonic, not biblical. God's relationship to time is different from ours since He is eternal, but this does not mean that eternity will be timeless. Eternity is endless time.

"Peter did not say that to God one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years are one day.' The point is not that time has no meaning for God but rather that His use of time is such that we cannot confine Him to our time schedules. His use of time is extensive, so that He may use a thousand years to do what we might feel should be done in a day, as well as intensive, doing in a day what we might feel could only be done in a thousand years."¹⁴²

This statement does not negate the hope of the imminent return of the Lord either. Peter, as the other New Testament writers, spoke as though his readers would be alive at His return (1:19; 3:14). This was an indisputable hope of the early Christians.¹⁴³

3:9 The fact that the fulfillment of God's promise to judge (v. 7) lingers does not mean that God has forgotten His promise, was lying, or cannot fulfill it. It means that He is waiting to fulfill it so that people will have time to repent. Unbelievers left on the earth will be able to repent after the Rapture, but it is better for them if they do so before that event.

If God wants everyone to be saved, will not all be saved?¹⁴⁴ The answer is no because this desire of God's is not as strong as some other of His desires. For example, we know God desires that everyone have enough freedom to believe or disbelieve the gospel more strongly than He desires that everyone be saved. Otherwise everyone would end up believing. However that will not happen (Matt. 25:46). Somehow it will result in God's greater glory for some to perish than for all to experience salvation. Nevertheless, God sincerely "desires" (Gr. boulomenos in contrast to the stronger thelontes, "determines") that every person come to salvation.¹⁴⁵

"No dispensationalist minimizes the importance of God's saving purpose in the world. But whether it is God's total purpose or even His principal purpose is open to question. The dispensationalist sees a broader purpose in God's program for the world than salvation, and that purpose is His own glory [Eph. 1:6, 12, 14]. For the dispensationalist the glory of God is the governing principle and overall purpose, and the soteriological program is one of the principal means employed in bringing to pass the greatest demonstration of His own glory. Salvation is part and parcel of God's program, but it cannot be equated with the entire purpose itself."¹⁴⁶

"Soteriology . . . is obviously a major theme of biblical theology, though it clearly is not the central motif. This is evident in that salvation implies deliverance from something to something and is thus a functional rather than a teleological concept. In other words, salvation leads to a purpose that has been frustrated or interrupted and is not a purpose in itself."¹⁴⁷

"The final cause of all God's purposes is his own glory. . . . (Rev. iv. 11) . . . (Num. xiv. 21) . . . (Is.xlviii. 11) . . . (Ezek. xx. 9) . . . (1 Cor. i. 26-31; Eph. ii. 8-10)."¹⁴⁸

"The final end of both election and reprobation is the Divine glory, in the manifestation of certain attributes. . . . Neither salvation nor damnation are ultimate ends, but means to an ultimate end: namely, the manifested glory of the triune God. . . . 2 Cor. 3:7, 9."¹⁴⁹

3:10 The phrase "day of the Lord" refers to a specific time yet future, as elsewhere in Scripture. This "day" will begin when Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel, and it will conclude with the burning up of the present heavens and earth (Dan. 9:27; 1 Pet. 3:12; et al.).¹⁵⁰ "Its works" probably refers to all that has been done on earth that has only temporal value (e.g., buildings, etc.). This day will come as a thief in that its beginning will take those unbelievers living on the earth then (after the Rapture) by surprise (Matt. 24:37-39, 43-44; Luke 12:39-40; 1 Thess. 5:2; Rev. 3:3; 16:15). The term "heavens" probably refers to the earth's atmosphere and the "second heaven" in which the stars and the planets hang, not God's abode (the "third heaven"). The "elements" (Gr. stoicheia) apparently refer to the material building blocks of physical things (i.e., the atoms, molecules, and larger masses that are foundational to larger things).¹⁵¹

When in the "day of the Lord" will this conflagration take place? Some believe it will happen at the beginning of the millennial kingdom.¹⁵² It seems more likely however that this holocaust will take place at the end of the Millennium and will result in the destruction of the universe as we know it (Rev. 21:1; cf. Matt. 5:18; 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; 21:33).¹⁵³

"Peter clearly opposes those Christians who insisted that Christ had to return within a certain short period of time after his resurrection. But he by no means opposes the idea of imminence itself."¹⁵⁴

College: 2Pe 3:1-18

2 PETER 3

C. THE NECESSITY OF BELIEVING IN CHRIST'S RETURN (3:1-13)

1. The False Teaching (3:1-7)

¹ Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

³ First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, ''Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

As Peter begins to close his letter, he returns to his earlier emphasis on strengthening the faith of his readers. He reminds them of the many reasons for believing that Jesus is indeed coming back in judgment. It is here that he most clearly reveals the arguments of the false teachers. They teach that Christ will not return, because he has not yet returned as expected, and because the world has continued without change since the creation. Peter reminds the readers that God created the world by his word, then destroyed the world by his word, and that he certainly can and will destroy it again by his word. Destruction awaits the ungodly.

3:1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.

Peter seems to know his readers well, as he calls them "loved ones" (ajgaphtoiv, agapçtoi). (The NIV's "friends" is not strong enough.) Since he calls this his "second" letter to these Christians, it is probable that the first was the letter we call 1 Peter. This is not certain, though, since 1 Peter could have been sent to a different group of Christians. Peter probably wrote many more letters than these two.

His purpose for both, "to stimulate you to wholesome thinking," is stated very generally. Since both letters deal with the ethical obligations of Christians, the description is an accurate one. The term translated "wholesome" refers to purity or a lack of contamination. Peter's fear at the time of this writing is, of course, that the false teachers will contaminate the thinking of his readers.

3:2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

Just as he did in 1:16-21, Peter reminds these believers that his words are based on the words of the prophets and the apostles, who passed on what Jesus taught them. He speaks of "your apostles," probably referring to the apostles who first taught these readers.

The content of the "words" and the "command" is somewhat difficult to determine. Peter may be discussing the demand for holy living preached by the prophets and by Jesus. The word "command" (ejntolhv, entolç) would seem to support this view. Yet he may be looking forward to the following verse, suggesting that the prophets and Jesus predicted that false teachers would come and lead people into apostasy. Or he may be writing about the future coming of Jesus in judgment, also taught by the prophets and by Jesus himself. This would be supported by the primary teaching of the whole letter, especially the similar section in 1:16-21. It is impossible to rule out any of these as possibilities, and it may be best to assume Peter has in mind all three. Jesus and the prophets spoke of the need for holy living to escape the final judgment at the final coming of God's Messiah. They also knew that some would deny these truths.

3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

The phrase, "first of all," indicates that these Christians must first understand that Jesus and the prophets knew of these "scoffers" long ago. In other words, Peter's readers should not be alarmed or swayed by these men - they knew they were coming. As discussed above, Peter may use the future tense here (scoffers will come) because the false teachers have only begun their destructive program, which will get worse. Or it may be that he is in essence quoting the words of Jesus and the prophets to which he has just alluded. Matthew 24:5 is a good example: "Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."

The words, "in the last days," have been taken in two different ways. Some think that this writer believes that the final days are just arriving at this time, the false teachers themselves being the proof. However, the most common understanding in the New Testament is that Jesus inaugurated the last days and that all Christians are therefore living in the last days. It does not refer to the last few days before the end but rather the last period of history in terms of God's dealings with humans.

Throughout the Bible, "scoffers" are those who ridicule the teachings of God. They tend to discount the spiritual world, making their judgments based on worldly wisdom. In this case they are ridiculing the idea of the Second Coming. Peter ties their scoffing to their sinful lifestyles - they scoff at God's ways and follow "their own evil desires."

3:4 They will say, ''Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

The form of the ridicule of the false teaching is a fairly common one in the Old Testament. Peter's use of this form puts these men in the same category as those who asked Jeremiah, for example, "Where is the word of the Lord? Let it now be fulfilled!" The question, "Where is this 'coming'?" is asked with sarcasm, and it means, "He did not return as he said he would, did he?"

The last part of the verse, the reasoning behind the scoffing, is subject to two major interpretations. The first is that there will be no complete destruction of the world because such a thing never has happened - not since the beginning of the world. (This interpretation will be discussed below.) The second and most common interpretation among modern commentators is that the scoffers contended that Jesus promised to come back during the lifetime of his early disciples. They would have gotten this idea from such passages as Matthew 16:28: "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." It is just such an expectation that has led the false teachers to mention the death of "our fathers." According to this view the "fathers" here must be the fathers of the Christian faith, the earliest generation of disciples or even the apostles themselves.

This view is not without merit. It is at least understandable that believers would think that Jesus promised to return before the death of some who were present during his ministry. After the early disciples died, the mockery was inevitable. However, there are a few problems with this reading. First, it is not at all clear that Jesus promised to return during the lifetime of his disciples. The texts that may appear to teach this are certainly subject to other understandings. Not only have they been interpreted in other ways for 1,900 years; it is also quite doubtful that the Gospel writers so understood them as they penned these words toward the end of that first generation.

Second, the term "fathers" is nowhere else used to describe the early Christians. It is often used, however, to speak of the Old Testament "fathers of the faith," as in Romans 9:5; 11:28; 15:8; Acts 7:2,32. There the term refers to Abraham and his near descendants. The phrase, "since the beginning of creation," also leads the reader to assume the fathers are the ancient heroes of the faith because it is parallel to the phrase "since our fathers died."

Third, the writer (whether Peter or not) never really answers the charge that the early Christians have died before the return of Jesus. His answer is much better suited to the understanding of the scoffers' charges presented below. He answers that the Lord has reasons for waiting, not that the Lord never imposed a time limit or that he changed the limit. Surely the writer would have attempted to answer the question directly if he understood it that way.

The better view seems to be that which understands the term "our fathers" to refer to the Old Testament patriarchs, its more normal connotation. The scoffers' reasoning is, then, "It has been several decades now and Jesus still has not returned, as he promised. In fact, the world continues upon its course just the way it has since the time of Abraham. Only dreamers would think that it is about to change."

Unfortunately, we cannot know precisely what has led these false teachers to such a position. They apparently see themselves as Christians, so they must have respect for Jesus. It is, in fact, odd that they seem to deny the coming he promised. Perhaps it means "the coming that some say he promised." What has led them to deny the Second Coming? First, there is little doubt that their sinful lifestyles have influenced their thinking. It is a fact that behavior influences thinking as often as thinking influences behavior. Humans have an amazing ability to rationalize their behavior. But how did the false teachers support their denial of the Second Coming on an intellectual level? This verse may give the clearest hint, since Peter quotes them as contending that, "everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." Their statement seems to imply a philosophy of history. Perhaps these teachers blended Christianity with Greco-Roman philosophical thought. The Epicureans believed that the gods existed but that there was nothing to fear from them. The gods could do nothing to hurt people. More likely, though, the false teachers were simply typical Greek thinkers who believed time moves in a continuous cycle and not toward an end. "Everything goes on as it has." The concept of an end to the world may not have made any sense to these people. It has been that way "since the beginning of creation," and it will always be that way.

Excursus: The Imminent Coming of Jesus

It must be admitted that the early Christians seem to have expected Jesus to return within a generation or so. This is the reason for the crisis at Thessalonica that Paul responds to in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Some in that church became concerned when loved ones began to die and Jesus had not returned. This suggests that they expected him back by that time. It does not prove that he had promised to come back by that time. Paul's response is, of course, that the dead will be raised when Jesus returns, so that their loved ones would not miss out on Jesus' return.

A number of other New Testament texts also seem to assume that Jesus would be back "soon." In 1 Corinthians 7:29,31, Paul writes that, "The time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; . . . For this world in its present form is passing away." James writes, "Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near" (Jas 5:8).

There are several answers to this "problem." First, it must be remembered that Jesus said that, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come" (Mark 13:32). If the early church expected Jesus back during the first generation, it was their opinion and not inspired prophecy. Second, it may be that the New Testament writers were trying to convey the idea of imminence. That is, everything is ready for the Second Coming, so that it could arrive at any moment. In that sense it is "near." Third, the present passage in 2 Peter offers the most satisfying answer in the New Testament. If it seems that God is slow, it is not slowness but patience. And besides, human beings are incapable of understanding God's timetable. "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" (2 Pet 3:8).

