The Lord’s Command and the Testimony of History (2 Peter 3:1-7)
The Apostle Peter tells us the purpose of his inspired letters in the second letter, chapter 3 and verse 1. He writes: “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;” [NIV, “stimulate you to wholesome thinking”] […]
A False Promise (2 Peter 2:17-22)
The Apostle Peter spends a good portion of his second inspired letter warning the followers of Jesus about false teachers. But why is this necessary? Why is the message of false teachers so attractive? It is because of the false promise that these teachers make. After describing the character of false teachers, Peter writes in […]
The Character of False Prophets (2 Peter 2:10-16)
Jesus said, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Luke 6:43 NIV) With this in mind we should pay careful attention to what Peter writes in his second inspired letter about the character of false teachers. Since their characters are bad, the outcome of their lives will be […]
An Inevitable Destruction (2 Peter 2:4-10)
In chapter 2 of his second inspired letter, the Apostle Peter warns the followers of Jesus that false teachers will come among them just as false prophets had come in earlier times. But Peter also assures his readers that false teachers will be destroyed. In verse 3 he writes, “…their destruction will not slumber.” But […]
How to Recognize False Teachers (2 Peter 1:19-2:3)
In the first part of his second inspired letter Peter explained that his teaching about Jesus is true because it is based on eyewitness testimony and because it agrees with the words of God which the prophets delivered. But how can we know what is truly a message from God instead of merely the words […]
Word of the Prophets (2 Peter 1:16-19)
In his second inspired letter the Apostle Peter writes that we can place confidence in what he taught about Jesus because he was an eyewitness of the events of Jesus’ life. In chapter 1, verses 16 through 18 he says, “ For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you […]
The Basis for Belief (2 Peter 1:12-18)
In order to safeguard ourselves from false teaching it is essential that we have a correct knowledge of who Jesus is. But how can we know that what we have been taught about Him is true? One way to do this is to consider the character of those who teach us. In chapter 1, verses […]
Growing in the Knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11)
The theme of the Apostle Peter’s second inspired letter is that in order avoid the errors of false teaching and to avoid misunderstanding God’s promises, we must have a correct understanding of who Jesus is. But a correct understanding of Jesus is more than an intellectual knowledge of who He is. It is not enough […]
Jesus’ Provision and Call (2 Peter 1:3-4)
In his second inspired letter the Apostle Peter tells the followers of Christ that they will receive grace and peace through having a full knowledge of Jesus. If we want peace we must know who Jesus is. Who is Jesus? Peter identifies him as God, Savior, Christ, Lord and Master. But the knowledge Peter writes […]
Who is Jesus? (2 Peter 1:1-2)
The Apostle Peter wrote his inspired letters so that those who read them might be able to reason in a pure way. The basic premise of Peter’s second inspired letter is that uncorrupted thought depends upon having a correct view of who Jesus is. If we have a proper understanding of Jesus and accept His […]