the second epistle from peter
Once the student comes to the realization that Christ returned and gathered together His Church into heaven around 70 A.D., that then throws an entirely new and different light upon all he reads. Foremost, that eon-concluding event drew a line and erected a barrier which stretched across the entire landscape. All who wrote after that occurrence are of a different class, a lesser class, a confounded and confused class compared to those men of GOD who were inspired to write the Christian scriptures (see Whatever Happened to Timothy?).
The Churchmen of the second and third centuries, from whom many Church Traditions originated, apparently had very little knowledge and understanding of the true nature of those events which transpired before 70 A.D. Thus, we should never attempt to interpret some passage of scripture according to what they wrote or are said to have written. There are times when their comments can be brought to bare upon the scriptures; howbeit, those times are rare.
Thus, if one endeavors to understand Biblical truths through the eyes of the second and third century writers, they can't help but be misled. Any student who attempts to interpret the scriptures by way of the writings of these so called Church Fathers, will quickly find their efforts conflicted and confused. It is only when we turn away from Church Tradition and let scripture speak for itself and by itself that we have any chance at unraveling the twisted knot which these traditions have tied.
We have determined in our previous Study on 1 PETER that it was written early, probably shortly after Peter escaped from Herod's dungeon, when he very likely fled to Babylon (ACTS 12:17). Howbeit, in his second epistle there are several indicators which suggest for us a late date, sometime towards the end of the book of ACTS. Let's consider some of these to see how they affect the timing of Peter's second letter.
1). In this second epistle, Peter revealed that the end of his life was then near (1:14). As he seemed quite alive and well at the ACTS 15 council, this indicates that this letter must have been written some distance after that gathering.
2). The apostle Paul was not even mentioned in Peter's first epistle, probably personally unknown to most of the believers at that early date. Yet in his second epistle, Peter noted that his readers were not only familiar with some of the Paul's epistles but that they also wrestled with his doctrine (3:15). As Paul's first epistles were probably the two to the believers at Thessalonica, which it is commonly thought that he wrote while he was at Corinth (ACTS 18:6 54 A.D.), Peter must have been referring to an occasion sometime after this.
We should remember that Paul's ministry really took off while he was teaching for two years in the school of Tyrannus, after which Luke tells us that all Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Gentiles (ACTS 19:10). That Paul's teaching had become an issue with some of Peter's readers would be much more likely after this great missionary work rather than before Paul was so widely known.
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3). We should also recognize that Paul made reference to Peter in the epistles which he wrote to the Galatians (2:7-9) and to the Corinthians (1 CORINTHIANS 9:5), and it is inconceivable that Peter could have died without Paul even noting it. GALATIANS could have been written in ACTS 16:6 but more likely it was not written until ACTS 20:2 (around 58 A.D.). 1 CORINTHIANS was written around ACTS 19:22 (54 A.D.). This suggests the writing of Peter's second letter somewhere this side of those dates.
4). 1 PETER was all about the newly converted Christian being an obedient child (1:14), desiring the milk of the word and growing thereby (2:2). There they were to gird up the loins of their mind (1:13), be holy (1:15), purifying their souls in obeying the truth (1:22). As living stones they were being built into a spiritual house (2:5), a holy and royal priesthood, called out of darkness into the light (2:9). As strangers and foreigners of this world, they were to abstain from fleshly lust (2:11), being honest and good working (2:12). They were to each be subject to one another (5:5), to the laws of their land, and to their rulers (2:13-14). The Christian wives were to be in subjection even to their unbelieving husbands (3:1). Each of them were to be loving, pitiful, merciful, courteous, speaking no evil of anyone (3:8-11).
Yet in 2 PETER we have an entirely different theme set before us. There, the believer was cautioned not to forget that he had been cleansed from his old sins (1:9). In this letter Peter was determined to remind them of these things, to put them in remembrance of them (1:12), that after his death they might remember them (1:15). Thus, in 2 PETER many of his readers appeared to be mature and seasoned believers, elders and leaders, who were perhaps in danger of drifting away from the simple truth which they had been taught.
5). In Peter's first epistle, he had consistently encouraged his readers to endure their own personal trials and tribulations. Howbeit, in 2 PETER there was a whole different message. There, Peter's readers were warned to guard against false teachers who would lead many of them astray (2:1). In 1 PETER there was no hint nor suggestion that the Church was threatened by an internal crisis, but that was definitely one of the main thrusts of 2 PETER.
In 2 PETER he set his own gospel message against cunningly devised fables (1:16), which were evidently being spun by false teachers. He warned them that these false teachers would introduce them to damnable heresies (2:1), who also would draw away many, speaking evil of the way of truth (2:2). These false teachers were seeking to make merchandise of the believers (2:3); worming their way into the believer's fellowships, having eyes full of adultery, beguiling unstable souls, having forsaken the right way (2:14).
While speaking great swelling words of vanity, promising liberty, they would allure away newly converted believers who had just recently escaped from their old corrupt ways (2:18-19). Peter assured them that it would have been better for them to have never of come to the faith, then after having been cleansed, to then return to their former filth (2:21). Evidently these false teachers had also been deriding the apostle Paul's teaching, for Peter assured them that Paul's wisdom could be trusted (3:15-16).
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6). This timing of Peter's defense for Paul might be related to Paul's own comment to Timothy that all Asia had at that time turned away from him (2 TIMOTHY 1:15). Thus, Peter cautioned his readers to beware that they themselves were not to be led away with the error of the wicked, hence falling from their own steadfastness (3:17). These were evidently old fellowships where many of the believers had been taught the meat of the word, but were now in danger of drifting away from the basic principles of the truth, and then being carried off as booty (2:3).
7). In 2 PETER they were continually instructed not to be ignorant, but rather to investigate, fully perceive and remember the true and right way of righteousness (1:12, 13, 15). Though one might escape from the pollutions of the world he can still become re-entangled in sin by forgetting that which he had learned (2:20). Therefore, they were to stir up their minds by remembrance! Peter's readers were to remain mindful of the words of the prophets and the commandments of the apostles (3:1).
These words of warning in 2 PETER suggests to us that Peter was now writing to believers, many of whom were not new to the faith but rather had been around for some time. Thus, these two epistles of Peter were evidently written many years apart from one anther. In the first epistle, the readers were relatively young believers who needed the milk of the word as guidance for their spiritual growth (2:2). Yet in the second epistle, a majority had evidently been quite some time in the faith, in danger of forgetting much which they had been taught.
8). Another reason for determining that the second letter must have been written many years after the first, is that in the first they were often comforted and encouraged with the promise of the Return of Christ. Peter began by writing that they were begotten unto a lively hope, to an incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven (1:3-4), their salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1:5). They were promised (1:7) that the trial of their faith would be found unto praise and glory at the appearing of Yeshua (Jesus). They were instructed to gird up their minds, be sober and hope for the grace that was coming to them at Yeshua's revelation (1:13).
They were on more than one occasion also assured that Yeshua had gone into heaven to the right hand of GOD, with angels, authorities and powers being subject unto Him (3:22; 4:11; 5:11). Peter's readers were told in this first letter that at the appointed time He would judge those both alive and those who had died (4:5), but Peter assured them that when His glory was revealed, that their joy would be triumphant (4:13 NEB). Peter testified that he would be a partaker of Christ's glory (5:1), and further that the believers would receive an enduring crown of glory when the chief Shepherd appeared (5:4).