3:5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 3:6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.

Peter accuses these men of having a selective memory. They "deliberately forget" that the world was created by "God's word," and that it was also by his word that it was destroyed. The point is that God can (and will) do it again. In other words, their assumption that the world will simply continue without change ignores two important facts: God created the world, and God once destroyed the world. That destruction by water serves as an example, a reminder and an assurance that God will again destroy the ungodly.

The statement that heaven and earth were formed "out of water and by water" is somewhat perplexing. Probably its meaning is that God formed the heavens and the earth out of "the deep" (Gen 1:2) and that he made them by water when he separated and gathered the waters. Separating the waters above from the waters below formed the sky (heavens), and gathering together the waters below created dry ground (Gen 1:6-10).

Even if the precise meaning of the discussion of "water" here is difficult, the reason for it is clear enough. God once destroyed the world with water, but he will destroy it with fire the next time. And it too will be by the power of his word. A better translation for the NIV's "by these waters" would be simply "by these," referring to the waters and the word of God. Perhaps the false teachers doubted God's ability to bring about catastrophic change in the world. Peter assures his readers that God need only speak the word.

3:7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

The all-powerful word of God has already decreed that "the present heavens and earth" will be destroyed by fire. Since God has spoken, it will occur. The only unknown factor is the time. The teaching that the world will be destroyed by fire is taught only here in the New Testament. Peter is very likely referring here to the words of the prophets, such as those of Malachi: "'Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,' says the LORD Almighty" (4:1). This passage from Malachi and others like it from the Old Testament do not envision a fiery destruction for the whole creation but rather only for ungodly people. In fact, only in 2 Peter is it taught that "the heavens and earth" will be consumed by fire. This undoubtedly looks forward to the "new heaven and new earth" of verse 13, where we will discuss it further.

The coming fiery day is "the day of judgment," when all will be judged. It will therefore also be the day of "destruction of ungodly men," such as the false teachers.

2. The Sure Return of Christ (3:8-10)

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

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 in it will be laid bare. ^a

a 10 Some manuscripts be burned up

In this section Peter answers the false teachers' fundamental doctrinal error. There were very good reasons that Christ had not yet returned. But make no mistake - he will return, and the world as presently known will be no more.

3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

In response to the scoffers' teaching that Jesus had not returned when expected, Peter offers his first response. He addresses his readers again as "loved ones" (agapçtoi, not simply "friends") and encourages them not to "forget," as the false teachers "deliberately forget" (verse 5). He uses the language of Psalm 90:4, as he argues that the Lord does not view time as humans view time.

The fundamental thought here is that people, given their limited perspective, cannot possibly understand God's time-table. What seems an eternity to humans is only a brief moment to an eternal God. Several decades seemed to the early Christians a very long time to wait for the return of Jesus. In fact, Peter implies, this may be a very short time from God's perspective.

It is unusual that Peter writes not only that "a thousand years are like a day" (as in Psalm 90:4) but also that "a day is like a thousand years." The reversed statement (which is the first) is probably just for rhetorical effect. However, it is possible that Peter means that God delays too long in the eyes of some, and that God acts too quickly in the eyes of others.

3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Peter now explains why it is that the Lord has not yet returned. While from a human perspective he seems "slow in keeping his promise," the apparent delay has nothing to do with being slow. The "some" who accuse God of "slowness" are undoubtedly the scoffing teachers.

Far from showing a lack of concern for people, the Lord is actually showing mercy. The theme is a common one in the Old Testament, as time and again God waits to execute his judgment in order to give people a chance to repent. Joel 2:13 provides an excellent example: "Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity." Peter does not deny that from a human point of view the return of Jesus seems delayed; but that apparent delay is actually patience, allowing for repentance.

The statement that God does not want "anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance," has always created problems for certain theologians. Those who believe that God has chosen some to be saved (and not others) have trouble explaining why God wants all to be saved but has chosen only some. A standard response is to ask who is actually included by the words "anyone" and "everyone." Since Peter writes that God is patient "with you ," suggesting that some of his readers were in need of repentance, it is argued that Peter means "any of you" and "all of you." That is, God wants all those he has chosen to repent and therefore shows patience in sending Jesus. However, it must be noted that some are apparently in real danger of being caught unrepentant when Christ comes "as a thief in the night." And it is far from clear that "anyone" and "everyone" refer to God's chosen ones. For what sense does it make to say that God wants his saved ones to repent so they can be saved? Surely it is more reasonable to think that God wants everyone to repent and be saved.

As explained above, Peter does use the language of "election" in order to reassure his readers (see comments on 1:3). However, this letter as a whole tends to resonate better with a free-will doctrine rather than that of predestination.

3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.

If Peter has hinted that God has delayed his promised activity (and that is debatable), he wants to ensure that all know that the delay will not last. The verb "will come" begins the sentence in Greek. Christ will return, and he will do so at an unexpected time.

The term "day of the Lord" is an Old Testament phrase, commonly used by the prophets to speak of the coming judgment against sinful people and salvation for the people of God. In the New Testament it is used, as here, to warn of the return of Christ (1 Thess 5:4; Rom 2:5). The fact that it "will come like a thief" is based on Jesus' use of this metaphor (see Matt 24:43; Luke 12:39). The idea is, of course, that the thief breaks into the house when he is unexpected. Here it has great importance because it is the answer to the question of the scoffers (v. 4). The passage of time has led them not to expect the Second Coming. They will be surprised by the one who will come like a thief.

The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Returning to the earlier teaching that all will be destroyed by fire, Peter envisions the "roar" of the flames that will consume "the heavens." Jesus spoke of the future passing away of the heavens and the earth (Matt 5:18; 24:35), and Peter most likely gets this teaching from him. He also clearly alludes to Isaiah 34:4: "All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine . . . ." Here "the heavens" probably refer to the physical heavens, most likely the sky, rather than the abode of God. "The elements" (stoicei'a, stoicheia ) are best understood to refer to the heavenly bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars. The fact that they will "melt" (v. 12) seems to support this understanding. It also seems to recall Isaiah 34:4 with its dissolved stars.

After describing both areas above the earth (sky and space), Peter speaks of what will happen to the earth itself. Oddly, he writes that "the earth and everything in it will be laid bare ." Assuming that the image of a fiery destruction is still in Peter's mind, it is probable that he is writing about refinement, or purification by fire (see 1 Pet 1:7). The fire will determine what is pure and what is not. (Paul uses similar imagery in 1 Corinthians 3:13.)

3. Christian Living in Light of Christ's Return (3:11-13)

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. ^a 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, the home of righteousness.

^a 12 Or as you will wait eagerly for the day of God to come

After reminding them of the coming destruction of the ungodly, Peter now calls on his readers to live in light of the future. His message is not only about fear of punishment but is also about the joy of the new heaven and new earth.

3:11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives

The use of rhetorical questions has always been popular with those who call on others to do what is right. Peter not only asks the obvious question - he answers it. The thinking is the same as that of the prophets, Paul and most other New Testament writers, and Jesus (see especially the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13). Since the world will be destroyed and the faithfulness of everyone will be clearly shown, Christians must live "holy" and "godly" lives. Both of these terms are plural in Greek, signifying the many holy behaviors and godly acts to which believers are called.

3:12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

A focus on the eternal future that begins with the return of Jesus provides motivation for Christian living. What is most encouraging about this verse is that it moves beyond simply using fear of judgment as motivation. Peter calls on all his readers to anticipate eagerly the "day of God" and even to hasten its coming. The "day of God" is obviously the day of judgment, the Second Coming of Christ, the end of the present world. But what does it mean to "speed its coming?" The word for "speed" could be simply a synonym for "look forward to," but it probably means more here. Peter has just written about God's patient waiting which is motivated by his desire to give people the time to repent. It is likely therefore that holy living is understood here to hasten the coming of Jesus. Luke records Peter speaking in a similar way in Acts 3:19-20: "Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ . . . ."

That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

Rehearsing what he has just written in verse 10, Peter writes that the day of God will be horrible and wonderful. It is unclear whether the phrase, "the heavens," refers to the sky or outer space or both. The "elements" are surely the stars, and they will "melt in the heat" (as in verse 10, see Isaiah 34:4).

3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

God's promise is not only that this world and its wickedness will be destroyed. It is also that the new world will be "the home of righteousness." While lazy and discouraged Christians may need to be reminded of the coming punishment of the sinful, the greater motivation for Christians is God's promise of life with him. Peter borrows from Isaiah in order to express this future period. In Isaiah 65:17, God says, "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth." The picture is one in which sin has been conquered, and God's will is being done.

When many Christians think about eternal life, the thought is only of "heaven." Here Peter envisions not only a new heaven but also a new earth, presumably the dwelling place of God's people. Even though the picture of eternal life with God is necessarily fuzzy, it should be remembered that Christians look forward to the resurrection of the body and the redemption and renewal of the creation, which has been subjected to frustration (Rom 8:20).

III. FINAL EXHORTATIONS (3:14-18)

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Although it is arguable that the conclusion to the letter does not begin until verse 17, the repetitive nature of these verses may suggest that Peter is now summing up his practical advice. He also returns to the wording of the beginning of the letter, when he writes about the "knowledge of our Lord" (see 1:3) and their need to "make every effort" (see 1:5). Finally, he seems to mark the conclusion by the use of "so then, dear friends" in verse 14. The use of the similar "therefore, dear friends" in verse 17 serves to return to concluding remarks after the parenthetical statements about Paul.

3:14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

After his third reference to these Christians as "loved ones" (NIV "dear friends"), Peter calls to their mind what he has just told them about the new heavens and earth. He reminds them that they will only enjoy this wonderful existence if they "make every effort," echoing his words in 1:5. There he called them to goodness, knowledge, self-control, and the like. Here he calls them to "be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him." It is, of course, by the exercise of the former virtues that they will at the judgment be found innocent. There is apparently a legal metaphor at work here, that of a trial before a judge. There is also the background of the sacrificial system, in which only the animals "without spot or blemish" are accepted. (The careful reader remembers that the false teachers are "blots and blemishes," according to 2:13.) The terms "spotless" and "blameless" refer to being without sin. The desire to be "at peace" most likely refers to the relationship with God that comes from having sins forgiven in Christ and living in light of that forgiveness.

3:15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

Peter repeats again the important teaching that the so-called delay of the return of Jesus is due to God's patient desire for people to repent and therefore receive "salvation." Peter then alludes to the teaching of Paul, perhaps to remind these Christians that the false teachers stand not only against Peter but also against the apostle Paul. This probably implies that Paul was well known and respected among the Christians who received this letter. He was also loved by Peter and by others (perhaps these readers or other apostles), as indicated in the description "our dear ["loved," ajgaphtov", agapçtos] brother Paul." Peter may mean that Paul wrote specifically to these people ("Paul also wrote you"), in which case they would naturally think of Paul as dear or beloved.

Peter acknowledges the already common belief that Paul's "wisdom" came from God. This acceptance of Paul by Peter is one of the so-called proofs that Peter could not have written this letter. It is argued that Paul and Peter were on opposite sides in the early church, Peter representing a very Jewish approach and Paul a very non-Jewish approach. There certainly were some early troubles between these two over some matters (see Gal 2:11-14). However, there is every indication that these were quickly worked out and that Peter and Paul were of the same mind in all important areas. Not only does the book of Acts show Peter and Paul together at the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). They also were both helped by Silas (1 Pet 5:12; 1 Thess 1:1, etc.) and Mark (1 Pet 5:13; Col 4:10). The differences between Peter and Paul have been greatly overstated.

3:16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.

Peter acknowledges what all readers of Paul's letters know. In virtually every letter Paul calls his readers to a holy life, basing his exhortation on the coming of Christ. A typical example is Romans 13:11-13: "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently . . . ."

His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Having mentioned the letters of Paul, Peter now feels the need to deal with the fact that some are misusing Paul. That parts of Paul's letters are "hard to understand" would probably be agreed upon as quickly in the early church as in its modern counterpart. Not only did he write about specific situations which only the originally addressed church would fully comprehend, Paul also wrote things that were subject to misinterpretation. It is quite possible that the false teachers Peter opposed claimed Paul for their position. It could be that they misunderstood Paul's teachings on justification by faith and Christian freedom, using them to justify libertine behavior. Paul himself had to counter this misuse of his teaching (Rom 6:1-2, Gal 5:13). In the second century, Gnostic heretics regularly cited Paul's writings.

