2 Peter

1Chapter

Greeting

1Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirm Your Calling and Election

3His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Christ's Glory and the Prophetic Word

16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2Chapter

False Prophets and Teachers

1But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
17These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
3Chapter

The Day of the Lord Will Come

1This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Final Words

14Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Study
Chapter 1
CSB

Is the New Testament Reliable?

When I was a young man, I thought the Bible was nothing more than fiction. Yet in college I met some students who actually believed it true. To prove them wrong, I set out to show how the Bible was unreliable. I’m pleased to report my failure. I discovered that the Bible is fully accurate and that we can know God personally through its pages. Here’s what I found.

First, the biblical accounts were all written by eyewitnesses to the events or by people who knew the eyewitnesses personally (Lk 1:2; Ac 4:20; 1Jn 1:3). Acts 1:3 says, “After [Jesus]had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

Second, the vast number of early handwritten copies of the New Testament ensures we can reconstruct the original with tremendous confidence. Modern editions of ancient books are often based on just a few existing copies (sometimes fewer than ten). Still, scholars are confident that the present versions of those nonbiblical books accurately reflect the originals. In terms of the number of manuscripts, the New Testament dwarfs all other ancient writings. There are over 5,800 partial or whole Greek New Testament manuscripts. If copies of other languages are included, the number jumps to roughly 24,000!

Third, existing copies of the New Testament are remarkably close to the date of original composition. Most ancient works have a gap of more than 700 years, with some works, such as Plato and Aristotle, being twice that. In contrast, fragments of John date within forty years of its writing (John Rylands Papyri) and a near complete copy of the New Testament within 100–150 years of composition (Chester Beatty Papyri). From the standpoint of ancient history, the New Testament documents are reliable, accurate, and incomparable. Amazingly, even if all the manuscripts were destroyed, we could reconstruct the content of the apostolic teaching from Bible quotes in the writings of the early church fathers—leaders living within two generations of the Twelve, who were often trained by them.

Fourth, if the disciples had made up the stories about Jesus, why suffer and die for those claims? In his book The Fate of the Apostles , my son Sean demonstrates how all the apostles were willing to suffer and die for their conviction that Jesus rose from the grave. There is no evidence any of them recanted, and we have convincing evidence that at least four—Peter, Paul, James the son of Zebedee, and James the half brother of Jesus—actually died as martyrs. While it’s true that thousands of people have died for a lie, they did so only if they thought it was the truth. If the resurrection was a lie and the disciples knew it, certainly many of them would have cracked under pressure to save their lives.

Fifth, early non-Christian writers such as Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger verify important details of the biblical narrative. These include that Jesus was a Jewish teacher, that he was rejected by Jewish leaders, that he performed healings and miracles, and that he was indeed crucified under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius Caesar. You have every reason to trust the New Testament, and more importantly, to trust in the God of whom it speaks.

ESV

Initial Greeting. Peter’s greeting is concise and to the point, identifying the author and the audience, and expressing a blessing.

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Simeon. A Hebrew spelling of Simon (cf. Acts 15:14). Peter, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, is writing to those who have a faith of equal standing, showing that all believers share equal privileges before God. This standing was accomplished by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. “Righteousness” refers here to God’s saving righteousness, showing that faith is a gift from Jesus. Jesus is called “God and Savior,” making this one of the clearest NT declarations of the divinity of Christ.

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In his initial blessing of those to whom he writes, Peter mentions a recurring idea in the letter: true knowledge of God and of Jesus. Verse 2, like v. 1, points to the deity of Christ (cf. note on v. 1), for both God and Christ are the object of this knowledge.

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God’s Grace in Christ Is the Source of Godly Living. In this first main section of his letter, Peter emphasizes that God’s grace results in godliness.

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God’s Power Exercised on Our Behalf. God has provided blessing for the Christian in all things pertaining to life.

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divine power. God himself has acted in his infinite power to accomplish salvation, something only he could accomplish and what human ability could not accomplish. He has called us to his own glory and excellence. Believers are called to live in harmony with God’s own moral character. On God’s “glory,” see notes on John 1:14; Acts 6:15; cf. Rev. 21:23. The word “excellence” (Gk. aretē, “virtue, excellence”) was used by Greek writers to describe the sum of all desirable character qualities.