And even though there are some of the same exhortations and promises in both letters concerning what the believer could expect at Christ's return, only in the second letter were they cautioned about being caught off guard when the thief did eventually come (3:10). Peter warned them of those who were going to cast doubts in their minds as to the promised return of Christ (3:4). These scoffers would question why the Lord delayed so long to return, if indeed He ever would return. So much time must have elapsed between the two letters that many believers were now beginning to wonder if Christ was indeed ever going to return at all. Some had evidently given up on that hope altogether.
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9). Perhaps what throws many off the right scent in recognizing a space of many years between these two letters, is a passage in 2 PETER where he mentioned that this was the second epistle which he had written them (3:1). Assuming that 1 PETER was the first epistle, evidently the two must have been written in close proximity to one another. But are we to suppose that the great apostle Peter wrote only two letters over the course of his entire ministry? Surely not.
Rather, we should expect that he probably wrote scores of letters. The fact that only two have come down to us is no proof that these were the only ones which he wrote. Simply because Peter called one of them the second letter, that does not implore us to try and bind the two letters together into some sort of packet, especially when we can detect so many stark differences between them.
Several details in the address of the two letters make it very unlikely that Peter was referring in any way to 1 PETER when he wrote 2 PETER. 1st and 2nd PETER were written to two entirely different groups of people. The first letter was, as we discussed in the previous Study, written to Jewish Christians who were of the Diaspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. In 2 PETER, he addressed his letter, "To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours" (RSV). Nothing is suggested anywhere in 2 PETER that they were believers of the Jewish Diaspora, or solely Jewish believers of any sort.
Hence, this second epistle was evidently intended for all the believers who had obtained faith of equal standing with Peter and his fellow Christians, irrespective of whether or not they were Jews or Gentiles. Peter himself was a Jewish Christian, so the fact that his readers had now obtained the same faith as he had previously obtained, indicated that they were either other Jews who had accepted Yeshua as the Messiah, or that they were Gentiles who had converted to Christianity, or more likely, his letter was addressed to both Jews and Gentiles who had joined the faith.
As noted above, Peter mentioned that he was writing this second epistle just before his death (1:14). Obviously, by that time many Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire had joined the faith. And the added fact that Peter mentioned that his readers knew also of Paul's letters (3:15), the apostle to the Gentiles, is further evidence that these were not solely Jewish believers to whom Peter wrote. Thus we have numerous reasons to see in this letter an address to both Jewish as well as Gentile believers; to all that had obtained "like precious faith". When Peter called this letter his second, it was no doubt his second to these specific individuals, but not the second which he ever wrote.
In light of 2 PETER being written sometime late in the Book of ACTS, to all believers irrespective of whether they were of Jewish or Gentile background, let us now consider some of the enlightening topics which Peter discussed; revelations which he had surely learned from his risen Lord concerning the kingdom of GOD (ACTS 1:3).
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Perhaps one of the most notable things which we observe in 2 PETER is the many similarities between this letter and 2 TIMOTHY. It is our estimation that Paul wrote 2 TIMOTHY while he was imprisoned in Caesarea (ACTS 23:33), not as is generally taught that he wrote it after he was sent as a prisoner to Rome (ACTS 28:16). We have set this forth in the Study entitled Paul's Prison Epistles. If this is accepted, then that might help us in dating 2 PETER, for there are many parallels between the two letters.
Both writers repeatedly mentioned putting their readers in remembrance of what they had previously learned; Paul in 1:6; 2:14 and Peter in 1:13, 15; 3:1-2. Paul noted that all in Asia had turned away from him (1:15) which Peter might be alluding to when he wrote that some were twisting and contradicting the things which Paul had written in his epistles (3:16).
In these two letters, both Paul and Peter encouraged their readers to faithfully await the Return of Christ. In Paul's letter he wrote of some individuals saying that the Resurrection had already come and gone (2:18), suggesting that those remaining had missed the gathering together. Peter on the other hand confronted the false conclusion that Christ was evidently not going to return at all (3:3-4). Some of his readers had deduced that if Christ was indeed returning that he would have already done so.
Both writers also stressed the fact that the scriptures were to be trusted. Paul wrote that all scripture was GOD breathed (3:16) while Peter noted that men of GOD were moved by the holy spirit when they wrote (1:20-21). But further, both writers cautioned their readers concerning those who would take these holy scriptures and misrepresent them, those who would miss-interpret them (2 TIMOTHY 4:3 & 2 PETER 2:1).
Thus, each epistle warns of fables. Paul wrote that these false teachers will turn the believer's ears from the truth of the return of Christ unto fables (4:4) while Peter wrote that he and his fellow witnesses of Christ's resurrection did not use cunningly devised fables when they taught the word of GOD (1:16).
Both apostles repeatedly spoke of the importance of the believer acquiring a knowledge (epignosis, an exact or full knowledge) of the truth. To Timothy, Paul wrote that as a servant of the Lord he must "not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging (epignosis) of the truth" (2:24-25). Thus, Paul taught that without true repentance, the sinner would be forever learning yet never able to come to a accurate knowledge (epignosis) of the truth (3:7).
Peter likewise assured his readers that grace and peace would be multiplied to them through the knowledge (epignosis) of GOD and Yeshua (1:2). And even further, that all things that pertain unto life and godliness were given unto them through the knowledge (epignosis) of the Lord (1:3). And still further, Peter instructed them that if they developed in their lives the virtues of Christian living (1:8), elsewhere spoken of as the fruit of righteous living (MATTHEW 7:17-19 LUKE 8:14-15 JOHN 15:2-51 EPHESIANS 5:9 HEBREWS 12:11 JAMES 3:18), that they would then never be barren nor unfruitful in this knowledge (epignosis).
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Both writers emphasized the importance of remembering (hupomnesis, a remembrance prompted by another). Paul commented on remembering Timothy's unfeigned faith (1:5); while Peter twice mentions stirring up his readers by way of remembrance (1:13), even giving the purpose of his epistle as a way of stirring up their pure minds (3:1). Incidentally, these are the only occurrences of hupomnesis in the Christian scriptures.
Thus, when we consider all of the similarities between these two epistles of Peter and Paul, we must consider the likelihood that they were written in close proximity to one another. Both were addressing the same dangers which the Church was confronting. Both epistles found the two writers in the same frame of mind. Both saw their worlds in a similar light.
None of us can say for sure when 2 PETER was written, but if it was written around the same time that Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, then all of the other details fit smoothly into place. Peter would then have written after Paul was taken prisoner at Jerusalem around May of 57-58 (ACTS 24). We can have confidence in this date, because after two years Paul appeared before Festus, who had been appointed procurator around 59-60 (ACTS 25:1).
So what specifically did Peter recount in this second epistle which he had learned from his risen Lord? First off, if his readers were indeed going to find that hidden entrance into the kingdom of GOD (1:11), then they would need to develop within themselves those traits and attributes which Yeshua had years before developed within Himself.
The true word of GOD had given them all that they would need to acquire this resurrection life (1:3). This life was to be ascertained by first learning and mastering an accurate knowledge of just who Yeshua was; what He was all about and that which He required of His followers and disciples. If they were diligent enough to discover and understand everything that they could learn about Him, following His instructions and directives, then they were well on their way to escape the corruption which was the ultimate end for all those who were still enslaved to this present world (JOHN 8:31-32).
