Another Bible Commentary: 2 Peter

Again, Peter was predominantly an apostle to the Jews, but was also involved with some Gentile Christians (Galatians 2:8,9,12 plus the mentions of Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles in 2 Peter 3:15-16). This letter was written (in approximately 64 AD) against certain false teachers also addressed in Jude. The flavor of their heresy based on what we see in 2 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 15, and 2 Peter 3 is that they were saying, more or less, “the General Resurrection either already happened or isn’t going to happen, so swap wives with us and pay us money instead of the Church so we can party.” John wrote to a Jewish Christian audience, too, and looking ahead to Revelation we can hypothesize that “Jezebel” and the Nicolaitans’ donations would go up if the congregation got Roman jobs by agreeing to worship the Emperor and participating in pagan activities with the trade guilds. Guild feasts were like labor union fraternity parties including activities like drinking blood to become like false gods, worshiping idols, and having sex with temple prostitutes (Acts 15:20).

1:1 We have received our precious faith as a gift. See Romans 5:1 and 2 Corinthians 5:21.

1:2 See John 8:32. Also, as we know Him better and better, we become more stable/peaceful and gracious.

1:3 See John 17:22. We have everything we need for life and godliness, like a tree planted by water with plenty of sunlight (Psalm 1:3). Don’t fall for any of that touchy “second blessing” stuff, buy extra anointing, etc. See Ephesians 1:3.

1:4 “precious promises” We were promised and have received, including but not limited to: a Savior, new hearts, new spirits, and the Holy Spirit. Notice that “having escaped” is in the past tense; we’re already aliens in this world. Decadence or corruption due to evil desires/covetousness can be seen in James 4:1-2, 1 Corinthians 3:3, Genesis 6:11-12, etc. – violence, depravity, jealousy, quarrels, and so forth.

Notice that 2 Peter 1:1-4 says you’re all good. Certain heresies will try to talk you out of that.

1:5-8 This sounds like the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Peter says “for this reason” in reference to what the finished work of Christ has given us as seen in verses 1 through 4 – believe in your new heart and live from it. Really know that you are new so the fruit shines through (John 15:15-17). This will make you a productive and useful Christian, but not any more saved that you were. Only faith in Christ saves.

1:9 People say to “remember your baptism”. Remember that you’re clean now, act like who you are now, and do what you really want to do (instead of what Sin tells you that you want to do).

1:10 This isn’t a high pressure verse to get you to panic about your religious works or lack thereof. This is another way to say verse 9. You are a saint called to bear the fruit of the Spirit, and if you get out of your own way with regard to that, that truth will shine through; not only is that confirmation of who you are, but it’s the most satisfying way to live for you. Some translations make not stumbling seem contingent on doing these things, but it is God that keeps you from stumbling (Jude 24), so it’s more like “live like the saint you are because the Holy Spirit won’t steer you wrong”.

1:11 See Ephesians 3:12. We can now walk right up to Dad fearlessly, assured of his glad welcome.

1:12-13 Remind yourself over and over of the truths of 2 Peter 1:1-11, that we have grace and peace with God through faith in what Jesus did for us, that we have everything we need already, that we have been fixed and now take after Dad, that the best way for us to live is bearing the fruit of the Spirit, that we have been totally cleansed, that He keeps us from stumbling, and that we’re welcome in Heaven.

1:14 Peter had already been told the method by which he would die in John 21; the Lord now had told him that it was coming soon.

1:15 Writing them down was a good idea.

1:16-18 Peter was an eyewitness (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35). Because Christians are now in Christ, we’re just as loved and the Father is just as pleased with us as He is with Jesus (Ephesians 1:6).

1:19-21 The prophets that predicted many verifiable events in human history that we have discussed so far (and that predicted the arrival of Jesus Christ) also told us some things about our future. The Book of Revelation reminds us of some of those insights and gives us more to anticipate. Similar to the method of prophecy Peter describes in verse 21, Scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) through the hands of human writers (think of the self-correction seen in 1 Corinthians 1:14,16) and the Holy Spirit guides us (John 16:13). We worship Immanuel, not a manual. Opponents try to get us to argue minute details of literature and history, but we focus on the Author.