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God has granted believers his precious and great promises. It is through these promises that they become partakers (Gk. koinōnos, “sharer, partaker”) of the divine nature. They never become part of God, but amazingly they share in his nature as they become increasingly like him. The “great promises” include the promises Peter identifies in his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:14–41, especially the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in new power. But they also include other promises such as likeness to God (2 Pet. 1:4; cf. 1 John 3:2), Christ’s return (2 Pet. 3:4), eternal life in heaven (1 Pet. 1:4), and more broadly, all the promises of Scripture that relate to the gift of new life. “Divine nature” uses terms familiar to Peter’s Hellenistic readership to help them understand the idea of transformation into the image of Christ. Peter emphasizes the moral focus of the believer’s transformed life. At conversion, Christians are delivered from the corruption of this world, which is rooted in sinful desire.

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Making Every Effort to Live a Godly Life. Peter lists “qualities” (v. 8) that characterize a life partaking of the divine nature. These verses contain a straightforward catalog of biblical virtues (cf. Gal. 5:22–23; Heb. 12:10–11). This list does not reflect a legalistic code but rather the desires and features of a transformed heart (cf. “for this very reason,” 2 Pet. 1:5). The exhortations to live a new life are grounded in the divine power and promises that were granted to believers when they came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

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supplement your faith. Peter exhorts Christians not merely to confess faith in Christ but actually to live as he taught. He is not saying that works are a prerequisite for salvation but rather is arguing that faith must take concrete form in life. All the virtues listed in vv. 5–7 are results of faith, so faith is listed first, while love (the ultimate result of faith) is listed last (v. 7; cf. 1 Tim. 1:5). Virtue translates Greek aretē; see note on 2 Pet. 1:3.

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Godliness translates Greek eusebeia, “devoutness, piety, devotion to God” (also in vv. 3, 7; 3:11; see 2 Tim. 3:5).

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Living an Effective Life for Christ. Peter explains the necessary relationship between regeneration and a life that reflects the virtues inherent in the knowledge of Christ.

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if these qualities are yours and are increasing. A lifelong pattern of growth in Christlike character is expected of Christians and is the key to fruitful ministry. By contrast, knowledge (Gk. epignōsis) of … Christ is ineffective and unfruitful unless accompanied by a life that increasingly exhibits the qualities of vv. 5–7.

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The one who lacks these qualities (cf. vv. 5–7) is spiritually blind and has forgotten that he was cleansed (cf. Titus 3:5–7) from his sins. This lack of fruit could exist because a person’s “cleansing” was merely an external reformation that did not come from a truly changed heart. But it could also describe a genuine Christian who has fallen into serious error regarding the Christian life. Only God knows the person’s true status (cf. 2 Tim. 2:19).

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Christians should be diligent to confirm their calling and election (Gk. eklogē). God calls believers to faith through the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14), but he has also chosen (elected) them “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). But God’s grace in salvation should not be taken for granted. Growing in the Christlike virtues mentioned in 2 Pet. 1:5–7 will give believers increasing confidence that God really did call them and really did elect them to salvation before the foundation of the world. Thus their election becomes “sure,” as a sure foundation. Those who practice these qualities … will never fall, probably meaning apostasy (falling away from the faith). Good works are evidence of and give assurance of salvation, though they are never the basis for it. Peter’s wording does not imply that true followers of Christ can ever apostatize; those who do so were never really “called,” “elected,” or born again (cf. notes on John 6:39; 6:40; 10:26–29; 1 Thess. 1:4; Heb. 6:4–8).

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in this way. That is, by doing the things Peter mentions in vv. 5–10. This way of life is the path into the eternal kingdom of Christ. Those who practice these qualities will be richly provided with the reward of eternal life. Some interpreters think “richly” indicates degrees of blessing and reward both in this life and in heaven. Others think that eternal life is itself the reward in view, in contrast to the prospect facing the false teachers.

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Peter’s Reminder to the Churches. Peter contrasts the truth about Christ as revealed by God with the falsehood of man-made myths. In light of this certain truth, the church should be focused on living faithfully.

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Stirring Up Christians to Holiness. Thinking of his impending death, Peter urgently reminds the churches to continue living in a godly way.

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The readers of this letter already know these godly qualities (cf. vv. 5–10) and are already established in the truth concerning life in Christ. Peter’s intent is simply to keep biblical morality in the forefront of the Christian’s daily pursuits.

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Peter expects that his execution by Rome is imminent, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. The nearness of his death seems to have been recently revealed to Peter, but he may also be reflecting on his conversation with Jesus in John 21:18–19.

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Peter’s Preaching Results from His Own Eyewitness Experience. Peter recounts his personal experience with Jesus during the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8; Luke 9:28–36a). He contrasts this truth with man-made myths. The content of Peter’s preaching is not of human origin but is based on direct revelation from God.

