20. 2 Peter
20. 2 Peter
CONTENTS
The address (2 Pet. 1:1-2) leads into a reminder of the good gifts Christ has given (1:3-4), which forms the basis of an exhortation to develop Christian qualities (1:5-11). Peter has not long to live (1:14), and he wants the readers to be able to recall the truth after his death (1:15). He insists that the message about Jesus Christ was not "cleverly invented stories”; he personally attests hearing the words spoken at the transfiguration (1:16-18). He goes on to locate Scripture in the work of the Holy Spirit in prophets (1:1921). He brings together false prophets of old and false teachers of the future (2:1-3) and reminds his readers that God has judged angels and ungodly people but rescued godly Lot (2:4-10). The false teachers especially in mind are arrogant (2:10-12), but they will be punished for their evil way of life (2:13-22). Peter reminds his readers of what he has written to them in an earlier letter (3:1) and expresses his desire to recall them to the teachings of the prophets and of Jesus, given through the apostles (3:2). Scoffers will arise in the last days (3:3-7), but the Lord’s coming is sure, even though it is on his own time scale, not ours (3:8-10). This forms the basis of an exhortation to godly living (3:11): Christians must live in the prospect of the time when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat, leading into the appearing of a new heaven and earth (3:12-13). Peter reminds his readers of what Paul has written and continues to urge them to live uprightly (3:14-18).