2 Peter 2 looks a lot like Jude. Peter warned about what false teachers would do, and Jude warned of what the false teachers Peter had predicted had then started doing. I believe our understanding of “Jezebel” (Revelation 2:20) and the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:14-16) is enriched by 2 Peter 2 and Jude; it seems that the letters to Jewish Christians also serve as background information for understanding parts of Revelation.

2:1 Peter pivots from the true prophets of 2 Peter 1:21 to false prophets infiltrating the Church (which is nothing new – Jeremiah 23). There’s always been plenty of confusing teaching to go around (look at the issues like legalism Paul had to correct in his writings): an excessive focus on guarantees of health and wealth leads to believers blaming themselves for lacking faith or blaming God for their problems and doubting the security we discussed (yet again) in 2 Peter 1 drives believers into the madhouse, but the false teachers Peter describes are special. The false teachers Peter warns of are Christ deniers (2 John 7-9), they say He’s not coming back (2 Peter 3:3-4), they don’t believe in resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12,32), etc. Regarding “secretly”, some good things can be done in secret (Matthew 6:3-4, 1 Timothy 5:25, writing books under an assumed name to avoid revealing others’ struggles shared confidentially and to avoid a cult of personality). What Peter warns against is more like how atheist communists purposely infiltrated mainline denominations in the United States for political purposes, which led to things like a “bishop” in the denomination I was born into writing a book (that is still published by the denomination’s publisher and available on Amazon as of the time of this writing) in which the Gospel of John is called a late invention, the Virgin Birth is said to be a myth, the adoptionist heresy is endorsed, the physical resurrection of Jesus is denied, Jesus as the only way to salvation is dismissed as Christocentric exclusionism and idolatry, and Christ’s substitutionary atonement is denied. 1 John 4:1-13 defines this “bishop” as an antichrist and 2 John 8-11 says that by publishing him, the denomination is a partner in his evil work. Furthermore, based on poll responses, the progressive members of the denomination prefer a social justice focus and transforming this world to evangelism. Also, 39% hold Reason as supremely authoritative over Christian tradition and (the smallest number of respondents’ choice for authority: 6%), the Bible. These people remind me of the Jacobins of the French Revolution and their Church of Reason.

As for the false teachers being believers since Christ “bought them”, He paid everyone’s tab (John 1:29, 1 John 2:2), but that doesn’t mean everyone takes the deal. They are “among” the people and not of them.

2:2 Paul also encouraged good behavior to protect our witness for Christ (Titus 2:10).

2:3 They want to “exploit” your money (2 Corinthians 2:17), your wife (keep reading), etc. Jeremiah 23:25-32 was written “long” before 2 Peter 2.

2:4 This section about sources outside the Bible is offered in the spirit of understanding what was on the reading list of 2 Peter’s audience and not an endorsement of the non-canonical books as a whole. The Book of Enoch (quoted by Jude and considered canonical in the Ethiopian Church) says the fallen angels or Watchers that mated with human women (a boundary crossing “strange flesh” pairing like bestiality) in Genesis 6 also taught humanity skills like making weapons, cosmetics, written communication, meteorology, astrology, etc. The Book of Enoch and our Bible’s Jude say that these angels are imprisoned until the end of the world for their crimes. Their hybrid children drowned in the Flood and allegedly became the possessing demons seen in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts. In the non-canonical Book of Jubilees, this amounts to 90% of the fallen Watchers, and they were locked up due to a prayer by the righteous Noah. We were divided into 70 “nations” or people-groups with ancestors listed in Genesis 10 under the watchful gaze of angels (Deuteronomy 32:8), elsewhere called Watchers. The remaining allegedly 10% of free Watchers remained in service to Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4), accounting for the spirit prince that Michael (the not-fallen angel that represents God’s people in the heavenly court) fights in Daniel 10:13. These Watchers are the focus of Ephesians 3:10-11 and Ephesians 6:12. I just described the angelic “government” to help this part of Peter’s letter make sense; Christ is above all of that (Colossians 1:16-17, Matthew 28:18).

2:5 in Genesis 7.

2:6-8 in Genesis 18 and Genesis 19. For Lot’s torment, see Genesis 18:20.