Peter accuses those who "distort" Paul's writings of being "ignorant" and "unstable." The terms probably refer to the false teachers and may also refer to those who follow them. There is no hint here that these people are excused on the basis of their ignorance and instability since they are willfully so (see 3:5). This too will contribute to their coming "destruction."

It is especially interesting that Peter writes of the distortion of Paul's letters along with "the other Scriptures." The implication is that the letters of Paul were already regarded as Scripture at the time Peter wrote. While many have dated 2 Peter into the second century on this basis, there is no compelling reason to do so. It is quite reasonable to think that the letters of the apostles were regarded as Scripture almost immediately. Paul claims to be inspired and authoritative in his letters, which may have been read during the assembly (see Col 4:16).

3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

With the words, "Therefore, dear friends" (see 3:14), Peter returns to his concluding remarks after his aside about the letters of Paul. He has given them no new information in this letter but has rather "reminded them" (1:12; 3:1-2) of what they already knew from the prophets, apostles, and Jesus himself. They are to "be on guard," because the false teachers sound impressive (2:18-19) and because many will follow them (2:2). These men are "lawless," since their lack of moral constraint has led them into lust and greed (2:13-15).

Christians can be confident in their relationship with God ("secure position") by putting their complete confidence in Jesus and living in light of God's holiness. However, it is possible to "fall" from that high position by failing to strive for holiness. It is especially dangerous to be surrounded by people who are encouraging sinful living. Therefore Peter ends this letter as he began it, with an exhortation for spiritual growth (1:5-8; 3:18).

3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

The antidote to being "carried away" is to "grow in the grace and knowledge" of Christ. Peter described this process early in this letter by encouraging his readers to add to their faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (1:5-7). These are all gifts that can only come from the grace of God. However, only those who seek these gifts will receive them. The exhortation to "grow" means to "make every effort" (1:5).

One Christian virtue, knowledge, is singled out by Peter for special mention. Peter has already written several times of the importance of knowledge (1:2,3,8; 2:20). This is because the false teachers' fundamental error is a lack of knowledge. Their wrong thinking about the return of Christ has had disastrous consequences for their lives. Bad thinking leads to bad living. Correct thinking encourages right living.

Peter ends the letter with a doxology to Christ. Although many Jewish and Christian writings ended with doxologies, it is somewhat unusual to end a letter in this way (but see Philippians 4:20 and Romans 16:25-27). It is even more unusual to find a doxology to Jesus Christ rather than to God the Father (but see 2 Timothy 4:18 and Revelation 1:4-6). However, given Peter's very high view of Jesus (see comments on 1:1), it is not surprising.

"To him be glory" is a prayer that Jesus will be praised. The NIV translation "both now and forever" obscures the reference to "the day of the ages" in the original. Given the content of 2 Peter, the reference may be to the day that will begin with the Second Coming of Jesus.

Peter's final words provide a fitting prayer with which to end these comments on his letter: "Lord, may we continually grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER

ABOUT a.d. 66 OR 67

By Way of Introduction

Most Doubtful New Testament Book

Every book in the New Testament is challenged by some one, as indeed the historicity of Jesus Christ himself is and the very existence of God. But it is true that more modern scholars deny the genuineness of 2 Peter than that of any single book in the canon. This is done by men like F. H. Chase, J. B. Mayor, and R. D. Strachan, who are followers of Christ as Lord and Saviour. One has to admit that the case concerning 2 Peter has problems of peculiar difficulty that call for careful consideration and balanced judgment. One other word needs to be said, which is that an adverse decision against the authenticity of 2 Peter stands by itself and does not affect the genuineness of the other books. It is easy to take an extreme position for or against it without full knowledge of all the evidence.

Slow in General Acceptance

It was accepted in the canon by the council at Laodicea (372) and at Carthage (397). Jerome accepted it for the Vulgate, though it was absent from the Peshito Syriac Version. Eusebius placed it among the disputed books, while Origen was inclined to accept it. Clement of Alexandria accepted it and apparently wrote a commentary on it. It is probable that the so-called Apocalypse of Peter (early second century) used it and the Epistle of Jude either used it or 2 Peter used Jude. There are undoubted allusions also to phrases in 2 Peter in Aristides, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Ignatius, Clement of Rome. When one considers the brevity of the Epistle, the use of it is really as strong as one can expect. Athanasius and Augustine accepted it as genuine, as did Luther, while Calvin doubted and Erasmus rejected it. It may be said for it that it won its way under criticism and was not accepted blindly.

Claims Petrine Authorship

Not only so, but in fuller form than 1Pe_1:1, for the writer terms himself " Simon (Symeon in some MSS.) Peter," a fact that has been used against the genuineness. If no claim had been made, that would have been considered decisive against him. Simon (Symeon was the Jewish form as used by James in Act_15:14) is the real name (Joh_1:42) and Peter merely the Greek for Cephas, the nickname given by Christ. There is no reason why both could not properly be employed here. But the claim to Petrine authorship, if not genuine, leaves the Epistle pseudonymous. That was a custom among some Jewish writers and even Christian writers, as the spurious Petrine literature testifies (Gospel of Peter, Apocalypse of Peter, etc.), works of a heretical or curious nature. Whatever the motive for such a pious fraud, the fact remains that 2 Peter, if not genuine, has to take its place with this pseudonymous literature and can hardly be deemed worthy of a place in the New Testament. And yet there is no heresy in this Epistle, no startling new ideas that would lead one to use the name of Simon Peter. It is the rather full of edifying and orthodox teaching.

And Personal Experiences of Peter

The writer makes use of his own contact with Jesus, especially at the Transfiguration of Christ (Mar_9:2-8; Mat_17:1-8; Luk_9:28-36). This fact has been used against the genuineness of the Epistle on the plea that the writer is too anxious, anyhow, to show that he is Symeon Peter (2Pe_1:1). But Bigg rightly replies that, if he had only given his name with no personal contacts with Jesus, the name would be called " a forged addition." It is possible also that the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration may have been suggested by Peter’s use of exodos for his own death (2Pe_1:15), the very word used by Luke (Luk_9:31) as the topic of discussion between Jesus and Moses and Elijah. There is also in 2Pe_1:13 the use of " tent" ( skēnoma ) for the life in the body, like Peter’s use of " tents" ( skēnas ) to Jesus at that very time (Mar_9:5; Mat_17:4; Luk_9:33). In 2Pe_1:14 Peter also refers to the plain words of Jesus about his coming death (Joh_21:18.). In 2Pe_1:15 Peter speaks of his own plan for preserving the knowledge of Jesus when he is gone (possibly by Mark’s Gospel). All this is in perfect keeping with Peter’s own nature.

And yet the Epistle Differs in Style from First Peter

This is a fact, though one greatly exaggerated by some scholars. There are many points of similarity, for one thing, like the habit of repeating words ( epichorēgeō in 2Pe_1:10, 2Pe_1:19, bebaios in 2Pe_1:12, 2Pe_1:13, 2Pe_1:15, prophēteia in 2Pe_1:20; 2Pe_3:3, etc.). These repetitions occur all through the Epistle as in 1 Peter. " This is a matter of very high importance" (Bigg). Again in both Epistles there is a certain dignity of style with a tendency to iambic rhythm. There is more quotation of the Old Testament in 1 Peter, but frequent allusion to words and phrases in 2 Peter. There are more allusions to words and facts in the Gospels in 1 Peter than in 2 Peter, though some do occur in 2 Peter. Besides those already given, note 2Pe_1:8 (Luk_13:7.), 2Pe_2:1 (Mat_10:33), 2Pe_2:20 (Mat_12:45; Luk_11:26), 2Pe_3:4 (Mat_24:1.), and possibly 2Pe_1:3 to Christ’s calling the apostles. Both appear to know and use the O.T. Apocrypha. Both are fond of the plural of abstract substantives. Both make sparing use of Greek particles. Both use the article similarly, idiomatically, and sometimes not using it. There are some 361 words in 1 Peter not in 2 Peter, 231 in 2 Peter not in 1 Peter. There are 686 hapax legomena in N.T., 54 in 2 Peter instead of the average of 62, a large number when the brevity of the Epistle is considered. There are several ways of explaining these variations. One way is to say that they are written by different men, but difference of subject has to be borne in mind. All writers and artists have an early and a later manner. Another solution is that Peter employed different amanuenses. Silvanus was the one for 1 Peter (1Pe_5:12). Mark was Peter’s usual interpreter, but we do not know who was the amanuensis for 2 Peter, if indeed one was used. We know from Act_4:13 that Peter and John were considered unlettered men ( agrammatoi kai idiōtai ). 2 Peter and the Apocalypse illustrate this statement. 2 Peter may have more of Peter’s real style than 1 Peter.

He Accepts Paul’s Epistles as Scripture

This fact (2Pe_3:15.) has been used as conclusive proof by Baur and his school that Peter could not have written the Epistle after the stern rebuke from Paul at Antioch (Gal_2:11.). But this argument ignores one element in Peter’s impulsive nature and that is his coming back as he did with Jesus. Paul after that event in Antioch spoke kindly of Peter (1Co_9:5). Neither Peter nor Paul cherished a personal grudge where the Master’s work was involved. It is also objected that Peter would not have put Paul’s Epistles on the level with the O.T. and call them by implication " Scripture." But Paul claimed the help of the Holy Spirit in his writings and Peter knew the marks of the Holy Spirit’s power. Besides, in calling Paul’s Epistles Scripture he may not have meant to place them exactly on a par with the Old Testament.

The Resemblance to the Epistle of Jude

This is undoubted, particularly between Jude and the second chapter of 2 Peter. Kuhl argues that 2 Peter 2:1-3:2 is an interpolation, though the same style runs through out the Epistle. " The theory of interpolation is always a last and desperate expedient" (Bigg). In 2 Peter 2 we have the fallen angels, the flood, the cities of the plain with Lot, Balaam. In Jude we have Israel in the wilderness, the fallen angels, the cities of the plain (with no mention of Lot, Cain, Balaam, Korah). Jude mentions the dispute between Michael and Satan, quotes Enoch by name. There is rather more freshness in Jude than in 2 Peter, though 2 Peter is more intelligible. Evidently one had the other before him, besides other material. Which is the earlier? There is no way to decide this point clearly. Every point is looked at differently and argued differently by different writers. My own feeling is that Jude was before (just before) 2 Peter, though it is only a feeling and not a conviction.

Anachronisms

It used to be said that it was impossible for 2 Peter to have been written in the first century, because it had the atmosphere of the second. But one fact is strongly against that argument. In 2Pe_3:8 occurs the quotation of Psa_90:4 about the thousand years without any chiliastic turn at all, a thing sure to happen in the second century after chiliasm had come to have such a swing. Peter’s use of it suits the first century, not the second. As a matter of fact, the false teachers described in 2 Peter suit the first century precisely if one recalls Paul’s troubles with the Judaizers in Galatia and Corinth and with the Gnostics in Colossae and Ephesus. " Every feature in the description of the false teachers and mockers is to be found in the apostolic age" (Bigg).

The Readers

The author says that this is his second Epistle to them (2Pe_3:1), and that means that he is writing to the saints in the five Roman provinces in Asia Minor to whom the first Epistle was sent (1Pe_1:1). Spitta and Zahn deny this on the ground that the two Epistles do not discuss the same subjects, surely a flimsy objection. Zahn even holds that 2 Peter precedes 1 Peter and that the Epistle referred to in 2Pe_3:1 has been lost. He holds that 2 Peter was addressed to the church in Corinth. He considers the readers to be Jews while 1 Peter was addressed to Gentiles. But " there is nothing in 2 Peter to differentiate its first readers from those of 1 Peter" (Bigg).

The Purpose

Certainly Peter is here concerned chiefly with the heresies of that general region in Asia Minor that so disturbed Paul (Colossians, Ephesians, Pastoral Epistles) and John (Gospel, Epistles, Apocalypse). Paul early foresaw at Miletus these wolves that would ravish the sheep (Act_20:29.). In 1 Peter he is concerned chiefly with the fiery persecutions that are upon them, but here with the heretics that threaten to lead them astray.