As they faithfully gathered up Yeshua's sayings, and then marshaled their lives to imitate and emulate His, they were to eventually become fellow partakers of the divine nature (1:4). Peter therefore was instructing them, that with all haste and diligence they needed to develop out from their common faith (1:1) the same nature which their Lord had Himself learned (HEBREWS 5:8).
From this faith they were to develop virtue (1:3, 5). Curiously, this Greek word arete, translated virtue, only occurs elsewhere (outside of Peter's letters) once in the Christian scriptures (PHILIPPIANS 4:8). The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as "The quality of moral excellence, righteousness, and responsibility; probity; goodness", which well suits Peter's purpose. After an individual's conversion to the Christian faith, he must first learn to become moral and righteous. This is his foundation. From this solid rock of faith, he is instructed to build his life into something worthy of the kingdom of GOD.
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Beginning in the fifth verse, Peter instructs them to add a variety of things to their faith, but the essence of this word is more than to simply add. Rather, it means, "something further to be done," (Vines Complete Dictionary, page 696), not as a supplement to their virtue, but as a development, an outgrowth, a fruit. Hence, from good and moral motives they were then to acquire a knowledge (1:3) which was the result of enquiry, investigation and recognition. Yeshua had demonstrated the vital importance of this, when he rebuffed the tempter, declaring, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (MATTHEW 4:4).
As earthly bread is essential for this present life, so the words of GOD are vital for eternal life. Yeshua taught elsewhere that those who are willing to learn from GOD, are then able to come to Him, the bread of everlasting life (JOHN 6:35, 39-40, 44-45). But we must first open the Book, unroll the scroll and find for ourselves where It is written.
As Peter's readers had acquired this knowledge of Yeshua's ways, as they then continued in His words, disciplining themselves to mimic His steps, they were then to develop within themselves temperance, which is self control. Without self control there is little hope that the Christian will mature so as to develop within himself the fruit of the spirit.
And how often are we told of the self control which Yeshua both taught and displayed? He taught His listeners that they must go beyond physical self control; but that they must even exercise self control over their thoughts. He commanded, "whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (MATTHEW 5:28), going on to warn them that whosoever did not master this command, were in real danger of being cast into hell, which is the eternal dwelling place of the dead; not some physical place but rather a state of being.
He Himself demonstrated this self control when He ate nothing during His forty days temptation in the wilderness (LUKE 4:2). And then again when Yeshua and the Twelve were on the run from Herod, He personally was more concerned about the salvation of a Samarian woman than He was about His own hunger pains (JOHN 4:31-32).
Yeshua again demonstrated His self control by knowing when to keep His mouth shut. That is perhaps one of the hardest lessons for the Christian to learn, bridling his tongue (JAMES 3:8). Yet Yeshua showed that it could be done when he stood silently before the chief priests and elder's accusations (MATTHEW 27:12-13), as well as on another occasion while He endured the agony of the cross.
How enormously tempting it must have been to want to jump down off of that cross and kick some butt. But no, He just hung there, being humiliated, ridiculed, laughed at. Had He not taught His followers to "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other" (LUKE 6:28-29)? Yeshua meant what He said. He practised what He preached. He put His money where His mouth was, so to speak.
And this is the example which the Christian is to emulate. This is that which we are being trained for. These are the virtues we are to develop in our own lives. We are not to repay evil for evil. We are not to devise how to exact our revenge upon those who have wronged us. If we are to find that hidden entrance into His heavenly kingdom, then we need to learn self control.
But back in 2 PETER,
From this self-control they were to develop within themselves patience, meaning a loyal and patient endurance. This means that they were to continue on even though their prayers seemed unanswered, even though their needs seemed to be un-met, even though their fruit seemed to them to be withering on the vine.
Yeshua had taught that there were four seeds cast into the soil, but only those few seeds which endured with patience brought forth fruit (LUKE 8:15). He taught them to have no anxiety about their physical needs, for their heavenly Father knew quite well what their needs were. Instead they were charged to seek first this kingdom of GOD, then all of the trifles in life would fall into place (MATTHEW 6:25-33).
He had himself been tempted to take matters into His own hands and seek an outcome which although might have been easier in the short run, it was contrary to the will of GOD, who always has the long run in mind (MATTHEW 4:8-10).
Thus, He often warned and encouraged His followers not to be caught off guard when their listeners grew to hate them, excluding them from the congregation, forbidding any to have fellowship with them, even disparaging their very name. Instead of being disheartened, they were to rejoice, because Yeshua assured them that their reward would be great when they got to heaven (LUKE 6:22-23).
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Yeshua knew all too well about being hated, about being misrepresented, about being lied about. And further, if Yeshua Himself was not able to set this world straight and make them see the light, what chance do we suppose that we will be able to? Instead, we should commit ourselves and our future to GOD. We should faithfully endure any hardship which we imagine we face, and live for that life which is after this life. That resurrection life, that life in His heavenly kingdom. There is where we should set our affection.
To this loyal endurance Peter's readers were to develop godliness, which was a love and duty shown to GOD by doing HIS will (Distinctive Ideas on the Old Testament, page 94). Godliness had been linked by the apostle Paul with honesty, wholesome words, contentment, righteousness, love, patience and meekness. But he placed it against being enamored with silly myths, being prideful or envious, stirring up contention and slander. Gain is not godliness, but godliness with contentment is great gain. Howbeit, be warned that there is a form of godliness which is not true. Here the participators are "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth". Instead, Paul instructed Timothy to train himself to be godly (1 TIMOTHY 4:7) just as Peter is instructing his readers in his epistle.
Godliness is most often represented as one living for that heavenly kingdom, and not rather scurrying about in a futile attempt to lay away for themselves trivial treasures upon this earth. What a sad waste of one's life to think of nothing much else but acquiring frivolous play things.
Yeshua had discovered that which accompanied the believer beyond the grave, and He therefore encouraged His listeners to not let anything stand between them and GOD. Don't be sidetracked by carnal pleasures and treasures.
Later He warned them that any of them which were not willing to forsake all that he had, could not be His disciple (LUKE 14:33). That warning was directed at Yeshua's listeners, so we can't be sure how fully it might apply to us today, but the principle certainly does. If we are to acquire Christian virtues, if we are to reap the fruit of the spirit, then we can't just dawdle along giving discipleship only a minor place in our lives. We must decidedly and seriously train for it. This is about our participation in the spiritual Olympics.
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Yeshua had exclaimed that His very sustenance was to do the will of His Father (JOHN 4:34). His loving obedience to His Father was so certain that He was willing to lay down His very life, indeed His immortal life for the cause (JOHN 10:15).
Yeshua had noted that the ones who proved their love for Him, were the ones who first had His word, but then also obeyed His word (JOHN 14:21-23). But those who did not keep His words, were blatantly demonstrating that they truly did not love Him. The fact that Yeshua kept His Father's commandments proved His love. As such, any who wished to prove their love for Yeshua, could only do so by keeping His commandments (JOHN 15:10). Thus, it only stands to reason that if we today are going to demonstrate our obedient love for GOD, we must learn and observe HIS Son's commands.
Along with this loving obedience to GOD, Peter's readers were also to develop brotherly kindness. Yeshua demonstrated this on numerous occasions. When He washed the disciples feet (JOHN 13:14); when He raised from the dead the widows son (LUKE 7:13); when He healed the Leper (MARK 1:41); when He was moved with compassion upon the following multitudes who were as sheep without a shepherd (MATTHEW 9:36 & MARK 6:34); and when He fed the multitude who had stuck with Him for three days (MARK 8:2).