2:9 The people God knows how to rescue include the people fooled by the false teachers. You’re godly because of the new birth, not your works (Ephesians 2:8-9). The unbelieving false teachers are in focus for most of the chapter. Regarding the believers they fool, people that are saved that act righteous feel good, and people that are saved that sin feel miserable. You’re safe with Jesus, but your contentment, temporal blessings, and the efficacy of your witness is at stake.

2:10-11 Again, these aren’t believers (1 John 5:1). They “despise authority” already by usurping it for themselves as false teachers. Contempt for apostles and their rulings (Revelation 21:14, Acts 15:20) would apply. Regarding them being “not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings”, this almost certainly isn’t what is intended, but the first Internet reply to what was presented as the first message from intelligent life from another planet was very unloving and demonstrates humanity’s need for Jesus: “F*** off, space n*****, we’re full!” For the real answer, please see Jude 8-9 for context. There are plenty of celestial beings (including Jesus, we saints, angels, etc.), but comparing this with Jude points to fallen angels. There were non-Christians that scoffed at the existence or influence of angels, and there were non-Christians that ordered them around like servants.

Think of the angel worship from Colossians 2:18, Revelation 19:10, and Revelation 22:8-9 and subtract the respect. Think of the Jewish exorcists and subtract God (Matthew 12:27). Jesus was seen as an exceptional exorcist because He didn’t even need to know the demons’ names to order them around on His own authority. More commonly, there were occultists, people similar to the Sons of Sceva (Acts 19:13-16) or Simon Magus (like the people on televised supernatural dramedies), invoking every name in the spellbook instead of praying (Mark 3:22). Their books recommend summoning Michael to fight demons like in Daniel, but Michael appeals to the Lord. The 4th century PGM XXXVI.295-311 Greek magical papyri love spell invokes the God who destroyed Sodom to assist in forcing a desired woman to want to have sexual relations with the spellcaster. There is nothing new under the sun, so DC Comics’ substance-abusing bisexual occultist “John Constantine” might help you visualize these people. Back in Amos 2:1-3, Moab’s listed crime was disrespectfully burning the bones of another ruler under God’s judgment of fire (Amos 1:11-12) and they were promised more fire, so let God judge even the devils. Since Michael refrained from disrespecting or rebuking the devil in his own name in Jude 8-9, then no one should mock Christ’s “late” return.

We’ve already discussed how the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife or angels. The Epicurean philosophers did not believe in an afterlife either, and the upper crust in Judea (government, Sadducees, etc.) was very Hellenized in those times. The Epicureans also believe that God does not care about our actions. True Epicureans value the simple pleasures in life, but nihilistic hedonism was also a popular Greco-Roman approach. Gnostics (matter bad, spirit good) said that since matter was evil, whatever was done with/to the body was irrelevant. Add in the Epicurean influence on top of that to double it. Such beliefs turned church potlucks into Greek symposia of gross sin. This is much closer to the “anything goes” wing of the faith these days than, for example, the Bible-based non-Marcionite perspective of God’s expectations of humans regarding sexuality offered in this commentary.

The Middle Platonist ideas about the inferiority of matter to spirit are enough to explain the proto-Gnostic ideas that Paul and John had to fight in their congregations. Gnostics think that it’s all about re-discovering our own divinity/Christ-consciousness/etc. They have no purpose for the Crucifixion, so they don’t think Jesus physically died on a cross. There’s a version in which Jesus is a spiritual hologram (docetism) and a version in which Jesus was allegedly merely human (and that His level of spiritual development is available to anyone with the secret knowledge). The only “sin” in Gnosticism is ignorance of the secret knowledge.

Then there’s the antinomians, the anti-Law bunch. We’re not under the Law, and we’re dead to the Law thanks to what Christ has done for us, but it still exists to reveal the need for grace. Hearing something like “to Hell with the Law and the angels that brought it” from antinomians makes sense. These would have been the people the audience of Romans 6 were afraid of becoming, those that went out to sin as much as possible so that grace would increase even more (1 Timothy 1:18-19, Romans 3:8, Romans 5:20, Romans 6:1). They wouldn’t have listened to any evidence for Noahide expectations for all humanity or which behaviors were pikuach nefesh exceptions.