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cleverly devised myths. “Myth” translates Greek mythos, “a story without basis in fact, a legend.” The gospel of Christ was no myth, because the apostles were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Peter had observed the “majesty” of Christ firsthand at the transfiguration. He knew that Christ had come in power; he was no mere literary character invented for a mythological narrative. But Jesus’ transfiguration also functions as a prelude and anticipation of his coming in glory. Readers learn from 3:3–4 that the false teachers believed that the second coming was also a myth, but Peter refutes this, underscoring the certainty of Christ’s return.

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Majestic Glory. A name for God the Father emphasizing the transcendence of his glorious presence (see Ex. 33:12–23; 34:29–35; 2 Cor. 3:12–18). At the transfiguration, God displayed the honor and glory of his beloved Son, a declaration by the Father of Jesus’ divine sonship (cf. Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1; Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).

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we ourselves heard. Peter emphasizes his own eyewitness status, and that of the other apostles, with regard to the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8); he personally heard the voice of the Father declare Jesus to be his Son. If someone else had written this letter in Peter’s name (see Introduction: Author and Title), that person’s claim of eyewitness status would have been a lie.

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Truth about Jesus Christ Anchored in the Prophetic Word of Scripture. The truth about Christ is based on the prophecies of Scripture, something even more certain than (or just as sure as; see note on v. 19) eyewitness testimony.

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more fully confirmed. Some have understood that Peter’s experience of the Transfiguration provides confirmation of OT prophecy, making the already-sure prophecy of the OT even more sure as confirmed by the experience of the Transfiguration. Others have understood “more fully confirmed” as an affirmation that the prophetic writings of the OT are even more sure than Peter’s spectacular personal experience at the Transfiguration, thereby underscoring the complete reliability of written Scripture. In either case, believers are admonished to pay attention to the certainty of the prophetic word. In the contrast between “we have” and “you will do well,” Peter is apparently emphasizing that the interpretation of the apostles (“we”) is to be regarded as authoritative for the church (“you”). Day dawns and morning star both refer to the second coming. The day of the Lord is the day of final judgment and salvation, as the OT often teaches (Isa. 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18, 20). Jesus’ second coming will not only be an objective event in history, it will also rise in your hearts as the full light of Christ’s presence transforms the hearts of his church to perfect purity.

ESV

Two main views of this verse have been proposed: (1) The first view, the one most in harmony with the esv rendering, understands the verse to explain the origin of the prophecies of OT Scripture, namely, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from (i.e., originates out of) someone’s own interpretation (i.e., from someone’s individual understanding of events, visions, or other things), but rather, that “all prophecy of Scripture” came about from the Holy Spirit’s leading (see v. 21). (This takes the Gk. word ginomai in its most common sense, as meaning “come into existence”.) According to this first view, then, Peter is assuring his readers that all the OT Scriptures that pointed to Christ were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that the readers should pay close attention to them (v. 19), perhaps in contrast to false teachers who were denigrating Scripture. (2) The second view understands the verse to be speaking of how OT prophecies are to be interpreted, therefore some translations render this verse, “no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of [or “for”] one’s own interpretation.” According to this second view, Peter is saying that one must interpret the OT Scriptures as they are interpreted by the apostles, and hence the interpretations of the OT by the false teachers should be rejected. Although this second view is possible, the first seems more likely, in light of the immediate context and Peter’s overall emphasis on the authority of Scripture.

CSB

Peter claimed that prophets were carried by the Spirit when speaking God’s oracles. Some might think this suggests a dictation theory of inspiration. Such a claim can be easily rejected, however, for the verse in 2 Peter does not constitute a complete explanation of inspiration. Further, the verse also emphasizes that “men” spoke from God. Their own personalities were not suppressed in the process. They spoke with all their distinctiveness as human beings and yet also uttered God’s words. B. B. Warfield rightly identified what occurred as concursus. Both God and human beings were fully involved in the communication of God’s Word, and the product is perfect because of God’s inspiring work.

ESV

No biblical prophecy was ever produced merely because a man wanted to prophesy (by the will of man). The prophecy in Scripture was given only by God through men, who “spoke” as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the active, revelatory agent working within the OT prophets and through their lives and circumstances as they prophesied. This is a key verse for the doctrine of Scripture, indicating that Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but at the same time men spoke God’s words, using their own personalities, knowledge, background, vocabulary, and style. “They were carried along” implies that the inspiration of Scripture was invisibly directed by the Holy Spirit, though without overriding the personalities of the human authors. Thus Scripture is fully the Word of God, even though it is recorded in the words of human beings. The exact way in which this was accomplished remains a divine mystery. What is true of OT prophecy is true of “all Scripture” (see 2 Tim. 3:16 and note).