What Is The Purpose Of The Book Of 2nd Peter? A Bible Study

Why did Peter write the Book of 2nD Peter? Was it a follow up to his first letter or about something altogether different?

The Author

We have no credible reason to believe that anyone but the Apostle Peter wrote the 2nd Book of Peter and probably very close to the time that Peter was crucified upside down so 2nd Peter was probably written near AD 68, just two years before the destruction and fall of Jerusalem to the Roman’s. Peter introduces 2nd Peter by writing “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2nd Pet 1:1). This was a time of severe persecution for the Jews and more so for the Jewish Christians, as most of the church was composed of Jews who placed their trust in Christ and suffered for it, which is why Peter wrote 1st Peter.

The Purpose

Peter wrote 2nd Peter due to infiltration of false teachers into the church bringing destructive teachings contrary to the gospel of repentance and faith brought by Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15) and so Peter wrote to them that, “false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2nd Pet 2:1) and tragically “many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (2nd Pet 2:2-3). We can thank God that “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority” (2nd Pet 2:9-10). Peter wanted the church to know that God knows how to deliver them all safely into the kingdom and won’t allow the unrighteous to go unpunished on the day of Jesus’ visitation.

The Focal Point

Peter was very concerned with all of the false teachers moving into teaching positions in the church. Some were exploiting them with false words (2nd Pet 2:3) and “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption” (2nd Pet 2:19). For them, “it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2nd Pet 2:21). There is hypocrisy in their teachings; they say one thing but then do the very thing they teach others to abstain from and tragically, they’ve become “entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first” (2nd Pet 2:20) which is all the more reason why Peter wanted to church to remember “that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2nd Pet 1:20-21). Peter’s point is for the Christians to believe the Scriptures and not “someone’s own interpretation.” That should keep them from being led into error by these many false teachers.

Call for Holy Living

Peter reminded the church “that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2nd Pet 3:3-4) and today, a lot of anti-Christian’s have been saying that, however “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2nd Pet 3:9), meaning God wants everyone to be saved but tragically not everyone will humble themselves and repent before God and trust in Christ. Just thinking about this should make us ask, “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn” (2nd Pet 3:11-12) so “since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2nd Pet 3:14).

Conclusion

The Apostle Peter is more concerned about the false teachers than just about anything else in 2nd Peter and so he tells the church, “take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability” (2nd Pet 3:17) and one way to prevent that from happening is to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” [so] “To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2nd Pet 3:18). The main things about salvation are also the plain things like “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9)? Jesus gives all of us only one of two choices; “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.