Many options work for a backstory, but their picture gets clearer in 2 Peter 3:13-15.

2:12 sounds like the logical product of Acts 23:8.

2:13-14 Based on this description, you might think of pickup artists pretending to be Christian to go get free food and wine at the Communion potluck, to preach the law of sowing and reaping to get a bunch of money from people that can’t really afford it, and to challenge themselves to score with the Christian wives that were harder to get than their usual prey. None of those elements are commendable, but why this combination? Now, let’s look at the first century context: The good jobs were in the Roman trade guilds. They had patron deities. There were feasts in honor of the false gods, some of which involved ritual sex, but adultery is a common metaphor for idolatry in the Old Testament. There was also a baseline expectation of worshiping the emperor as a god in order to participate in the economy. Imagine any flavor of a wolf in sheep’s clothing pastor from the verses 10-11 note that figured out what getting his members to participate in paganism along with their church membership (and polytheism was the default for most people back then) would do to their tithes (which is a matter of the Law of Moses anyway) while stopping the persecution.

2:15-16 Numbers 31:16 blames Balaam (Numbers 22 through Numbers 24) for the events of Numbers 25 in which the Hebrews engaged in ritual sex for the worship of false gods.

2:17 These are unbelievers lacking the Holy Spirit.

2:18-19 See Romans 6.

2:20-21 This resembles Matthew 12:43-45. We all stumble in many ways (James 3:2), works-based righteousness is an all-or-nothing proposition (James 2:10), and 1 Peter 1 (from the same author as 2 Peter 2) is one of many passages about our eternal security. See also Hebrews 6:9, John 3:16, John 6:37, and John 10:27-30. He remembers our sins no more. See Psalm 103:12, Isaiah 43:25, Micah 7:18-19, Colossians 2:13-14, and Hebrews 8:12. Therefore, what is at stake is self-respect, mental health, the ability to witness for Christ, temporal blessings, etc. This will be very blunt and gross, but it speaks to the historical and cultural context: Who feels worse about themselves the day after having public ritual Leviticus 18:23 violation omitted with a bull, a pagan whore or a good Christian? If you think you’re dirty and distant from God, then it’s just one more sin on the pile, but if you’ve ever felt clean and close then going back feels vile (Galatians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:11, Romans 7:23-24). If you used to eat from the dumpster but are now used to fine dining, why would you choose the dumpster again? Going back to the pagan temple feels worse psychologically than never having left it. God has the market cornered on fulfillment.

2:22 from Proverbs 26:11.

3:3-4 The false teachers think He isn’t coming back and that nothing has changed since the world began. They think that judgment isn’t coming for them, so Peter’s about to remind them of a time when it did.

3:5 in Genesis 1:9-10.

3:6 in Genesis 7.

3:7 in Zephaniah 1:18. Someone special needs to see this: This verse is about the destruction of the ungodly. God’s fire of judgment is like that of a refiner in Malachi 3:2, removing the bad stuff and leaving the good stuff. The bush didn’t burn in Exodus 3:2, and the teenagers didn’t burn in Daniel 3:27. Their clothes, made of fabric, didn’t even smell like smoke. Every perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17). God is Love (1 John 4:18) and Love remains at the end (1 Corinthians 13). Your stuffies/plushies are going to be okay, sweetie.

You may have had a favorite stuffed toy as a child. It may have always smiled and been relentlessly cheerful despite how it was treated or what was going on in the world. Was it radically accepting of the harsh realities of life, grinning madly at the world through a perspective espoused by Nietzsche or the cannibalistic Aghori (that live among tombs like the Gerasene demoniac)? Or had it been driven crazy already by this world, pulled toward the insanity around us like gravity? No, the plushie was cheerful and unconditionally supportive for the purpose of comforting you. Was it lying? No, the deeper truth is that it was just being the way it was made. The smile is genuine because it could be no other way than how its maker intended. This is true of us as well. We “new creations'' in Christ are naturally loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, benevolent, loyal, good, and stable and can be very comforting to others when we learn to stop thinking that God is keeping score with us, get over ourselves, and listen. Some children play that the plushies are their babies. It is a much bigger leap for the God of the universe to call me His son than for one of His creatures to adopt their stuffed friend. You are the light of the world, reflecting Him, and maybe the teddy bear of the world too.