Balance of Probability

There are difficulties in any decision about the authorship and character of 2 Peter. But, when all things are considered, I agree with Bigg that the Epistle is what it professes to be by Simon Peter. Else it is pseudonymous. The Epistle more closely resembles the other New Testament books than it does the large pseudepigraphic literature of the second and third centuries.

The Date

If we accept the Petrine authorship, it must come before his death, which was probably a.d. 67 or 68. Hence the Epistle cannot be beyond this date. There are those who argue for a.d. 64 as the date of Peter’s death, but on insufficient grounds in my opinion.

JFB: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

AUTHENTICITY AND GENUINENESS.--If not a gross imposture, its own internal witness is unequivocal in its favor. It has Peter's name and apostleship in its heading: not only his surname, but his original name Simon, or Simeon, he thus, at the close of his life, reminding his readers who he originally was before his call. Again, in 2Pe 1:16-18, he mentions his presence at the Transfiguration, and Christ's prophecy of his death! and in 2Pe 3:15, his brotherhood with Paul. Again, in 2Pe 3:1, the author speaks of himself as author of the former Epistle: it is, moreover, addressed so as to include (but not to be restricted to) the same persons as the first, whom he presupposes to be acquainted with the writings of Paul, by that time recognized as "Scripture" (2Pe 3:15, "the long-suffering of God," compare Rom 2:4). This necessarily implies a late date, when Paul's Epistles (including Romans) already had become generally diffused and accepted as Scripture in the Church. The Church of the fourth century had, besides the testimony which we have of the doubts of the earlier Christians, other external evidence which we have not, and which, doubtless, under God's overruling providence, caused them to accept it. It is hard to understand how a book palpably false (as it would be if Peter be not the author) could have been accepted in the Canon as finally established in the Councils of Laodicea, A.D. 360 (if the fifty-ninth article be genuine), Hippo, and Carthage in the fourth century (393 and 397). The whole tone and spirit of the Epistle disprove its being an imposture. He writes as one not speaking of himself, but moved by the Holy Ghost (2Pe 1:21). An attempt at such a fraud in the first ages would have brought only shame and suffering, alike from Christians and heathen, on the perpetrator: there was then no temptation to pious frauds as in later times. That it must have been written in the earliest age is plain from the wide gulf in style which separates it and the other New Testament Scriptures from even the earliest and best of the post-apostolic period. DAILLE well says, "God has allowed a fosse to be drawn by human weakness around the sacred canon to protect it from all invasion."

Traces of acquaintance with it appear in the earliest Fathers. HERMAS [Similitudes, 6.4] (compare 2Pe 2:13), Greek, "luxury in the day . . . luxuriating with their own deceivings"; and [Shepherd, Vision 3.7], "They have left their true way" (compare 2Pe 2:15); and [Shepherd, Vision 4.3], "Thou hast escaped this world" (compare 2Pe 2:20). CLEMENT OF ROME, [Epistle to the Corinthians, 7.9; 10], as to Noah's preaching and Lot's deliverance, "the Lord making it known that He does not abandon those that trust in Him, but appoints those otherwise inclined to judgment" (compare 2Pe 2:5-7, 2Pe 2:9). IRENÆUS, A.D. 178 ("the day of the Lord is as a thousand years"), and JUSTIN MARTYR seem to allude to 2Pe 3:8. HIPPOLYTUS [On Antichrist], seems to refer to 2Pe 1:21, "The prophets spake not of their own private (individual) ability and will, but what was (revealed) to them alone by God." The difficulty is, neither TERTULLIAN, CYPRIAN, CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, nor the oldest Syriac (Peschito) version (the later Syriac has it), nor the fragment known as Muratori's Canon, mentions it. The first writer who has expressly named it is ORIGEN, in the third century (Homily on Joshua; also Homily 4 on Leviticus, and Homily 13 on Numbers), who names it "Scripture," quoting 2Pe 1:4; 2Pe 2:16; however (in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 6.25]), he mentions that the Second Epistle was doubted by some. FIRMILIAN, bishop of Cappadocia, in Epistle to Cyrpian speaks of Peter's Epistles as warning us to avoid heretics (a monition which occurs in the Second, not the First Epistle). Now Cappadocia is one of the countries mentioned (compare 1Pe 1:1 with 2Pe 3:1) as addressed; and it is striking, that from Cappadocia we get the earliest decisive testimony. "Internally it claims to be written by Peter, and this claim is confirmed by the Christians of that very region in whose custody it ought to have been found" [TREGELLES].

The books disputed (Antilegomena), as distinguished from those universally recognized (Homologoumena), are Epistles Second Peter, James, Second and Third John, Jude, the Apocalypse, Epistle to Hebrews (compare EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.3,25]). The Antilegomena stand in quite a different class from the Spurious; of these there was no dispute, they were universally rejected; for example, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Revelation of Peter, the Epistle of Barnabas. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM (A.D. 348) enumerates seven Catholic Epistles, including Second Peter; so also GREGORY NAZIANZEN (A.D. 389), and EPIPHANIUS (A.D. 367). The oldest Greek manuscripts extant (of the fourth century) contain the Antilegomena. JEROME [On Illustrious Men], conjectured, from a supposed difference of style between the two Epistles, that Peter, being unable to write Greek, employed a different translator of his Hebrew dictation in the Second Epistle, and not the same as translated the First into Greek. Mark is said to have been his translator in the case of the Gospel according to Mark; but this is all gratuitous conjecture. Much of the same views pervade both Epistles. In both alike he looks for the Lord's coming suddenly, and the end of the world (compare 2Pe 3:8-10 with 1Pe 4:5); the inspiration of the prophets (compare 1Pe 1:10-12 with 2Pe 1:19-21; 2Pe 3:2); the new birth by the divine word a motive to abstinence from worldly lusts (1Pe 1:22; 1Pe 2:2; compare 2Pe 1:4); also compare 1Pe 2:9 with 2Pe 1:3, both containing in the Greek the rare word "virtue" (1Pe 4:17 with 2Pe 2:3).

It is not strange that distinctive peculiarities of STYLE should mark each Epistle, the design of both not being the same. Thus the sufferings of Christ are more prominent in the First Epistle, the object there being to encourage thereby Christian sufferers; the glory of the exalted Lord is more prominent in the Second, the object being to communicate fuller "knowledge" of Him as the antidote to the false teaching against which Peter warns his readers. Hence His title of redemption, "Christ," is the one employed in the First Epistle; but in the Second Epistle, "the Lord." Hope is characteristic of the First Epistle; full knowledge, of the Second Epistle. In the First Epistle he puts his apostolic authority less prominently forward than in the Second, wherein his design is to warn against false teachers. The same difference is observable in Paul's Epistles. Contrast 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1; Phi 1:1, with Gal 1:1; 1Co 1:1. The reference to Paul's writings as already existing in numbers, and as then a recognized part of Scripture (2Pe 3:15-16), implies that this Epistle was written at a late date, just before Peter's death.

Striking verbal coincidences occur: compare 1Pe 1:19, end, with 2Pe 3:14, end; "His own," Greek, 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 2:16; 2Pe 3:17 with 1Pe 3:1, 1Pe 3:5. The omission of the Greek article, 1Pe 2:13 with 2Pe 1:21; 2Pe 2:4-5, 2Pe 2:7. Moreover, two words occur, 2Pe 1:13, "tabernacle," that is, the body, and 2Pe 1:15, "decease," which at once remind us of the transfiguration narrative in the Gospel. Both Epistles refer to the deluge, and to Noah as the eighth that was saved. Though the First Epistle abounds in quotations of the Old Testament, whereas the Second contains none, yet references to the Old Testament occur often (2Pe 1:21; 2Pe 2:5-8, 2Pe 2:15; 2Pe 3:5-6, 2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:13). Compare Greek, "putting away," 1Pe 3:21, with 2Pe 1:14; Greek, "pass the time," 1Pe 1:17, with 2Pe 2:18; "walked in," 1Pe 4:3, with 2Pe 2:10; 2Pe 3:3; "called you," 1Pe 1:15; 1Pe 2:9; 1Pe 5:10, with 2Pe 1:3.

Moreover, more verbal coincidences with the speeches of Peter in Acts occur in this Second, than in the First Epistle. Compare Greek, "obtained," 2Pe 1:1 with Act 1:17; Greek, "godliness," 2Pe 1:6, with Act 3:12, the only passage where the term occurs, except in the Pastoral Epistles; and 2Pe 2:9 with Act 10:2, Act 10:7; "punished," 2Pe 2:9, with Act 4:21, the only places where the term occurs; the double genitive, 2Pe 3:2, with Act 5:32; "the day of the Lord," 2Pe 3:10, with Act 2:20, where only it occurs, except in 1Th 5:2.

The testimony of Jude, Jud 1:17-18, is strong for its genuineness and inspiration, by adopting its very words, and by referring to it as received by the churches to which he, Jude, wrote, "Remember the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." Jude, therefore, must have written after Second Peter, to which he plainly refers; not before, as ALFORD thinks. No less than eleven passages of Jude rest on similar statements of Second Peter. Jud 1:2, compare 2Pe 1:2; Jud 1:4, compare 2Pe 2:1; Jud 1:6, compare 2Pe 2:4; Jud 1:7, compare 2Pe 2:6; Jud 1:8, compare 2Pe 2:10; Jud 1:9, compare 2Pe 2:11; Jud 1:11, compare 2Pe 2:15; Jud 1:12, compare 2Pe 2:17; Jud 1:16, compare 2Pe 2:18; Jud 1:18, compare 2Pe 2:1; 2Pe 3:3. Just in the same way Micah, Mic 4:1-4, leans on the somewhat earlier prophecy of Isaiah, whose inspiration he thereby confirms. ALFORD reasons that because Jude, in many of the passages akin to Second Peter, is fuller than Second Peter, he must be prior. This by no means follows. It is at least as likely, if not more so, that the briefer is the earlier, rather than the fuller. The dignity and energy of the style is quite consonant to what we should expect from the prompt and ardent foreman of the apostles. The difference of style between First and Second Peter accords with the distinctness of the subjects and objects.

THE DATE, from what has been said, would be about A.D. 68 or 69, about a year after the first, and shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, the typical precursor of the world's end, to which 2Pe 3:10-13 so solemnly calls attention, after Paul's ministry had closed (compare Greek aorist tense, "wrote," past time, 2Pe 3:15), just before Peter's own death. It was written to include the same persons, and perhaps in, or about the same place, as the first. Being without salutations of individuals, and entrusted to the care of no one church, or particular churches as the first is, but directed generally "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us" (2Pe 1:1), it took a longer time in being recognized as canonical. Had Rome been the place of its composition or publication, it could hardly have failed to have had an early acceptance--an incidental argument against the tradition of Peter's martyrdom at Rome. The remote scene of its composition in Babylon, or else in some of the contiguous regions beyond the borders of the Roman empire, and of its circulation in Cappadocia, Pontus, &c., will additionally account for its tardy but at last universal acceptance in the catholic Church. The former Epistle, through its more definite address, was earlier in its general acceptance.

