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General letter – 2 Peter 1:1-2

The writer introduces himself as Simeon Peter. This form of Peter’s name is used only twice in the New Testament. The second time it is in James’ speech at the meeting of the Apostles (Acts 15:14).

Servant of Christ was an honorific title: already in Old Testament times it was an honor to be a servant of God (which in Greek can also mean slave; Isa 41:8, 49:3, see also Phil 1:1, Jas 1:1, Jude 1, Rev 1:1).

Peter calls Jesus God (verse 1). There are several places in the New Testament where Jesus is called God: Matt 1:23, Luke 5:20-21, John 1:1,18, John 5:18, John 20:28, Rom 9:5, Phil 2:6, Col 2:9, Titus 2:13, Heb 1:8, 1 John 5:20.

The recipients of the letter are not introduced: they are "only" Christians (verse 1). The letter is truly universal. The recipients of the letter are not the same as the recipients of 1 Peter, because Peter had visited the congregation or congregations of the recipients of this letter (2 Peter 1:16), but not the congregations of the recipients of 1 Peter (1 Peter 1:12).

"those who have obtained a faith" (2 Peter 1:1)

Note that in verse 1 faith is said to be a gift: "...have obtained..."

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2)

Here the knowledge of Lord may refer to the heresy that spread to the churches, or Gnosticism, which emphasized secret knowledge. Knowing is a central theme of the letter: see 1:3,5 (knowledge), 8, 3:18.

Peter gives Jesus four titles, titles:
1. God
2. Savior
3. Christ
4. Lord

It is important to see that Jesus is all of these. Unfortunately, we often start to make selections: yes, Jesus is the Savior, but he is not God, etc. The Jesus of the Bible must be accepted in its entirety, not just "in appropriate parts".

God’s Gifts for Use – 2 Peter 1:3-11

In verse 3, Peter reminds his readers that God has given them everything they need to live as Christians. In verse 4, he speaks of God’s promises, on which we can face the future.

Living as Christians can be described with the pair of concepts: “already” and “not yet.” We already have all the treasures of heaven, but we are still on the way, and not yet there.

Where this tension is not seen, one of two delusions easily results:
1. The current “level of Christianity” is good enough, there is no need to strive for anything better.
2. God’s promises are not fulfilled, they are not true.

The problem with both is that the measure of Christianity is taken to be man and his life, not God and his promises. Christianity always rests on God’s promises. We cannot build any other foundation for it. If we build, we build a new faith at the same time.

The end of verse 3 may be a reference to the events on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8, see also 2 Peter 1:16-18).

At the end of verse 4, we find what the mystery religions of that time were striving for: participation in the divinity. Elsewhere in the New Testament we find similar ideas, but they do not speak of participation in the divine nature: e.g.

"so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."
(1 John 1:3)

The idea of ​​the sonship of God (1 John 2:28-3:1) also comes close to this.

"And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."
(1 John 2:28 - 3:1)

So, in verse 4 Peter used an expression that was easy to misinterpret. We must also remember that the original sin of man is to want to "become like God" (Genesis 3:5). Truth and error are often extremely close to each other. They are not always opposites.

Verses 5-7 list eight areas of Christian growth. Everything begins with faith and ends with love. The six virtues in between were familiar from the teachings of the philosophers of that time.

Both here and in verse 4 Peter uses familiar, secular terms of the time. This is dangerous, but also necessary if one wants to reach "ordinary people". When terms that also have a secular meaning are used in the proclamation, it must be made clear that in the Christian faith they take on a new, deeper meaning. At that time, brotherly affection (verse 7) was only spoken of within the family circle. The fact that the apostles spoke of it in the churches was new: Christians are one family, the family of God.

The steadfastness of verse 6 means that one wants to follow the path of God's promises to the end (cf. 2 Pet 3:4).

Faith is never just a construct of thought or philosophy, but it is life (verse 8, cf. Deut 29:28, John 7:17). Whoever does not want to follow Jesus, has forgotten what he was baptized for (verse 9). Even at that time there were those who wanted to have the best of both the world and faith. Whoever tries to do so, will find that in the end he will have neither.

The "fall" in verse 10 does not mean a fall into sin, but a fall from God's grace. Sin follows us throughout this earthly life (James 3:2). If this were not the case, Peter would not have needed to give his exhortations (verses 5-9).

Notice the tension in verses 10 and 11. Although Peter earnestly urges his readers to walk by faith, he still speaks of salvation as an act of God alone (in verse 11: "open doors"). We cannot save ourselves, but we can lose ourselves. Luther deals with this difficult question in his difficult book "The Bound Power of Decision" (see also Hebrews 3:12-14).