But He also taught His followers and disciples about this. He did so when He imparted unto them the parable about the good Samaritan (LUKE 10:30); when He taught about beholding the mote (speck RSV) in their brother's eye while overlooking the beam (log RSV) which was in their own eye (MATTHEW 7:1-5); and when He taught that when they gave meat to the hungry, or when they gave drink unto the thirsty, or when they gave shelter to the stranger, or when they gave clothing to the naked, or visited the sick, and when they came unto those in prison, that in truth they were really doing those things unto Him, because, "....as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (MATTHEW 25:34-41).
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To this brotherly kindness they were to develop within themselves love (charity), which is translated from the Greek word agape. This agape is the culmination of Peter's evolving list of Christian virtues, but how seldom is the true meaning of the word understood. Let's take a closer and fresh look at what exactly the word agape means and suggests. I was taught and accepted long ago that agape is the love of GOD. Yet when we try to reconcile that with scripture we find that this definition just doesn't fit. Even in this same epistle of Peter's, the word cannot mean the love of GOD.
This word agapao is simply the verb where agape is the noun. Here in this passage we are told that Balaam loved (agapao) the wages of unrighteousness. Being categorized with the false prophets, Balaam obviously did not love the wages of unrighteousness with the love of GOD. His was an agape of an entirely different type then the love of GOD.
Elsewhere in the Christian writings we are told that a man cannot simultaneously love (agapao) both GOD and money (MATTHEW 6:24); that the Pharisees loved the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets (LUKE 11:43); that certain men loved darkness rather than light (JOHN 3:19); or the praise of men more than the praise of GOD (JOHN 12:43); that a certain Demus had forsaken Paul, having loved this present world (2 TIMOTHY 4:10); and John warned his readers against loving the world, or the things which were in the world, for if any man loved the world, the love of the Father was not in him (1 JOHN 2:15).
How then can one argue that agape means the love of GOD? We must search for a more appropriate meaning, one which more fully embraces the true significance of this word, which according to Peter in his epistle is the ultimate culmination of the Christian virtues which the believer is instructed to develop in his life.
Agape can be the love of GOD (LUKE 11:42), but as we have seen it can also be the love of evil and selfish men. It can be the love resulting in great and noble causes (JOHN 3:16), but it can also be the love for trivial and pathetic objects. This is a love which drives the individual to sacrifice for a cause which is outside of himself. It may be the salvation of the world, or it may be the uppermost seats in a synagogue.
This kind of love so fully absorbs the individual within its embrace, that he is unwilling to abandon it, or to do without it. It is a deliberate love (1 JOHN 4:9), a chosen love. Thus, when reading of this agape love in the Christian writings, lets consider its meaning to be something more powerful, more absorbing, more conscious and determined than some trivial feeling we may think we are experiencing.
Yeshua revealed that the reason His Father loved Him, was because He was willing to lay down His own life (JOHN 10:17). What else can Yeshua's statement mean except that His absolute willingness to be obedient was why GOD loved Him. By GOD's foreknowledge, HE knew that Yeshua would carry out HIS will regardless of the consequences. Knowing this, HE accepted Yeshua as HIS Son. Can it be any different for us? Can we expect GOD's love for us if we are unwilling to prove our worth by our own obedience to HIS will?
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Where should our love be directed? What is the believer commanded to love? It is our first responsibility to love the truth (2 THESSALONIANS 2:10). Those believers of the first century were also instructed to love Yeshua's appearing (2 TIMOTHY 4:8); but since He has now already returned and gathered together His Church into heaven, we today should love His appearing at our own resurrection (1 CORINTHIANS 15:23).
This command to love was the vital heartbeat of Yeshua's ministry. Even on their final night together, Yeshua repeatedly commanded His disciples above all other things, to love one another.
Back in his epistle Peter then explicitly explains that it is imperative that the believer develop within his life these virtues. Thus, if he fails to develop these in his life, he can't help but be unproductive and unfruitful (1:8). We have been given life for a purpose. That purpose is to learn. That purpose is to grow and develop as we march along that winding road towards His kingdom.
Without developing these attributes in one's life, the Christian is blind, near-sighted Peter writes (1:9). This means that he is looking only at that which is directly in front of him and cannot see the bigger picture. He cannot see that other world which awaits beyond the grave. He that is spiritually near-sighted is only concerned with that which affects his immediate here and now; he does not realize that many of the things which happen to us in this life are for the sole purpose of teaching us something about our next life.
According to Peter's epistle, by developing these Christian virtues, by being profitable and fruitful, by being far-sighted, one is then in a position to find that hidden entrance into Yeshua's heavenly kingdom (1:11). This is what Peter had evidently learned from his risen Lord. These are the truths which Yeshua no doubt had taught His twelve apostles after His own resurrection. These are the things pertaining to the kingdom of GOD which Peter and the others were commanded to reveal to those judging themselves worthy of eternal life (ACTS 13:46).
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Peter goes on in his epistle to warn them of the certainty of a coming day in which the unjust (2:9) and the ungodly (3:7) will find themselves facing the heavenly Judge. If they fail to demonstrate their worthiness, then they will be condemned to the mist of darkness forever (2:17).
Some were sticking their heads in the sand, so to speak, teaching that if Yeshua was really going to return then He would have already done so (3:3-4). Peter therefore explained that if the Lord had delayed His return, then it was very possibly because He was not desirous that any should perish (3:9). Nevertheless be assured, Peter wrote, that He will return; but His return will be suddenly, unannounced, as a thief in the night (3:10). As they slumbered and drowsed away their lives, their end would come suddenly. Thus, be diligent that that day not find them unprepared.
But for those of Peter's readers who remained faithful to the calling of the Lord, those who were careful to develop within their lives those Christian virtues, these can have peace, being without spot and blameless. They were living for that next life, that resurrection life in His heavenly kingdom, in those new heavens and that new earth, wherein dwelled righteousness (3:13-14).
While reading this epistle we can perhaps imagine ourselves eavesdropping as the Lord unfolded to His chosen apostles the secret revelations concerning His kingdom. Those new heavens and that new earth were every bit as real as this present one, even though they could not be seen with the naked eye. Yeshua had seen them, He had discovered them, and found His way into them. Now, in His disclosures to Peter and the rest, He was showing the way, He was leading them along that winding path towards those pearly gates.
If they were going to be able to follow Him into the kingdom of GOD, if they were going to be able to find that way back to the tree of life from which our first parents had been driven (REVELATION 22:2), then they were going to need to walk in His steps. They were going to have to follow the path which Yeshua had blazed through the tangled mess of the religious traditions which had blocked and hidden the way for so long. Perhaps we believers today sense the same hopeful despair as did the songwriter when he so aptly pleaded, "Take my hand and lead me to the hole in the garden wall and pull me through".
Peter closes his epistle with a final encouragement to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Saviour (3:18). All of life is intended to be a classroom for learning. We are to develop and mature and not simply piddle away our lives on meaningless pursuits. Our time for learning is short and eternity is long. Let us continue to drive ourselves to learn obedience, to develop within ourselves godliness and the Christian virtues, that we might escape corruption and instead be partakers of that divine nature (1:2-4).
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Once the student comes to the realization that Christ returned and gathered together His Church into heaven around 70 A.D., that then throws an entirely new and different light upon all he reads. Foremost, that eon-concluding event drew a line and erected a barrier which stretched across the entire landscape. All who wrote after that occurrence are of a different class, a lesser class, a confounded and confused class compared to those men of GOD who were inspired to write the Christian scriptures (see Whatever Happened to Timothy?).