OBJECT.--In 2Pe 3:17-18 the twofold design of the Epistle is set forth; namely, to guard his readers against "the error" of false teachers, and to exhort them to grow in experimental "knowledge of our Lord and Saviour" (2Pe 3:18). The ground on which this knowledge rests is stated, 2Pe 1:12-21, namely, the inspired testimony of apostles and prophets. The danger now, as of old, was about to arise from false teachers, who soon were to come among them, as Paul also (to whom reference is made, 2Pe 3:15-16) testified in the same region. The grand antidote is "the full knowledge of our Lord and Saviour," through which we know God the Father, partake of His nature, escape from the pollutions of the world, and have entrance into Christ's kingdom. The aspect of Christ presented is not so much that of the past suffering, as of the future reigning, Saviour, His present power, and future new kingdom. This aspect is taken as best fitted to counteract the theories of the false teachers who should "deny" His Lordship and His coming again, the two very points which, as an apostle and eye-witness, Peter attests (His "power" and His "coming"); also, to counteract their evil example in practice, blaspheming the way of truth, despising governments, slaves to covetousness and filthy lusts of the flesh, while boasting of Christian freedom, and, worst of all, apostates from the truth. The knowledge of Christ, as being the knowledge of "the way of righteousness," "the right way," is the antidote of their bad practice. Hence "the preacher" of righteousness, Noah, and "righteous Lot," are instanced as escaping the destruction which overtook the "unjust" or "unrighteous"; and Balaam is instanced as exemplifying the awful result of "unrighteousness" such as characterized the false teachers. Thus the Epistle forms one connected whole, the parts being closely bound together by mutual relation, and the end corresponding with the beginning; compare 2Pe 3:14, 2Pe 3:18 with 2Pe 1:2, in both "grace" and "peace" being connected with "the knowledge" of our Saviour; compare also 2Pe 3:17 with 2Pe 1:4, 2Pe 1:10, 2Pe 1:12; and 2Pe 3:18, "grow in grace and knowledge," with the fuller 2Pe 1:5-8; and 2Pe 2:21; and 2Pe 3:13, "righteousness," with 2Pe 1:1; and 2Pe 3:1 with 2Pe 1:13; and 2Pe 3:2 with 2Pe 1:19.

The germs of Carpocratian and Gnostic heresies already existed, but the actual manifestation of these heresies is spoken of as future (2Pe 2:1-2, &c.): another proof that this Epistle was written, as it professes, in the apostolic age, before the development of the Gnostic heresies in the end of the first and the beginning of the second centuries. The description is too general to identify the heresies with any particular one of the subsequent forms of heresy, but applies generally to them all.

Though altogether distinct in aim from the First Epistle, yet a connection may be traced. The neglect of the warnings to circumspection in the walk led to the evils foretold in the Second Epistle. Compare the warning against the abuse of Christian freedom, 1Pe 2:16 with 2Pe 2:19, "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption"; also the caution against pride, 1Pe 5:5-6 with 2Pe 2:18, "they speak great swelling words of vanity."

JFB: 2 Peter (Outline)

• ADDRESS: EXHORTATION TO ALL GRACES, AS GOD HAS GIVEN US, IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST, ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO LIFE: CONFIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF APOSTLES, AND ALSO PROPHETS, TO THE POWER AND COMING OF CHRIST. (2Pe. 1:1-21)
• FALSE TEACHERS TO ARISE: THEM BAD PRACTICES AND SURE DESTRUCTION, FROM WHICH THE GODLY SHALL BE DELIVERED, AS LOT WAS. (2Pe. 2:1-22)
• SURENESS OF CHRIST'S COMING, AND ITS ACCOMPANIMENTS, DECLARED IN OPPOSITION TO SCOFFERS ABOUT TO ARISE. GOD'S LONG SUFFERING A MOTIVE TO REPENTANCE, AS PAUL'S EPISTLES SET FORTH; CONCLUDING EXHORTATION TO GROWTH IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST. (2Pe. 3:1-18)

TSK: 2 Peter 3 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Pe 3:1, He assures them of the certainty of Christ’s coming to judgment, against those scorners who dispute against it; 2Pe 3:8, warning the godly, for the long patience of God, to hasten their repentance; 2Pe 3:10, He describes also the manner how the world shall be destroyed; 2Pe 3:11, exhorting them, from the expectation thereof, to all holiness of life; 2Pe 3:16, and again to think the patience of God to tend to their salvation, as Paul wrote to them in his epistles.

Poole: 2 Peter 3 (Chapter Introduction)

PETER CHAPTER 3

MHCC: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

This epistle clearly is connected with the former epistle of Peter. The apostle having stated the blessings to which God has called Christians, exhorts those who had received these precious gifts, to endeavour to improve in graces and virtues. They are urged to this from the wickedness of false teachers. They are guarded against impostors and scoffers, by disproving their false assertions, 2Pe 3:1-7, and by showing why the great day of Christ's coming was delayed, with a description of its awful circumstances and consequences; and suitable exhortations to diligence and holiness are given.

MHCC: 2 Peter 3 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Pe 3:1-4) The design here is to remind of Christ's final coming to judgement.

(2Pe 3:5-10) He will appear unexpectedly, when the present frame of nature will be dissolved by fire.

(2Pe 3:11-18) From thence is inferred the need for holiness, and stedfastness in the faith.

Matthew Henry: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Epistle General of Peter

The penman of this epistle appears plainly to be the same who wrote the foregoing; and, whatever difference some learned men apprehend they discern in the style of this epistle from that of the former, this cannot be a sufficient argument to assert that it was written by Simon who succeeded the apostle James in the church at Jerusalem, inasmuch as he who wrote this epistle calls himself Simon Peter, and an apostle (2Pe 1:1), and says that he was one of the three apostles that were present at Christ's transfiguration (2Pe 1:18), and says expressly that he had written a former epistle to them, 2Pe 3:1. The design of this second epistle is the same with that of the former, as is evident from the first verse of the third chapter, whence observe that, in the things of God, we have need of precept upon precept, and line upon line, and all little enough to keep them in remembrance; and yet these are the things which should be most faithfully recorded and frequently remembered by us.

Matthew Henry: 2 Peter 3 (Chapter Introduction)

The apostle drawing towards the conclusion of his second epistle, begins this last chapter with repeating the account of his design and scope in writing a second time to them (2Pe 3:1-2). II. He proceeds to mention one thing that induced him to write this second epistle, namely, the coming of scoffers, whom he describes (2Pe 3:3-7). III. He instructs and establishes them in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to judgment (2Pe 3:8-10). IV. He sets forth the use and improvement which Christians ought to make of Christ's second coming, and that dissolution and renovation of things which will accompany that solemn coming of our Lord (2Pe 3:11-18).

Barclay: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND LETTER OF PETER

The Neglected Book And Its Contents

Second Peter is one of the neglected books of the New Testament. Very few people will claim to have read it, still less to have studied it in detail. E. F. Scott says "it is far inferior in every respect to First Peter"; and goes on "it is the least valuable of the New Testament writings." It was only with the greatest difficulty that Second Peter gained entry into the New Testament, and for many years the Christian Church seemed to be unaware of its existence. But, before we approach its history, let us look at its contents.

The Lawless Men

Second Peter was written to combat the beliefs and activities of certain men who were a threat to the Church. It begins by insisting that the Christian is a man who has escaped from the corruption of the world (2Pe_1:4 ) and must always remember that he has been purged of his old sins (2Pe_1:9 ). There is laid upon him the duty of moral goodness, which culminates in the great Christian virtue of love (2Pe_1:5-8 ).

Let us set out the characteristics of the men whom Second Peter rebukes. They twist Scripture to make it suit their own purpose (2Pe_1:20 ; 2Pe_3:16 ). They bring the Christian faith into disrepute (2Pe_2:2 ). They are covetous of gain and exploiters of their fellow-men (2Pe_2:3 ; 2Pe_2:14-15 ). They are doomed and will share the fate of the sinning angels (2Pe_2:4 ), the men before the Flood (2Pe_2:5 ), the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah (2Pe_2:6 ), and the false prophet Balaam (2Pe_2:15 ). They are bestial creatures, ruled by their brute instincts (2Pe_2:12 ), and dominated by their lusts (2Pe_2:10 ; 2Pe_2:18 ). Their eyes are full of adultery (2Pe_2:14 ). They are presumptuous, self-willed and arrogant (2Pe_2:10 , 2Pe_2:18 ). They spend even the daylight hours in unrestrained and luxurious revelry (2Pe_2:13 ). They speak of liberty but what they call liberty is unbridled licence and they themselves are the slaves of their own lusts (2Pe_2:19 ). Not only are they deluded, they also delude others and lead them astray (2Pe_2:14 ; 2Pe_2:18 ). They are worse than those who never knew the right, because they knew what goodness is and have relapsed into evil, like a dog returning to its vomit and a sow returning to the mud after it has been washed (2Pe_2:20-22 ).

It is clear that Peter is describing antinomians, men who used Godgrace as a justification for sinning. In all probability they were Gnostics, who said that only spirit was good and that matter was essentially evil and that, therefore, it did not matter what we did with the body and that we could glut its appetites and it made no difference. They lived the most immoral lives and encouraged others to do so; and they justified their actions by perverting grace and interpreting Scripture to suit themselves.

The Denial Of The Second Coming

Further, these evil men denied the Second Coming (2Pe_3:3-4 ). They argued that this was a stable world in which things remained unalterably the same, and that God was so dilatory that it was possible to assume that the Second Coming was never going to happen at all. The answer of Second Peter is that this is not a stable world; that it has, in fact, been destroyed by water in the Flood and that it will be destroyed by fire in the final conflagration (2Pe_3:5-7 ). What they regard as dilatoriness is in fact God withholding his hand in patience to give men still another chance to repent (2Pe_3:8-9 ). But the day of destruction is coming (2Pe_3:10 ). A new heaven and a new earth are on the way; therefore. goodness is an absolute necessity if a man is to be saved in the day of judgment (2Pe_3:11-14 ). With this Paul agrees, however difficult his letters may be to understand, and however false teachers deliberately misinterpret them (2Pe_3:15-16 ). The duty of the Christian is to stand fast, firmly founded in the faith, and to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (2Pe_3:17-18 ).

The Doubts Of The Early Church

Such are the contents of the letter. For long it was regarded with doubt and with something very like misgiving. There is no trace of it until after A.D. 200. It is not included in the Muratorian Canon Of A.D. 170 which was the first official list of New Testament books. It did not exist in the Old Latin Version of the Scriptures; nor in the New Testament of the early Syrian Church.

The great scholars of Alexandria either did not know it or were doubtful about it. Clement of Alexandria, who wrote outlines of the books of Scripture, does not appear to have included Second Peter. Origen says that Peter left behind one epistle which is generally acknowledged; "perhaps also a second, for it is a disputed question." Didymus commented on it, but concluded his work by saying: "It must not be forgotten that this letter is spurious; it may be read in public; but it is not part of the canon of Scripture."

Eusebius, the great scholar of Caesarea, who made a careful investigation of the Christian literature of his day, comes to the conclusion: "Of Peter, one Epistle, which is called his former Epistle, is acknowledged by all; of this the ancient presbyters have made frequent use in their writings as indisputably genuine; but that which is circulated as his second Epistle we have received to be not canonical although, since it appeared to be useful to many, it has been diligently read with the other Scriptures."

It was not until well into the fourth century that Second Peter came to rest in the canon of the New Testament.

The Objections

It is the well-nigh universal judgment of scholars, both ancient and modern, that Peter is not the author of Second Peter. Even John Calvin regarded it as impossible that Peter could have spoken of Paul as Second Peter speaks of him (2Pe_3:15-16 ), although he was willing to believe that someone else wrote the letter at Peterrequest. What, then, are the arguments against Peterauthorship?

(i) There is the extreme slowness, and even reluctance, of the early church to accept it. If it had been truly Peter there can be little doubt that the Church would have welcomed and honoured it from the first. But the case was very different. For the first two centuries the letter is never quoted at all in any certain instance; it is regarded with doubt and suspicion for more than another century; and only late in the fourth century is it accepted.

(ii) The contents make it difficult to believe that it is Peter There is no mention of the Passion, the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus Christ; no mention of the Church as the true Israel; no mention of that faith which is undefeatable hope and trust combined; no mention of the Holy Spirit, of prayer, of baptism; and no passionate desire to call men to the supreme example of Jesus Christ. If one took away these great verities from First Peter there would be little or nothing left, and yet none of them occurs in Second Peter.

(iii) It is wholly different in character and style from First Peter. This was realized as early as Jerome who wrote: "Simon Peter wrote two Epistles which are called Catholic, of which the authenticity of the second is denied by many because of the difference of the style from the first." The Greek style of this letter is very difficult. Clogg calls it ambitious, artificial and often obscure, and remarks that it is the only book in the New Testament which is improved by translation. Bishop Chase writes: "The Epistle does produce the impression of being a somewhat artificial piece of rhetoric. It shows throughout signs of self-conscious effort. The author appears to be ambitious of writing in a style which is beyond his literary power." He concludes that it is hard to reconcile the literary character of this letter with the supposition that Peter wrote it. Moffatt says: "Second Peter is more periodic and ambitious than First Peter, but its linguistic and its stylistic efforts only reveal by their cumbrous obscurity a decided inferiority of conception, which marks it off from First Peter."

