2 Peter 1:8,9 - Being effective and productive

1:8

The false teachers would claim to be adding something to the faith of their targets. Peter now says that the things he has been talking about are what will truly make us effective and productive. Note that we are to possess them in increasing measure. We hopefully have these virtues to some measure, but we need to have them to an even greater measure. “In your knowledge of Jesus Christ” it almost certainly a counter to the gnostic type teaching. They emphasised knowledge, Peter emphasises Christ. In churches we have a habit of following programmes or systems in an attempt to be more effective and productive. The goal and motivation are laudable, but if they become the basis then we will actually get nowhere. If we want true effectiveness and fruitfulness then we need faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, brotherly kindness and love.

1:9

Jesus said that by their fruit shall you know them (Matt 7:16), and Peter has firm words here for those who do not bear the fruit he has been talking about. The Greek word translated “nearsighted” can also mean to blink or to shut ones eyes. If this meaning is used then it fits better with Peter calling them blind. They have chosen to close their eyes to the truth and so do not see. Such people have forgotten that they have been cleansed or purged of their past sins. Coming to Christ involves repenting and believing. It is coming to Christ to be saved from our sins, or else we are not saved at all. It most definitely is not about getting away with sin!

2 Peter 1:7 - Additives

1:7

“Mutual affection” is actually “brotherly kindness” (KJV) or “brotherly affection” (ESV). True faith and doctrine always result in deep affection and care for fellow Christians. If they don’t then the faith is not genuine and the doctrine is worth nothing. As Paul says in 1 Cor 13:3 if we do not have love then we have nothing. The “love” mentioned here is agape. Brotherly kindness is a mutual affection, a caring for one another. Agape finds its source purely in the originator. So God is love, He chose to love us even though there is absolutely nothing lovable about us, when we were by nature objects of wrath (Eph 2:3). But God is love, so He loved us and sent His only Son to die for us. So when we partake in the divine nature we become more and more Christlike, and we will love others, not out of what is in them, but because the Spirit of God dwells within us. Just as an aside, this talk of one-sided love does not mean that we never recognise anything good or admirable in others. We were all created in the image of God and are all corrupted by sin. So there is good and bad in all, in varying degrees. And in the gospels we read that Jesus recognised good qualities in various people, it is also clear that He enjoyed being with people.

In all the virtues mentioned here there is a progression. We start with faith in Christ. We seek to do good. We seek to understand God and His word. Note that doing good comes first. As actively seek to do God’s word we will more readily understand God’s word. As we do good and know God better we will experience contrary drivers in our life, but we will exercise self-control. Many things will seek to knock us off course, to stop us following Christ and obeying Him. We learn to overcome these things. As we persevere we become more Christlike. So if today we are experiencing pressures or emotions or thoughts that are fighting against our aim to do things God’s way we should take courage, keep going, knowing that exercising self-control will lead to us becoming more Christlike. Then this leads to us having brotherly kindness and love. Note that love is far more than a feeling or a sentiment. It is hard work, it takes discipline and knowledge.

2 Peter 1:5,6 - Make every effort

1:5

We now get a list of virtues that we are to add to our faith. Making lists of virtues was a common practice among the stoics. Note the “For this very reason ...” We have been called through God’s “own glory and goodness”, and have been called to partake in the divine nature. Therefore it matters how we live, and we should “make every effort”. Being saved by grace and faith has absolutely no hint of meaning that we just sit back and let God do all the work, such a notion is never found in Scripture. Instead it is always used as a motivation for our making every effort. The word used for “add” was one used of a person who acted as a backer for plays. He would add equipment and training so that the play was lavishly supported. We are to put all we can into backing God’s production of our lives! The first two virtues are goodness (or virtue) and knowledge. It matters how we live, and we are to seek to live good lives. We are also to add knowledge. This does not just mean “head knowledge” (though this is actually a very bad term that we use, implying that it is knowledge that has no practical effect). It means practical wisdom based on truth.  Hosea 4:6 says that God’s people perish through lack of knowledge.

1:6

Self-control was greatly valued by Greek philosophy. It means being in control of one's passions, rather than being controlled by them. Note how society’s “morality” is currently based on giving in to one’s passions! Aristotle talked about “divine virtue” and this being “beyond man”. Likewise modern discussion on sexual morality seem to pay scant regard to the notion of people controlling their lusts. In Christ self-control becomes possible, based on living according to the indwelling Christ. Self-control is no one-off battle, but demands perseverance. It is an ongoing battle, one to be fought every day. The word translated “godliness” means reverence. The self-control and perseverance are to be carried out with a proper attitude towards God.

2 Peter 1:3,4 - Everything we need

1:3

The Gnostics claimed that people needed something more. All false religions claim to add something. Islam adds the Koran and Mohammed, Mormonism adds its book of Mormon. In Christ we have everything that we need. NIV says “for a godly life”, ESV has the better translation, “life and godliness” (in fact I am sure that the older NIV translations had this as well). We have all that we need in order to live, and all that we need in order to be godly. Everything is in Christ. There is no need for “deeper knowledge”, no need for any later prophets, no need for further revelation. And we receive this through our knowledge of him, knowledge of Jesus Christ. As Paul says, in Him dwells all the fullness of God (Col 1:19).  NIV has called us by His own glory and goodness, ESV has called us to His own glory and godliness. In this case the NIV may be more correct. We have been called by God’s own goodness and glory. He has chosen the way. Any other way is the mere invention of men.