3:8 in Psalm 90:4.

3:9 He wants everyone to “change their mind” (which is the Greek meaning of “repentance”) about their own attempts at righteousness and choose Jesus instead. He wants to save everyone, but He didn’t make humans obedient automatons (Psalm 115:16). He stands at the door of peoples’ lives and knocks, but He doesn’t kick down the door. Even people who seem like they didn’t have a choice like Paul (Acts 9) were seeking Him in their own ways (Jeremiah 29:13). See Isaiah 46:10 and Psalm 130:3-4 for clues that He eventually gets His way. While universalism is not guaranteed in the Scripture, intercession by the righteous has been known to work wonders, so let’s all ask Him to save everyone anyway.

3:10 Coming like a thief (Obadiah 5, Matthew 24:43, 1 Thessalonians 5:2) means showing up as a surprise, but the roar and the fire (Deuteronomy 32:22, Zephaniah 3:8) will be obvious to everyone.

3:11-12 in Habakkuk 2:13. Why live like the world when the world will burn? Why would you put the effort into cheating people out of things that have no value to you? When will it all end? Every prediction has been wrong so far. The Pharisee approach to living born from Deuteronomy 4:29-31 and 2 Chronicles 7:14 said that God would sort the Romans out and bring about the World to Come when the people under the Old Covenant got their act together, but we know that only Jesus kept the Law of Moses. At some point, Abe’s physical descendants will choose Jesus after the Gentiles that are getting on board finish getting on board (Romans 11:25). The partial hardening was definitely over by Colossians 1:23, so everyone has a fair shot. Only the Father knows when the Son is coming (Matthew 24:36), and it’s when none of us expect it (Matthew 24:44), so let me express gratitude to the misguided and overly “end times”-focused community for predicting new dates for His return every day, since it seems to be delaying His return long enough for more evangelism.

3:13 See Isaiah 65:17.

3:14 This is an evangelistic appeal given the certainty that the end is coming, like when your pastor gives an altar call in a church service in case anyone in the room hasn’t yet come to Christ. This is an invitation like Hebrews 4:6-11. Believers are already spotless and blameless (Colossians 1:22, Hebrews 10:14) because of what Jesus did for us (Romans 5:1), and He’s going to present you faultless at the finish line, too (Jude 24). This is like the warning in verses 17 and 18 not to follow the people from verses 3 and 4.

3:15 The longer He waits, the more people accept the invitation to eternal life with Him. Notice that at the end of the road, Peter’s still a Paul fan.

3:16 Peter says that Paul’s letters are Scripture on par with the Old Testament, which was a bold thing to say to a Jewish audience back then. The Holy Spirit guides us (John 16:13) through Paul’s writings even if Pete says they’re challenging. Misreading Paul and subsequent disappointment in reality has led to Christ denial, abuse of grace, compromise with Roman paganism, etc. For example, Romans 13:11-12, Philippians 4:5, and 1 Thessalonians 4:15 have all been taken by various people to mean that Jesus’ coming at the end of the world will happen soon. This contributed to the mockery Peter mentioned in 2 Peter 3:3-4. He is “near”, but He will come when the Father says it is time. He will come “quickly”, like a flash of lightning; when He comes, it will be too late for last-minute conversions. “Quickly” in this context does not necessarily mean “soon”. Also, people that read enough Paul to know they were dead to the Law of Moses but not enough Paul to know that they were dead to sin led to behavior similar to what is implied in Romans 3:8. The bums he wrote to in the letters to the Thessalonians were probably influenced by the Sermon on the Mount and/or the Olivet Discourse, but Romans 4:4-5 might have led to some too-early retirements, too. Material in 1 Corinthians 7 is still used to condone marital rape today.

3:17-18 i.e. don’t join the 2 Peter 3:3-4 people. A fall from their position wouldn’t have been all the way to Hell, given Jesus’ many promises, but it’s possible to be saved, insecure, and miserable (Ephesians 4:13-15, Galatians 5:17). If you lose your “okayness”, you won’t be a good witness for Christ. The cure is doubling down on the grace of 2 Peter 1:1-4,9.

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