It might be claimed, as Jerome claimed, that, while Peter used Silvanus for First Peter, he used a different amanuensis for Second Peter and that this explains the change in style. But J. B. Mayor compares the two letters. He quotes some of the great passages of First Peter and then says: "I think that none who read these words can help feeling that, not even in Paul, not even in John, is there to be found a more beautiful or a more living description of the secret of primitive Christianity, of the force that overcame the world, than in the perfect quaternion of faith and hope and love and joy, which pervades this short epistle (i.e. First Peter). No one could make the same assertion with regard to Second Peter: thoughtful and interesting as it is, it lacks that intense sympathy, that flame of love, which marks First Peter.... No change of circumstances can account for the change of tone of which we are conscious in passing from one epistle to the other." It is the conclusion of that great and conservative scholar that no explanation, other than difference of authorship, can explain, not so much the difference in style as the difference in atmosphere between First and Second Peter. It is true that from the purely linguistic point of view there are 369 words which occur in First Peter which do not occur in Second Peter; and there are 230 words which occur in Second Peter and not in First Peter. But there is more than a difference in style. A writer can change his style and his vocabulary to suit his audience and his occasion. But the difference between the two letters in atmosphere and attitude is so wide that it is hardly possible that the same person should have written both.

(iv) Certain things within Second Peter point well-nigh irresistibly to a late date. So much time has passed that men have begun to abandon hope of the Second Coming altogether (2Pe_3:4 ). The apostles are spoken of as figures of the past (2Pe_3:2 ). The fathers, that is the founders of the Christian faith, are now figures of the almost dim and distant past; there have been generations between this letter and the first coming of the Christian faith (2Pe_3:4 ).

There are references which require the passing of the years to explain them. The reference to Peterapproaching death looks very like a reference to Jesusrophecy in Joh_21:18-19 , and the Fourth Gospel was not written until about A.D. 100. The statement that Peter is going to leave something which will continue his teaching after he has gone looks very like a reference to MarkGospel (Mar_1:12-14 ).

Above all there is the reference to the letters of Paul (2Pe_3:15-16 ). From this it is quite certain that Paulletters are known and used throughout all the Church; they are public property, and furthermore they are regarded as Scripture and on a level with "the other Scriptures" (2Pe_3:16 ). It was not until at least A.D. 90 that these letters were collected and published, and it would take many years for them to acquire the position of sacred Scripture. It is practically impossible that anyone should write like this until midway through the second century A.D.

All the evidence converges to prove that Second Peter is a late book. It is not until the third century that it is quoted. The great scholars of the early church did not regard it as Peteralthough they did not question its usefulness. The letter has references which require the passing of the years to explain them. The great interest of Second Peter lies in the very fact that it was the last book in the New Testament to be written and the last to gain entry into the New Testament.

In PeterName

How, then, did it become attached to the name of Peter? The answer is that it was deliberately attached. This may seem to us a strange proceeding but in the ancient world this was common practice. Platoletters were written not by Plato but by a disciple in the mastername. The Jews repeatedly used this method of writing. Between the Old and the New Testament, books were written under the names of Solomon, Isaiah, Moses, Baruch, Ezra, Enoch and many another. And in New Testament times there is a whole literature around the name of Peter--The Gospel of Peter, The Preaching of Peter, The Apocalypse of Peter.

One salient fact makes this method of writing even more intelligible. The heretics used it. They issued misleading and pernicious books under the names of the great apostles, claiming that they were the secret teaching of the great founders of the Church handed down by word of mouth to them. Faced with this, the Church retaliated in kind and issued books in which men set down for their own generation the things they were quite sure that the apostles would have said had they been facing this new situation. There is nothing either unusual or discreditable in a book being issued under the name of Peter although Peter did not write it. The writer in humility was putting the message which the Holy Spirit had given him into the mouth of Peter because he felt his own name was unworthy to appear upon the book.

We will not find Second Peter easy to read; but it is a book of first-rate importance because it was written to men who were undermining the Christian ethic and the Christian doctrine and who had to be stopped before the Christian faith was wrecked by their perversion of the truth.

FURTHER READING

2 Peter

C. Bigg, St. Peter and St. Jude (ICC; G)

C. E. B. Cranfield, 1 and 2 Peter and Jude (Tch; E)

J. B. Mayor, The Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Epistle of St. Jude (MmC; G)

J. Moffatt, The General Epistles: James, Peter and Jude (MC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC : Moffatt Commentary

MmC: Macmillan Commentary

NCB: New Century Bible

Tch: Torch Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 2 Peter 3 (Chapter Introduction)

The Principles Of Preaching (2Pe_3:1-2)

The Denial Of The Second Coming (2Pe_3:3-4)

Destruction By Flood (2Pe_3:5-6)

Destruction By Fire (2Pe_3:7)

The Mercy Of God's Delay (2Pe_3:8-9)

The Dreadful Day (2Pe_3:10)

The Moral Dynamic (2Pe_3:11-14)

Hastening The Day (2Pe_3:11-14 Continued)

Perverters Of Scripture (2Pe_3:15-16)

A Firm Foundation And A Continual Growth (2Pe_3:17-18)

Constable: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical Background

This epistle claims that the Apostle Peter wrote it (1:1). It also claims to follow a former letter by Peter (3:1) that appears to be a reference to 1 Peter, though Peter may have been referring to a letter we no longer have. The author's reference to the fact that Jesus had predicted a certain kind of death for him (1:14) ties in with Jesus' statement to Peter recorded in John 21:18.

The earliest external testimony (outside Scripture) to Petrine authorship comes from the third century.¹ The writings of the church fathers contain fewer references to the Petrine authorship of 2 Peter than to the authorship of any other New Testament book. It is easy to see why critics who look for reasons to reject the authority of Scripture have targeted this book for attack. Ironically in this letter Peter warned his readers of heretics who departed from the teaching of the apostles and the Old Testament prophets, which is the very thing these modern critics do. Perhaps that is another reason some contemporary teachers question its authenticity. Not all who reject Petrine authorship are false teachers, however. The arguments of these modern critics have convinced some otherwise conservative scholars who retain belief in the epistle's inspiration.

Regardless of the external evidence, there is strong internal testimony to the fact that Peter wrote the book.² This includes stylistic similarities to 1 Peter, similar vocabulary compared with Peter's sermons in Acts, and the specific statements already mentioned (i.e., 1:1, 14; 3:1). In addition, the writer claimed to have witnessed Jesus' transfiguration (1:16-18) and to have received information about his own death from Jesus (1:13-14; cf. John 21:18).

Assuming Peter's reference to his former letter (3:1) is to 1 Peter, he seems to have sent this epistle to the same general audience. That audience was primarily Gentile but also Jewish Christians living in northern Asia Minor (cf. 1 Pet. 1:1). The background of the readers and the situation they faced, as Peter described these, fit such an audience well.³

Peter's reference to his imminent departure from this life (1:13-15) suggests that the time of composition may have been just before Peter suffered martyrdom.⁴ The writings of church fathers place Peter's death at A.D. 67-68 in Rome.⁵ Consequently a date of composition about that time seems most likely. Early church tradition also says Peter spent the last decade of his life in Rome.

"Second Peter is the swan song of Peter, just as 2 Timothy is the swan song of Paul. There are striking similarities between the two books. Both epistles put up a warning sign along the pilgrim pathway the church is traveling to identify the awful apostasy that was on the way at the time and which in our time has now arrived. What was then like a cloud the size of a man's hand today envelops the sky and produces a storm of hurricane proportions. Peter warns of heresy among teachers; Paul warns of heresy among the laity."⁶

The similarities between 2 Peter 2 and the Book of Jude, especially Jude 4-18, have raised several questions. Did Peter have access to Jude's epistle, or did Jude have a copy of 2 Peter? Which book came first? Did one man use the other's material, or did both draw from a common source? The commentators and writers of New Testament introductions deal with these questions thoroughly. See them for further explanations.⁷

Suffice it to say that the church through the ages has recognized the end product of both 2 Peter and Jude as epistles that God inspired. As far as which came first, we may never know for sure until we get to heaven. The consensus among scholars now is that Jude probably wrote before Peter (or his agent) composed 2 Peter.⁸ I tend to favor the priority of 2 Peter as do many conservative authorities.⁹

"Most scholars, in fact, date 2 Peter in the early part of the second century and consider it the last New Testament book to have been written. The author's claim to Petrine authorship, therefore, is part of the phenomenon of pseudonymity' in the ancient world, whereby the authority and tradition of a revered religious figure were attributed to a later work by an anonymous author."¹⁰

This quotation reflects the majority of scholarly opinion but not the conviction of many conservatives including myself.

"The purpose of 2 Peter is to call Christians to spiritual growth so that they can combat apostasy as they look forward to the Lord's return."¹¹

Message¹²

Peter wrote this epistle, as he did 1 Peter, to establish believers in their faith. He wrote both letters in obedience to Jesus' instructions to him to "strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32). Both epistles contain reminders of fundamental Christian teaching. Both evidently went to the same audience (2 Pet. 3:1). Both deal with how to handle various kinds of trials among other things, suffering in 1 Peter and false teachers in 2 Peter. Both also emphasize God's grace.

The differences between these two epistles are also significant.

The first epistle ends, "Stand firm in it [grace]" (5:12). Its theme is the sufficiency of God's grace. We need to stand fast in grace as Christians.

The second epistle ends, "Grow in grace" (3:18). Its theme is the responsibility of grace. We also need to keep growing in grace. This letter builds on the first. We do not only need to stand fast in grace, but we also need to keep growing in it.

We could state the message of the book therefore as follows: fulfill your responsibilities as recipients of the true grace of God. The message of 1 Peter was, "Stand firm in the true grace of God."

Let me identify the major revelations of this letter.

First, as recipients of God's grace we have resources that create responsibilities. Peter emphasized two of our resources.

Our first resource is the power of God (1:3). God's power grants us everything we need for godly living. Godly living becomes possible when we come to know God by saving faith. We grow in our knowledge of God as we get to know Him better through study of the Scriptures. We also do so as we respond to our increasing knowledge of Him properly by abiding in Him.

One area of life that God's power transforms is our spiritual vitality, energy. God wants us to be vital Christians (John 10:10; cf. James). The opposite condition is to have no spiritual energy. God's power enables us to demonstrate His own "glory" by giving us spiritual vitality (1:3). Peter saw the glory of God manifested through Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration (1:17). God wants to manifest His glory through every Christian (3:18). People can see God's glory in our spiritual vitality. The clearest illustration of spiritual vitality is Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry.

Another area of life that God's power transforms is our conduct, more specifically. By conduct I mean how we conduct ourselves in thought, word, and deed--what we do, and what we do not do. God wants us to be godly Christians as well as glorious Christians. He wants us to be virtuous as well as vital. The opposite condition is ungodly and unclean. The false teachers reflected the opposite condition, and Peter described their conduct quite fully in chapter 2. God's power enables us to demonstrate His own "excellence" by making us godly (1:3). Peter heard the excellence of God testified to on the Mount of Transfiguration when he heard God say of Jesus Christ, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Cf. 1:17-18). God wants to manifest His excellence through every Christian (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9). People can see God's excellence in our godly conduct.

The second resource Peter emphasized that every Christian has is the promises of God (1:4). God's promises grant us everything we need to realize our potential and to maintain our purity in godly living. These promises are "magnificent" because they are essentially great and wonderful. They are "precious" to us because they are gifts of our loving heavenly Father and because they are the keys to our realizing our potential and maintaining our purity.

One area of life that God's promises transforms is our character. God wants us to partake of His nature. We receive His nature (i.e., the Holy Spirit) initially when we believe His promise that Christ died for our sins. However, He wants us to partake of that nature fully in this life. When we do so, we realize our potential as the children of God. We do so by continuing to believe God's promises to us. As we began the Christian life by faith, we should continue to walk by faith (cf. James). Because the false teachers rejected the promises of God they failed to realize their potential as human beings. They did not become partakers of the divine nature.