1:4

Greek and Gnostic thinking talked about the divine nature, and about escaping the flesh. We have all these in Christ, indeed Christ is the only way in which we can partake in these things. In the gospel we receive God’s promises given in the way that God has chosen. I think this is a more reliable route to take than any way suggested by mere men! “His great and precious promises”. The Bible contains the promise of life, the promise of knowing God of belonging to Him.

Some of the Greek and Gnostic teaching sought to escape the “corruption of the world”. Many religions recognise that there is something wrong with us and the world. But only in Christ can we truly escape the traps of the world. Only in Christ can we become what God wants us to be.

2 Peter 1:1,2 - Servant and Apostle

1:1

In this letter Peter uses the name “Simon Peter” to introduce himself, rather than just Peter. In fact the best manuscripts have “Simeon Peter” (see ESV). Later Peter will have some very direct things to say, so maybe he is stressing his humanity, and reminding them of where he came from. He is not “lording it over them”. He is a bondservant and apostle of Christ. He is a servant with authority. Christian leaders need both of these. A servant without authority will be limited in what they achieve. A leader with authority who forgets they are also a servant will get puffed up, go off the rails, cause untold harm and lose their authority.

Jesus is clearly identified as God. There are those who claim the Bible never states that Jesus is God, such people have read the Bible with their eyes closed. If Jesus is not God then the New Testament makes no sense. Incipient  Gnosticism’s leaders claimed to have superior knowledge. No such claim is made by Peter. The faith his readers had received was as precious as his own faith. They believed in the same God, and had equal “benefits”.

1:2

Grace and peace occurs in the initial blessing of virtually all the New Testament letters. This comes through the knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The use of the word knowledge would be as a counter to the Gnostics. It is the knowledge of Jesus Christ that brings life, not any so-called superior knowledge. And this grace and peace is available in abundance. False teachers will often be seeking to limit the availability of something, seeking to set themselves apart (in the wrong way). The gospel is freely available to all who believe.

2 Peter - Introduction

Introduction

A short while ago we did 1 Peter, so now it is the turn of 2 Peter. As always, anything I say is built upon the foundation of others. In particular I would like to reference Michael Green’s commentary:

Tyndale New Testament Commentary: 2 Peter and Jude - Michael Green, IVP, 1983

The summary of the background to the letter that follows has also drawn from my NIV Study Bible.

Both epistles were written by Peter, but needless to say there are those who cast doubt on the authorship of 2 Peter. So let’s start by looking at this issue.

What is the case for saying Peter wrote it? Well the wealth of internal evidence. Right at the outset the letter claims to be written by Simon Peter. The letter is written in a personal style. He claims to have witnessed the transfiguration (1:16-18). 1:14 could be taken as an allusion to Jesus’ words to Peter at the end of John’s gospel 21:18,19. In 3:1 it says that this is his second letter. He knows Paul (3:15). So the most obvious conclusion is that it was written by Peter!

So why the objections to Petrine authorship? One is the difference in style between this and 1 Peter. Against this can be said that there are also similarities. Moreover, the end of 1 Peter indicates that Silas may have been Peter’s “ghost-writer” for that letter, whereas there is no such indication for 2 Peter. Moreover, the subject matter is different from 1 Peter, so the tone will also be different to some extent. It should also be noted that no positive identification of the supposed author of the letter can be made by the doubters. Therefore we will assume that the letter was indeed written by Peter.

It did take some time before it was finally accepted into the canon. Of the twenty seven books in the New Testament about twenty two of them were widely accepted very early in the church’s life, the other five waited until about 300 AD before they were finally accepted. However, it may have been used by the church as early as the late 1st century.

The letter was written in the latter stages of Peter’s life. So the letter was probably written AD 65-68, Peter is believed to have been martyred by Nero in AD 68.

Peter’s first letter was primarily concerned with coping with persecution of the church. In this letter the focus is much more on dealing with false teachers, and with having a correct view of the last day, the return of Christ. One of the false teachings that is dealt with Gnosticism, or at least an incipient form of it. Another feature of the letter is that about fifteen verses of the book of Jude also occur in 2 Peter.Interestingly none of the references to apocryphal literature found in Jude occur in this letter. There is debate over which came first, or if they were using a common source.

Hebrews 13:18-25 - Pray for us

13:18,19

Like Paul in some of his letters, the writer asks his readers to pray for him. We are all dependent upon the grace of God for any success we might have, and this grace often comes via the prayers of others. It seems that the writer knew the people and had unavoidably been away from them for sometime. He desires to be able to visit them again as soon as possible.

13:20

“The God of peace” is reminiscent of the sort of blessing used by Paul. The old covenant was temporal, it was time limited. The new covenant is eternal, and is sealed in the blood of Jesus. If Jesus’ blood had not been sufficient to pay for all our guilt then He would not have been raised from the dead. The resurrection proved that His blood was indeed sufficient. And Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep.

13:21

Our salvation is more than a rescue mission. We are saved from sin and death, but there is much more than that. We are equipped, empowered, to be the people God wants us to be. And God wants us to be effective, to be people who do things. Right from the beginning in Genesis to the end in Revelation we see that God creates us to do things, to be someone, and when He chooses people He chooses them for a purpose and with a purpose. Our greatest desire should be for God to work in us to make us ever more like Christ, and that starts to take effect now.

13:22-25

We might think that Hebrews is quite a lengthy book, certainly one of the longest epistles. However, he wants his readers to pay close attention to what he has said, and so should we. Timothy is almost certainly the same Timothy who worked with Paul. Evidently he had been imprisoned for a time. This could be prison in a cell, or some form of house arrest.

Finally the letter close with some brief greetings and the common closure of wishing God’s grace to be with them.