About the Book of 2 Peter
The Book of 2 Peter is a letter found in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is attributed to the Apostle Peter, one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. This letter is addressed to a broad audience of believers and serves as a reminder of key teachings, warnings against false teachers, and encouragement for holy living.
The letter begins with Peter identifying himself as the author and an apostle of Jesus Christ. He highlights the divine power that grants believers everything they need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ. Peter encourages the recipients to grow in faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.
Peter then reminds the readers of the truth and reliability of the Gospel message. He affirms that he was an eyewitness of the transfiguration of Jesus and urges believers to pay attention to the prophetic word as a guiding light in a dark world. Peter warns against the influence of false teachers who will distort the truth and exploit the believers with deceptive teachings. He emphasizes the consequences that await these false teachers and assures the believers that God will judge them.
The apostle encourages the readers to be vigilant and discerning, holding firmly to the truth and not being swayed by false doctrines. Peter uses various examples from the Old Testament, such as the judgment of angels, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the flood during Noah's time, to illustrate God's faithfulness to punish the wicked and preserve the righteous. He reassures the believers that God knows how to rescue the godly and punish the unrighteous.
Peter also emphasizes the importance of holy living and the transformative power of God's grace. He urges believers to strive for moral excellence, godliness, and a Christ-centred life. He encourages them to be diligent in their faith and to make every effort to grow in spiritual maturity.
The letter concludes with Peter's anticipation of the future coming of the Lord. He highlights the promise of a new heaven and a new earth, encouraging the believers to eagerly await and hasten the coming day of God. Peter emphasizes the need for readiness, holiness, and steadfast faith as they anticipate the fulfillment of God's promises.
The Book of 2 Peter serves as a call to remain grounded in the truth of the Gospel, to be discerning in the face of false teachings, and to pursue holiness in anticipation of Christ's return. It encourages believers to grow in their faith and knowledge of God while cautioning them against the destructive influence of false teachers. Peter's letter provides guidance for living a godly life and serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness and the ultimate hope found in the promises of Christ.
(Audio words slightly different to text below.)
Divine Power has Granted to Us All Things
[1:1] Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
[2] Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
[3] seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;
[4] by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Make Your Calling and Election Sure
[5] Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;
[6] and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness;
[7] and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, charity.
[8] For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[9] For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.
[10] Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.
[11] For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Peter’s Pending Death
[12] Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.
[13] I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you;
[14] knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
[15] Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure.
No Prophecy of Scripture is of Private Interpretation
[16] For we didn’t follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
[17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
[18] We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
[19] We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts:
[20] knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation.
[21] For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
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Destructive and Immoral Ways
[2:1] But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in damnable heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
[2] Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.
[3] In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
The Lord Knows How to Deliver the Godly Out of Temptation
[4] For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment;
[5] and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;
[6] and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way;
[7] and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked
[8] (for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds):
[9] the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
[10] but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;
[11] whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
Receiving the Wages of Unrighteousness
[12] But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
[13] receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, revelling in their deceit while they feast with you;
[14] having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;
[15] forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
[16] but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.
The Dog Turns to His Own Vomit Again
[17] These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a storm; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
[18] For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
[19] promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
[20] For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
[21] For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
[22] But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”
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Remember the Words of the Holy Prophets
[3:1] This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;
[2] that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
Judgement and Destruction of Ungodly Men
[3] knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts,
[4] and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
[5] For this they wilfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God;
[6] by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
[7] But the heavens that now exist, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
The Lord is Not Slow Concerning His Promise
8 But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night
[10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
[11] Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness,
[12] looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
[13] But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Be Diligent to be Found in Peace
[14] Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight.
[15] Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you;
[16] as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
[17] You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness.
[18] But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