Another area of life that God's promises transforms is, more specifically, our morality. Again we receive future deliverance from the penalty of sin by believing that Christ died for our sins. Nevertheless we also receive present deliverance from the power of sin by believing other of God's promises to us. For example, God promises us that sin will no longer have enslaving power over us (Rom. 6:14; cf. 1 Pet. 4:11; 5:11). He also promises us that He will give us a way of escape in temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). He also promises us that He will give us the desire and the ability to obey Him (Phil. 1:6). One of the promises that Peter emphasized especially in this epistle was the promise that Jesus Christ would return (3:4, 9, 13). He discussed this promise in 3:4-16. When Christ returns He will perfect us. God has given us many more promises. Relying on these is key to maintaining our purity as Christians. Because the false teachers rejected the promises of God, they failed to maintain moral purity. They did not escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

These then are the resources that create our responsibility: God's power within us, and God's promises in His Word. You can succeed in life and in ministry because you have these resources.

Next let us notice what Peter appealed to his readers to do in view of their resources. He called them to give diligence to two things.

First, we should diligently appropriate our resources (1:5-8). We do this be responding responsibly. We must respond by fulfilling our responsibility as well as by trusting God to fulfill His. We must exercise effort and self-discipline to develop qualities God wants to perfect within us (1:5-8). No one can become a strong Christian without self-discipline.

Second, we should diligently avoid our perils. We do this by remembering God's promises (1:9, 12-13; 3:1-2). Our tendency is to forget God's power and our responsibilities (1:9; 3:5). Our tendency is also to forget God's promises (3:4). Peter's concern was mainly that his readers not forget the promise of the Lord's return (3:9, 13). This promise should affect us by encouraging us to live pure lives (3:14). Because the false teachers chose to forget it, they failed to fulfill the responsibilities of God's grace. Scripture memorization and review are valuable activities because they help us remember God's promises.

These are the major revelations in the book. As recipients of God's grace we have resources that create responsibilities, namely God's power and promises. We also need to give diligence to our responsibilities of responding to God's power and remembering God's promises.

I would also like to point out some applications of this epistle's message to our lives.

First, God's resources do not free us from responsibility to cultivate godliness diligently. They increase that responsibility. The Christian life is a combination of trusting and toiling. We must balance these things. When we neglect either responsibility, we get into trouble (1:5). We are partners with God.

Our sanctification is a process in which we labor together with God.

We are responsible to trust and to obey, to exercise faith in God and to work. We frustrate the Holy Spirit's work of sanctifying us if we do not trust or if we do not obey. The Christian life is a lot like water skiing. We have to lean back and let God pull us out of the stuff that holds us down. However we also have to hold on to the rope, to keep following His leading. When we do both things He enables us to overcome. We can even fly over what formerly held us in its clutches.

Second, we should cultivate habits that will help us remember our resources: God's power and promises. One of the most important reasons we should read our Bibles regularly is that they remind us of things we need to remember. The same is true of memorizing Scripture, attending church services, and having fellowship with other Christians. Peter said it is better not to know Scripture than to forget it (2:21).

Third, God intended the promise of the Lord's return and the events that will follow to be important motivations for us. This is our hope. If we neglect the prophetic portions of Scripture, our motivation for godly living will sag (3:14).

Constable: 2 Peter (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction 1:1-2

II. The condition of the Christian 1:3-11

A. The believer's resources 1:3-4

B. The believer's needs 1:5-9

C. The believer's adequacy 1:10-11

III. The authority for the Christian 1:12-21

A. The need for a reminder 1:12-15

B. The trustworthiness of the apostles' witness 1:16-18

C. The divine origin of Scripture 1:19-21

IV. The danger to the Christian 2:1-22

A. The characteristics of false teachers 2:1-3

B. The consequences of false teaching 2:4-10a

C. The conduct of false teachers 2:10b-19

D. The condemnation of false teachers 2:20-22

V. The prospect for the Christian 3:1-16

A. The purpose of this epistle 3:1-2

B. Scoffing in the last days 3:3-6

C. End-time events 3:7-10

D. Living in view of the future 3:11-16

VI. Conclusion 3:17-18

Constable: 2 Peter

2 Peter

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Edited by James Orr. 1957 ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. S.v. "Peter, The Second Epistle of," by William G. Moorehead.

Ironside, H. A. Expository Notes on the Epistles of Peter. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1947.

Jamieson, Robert; A. R. Fausset; and David Brown; eds. Commentary Practical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Revised ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961.

Kelly, J. N. D. A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude. Thornapple Commentaries series. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981.

Kennard, Douglas W. "Petrine Redemption: Its Meaning and Extent." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30:4 (December 1987):399-405.

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Lenski, Richard C. H. The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude. Reprint ed. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961.

Lillie, John. Lectures on the First and Second Epistles of Peter. Reprint ed. Minneapolis: Klock & Klock Christian Publishers, 1978.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

THE

SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PETER,

THE APOSTLE.

INTRODUCTION.

This epistle, though not at first received [by some Churches] as canonical, was acknowledged as such [by all Churches] about the end of the fourth age [century]. See Eusebuis, lib. iii. History of the Church, chap. iii.; St. Jerome, de Vir. Illust. Tillem. art. 33. The design, as it appears, Chap. i. 13. and Chap. iii. 1. was to give them admonitions and instructions against teachers of false doctrine, particularly against the Simonites. It seems to have been written a little before his martyrdom, about the year 66. (Witham) --- In this epistle St. Peter says, (Chap. iii.) "Behold this is the second epistle I write unto you:" and before, (Chap. i. 14.) "Being assured that the putting off of this my tabernacle is at hand." This shews that it was written a very short time before his martyrdom, which was about thirty-five years after our Lord's ascension. In this epistle he admonishes the faithful to be mindful of the great gifts they received from God, and to join all other virtues with their faith. He warns them against false teachers, by describing their practices and foretelling their punishments. He describes the dissolution of this world by fire, and the day of judgment. (Challoner) --- This epistle may be considered as the spiritual testament or last will of the apostle, as it contains his last admonitions to the faithful. He first calls their attention to the care they should have of their sanctification and perfection, next to the perils that concern the Church one the part of heretics, those that menaced her in her infant state, and those that will assail her in the latter days, which includes an invincible proof of her perpetuity; for is is the same infallible and indefectible Church that is to encounter the latter as the former trials, but always with promised success. Hence the great St. John Chrysostom says: the same day that shall see the Church of God ended, shall see the end of the world; and to these continued struggles shall succeed perfect peace, to be enjoyed through a blissful eternity. If some are still found to object, that the present epistle was not written by St. Peter, on account of the marked difference of the style, St. Jerome removes this objection thus: St. Peter employed different interpreters, sometimes Glaucias, and sometimes St. Mark; hence the difference of the style, from the diversity of his scribes. St. Mark was with him when he penned the first, but was not with him when he dictated the present. The present epistle contains, as we said above, an account of the last dreadful trials that are to assail the faithful before the end of time; but all that faith teaches us on that subject is: first, That the world will have an end; secondly, that it will end by fire; and thirdly, that the world will not be destroyed, but changed and perfected. Hence all that is said with regard to the duration of the world; on the nature and quality of the fire that is to burn and purify the world; if it be to precede or follow the last judgment, all is problematical, all is doubtful. Hence the Christian knows a good deal, who knows how to entertain proper doubts.

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Gill: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 PETER

Though there was, among the ancients, a doubt concerning the authority of this epistle, which is first mentioned by Origen ^a, and afterwards by Eusebius ^b and Jerom ^c, yet it prevailed not among the churches, nor hindered the diligent reading and use of it, together with other Scriptures; it appearing to be useful and profitable, as Eusebius declares; and in process of time this doubt was entirely removed, and it was universally received by fathers and councils into the canon of the Scriptures, where it is justly retained, it having plain signatures of its divine original. Nor is there anything in it unworthy of so great an apostle, whose name it bears; but the whole of it is agreeable to the analogy of faith, to the rest of the sacred writings, particularly to the epistle of Jude, between which, and the second chapter of this, there is a great likeness. The only reason of the doubt of the genuineness of this epistle, and whether it was written by the Apostle Peter, is the difference of its style from the former; but the Holy Ghost, the dictator of the sacred writings, is not limited to a man's natural style, but could vary it as he pleased: besides, a man's style is not the same at different times, and when writing on different subjects; add to which, that this objection can only regard the second chapter, for the first and third agree with the former epistle. And some have thought that the second chapter is an extract out of some ancient Hebrew book, describing the characters of the old false prophets; which book Peter and Jude having before them, took the characters of the old prophets, and, under divine direction, applied them to the false teachers of the present age; and if so it is not to be wondered at that the style of the epistle should differ from the former, and even from itself in this part. But that it was written by the Apostle Peter, not only the inscription shows, which, if false, would indeed discredit the genuineness of the book, but the account that is given of the writer of it, as one that was with Christ at his transfiguration, 2Pe 1:16. Now there were only the three following disciples there, Peter, John, and, James. The last of these had been dead some time when this epistle was written, and it was never ascribed by any to the Apostle John, and therefore it remains that Peter must be the writer of it. As for Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, that succeeded James, whom Grotius would suggest as the author of it, the character does not agree with him; he was not with Christ on the holy mount, nor heard the voice from heaven, asserting the sonship of Christ, and the divine complacency in him: moreover, this epistle is called a "second epistle", 2Pe 3:1 and supposes a first, and manifestly refers to the former epistle of Peter's, about which there never was any doubt, as the authors before mentioned observe. It was written by the apostle in his old age, when upon the decline of life, just as he was about to put off his tabernacle, 2Pe 1:13 a little before his martyrdom, in the year 68, though Dr. Lightfoot places it in 66; and it is sent to the same persons as his first, namely, to the believing Jews scattered throughout several parts of Asia, he being the minister of the circumcision; see 1Pe 1:1 compared with 2Pe 3:1. The scope and design of it are, to put them upon a concern for a larger increase of grace and spiritual knowledge; to confirm and establish them in the present truth of the Gospel; to warn them against false teachers, which he largely describes; and he puts them in mind of the dissolution of all things, and of what will precede and follow it; from whence he draws several useful hints and inferences.

Gill: 2 Peter 3 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 PETER 3

In this chapter the apostle makes mention of the end and design of his writing this second epistle; foretells that there would be scoffers at the coming of Christ in the last days; describes the coming of Christ and the burning of the world; and closes with the use saints should make of these things. The end of his writing both this and the former epistle was to put the persons he writes unto in mind of the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel, delivered by the prophets and apostles, 2Pe 3:1; and then, agreeably to what the prophets had said, he predicts that there would be scoffers in the last day; who are described by their sinful course of life, and by their words, what they would say concerning the coming of Christ, and their reasoning about it, 2Pe 3:3; which arose from their ignorance of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and of the situation of them; and is refuted by showing that things have not remained as they were from the creation; that the earth standing in and out of the water, as it was capable of being overflowed with a flood, so it perished by one; and that the present heavens and earth are reserved and prepared for a general burning at the day of judgment, in which wicked men will be destroyed, 2Pe 3:5; but let these men scoff as they will, the length of time since the promise of Christ's coming was made should be no objection with the saints to the performance of it; since the longest term of time is nothing with God, however considerable it may be with men, 2Pe 3:8; besides, the reason of the coming of Christ being deferred, is not owing to any dilatoriness in the performance of the promise, but to the longsuffering of God towards his elect, being unwilling that anyone of them should be lost, but that all should be brought to repentance, 2Pe 3:9; but as for the coming of Christ, that is certain, and will be sudden; at which time will be the general conflagration, which is described in a very awful manner, 2Pe 3:10; and the use to be made of such a tremendous dispensation by the saints is to live a holy and godly conversation, 2Pe 3:11; to be eagerly looking for the coming of Christ, 2Pe 3:12, and to expect, according to his promise, new heavens and a new earth, in which will dwell righteous persons, 2Pe 3:13; and to be diligent to be found in peace at that day, 2Pe 3:14; and to account the longsuffering of God salvation; and the whole of this account, and the use of it, is strengthened by the testimony of the Apostle Paul, of whom, and of his epistles, a character is given, 2Pe 3:15; and the epistle is concluded with some cautions and exhortations to the saints, to beware lest they should be carried away with the errors of wicked men, and so fall from any degree of steadfastness in the faith; and to be concerned for a growth in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ Jesus, to whom glory is to be ascribed for ever and ever, 2Pe 3:17.