This passage could be characterized by the exhortation: "Become what you already are!" Christians will become perfect, but only in heaven. Here in time, the battle against sin continues.

Peter’s Testament – ​​2 Peter 1:12-15

In this section, Peter explains the reason for writing his letter. Christianity is based on real events that once happened. Forgetting them soon leads to a change in faith. If the foundation changes, the faith built on it will also change. Unfortunately, this had already happened in Peter’s time, as we will see when we study the second chapter of this letter.

Already in the Old Testament (Isaiah 38:12) the human body was called a tabernacle (shelter). So did Peter (verses 13 and 14) and Paul (2 Corinthians 5:1). The tent of a nomad was only a temporary dwelling. When the pastures became scarce, the tent was taken down and erected in a new place. We too should remember that our bodies are only a temporary dwelling. Nomads were, in a way, always on the move. The church is also often called the wandering people of God.

Verse 14 may refer to the conversation between the resurrected Jesus and Peter on the shore of Lake Gennesaret (John 21:18-19), although John does not say that anything was said about the time of Peter's death on that occasion. It is possible that Peter later received "additional information" from Jesus about his death, but that later revelation has not survived to us.

The Church Father Origen says that Peter suffered a martyr's death during the persecutions of Emperor Nero. The Church Father Origen says that Peter did not consider himself worthy to be crucified like Jesus, but was crucified head down.

Based on these verses, we can conclude that this letter - like the First Letter of Peter - was written in Rome. It is difficult to think that someone - even a disciple of Peter - could have written this in Peter's name.

After the apostles, there will be no new revelation, replacing the old one. That is why it is important that the testimony of the apostles has been preserved to our day (verse 15).

The Reformer Martin Luther emphasized the importance of reviewing the fundamentals of faith: if the foundation is unclear, nothing worthy and lasting can be built on it (compare verses 12 and 15).

God has spoken – 2 Peter 1:16-21

In verses 16-18 Peter speaks of the “New Testament” – which of course had not yet been compiled – i.e. the testimony of the apostles. In verses 19-21 he speaks of the Old Testament.

“Cleverly fabricated fables” (verse 16) refer to the stories of false teachers (compare 2 Peter 2:3).

The fact that Peter speaks specifically of the second coming of Christ (verse 16) is probably due to the fact that false teachers had sought to mislead the recipients on this issue (compare 2 Peter 3:4). On the other hand, it is true that the question of Christ’s return was a very central issue for the first Christians (compare 1 and 2 Thessalonians).

The apostles were eyewitnesses (verse 16, compare Acts 1:21-22).

Verses 17 and 18 speak of the events on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36, see also John 1:14). The places of God's appearance were "automatically" holy places for the Jews (verse 18, Exodus 3:5, 19:23).

Verse 19 states that the world is in darkness (John 1:5, Rom 13:12, Eph 6:12, 1 Thess 5:4, 1 John 2:8), but the light of God’s Word can give light to the Christian’s journey (Ps 119:105). The morning star (verse 20), or the planet Venus, is a sign that the sun is rising and the night is ending.

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus taught two of his disciples that all the Old Testament - the Law, the Prophets, the Scriptures - testify about him (Luke 24:27, see also John 5:39).

Based on verse 20, the Roman Catholic Church has taught that the Bible should not be studied alone but can only be understood through the teaching office of the church. Peter is not speaking of such a thing, but that human reason cannot understand God’s revelation; it can only be understood through the work of the Holy Spirit.

In Jeremiah and Ezekiel in particular, it is often said, "...the word of the Lord came to me..." (Jer 1:2, Eze 1:3, see also Isa 38:4, Hos 1:1, Joel 1:1, Jonah 1:1, Micah 1:1, Zeph 1:1, Hag 2:1, Zech 1:1). Isaiah, Jeremiah, or any of the other prophets could not wake up in the morning and decide: "Today I will receive prophecies!" but they depended on what they received from God (see 1 Pet 1:10-12).

Verse 21 reminds us that God has spoken. It also answers the question of Peter's first readers: whom should we believe, the apostles or the new teachers?

The Bible is entirely human and entirely divine, without mixing or separating them. The fact that it is not possible to separate the human and divine elements in the Bible from each other means that it is not possible to understand the Bible correctly using human reason alone. Reason can reveal a lot of information about the text, but not the deepest essence of the Word: God's revelation, a message for all times.

The entire Bible points to Christ. Christ is the common thread of the Bible.