The Churchmen of the second and third centuries, from whom many Church Traditions originated, apparently had very little knowledge and understanding of the true nature of those events which transpired before 70 A.D. Thus, we should never attempt to interpret some passage of scripture according to what they wrote or are said to have written. There are times when their comments can be brought to bare upon the scriptures; howbeit, those times are rare.
Thus, if one endeavors to understand Biblical truths through the eyes of the second and third century writers, they can't help but be misled. Any student who attempts to interpret the scriptures by way of the writings of these so called Church Fathers, will quickly find their efforts conflicted and confused. It is only when we turn away from Church Tradition and let scripture speak for itself and by itself that we have any chance at unraveling the twisted knot which these traditions have tied.
We have determined in our previous Study on 1 PETER that it was written early, probably shortly after Peter escaped from Herod's dungeon, when he very likely fled to Babylon (ACTS 12:17). Howbeit, in his second epistle there are several indicators which suggest for us a late date, sometime towards the end of the book of ACTS. Let's consider some of these to see how they affect the timing of Peter's second letter.
1). In this second epistle, Peter revealed that the end of his life was then near (1:14). As he seemed quite alive and well at the ACTS 15 council, this indicates that this letter must have been written some distance after that gathering.
2). The apostle Paul was not even mentioned in Peter's first epistle, probably personally unknown to most of the believers at that early date. Yet in his second epistle, Peter noted that his readers were not only familiar with some of the Paul's epistles but that they also wrestled with his doctrine (3:15). As Paul's first epistles were probably the two to the believers at Thessalonica, which it is commonly thought that he wrote while he was at Corinth (ACTS 18:6 54 A.D.), Peter must have been referring to an occasion sometime after this.
We should remember that Paul's ministry really took off while he was teaching for two years in the school of Tyrannus, after which Luke tells us that all Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Gentiles (ACTS 19:10). That Paul's teaching had become an issue with some of Peter's readers would be much more likely after this great missionary work rather than before Paul was so widely known.
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3). We should also recognize that Paul made reference to Peter in the epistles which he wrote to the Galatians (2:7-9) and to the Corinthians (1 CORINTHIANS 9:5), and it is inconceivable that Peter could have died without Paul even noting it. GALATIANS could have been written in ACTS 16:6 but more likely it was not written until ACTS 20:2 (around 58 A.D.). 1 CORINTHIANS was written around ACTS 19:22 (54 A.D.). This suggests the writing of Peter's second letter somewhere this side of those dates.
4). 1 PETER was all about the newly converted Christian being an obedient child (1:14), desiring the milk of the word and growing thereby (2:2). There they were to gird up the loins of their mind (1:13), be holy (1:15), purifying their souls in obeying the truth (1:22). As living stones they were being built into a spiritual house (2:5), a holy and royal priesthood, called out of darkness into the light (2:9). As strangers and foreigners of this world, they were to abstain from fleshly lust (2:11), being honest and good working (2:12). They were to each be subject to one another (5:5), to the laws of their land, and to their rulers (2:13-14). The Christian wives were to be in subjection even to their unbelieving husbands (3:1). Each of them were to be loving, pitiful, merciful, courteous, speaking no evil of anyone (3:8-11).
Yet in 2 PETER we have an entirely different theme set before us. There, the believer was cautioned not to forget that he had been cleansed from his old sins (1:9). In this letter Peter was determined to remind them of these things, to put them in remembrance of them (1:12), that after his death they might remember them (1:15). Thus, in 2 PETER many of his readers appeared to be mature and seasoned believers, elders and leaders, who were perhaps in danger of drifting away from the simple truth which they had been taught.
5). In Peter's first epistle, he had consistently encouraged his readers to endure their own personal trials and tribulations. Howbeit, in 2 PETER there was a whole different message. There, Peter's readers were warned to guard against false teachers who would lead many of them astray (2:1). In 1 PETER there was no hint nor suggestion that the Church was threatened by an internal crisis, but that was definitely one of the main thrusts of 2 PETER.
In 2 PETER he set his own gospel message against cunningly devised fables (1:16), which were evidently being spun by false teachers. He warned them that these false teachers would introduce them to damnable heresies (2:1), who also would draw away many, speaking evil of the way of truth (2:2). These false teachers were seeking to make merchandise of the believers (2:3); worming their way into the believer's fellowships, having eyes full of adultery, beguiling unstable souls, having forsaken the right way (2:14).
While speaking great swelling words of vanity, promising liberty, they would allure away newly converted believers who had just recently escaped from their old corrupt ways (2:18-19). Peter assured them that it would have been better for them to have never of come to the faith, then after having been cleansed, to then return to their former filth (2:21). Evidently these false teachers had also been deriding the apostle Paul's teaching, for Peter assured them that Paul's wisdom could be trusted (3:15-16).
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6). This timing of Peter's defense for Paul might be related to Paul's own comment to Timothy that all Asia had at that time turned away from him (2 TIMOTHY 1:15). Thus, Peter cautioned his readers to beware that they themselves were not to be led away with the error of the wicked, hence falling from their own steadfastness (3:17). These were evidently old fellowships where many of the believers had been taught the meat of the word, but were now in danger of drifting away from the basic principles of the truth, and then being carried off as booty (2:3).
7). In 2 PETER they were continually instructed not to be ignorant, but rather to investigate, fully perceive and remember the true and right way of righteousness (1:12, 13, 15). Though one might escape from the pollutions of the world he can still become re-entangled in sin by forgetting that which he had learned (2:20). Therefore, they were to stir up their minds by remembrance! Peter's readers were to remain mindful of the words of the prophets and the commandments of the apostles (3:1).
These words of warning in 2 PETER suggests to us that Peter was now writing to believers, many of whom were not new to the faith but rather had been around for some time. Thus, these two epistles of Peter were evidently written many years apart from one anther. In the first epistle, the readers were relatively young believers who needed the milk of the word as guidance for their spiritual growth (2:2). Yet in the second epistle, a majority had evidently been quite some time in the faith, in danger of forgetting much which they had been taught.
8). Another reason for determining that the second letter must have been written many years after the first, is that in the first they were often comforted and encouraged with the promise of the Return of Christ. Peter began by writing that they were begotten unto a lively hope, to an incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven (1:3-4), their salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1:5). They were promised (1:7) that the trial of their faith would be found unto praise and glory at the appearing of Yeshua (Jesus). They were instructed to gird up their minds, be sober and hope for the grace that was coming to them at Yeshua's revelation (1:13).
They were on more than one occasion also assured that Yeshua had gone into heaven to the right hand of GOD, with angels, authorities and powers being subject unto Him (3:22; 4:11; 5:11). Peter's readers were told in this first letter that at the appointed time He would judge those both alive and those who had died (4:5), but Peter assured them that when His glory was revealed, that their joy would be triumphant (4:13 NEB). Peter testified that he would be a partaker of Christ's glory (5:1), and further that the believers would receive an enduring crown of glory when the chief Shepherd appeared (5:4).
And even though there are some of the same exhortations and promises in both letters concerning what the believer could expect at Christ's return, only in the second letter were they cautioned about being caught off guard when the thief did eventually come (3:10). Peter warned them of those who were going to cast doubts in their minds as to the promised return of Christ (3:4). These scoffers would question why the Lord delayed so long to return, if indeed He ever would return. So much time must have elapsed between the two letters that many believers were now beginning to wonder if Christ was indeed ever going to return at all. Some had evidently given up on that hope altogether.
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9). Perhaps what throws many off the right scent in recognizing a space of many years between these two letters, is a passage in 2 PETER where he mentioned that this was the second epistle which he had written them (3:1). Assuming that 1 PETER was the first epistle, evidently the two must have been written in close proximity to one another. But are we to suppose that the great apostle Peter wrote only two letters over the course of his entire ministry? Surely not.
Rather, we should expect that he probably wrote scores of letters. The fact that only two have come down to us is no proof that these were the only ones which he wrote. Simply because Peter called one of them the second letter, that does not implore us to try and bind the two letters together into some sort of packet, especially when we can detect so many stark differences between them.
Several details in the address of the two letters make it very unlikely that Peter was referring in any way to 1 PETER when he wrote 2 PETER. 1st and 2nd PETER were written to two entirely different groups of people. The first letter was, as we discussed in the previous Study, written to Jewish Christians who were of the Diaspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. In 2 PETER, he addressed his letter, "To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours" (RSV). Nothing is suggested anywhere in 2 PETER that they were believers of the Jewish Diaspora, or solely Jewish believers of any sort.
Hence, this second epistle was evidently intended for all the believers who had obtained faith of equal standing with Peter and his fellow Christians, irrespective of whether or not they were Jews or Gentiles. Peter himself was a Jewish Christian, so the fact that his readers had now obtained the same faith as he had previously obtained, indicated that they were either other Jews who had accepted Yeshua as the Messiah, or that they were Gentiles who had converted to Christianity, or more likely, his letter was addressed to both Jews and Gentiles who had joined the faith.
As noted above, Peter mentioned that he was writing this second epistle just before his death (1:14). Obviously, by that time many Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire had joined the faith. And the added fact that Peter mentioned that his readers knew also of Paul's letters (3:15), the apostle to the Gentiles, is further evidence that these were not solely Jewish believers to whom Peter wrote. Thus we have numerous reasons to see in this letter an address to both Jewish as well as Gentile believers; to all that had obtained "like precious faith". When Peter called this letter his second, it was no doubt his second to these specific individuals, but not the second which he ever wrote.
In light of 2 PETER being written sometime late in the Book of ACTS, to all believers irrespective of whether they were of Jewish or Gentile background, let us now consider some of the enlightening topics which Peter discussed; revelations which he had surely learned from his risen Lord concerning the kingdom of GOD (ACTS 1:3).
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Perhaps one of the most notable things which we observe in 2 PETER is the many similarities between this letter and 2 TIMOTHY. It is our estimation that Paul wrote 2 TIMOTHY while he was imprisoned in Caesarea (ACTS 23:33), not as is generally taught that he wrote it after he was sent as a prisoner to Rome (ACTS 28:16). We have set this forth in the Study entitled Paul's Prison Epistles. If this is accepted, then that might help us in dating 2 PETER, for there are many parallels between the two letters.
Both writers repeatedly mentioned putting their readers in remembrance of what they had previously learned; Paul in 1:6; 2:14 and Peter in 1:13, 15; 3:1-2. Paul noted that all in Asia had turned away from him (1:15) which Peter might be alluding to when he wrote that some were twisting and contradicting the things which Paul had written in his epistles (3:16).
In these two letters, both Paul and Peter encouraged their readers to faithfully await the Return of Christ. In Paul's letter he wrote of some individuals saying that the Resurrection had already come and gone (2:18), suggesting that those remaining had missed the gathering together. Peter on the other hand confronted the false conclusion that Christ was evidently not going to return at all (3:3-4). Some of his readers had deduced that if Christ was indeed returning that he would have already done so.
Both writers also stressed the fact that the scriptures were to be trusted. Paul wrote that all scripture was GOD breathed (3:16) while Peter noted that men of GOD were moved by the holy spirit when they wrote (1:20-21). But further, both writers cautioned their readers concerning those who would take these holy scriptures and misrepresent them, those who would miss-interpret them (2 TIMOTHY 4:3 & 2 PETER 2:1).
Thus, each epistle warns of fables. Paul wrote that these false teachers will turn the believer's ears from the truth of the return of Christ unto fables (4:4) while Peter wrote that he and his fellow witnesses of Christ's resurrection did not use cunningly devised fables when they taught the word of GOD (1:16).
Both apostles repeatedly spoke of the importance of the believer acquiring a knowledge (epignosis, an exact or full knowledge) of the truth. To Timothy, Paul wrote that as a servant of the Lord he must "not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging (epignosis) of the truth" (2:24-25). Thus, Paul taught that without true repentance, the sinner would be forever learning yet never able to come to a accurate knowledge (epignosis) of the truth (3:7).
Peter likewise assured his readers that grace and peace would be multiplied to them through the knowledge (epignosis) of GOD and Yeshua (1:2). And even further, that all things that pertain unto life and godliness were given unto them through the knowledge (epignosis) of the Lord (1:3). And still further, Peter instructed them that if they developed in their lives the virtues of Christian living (1:8), elsewhere spoken of as the fruit of righteous living (MATTHEW 7:17-19 LUKE 8:14-15 JOHN 15:2-51 EPHESIANS 5:9 HEBREWS 12:11 JAMES 3:18), that they would then never be barren nor unfruitful in this knowledge (epignosis).
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Both writers emphasized the importance of remembering (hupomnesis, a remembrance prompted by another). Paul commented on remembering Timothy's unfeigned faith (1:5); while Peter twice mentions stirring up his readers by way of remembrance (1:13), even giving the purpose of his epistle as a way of stirring up their pure minds (3:1). Incidentally, these are the only occurrences of hupomnesis in the Christian scriptures.
Thus, when we consider all of the similarities between these two epistles of Peter and Paul, we must consider the likelihood that they were written in close proximity to one another. Both were addressing the same dangers which the Church was confronting. Both epistles found the two writers in the same frame of mind. Both saw their worlds in a similar light.
None of us can say for sure when 2 PETER was written, but if it was written around the same time that Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, then all of the other details fit smoothly into place. Peter would then have written after Paul was taken prisoner at Jerusalem around May of 57-58 (ACTS 24). We can have confidence in this date, because after two years Paul appeared before Festus, who had been appointed procurator around 59-60 (ACTS 25:1).
So what specifically did Peter recount in this second epistle which he had learned from his risen Lord? First off, if his readers were indeed going to find that hidden entrance into the kingdom of GOD (1:11), then they would need to develop within themselves those traits and attributes which Yeshua had years before developed within Himself.
The true word of GOD had given them all that they would need to acquire this resurrection life (1:3). This life was to be ascertained by first learning and mastering an accurate knowledge of just who Yeshua was; what He was all about and that which He required of His followers and disciples. If they were diligent enough to discover and understand everything that they could learn about Him, following His instructions and directives, then they were well on their way to escape the corruption which was the ultimate end for all those who were still enslaved to this present world (JOHN 8:31-32).
As they faithfully gathered up Yeshua's sayings, and then marshaled their lives to imitate and emulate His, they were to eventually become fellow partakers of the divine nature (1:4). Peter therefore was instructing them, that with all haste and diligence they needed to develop out from their common faith (1:1) the same nature which their Lord had Himself learned (HEBREWS 5:8).
From this faith they were to develop virtue (1:3, 5). Curiously, this Greek word arete, translated virtue, only occurs elsewhere (outside of Peter's letters) once in the Christian scriptures (PHILIPPIANS 4:8). The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as "The quality of moral excellence, righteousness, and responsibility; probity; goodness", which well suits Peter's purpose. After an individual's conversion to the Christian faith, he must first learn to become moral and righteous. This is his foundation. From this solid rock of faith, he is instructed to build his life into something worthy of the kingdom of GOD.
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Beginning in the fifth verse, Peter instructs them to add a variety of things to their faith, but the essence of this word is more than to simply add. Rather, it means, "something further to be done," (Vines Complete Dictionary, page 696), not as a supplement to their virtue, but as a development, an outgrowth, a fruit. Hence, from good and moral motives they were then to acquire a knowledge (1:3) which was the result of enquiry, investigation and recognition. Yeshua had demonstrated the vital importance of this, when he rebuffed the tempter, declaring, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (MATTHEW 4:4).
As earthly bread is essential for this present life, so the words of GOD are vital for eternal life. Yeshua taught elsewhere that those who are willing to learn from GOD, are then able to come to Him, the bread of everlasting life (JOHN 6:35, 39-40, 44-45). But we must first open the Book, unroll the scroll and find for ourselves where It is written.
- But there was something further to be done.
As Peter's readers had acquired this knowledge of Yeshua's ways, as they then continued in His words, disciplining themselves to mimic His steps, they were then to develop within themselves temperance, which is self control. Without self control there is little hope that the Christian will mature so as to develop within himself the fruit of the spirit.
And how often are we told of the self control which Yeshua both taught and displayed? He taught His listeners that they must go beyond physical self control; but that they must even exercise self control over their thoughts. He commanded, "whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (MATTHEW 5:28), going on to warn them that whosoever did not master this command, were in real danger of being cast into hell, which is the eternal dwelling place of the dead; not some physical place but rather a state of being.
He Himself demonstrated this self control when He ate nothing during His forty days temptation in the wilderness (LUKE 4:2). And then again when Yeshua and the Twelve were on the run from Herod, He personally was more concerned about the salvation of a Samarian woman than He was about His own hunger pains (JOHN 4:31-32).
Yeshua again demonstrated His self control by knowing when to keep His mouth shut. That is perhaps one of the hardest lessons for the Christian to learn, bridling his tongue (JAMES 3:8). Yet Yeshua showed that it could be done when he stood silently before the chief priests and elder's accusations (MATTHEW 27:12-13), as well as on another occasion while He endured the agony of the cross.
- MATTHEW 27:39-43 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
How enormously tempting it must have been to want to jump down off of that cross and kick some butt. But no, He just hung there, being humiliated, ridiculed, laughed at. Had He not taught His followers to "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other" (LUKE 6:28-29)? Yeshua meant what He said. He practised what He preached. He put His money where His mouth was, so to speak.
And this is the example which the Christian is to emulate. This is that which we are being trained for. These are the virtues we are to develop in our own lives. We are not to repay evil for evil. We are not to devise how to exact our revenge upon those who have wronged us. If we are to find that hidden entrance into His heavenly kingdom, then we need to learn self control.
But back in 2 PETER,
- there was something further to be done.
From this self-control they were to develop within themselves patience, meaning a loyal and patient endurance. This means that they were to continue on even though their prayers seemed unanswered, even though their needs seemed to be un-met, even though their fruit seemed to them to be withering on the vine.
Yeshua had taught that there were four seeds cast into the soil, but only those few seeds which endured with patience brought forth fruit (LUKE 8:15). He taught them to have no anxiety about their physical needs, for their heavenly Father knew quite well what their needs were. Instead they were charged to seek first this kingdom of GOD, then all of the trifles in life would fall into place (MATTHEW 6:25-33).
He had himself been tempted to take matters into His own hands and seek an outcome which although might have been easier in the short run, it was contrary to the will of GOD, who always has the long run in mind (MATTHEW 4:8-10).
Thus, He often warned and encouraged His followers not to be caught off guard when their listeners grew to hate them, excluding them from the congregation, forbidding any to have fellowship with them, even disparaging their very name. Instead of being disheartened, they were to rejoice, because Yeshua assured them that their reward would be great when they got to heaven (LUKE 6:22-23).
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Yeshua knew all too well about being hated, about being misrepresented, about being lied about. And further, if Yeshua Himself was not able to set this world straight and make them see the light, what chance do we suppose that we will be able to? Instead, we should commit ourselves and our future to GOD. We should faithfully endure any hardship which we imagine we face, and live for that life which is after this life. That resurrection life, that life in His heavenly kingdom. There is where we should set our affection.
- But there is something further to be done.
To this loyal endurance Peter's readers were to develop godliness, which was a love and duty shown to GOD by doing HIS will (Distinctive Ideas on the Old Testament, page 94). Godliness had been linked by the apostle Paul with honesty, wholesome words, contentment, righteousness, love, patience and meekness. But he placed it against being enamored with silly myths, being prideful or envious, stirring up contention and slander. Gain is not godliness, but godliness with contentment is great gain. Howbeit, be warned that there is a form of godliness which is not true. Here the participators are "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth". Instead, Paul instructed Timothy to train himself to be godly (1 TIMOTHY 4:7) just as Peter is instructing his readers in his epistle.
Godliness is most often represented as one living for that heavenly kingdom, and not rather scurrying about in a futile attempt to lay away for themselves trivial treasures upon this earth. What a sad waste of one's life to think of nothing much else but acquiring frivolous play things.
Yeshua had discovered that which accompanied the believer beyond the grave, and He therefore encouraged His listeners to not let anything stand between them and GOD. Don't be sidetracked by carnal pleasures and treasures.
- LUKE 9:23-26 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
Later He warned them that any of them which were not willing to forsake all that he had, could not be His disciple (LUKE 14:33). That warning was directed at Yeshua's listeners, so we can't be sure how fully it might apply to us today, but the principle certainly does. If we are to acquire Christian virtues, if we are to reap the fruit of the spirit, then we can't just dawdle along giving discipleship only a minor place in our lives. We must decidedly and seriously train for it. This is about our participation in the spiritual Olympics.
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Yeshua had exclaimed that His very sustenance was to do the will of His Father (JOHN 4:34). His loving obedience to His Father was so certain that He was willing to lay down His very life, indeed His immortal life for the cause (JOHN 10:15).
Yeshua had noted that the ones who proved their love for Him, were the ones who first had His word, but then also obeyed His word (JOHN 14:21-23). But those who did not keep His words, were blatantly demonstrating that they truly did not love Him. The fact that Yeshua kept His Father's commandments proved His love. As such, any who wished to prove their love for Yeshua, could only do so by keeping His commandments (JOHN 15:10). Thus, it only stands to reason that if we today are going to demonstrate our obedient love for GOD, we must learn and observe HIS Son's commands.
- But there was something further to be done.
Along with this loving obedience to GOD, Peter's readers were also to develop brotherly kindness. Yeshua demonstrated this on numerous occasions. When He washed the disciples feet (JOHN 13:14); when He raised from the dead the widows son (LUKE 7:13); when He healed the Leper (MARK 1:41); when He was moved with compassion upon the following multitudes who were as sheep without a shepherd (MATTHEW 9:36 & MARK 6:34); and when He fed the multitude who had stuck with Him for three days (MARK 8:2).
But He also taught His followers and disciples about this. He did so when He imparted unto them the parable about the good Samaritan (LUKE 10:30); when He taught about beholding the mote (speck RSV) in their brother's eye while overlooking the beam (log RSV) which was in their own eye (MATTHEW 7:1-5); and when He taught that when they gave meat to the hungry, or when they gave drink unto the thirsty, or when they gave shelter to the stranger, or when they gave clothing to the naked, or visited the sick, and when they came unto those in prison, that in truth they were really doing those things unto Him, because, "....as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (MATTHEW 25:34-41).
- But there was something further to be done.
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To this brotherly kindness they were to develop within themselves love (charity), which is translated from the Greek word agape. This agape is the culmination of Peter's evolving list of Christian virtues, but how seldom is the true meaning of the word understood. Let's take a closer and fresh look at what exactly the word agape means and suggests. I was taught and accepted long ago that agape is the love of GOD. Yet when we try to reconcile that with scripture we find that this definition just doesn't fit. Even in this same epistle of Peter's, the word cannot mean the love of GOD.
- 2 PETER 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved [agapao] the wages of unrighteousness.
This word agapao is simply the verb where agape is the noun. Here in this passage we are told that Balaam loved (agapao) the wages of unrighteousness. Being categorized with the false prophets, Balaam obviously did not love the wages of unrighteousness with the love of GOD. His was an agape of an entirely different type then the love of GOD.
Elsewhere in the Christian writings we are told that a man cannot simultaneously love (agapao) both GOD and money (MATTHEW 6:24); that the Pharisees loved the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets (LUKE 11:43); that certain men loved darkness rather than light (JOHN 3:19); or the praise of men more than the praise of GOD (JOHN 12:43); that a certain Demus had forsaken Paul, having loved this present world (2 TIMOTHY 4:10); and John warned his readers against loving the world, or the things which were in the world, for if any man loved the world, the love of the Father was not in him (1 JOHN 2:15).
How then can one argue that agape means the love of GOD? We must search for a more appropriate meaning, one which more fully embraces the true significance of this word, which according to Peter in his epistle is the ultimate culmination of the Christian virtues which the believer is instructed to develop in his life.
Agape can be the love of GOD (LUKE 11:42), but as we have seen it can also be the love of evil and selfish men. It can be the love resulting in great and noble causes (JOHN 3:16), but it can also be the love for trivial and pathetic objects. This is a love which drives the individual to sacrifice for a cause which is outside of himself. It may be the salvation of the world, or it may be the uppermost seats in a synagogue.
This kind of love so fully absorbs the individual within its embrace, that he is unwilling to abandon it, or to do without it. It is a deliberate love (1 JOHN 4:9), a chosen love. Thus, when reading of this agape love in the Christian writings, lets consider its meaning to be something more powerful, more absorbing, more conscious and determined than some trivial feeling we may think we are experiencing.
Yeshua revealed that the reason His Father loved Him, was because He was willing to lay down His own life (JOHN 10:17). What else can Yeshua's statement mean except that His absolute willingness to be obedient was why GOD loved Him. By GOD's foreknowledge, HE knew that Yeshua would carry out HIS will regardless of the consequences. Knowing this, HE accepted Yeshua as HIS Son. Can it be any different for us? Can we expect GOD's love for us if we are unwilling to prove our worth by our own obedience to HIS will?
- JOHN 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. [see also 1 JOHN 5:2-3 & 2 JOHN 6]
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Where should our love be directed? What is the believer commanded to love? It is our first responsibility to love the truth (2 THESSALONIANS 2:10). Those believers of the first century were also instructed to love Yeshua's appearing (2 TIMOTHY 4:8); but since He has now already returned and gathered together His Church into heaven, we today should love His appearing at our own resurrection (1 CORINTHIANS 15:23).
This command to love was the vital heartbeat of Yeshua's ministry. Even on their final night together, Yeshua repeatedly commanded His disciples above all other things, to love one another.
- JOHN 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
- JOHN 15:9-13 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
- JOHN 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Back in his epistle Peter then explicitly explains that it is imperative that the believer develop within his life these virtues. Thus, if he fails to develop these in his life, he can't help but be unproductive and unfruitful (1:8). We have been given life for a purpose. That purpose is to learn. That purpose is to grow and develop as we march along that winding road towards His kingdom.
Without developing these attributes in one's life, the Christian is blind, near-sighted Peter writes (1:9). This means that he is looking only at that which is directly in front of him and cannot see the bigger picture. He cannot see that other world which awaits beyond the grave. He that is spiritually near-sighted is only concerned with that which affects his immediate here and now; he does not realize that many of the things which happen to us in this life are for the sole purpose of teaching us something about our next life.
According to Peter's epistle, by developing these Christian virtues, by being profitable and fruitful, by being far-sighted, one is then in a position to find that hidden entrance into Yeshua's heavenly kingdom (1:11). This is what Peter had evidently learned from his risen Lord. These are the truths which Yeshua no doubt had taught His twelve apostles after His own resurrection. These are the things pertaining to the kingdom of GOD which Peter and the others were commanded to reveal to those judging themselves worthy of eternal life (ACTS 13:46).
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Peter goes on in his epistle to warn them of the certainty of a coming day in which the unjust (2:9) and the ungodly (3:7) will find themselves facing the heavenly Judge. If they fail to demonstrate their worthiness, then they will be condemned to the mist of darkness forever (2:17).
Some were sticking their heads in the sand, so to speak, teaching that if Yeshua was really going to return then He would have already done so (3:3-4). Peter therefore explained that if the Lord had delayed His return, then it was very possibly because He was not desirous that any should perish (3:9). Nevertheless be assured, Peter wrote, that He will return; but His return will be suddenly, unannounced, as a thief in the night (3:10). As they slumbered and drowsed away their lives, their end would come suddenly. Thus, be diligent that that day not find them unprepared.
But for those of Peter's readers who remained faithful to the calling of the Lord, those who were careful to develop within their lives those Christian virtues, these can have peace, being without spot and blameless. They were living for that next life, that resurrection life in His heavenly kingdom, in those new heavens and that new earth, wherein dwelled righteousness (3:13-14).
While reading this epistle we can perhaps imagine ourselves eavesdropping as the Lord unfolded to His chosen apostles the secret revelations concerning His kingdom. Those new heavens and that new earth were every bit as real as this present one, even though they could not be seen with the naked eye. Yeshua had seen them, He had discovered them, and found His way into them. Now, in His disclosures to Peter and the rest, He was showing the way, He was leading them along that winding path towards those pearly gates.
If they were going to be able to follow Him into the kingdom of GOD, if they were going to be able to find that way back to the tree of life from which our first parents had been driven (REVELATION 22:2), then they were going to need to walk in His steps. They were going to have to follow the path which Yeshua had blazed through the tangled mess of the religious traditions which had blocked and hidden the way for so long. Perhaps we believers today sense the same hopeful despair as did the songwriter when he so aptly pleaded, "Take my hand and lead me to the hole in the garden wall and pull me through".
Peter closes his epistle with a final encouragement to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Saviour (3:18). All of life is intended to be a classroom for learning. We are to develop and mature and not simply piddle away our lives on meaningless pursuits. Our time for learning is short and eternity is long. Let us continue to drive ourselves to learn obedience, to develop within ourselves godliness and the Christian virtues, that we might escape corruption and instead be partakers of that divine nature (1:2-4).
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