College: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THIS COMMENTARY

This commentary is written for serious students of the Bible, including Bible class teachers, preachers, college students, and other motivated readers. However, it is written on a popular rather than a scholarly level, so that readers need not be familiar with Greek or scholarly methods or jargon.

The goal is to help the modern reader to hear the message of 2 Peter as its first readers heard it. Our assumption is that we must know what it meant before we can know what it means . Peter wrote for a particular group of Christians facing a particular set of problems. The letter was therefore not written to us (although we believe that it was written for us). To be faithful to Peter's intent, we must attempt to place ourselves in the shoes of the earliest readers.

This is a difficult task for a couple of reasons. First, this "book" of the New Testament is a letter. This means we are reading someone else's mail. The problem is that both Peter and his readers knew the situation, so that Peter only makes allusions to what was going on. For example, we would like to know much more about the false teachers. However, Peter had no need to discuss in detail what both he and his readers already know. We are left to read between the lines in order to reconstruct the situation. Second, we are dealing with literature written in an ancient language to an ancient culture. They had a very different worldview, lived very different lifestyles, and practiced very different customs from those with which we are familiar.

Our task is therefore difficult, but it is not hopeless. We will never grasp the details of this letter exactly as the first readers did, but we can have confidence that we are understanding the larger picture. Greek scholars, historians, specialists in ancient Jewish and Christian literature, and others have spent countless hours studying this and other ancient documents. We are fortunate to stand on their shoulders.

Finally, we must mention the nature of this letter. Many dislike it because it is largely negative. After all, it is Peter's scathing denunciation of false teachers. Everyone prefers the message of grace to the message of judgment. However, it is sometimes necessary to expose error, even if the task is not enjoyable. This letter ought to remind Christians of the importance of guarding the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. As Peter makes painfully clear, bad doctrine leads to bad living, which leads to sure judgment. Christians must never shrink from the unpleasant task of fighting heresy.

The reader will quickly discover that I am greatly indebted to the fine commentaries of Douglas J. Moo and especially Richard Bauckham. Moo offers excellent comments from an evangelical perspective. Bauckham's detailed discussion of linguistic, historical, and literary matters is without equal. The reader is referred to his commentary in numerous footnotes simply because his discussion is the most thorough available.

AUTHORSHIP AND DATE

Second Peter claims to have been written by Simon Peter, the apostle of Jesus (1:1) and eyewitness to his transfiguration (1:16-18). Since he writes of his approaching death (1:14-15), Peter must have written this letter by the mid-60s of the first century A.D. (The tradition that Peter was martyred in Rome under the emperor Nero is probably reliable.)

A large number of modern scholars, however, are convinced that Peter could not have written this letter. In fact, this New Testament writing more than all others is believed to be pseudonymous (written under a false name). A number of reasons are given for this belief.

First, there is the language and style of the original Greek. Second Peter is written in elaborate Greek, often using rare and poetic terminology. Many believe that a Galilean Jew could not have written in this style. More significantly, 2 Peter is very much unlike 1 Peter. Most argue that the writer who wrote 1 Peter could not have written this letter. In response it must be admitted that this is an argument of some weight. However, conservative scholars are not convinced. First, no one can really know what Peter could and could not have written at different times in life and to different audiences. The style argument always involves considerable subjectivity. Second, many conservative commentators admit that the style of 2 Peter disallows thinking that Peter wrote it himself. They suggest that an amanuensis probably wrote the letter for Peter, as Silvanus may have done in 1 Peter (5:12). A trusted "secretary" may well have written Peter's thoughts in a different style from that of Peter.

A second argument against Petrine authorship is that even some of the early Christians had their doubts about this letter. The evidence is quite complex and difficult to analyze, but a few facts are fairly clear. Origen (3rd century) notes that 2 Peter was a disputed letter, although he believes that Peter wrote it. Eusebius (4th century) rejects its authenticity, although he suggests that the majority accepted it. Jerome (end of 4th century) writes that many rejected it because it was so unlike 1 Peter; yet he contends that Peter probably used two different amanuenses (secretaries). In response, it must again be granted that this is a substantive claim. More than any other New Testament book, 2 Peter was late in being universally accepted. However, evangelical scholars underscore the fact that it was accepted; and it was accepted at a time when a number of works falsely attributed to Peter were being rejected. The evidence from the early church is not unanimous, but it is clearly for the authenticity of 2 Peter.

A third argument for the pseudonymity of 2 Peter concerns the time references regarding the false teachers. At times the writer speaks of false teachers who will come, but at other times he makes it clear that they are already present. The argument is that the actual writer attempts to write as if Peter is predicting the future. In reality he betrays the fact that he is actually living during the times of the false teachers. In response, conservatives note that there are many possible reasons for the changing tenses. The possibility that the pseudonymous writer forgot to continue his fiction is not the most likely. Perhaps the false teachers had not arrived yet but were known because they were already present in other locations. The full discussion is found in the comments on 2:1.

Fourth, many think that the inference in 3:16 that Paul's letters are "Scripture" betrays a late date. Paul's letters, it is argued, were not considered Scripture until at least the late first century. Those who accept Petrine authorship must admit that Peter's words are somewhat surprising. However, it cannot be ruled out that the written words of one regarded as an inspired apostle would be called Scripture. Scholars are often too sure that they know what early Christians could and could not think.

Fifth, many who deny that Peter wrote this letter do so on the basis that it is a "testament," a final address of a leader before his death to the group which reveres him (see comments on 1:11). Most often, a testament was written well after the death of the hero whose name is attached to it, and it addressed the needs of the later generation. Many believe therefore that someone wrote this testament in Peter's name in order to lend his authority to the crisis provoked by the false teachers. Conservatives have responded that there are certainly some elements of the testament genre in 2 Peter, but that these elements do not make 2 Peter a testament like others. Furthermore, testaments need not be pseudonymous. Peter certainly could have written this way at the end of his life.

Sixth, many scholars reject 2 Peter on the basis of the false teaching it opposes. Many think that the heresy is Gnosticism, which developed in the second century. However, while there are minor similarities to that heresy, there is nothing in 2 Peter that would identify the false teachers as second-century Gnostics. The sort of false teaching in 2 Peter is already seen in Paul's letters.

Finally, some also argue that the apostle Peter would not have borrowed from the letter of Jude (see section on "Relation to Jude"). However, this argument is really quite weak. It is not clear why Peter would not have borrowed useful material from another source. Neither is it certain that Peter borrowed from Jude. Jude may have borrowed from Peter, or both may have borrowed from another source, whether oral or written.

In the final analysis, most conservative scholars argue that the apostle Peter wrote 2 Peter. They know that this can never be proven and that the decision is in part based on faith and tradition. Nonconservative scholars make significant arguments against Petrine authorship, but they wrongly claim that they have proven that Peter did not write this letter. We find their arguments weighty but not conclusive. In this commentary we will assume that Peter wrote 2 Peter.

OCCASION

Peter wrote to a specific church (or group of churches) facing specific problems, namely the coming of false teachers. Second Peter may have been written to the same churches as 1 Peter (churches in Asia Minor, according to 1:1), since 2 Peter mentions an earlier letter to this group (3:1). However, the fact that he may have written letters to other churches means that we cannot be sure.

Peter wrote this letter primarily because false teachers were 1) denying the Second Coming of Jesus, and 2) living without moral restraint and encouraging others to do so. Peter writes that they denied the teachings of prophets and apostles and that they arrogantly slandered spiritual beings. They denied the Second Coming, arguing that the world was simply continuing on its course as it had since the creation.

Their belief that there would be no Second Coming (and therefore no final judgment) led these false teachers into ungodly lifestyles. They willfully satisfied their sinful desires, including greed, sexual immorality, and gluttony. They encouraged others to follow their sinful examples, especially recent converts who were just escaping these very sins.

Readers of 2 Peter would like to know more about these teachers of error. There is much that we do not know, because of the nature of a letter. (Both author and recipients knew the situation, so there was no need to rehearse the details.) It would be helpful to know more precisely the identity of the false teachers, their background, their practices, and their teaching. This lack of information has led scholars to speculate regarding the identity of the troublemakers. Many have theorized that they were Gnostics, a group of second-century heretics who argued that knowledge was the key to salvation. They believed in a strict dualism between the spiritual and the physical worlds. Therefore they did not believe that Christ was actually human. They also tended to discount the importance of sins involving the body, such as sexual sin. The body, they claimed, belonged to the evil physical world that was created by an inferior god.

There is no evidence in 2 Peter that the false teachers were Gnostics since there is not a trace of the developed Gnostic systems of the second century. Furthermore, all of the teachings which Peter attacked are also found in Paul's letters. For example, in 1 Corinthians Paul writes against some who deny the resurrection (15:12-34) and others who argue for the right to engage in sexual sin (5:1-2; 6:12-20). The most that can be said is that 2 Peter's antagonists may have been the predecessors of what would later be called Gnostics.

A better and more cautious approach is to call these false teachers simply libertines. Their libertine approach seems to have sprung from their (false) understanding of grace and their denial of the judgment at the Second Coming of Jesus.

Another reason Peter wrote 2 Peter is that he was nearing the end of his life. This may have been his last opportunity to offer his teachings concerning sin, judgment, and false teachers. This was especially important because he was an eyewitness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As an apostle, it was his responsibility to testify to the truth about Jesus and to destroy the efforts of the false teachers.

RELATION TO JUDE

Portions of 2 Peter and Jude are remarkably similar. This applies not only to their contents but also to their order. They use the same examples of destruction for sinfulness: evil angels cast into hell and the judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah. They use similar metaphors, such as clouds or mists driven by a storm. They speak in the same way of the false teachers, including their slander of celestial beings and their following the way of Balaam. They speak of their opponents as "scoffers" and their readers as "friends."

Most scholars think that the resemblance between the two letters is simply too close to be coincidental. It is remotely possible that both may be relying on an oral body of teaching against false teachers. However, it is likely that there is a literary dependence between the two letters. It could be that Peter has used Jude, Jude has used Peter, or that both have used another written source. Very few argue for a third (unknown) source used by both, since this only compounds the problem. Most think that Peter used Jude, and they may be correct. It does seem more plausible that Peter adapted and expanded Jude than that Jude used only a portion of 2 Peter and added very little to it.

However, the fact is that all theories about the literary relationship are conjectural. Fortunately, we need not know the direction of influence in order to interpret the letter. It is obvious that both writers are facing similar problems. Their churches were facing so-called Christian teachers who not only taught false doctrine but lived ungodly lives.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2 PETER

Bauckham, Richard. Jude, 2 Peter. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word, 1983.

Green, Michael. The Second General Epistle of Peter and the General Epistle of Jude. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968.

Hillyer, Norman. 1 and 2 Peter, Jude. New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992.

Kelly, J.N.D. A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and of Jude . Harper's New Testament Commentary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1969.

Mayor, Joseph B. The Epistle of St. Jude and the Second Epistle of St. Peter: Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Comments. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979 (orig. 1907).

Moo, Douglas J. 2 Peter and Jude. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Neyrey, Jerome H. 2 Peter, Jude: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1993.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 2 Peter (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION - 1:1-15

A. Salutation and Greeting - 1:1-2

B. Preface: Exhortation to Godly Living - 1:3-11

C. Occasion: The Approaching Death of Peter - 1:12-15

II. BODY OF LETTER - 1:16-3:13

A. Reasons for Believing in Christ's Return - 1:16-21

1. Peter's Eyewitness Testimony - 1:16-18

2. The Sure Prophetic Word - 1:19-21

B. Warning against False Teachers - 2:1-22

1. The Coming of False Teachers - 2:1-3

2. The Condemnation of False Teachers - 2:4-10a

3. The Sins of the False Teachers - 2:10b-16

4. The Future Suffering of the False Teachers - 2:17-22

C. The Necessity of Believing in Christ's Return - 3:1-13

1. The Content of the False Teaching - 3:1-7

2. The Sure Return of Christ - 3:8-10

3. Christian Living in Light of Christ's Return - 3:11-13

III. FINAL EXHORTATIONS - 3:14-18

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV