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1
2 Peter
2 Peter
The Epistles of Peter
2 Peter
Key theme:
Spiritual knowledge
Key verse:
2 Peter 1:3
2 Peter 1:1–11
2 Peter 1:12–21
2 Peter 2:1–9
2 Peter 2:10–16
2 Peter 2:17–22
2 Peter 3:1–10
2 Peter 3:11–18
Knowing and Growing
Wake Up and Remember!
Beware of Counterfeits
Marked Men
False Freedom
Scoffing at the Scoffers
Be Diligent!
HISTORICAL TIMING
KEY WORDS
I. EXPLANATION: THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST (1)
A. The gift of knowledge—1:1–4
B. The growth in knowledge—1:5–11
C. The ground of knowledge—1:12–21
Statistical Probability
II. EXAMINATION: THE FALSE TEACHERS (2)
A. Their condemnation—2:1–9
B. Their character—2:10–17
C. Their claims—2:18–22
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A. Be mindful—3:1–7
B. Be not ignorant—3:8–10
C. Be diligent—3:11–14
D. Beware—3:15–18
Bibliography
Outline

2
III. EXHORTATION: THE TRUE CHRISTIAN (3)

2 Peter
HISTORY
 -8
The Census Decree of CAESAR AUGUSTUS.
 -6
The Annunciation to MARY in Nazareth.
JOHN THE BAPTIST was born about September to
ZACHARIAS and ELISABETH.
Judea became a sub-province of Syria.
 -5
Our LORD, JESUS the CHRIST was born in Bethlehem
about April.
 -4
Wise Men from the East sought the child JESUS.
HEROD THE GREAT killed the children of Bethlehem and
executed his son ANTIPATER a few days before he died in
March at Jericho.
He was succeeded by HEROD ANTIPAS in Galilee.
HEROD ARCHAELAUS ruled Judea.
HEROD PHILIP ruled Iturea.
 8
JESUS, age 12, was at the Temple in Jerusalem.
 10 SAUL (PAUL the Apostle) was born in Tarsus.
 17 Major earthquake in Asia Minor.
 25 JOHN THE BAPTIST began his ministry.
JESUS was baptized in the Jordan River by JOHN.
 26 JESUS began His Galilean ministry.
HEROD'S Temple in Jerusalem was completed.
PONTIUS PILATE was appointed procurator of Judea.
 27 JESUS began His Judean ministry.
JOHN THE BAPTIST was beheaded by HEROD.
 29 JESUS was crucified, buried and resurrected in April
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Jesus ascended in May, 40 days later .
In June, 10 days following Jesus ascension, the Holy
Spirit came upon and into Jesus followers (Pentecost)
JUDAS ISCARIOT, who had betrayed JESUS for 30
pieces of silver, hanged himself and falling headlong, he
burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
3
(Passover).
2 Peter
PHILIP traveled to Scythia in southern Russia where he
ministered for 20 years.
 30 JAMES, son of ZEBEDEE, traveled to Spain where he
established churches.
 33 The Church at Jerusalem held a leading position in the
Christian community.
SIMON PETER went to Antioch, established a church and
stayed there for 7 years.
 36 STEPHEN was stoned to death, becoming the first Christian
martyr.
SAUL (PAUL the Apostle) was converted on the road to
Damascus.
 37 PAUL was at Damascus. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS was born.
MATTHEW wrote his gospel. Some date this later
around 50AD (We favor this early date.)
 38 PAUL fled from Damascus, went to Jerusalem, then to
Tarsus.
 44 PAUL was at Antioch. The disciples of Christ were first
called "Christians" at Antioch.
SIMON PETER went to Caesarea from Joppa and
CORNELIUS was converted.
JAMES, son of ZEBEDEE, was beheaded by HEROD
ANTIPAS.
HEROD AGRIPPA I died, eaten of worms, at age 54.
 45 PAUL, BARNABAS and JOHN MARK visited Jerusalem
from Antioch.
JAMES wrote his epistle. MATTHEW went to Persia.
 46 PAUL was at Antioch.
 48 PAUL and BARNABAS began their first missionary
they ministered in Nisibis, Malebar, Socotora, Camboia and
Mogar. They even went to Cataio, Bisnaga and China.
 50 PAUL and BARNABAS attended the Council at Jerusalem.
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 49 THOMAS, JUDE and BARTHOLOMEW went to India where
4
journey.
2 Peter
 51 PAUL and SILAS began a second missionary journey.
PAUL met the Gentile physician, LUKE at Troas.
BARNABAS and JOHN MARK ministered in Syria and
Cilicia.
 52 PAUL wrote "First Thessalonians" from Corinth.
THOMAS was killed in Cranganore, India by Brahmin
priests who knocked him to the ground and stuck him
through with a lance.
GAMALIEL the Pharisee died.
CLAUDIUS expelled the Jews from Rome.
 53 PAUL wrote "Second Thessalonians" from Corinth.
 54 PAUL and SILAS began a third missionary journey.
PHILIP, age 87, having ministered in France, was pierced
through the thighs and hung upside down on a cross until
he died at Heliopolis in Phrygia..
 55 PAUL was at Ephesus. (The revolt of the Egyptian, Acts
21:38)
 56 PAUL ministered at Ephesus.
 57 PAUL wrote "First Corinthians" from Ephesus, "Second
Corinthians" from Macedonia, and "Galatians" from
Corinth.
 58 PAUL wrote "Romans" from Corinth.
PAUL was arrested at Jerusalem and sent to Caesarea.
 59 PAUL was tried before ANTONIUS FELIX at Caesarea.
 60-61
PAUL arrived at Rome.
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PAUL, sent as a prisoner to Rome, was shipwrecked on
Malta.
LUKE wrote his gospel.
After having ministered in Persia, Egypt and Ethiopia,
MATTHEW was slain in Egypt.
SIMON ZELOTES returned to Britain after having
ministered through Egypt, Cyrene, North Africa, Carthage,
Martonia, Lybia and Spain.
5
 60 PAUL was tried before FESTUS in Caesarea.
2 Peter
LUKE wrote "Acts".
 ~60-62 PAUL, at Rome, wrote "Philemon", "Colossians",
"Ephesians" and "Philippians."
It was during this period that a major earthquake destroyed
Colossai and the surrounding cities in the area again.
 62
ANANUS was made High Priest and had JAMES, brother
of.Jesus, cast from a pinnacle of the Temple, showered with
stones and finally his skull smashed and his brains beaten
out with a fuller's club. He was buried on the Mount of Olives.
 63 PAUL was released from prison at Rome and went to
Macedonia and Asia Minor,
Paul wrote "First Timothy" from Macedonia and
"Titus" from Ephesus.
 64 PAUL visited Spain.
PETER wrote "First Peter" from 'Babylon'.
After having ministered with ANDREW in Armenia,
MATTHIAS, the apostle who took JUDAS' place, returned
to Jerusalem where he was stoned and beheaded.
A great fire burned Rome on July 19th.
NERO persecuted the Christians.
 65 PAUL was in Spain and Britain. JOHN MARK wrote his
gospel.
 66 PAUL traveled from Spain to Asia Minor.
Masada on the Dead Sea was captured by the Jews.
VESPASIAN and his son TITUS led the Roman armies in
Judea.
 67
PETER wrote "Second Peter" and was crucified by
NERO.
PAUL was imprisoned in Rome and wrote "Second
Timothy"shortly before he was beheaded in May by
NERO.
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 68 HEBREWS was written, probably by PAUL.
6
JOHN MARK went to Venice and to Alexandria, Egypt,
where he founded a church.
2 Peter
JOHN MARK was dragged to death through the streets of
Alexandria, Egypt on Easter.
LAZARUS of Bethany ministered in Citium in Cyprus for 30
years, then traveled to Marseilles in Gaul where he spent 7
more years and also visited Britain. He retired to Cyprus
where he died (again).
BARTHOLOMEW, after having ministered in India with
THOMAS and JUDE and with PHILIP at Hierapolis, died
after being beaten with clubs, flayed alive and crucified in
Armenia by the priests of Albanus, led by ASTYAGES, the
king's brother.
JUDE wrote his epistle.
VESPASIAN attacked Jerusalem.
JOSEPHUS wrote his "History of the Jewish War."
 69 POLYCARP was born.
After having ministered in the foothills of the Caucasis
mountains, to the Scythians in South Russia around the
Black Sea, establishing churches in Scythia, Byzantium,
Greece, Thrace, Macedonia and Patros, ANDREW was
crucified at Achaia on a cross in the form of an "X",
hanging there for three days before he died on the last day
of November.
LUKE, who had been ministering with ANDREW, was
crucified at Patros, Greece by being hanged on an olive
tree by the idolatrous priests.
 70 VESPASIAN arrived at Rome.
TITUS, his son, with 80,000 men, captured and destroyed
Jerusalem in August. 700 Jewish prisoners were taken to
Rome.
 72 After ministering in Syria, Edessa and northern Persia,
JUDE (THADDAEUS) was killed with a halberd at Edessaand
was buried at Kara Kelesia.
 74 MASADA fell to the Romans on April 15th.
 76 JOSEPH of Ariamathea died in Britain and was buried at
Glastonbury..
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 73 BARNABAS was killed by the Jews in Salamis on Cyprus.
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SIMON ZELOTES was sawn asunder in Persia.
2 Peter
 79 Mt. Vesuvius erupted, destroying Pompeii and
Herculaneum.
 80 Rome was burned again.
 85 JOHN wrote his Gospel.
 90 JOHN wrote I John, II John and III John.
 94 Roman persecution of Jewish and Christians.
Josephus' "Antiquities" was published.
 95 JOHN was banished from Ephesus to Patmos by
DOMITIAN where he wrote "Revelation".
During his banishment, TIMOTHY ministered at Ephesus.
 96 JOHN was released from exile on Patmos by NERVA and
returned to Ephesus.
 97 TIMOTHY reproved the pagans of Ephesus for their
idolatry. They fell upon him with clubs and beat him.
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8
He died 2 days later from the beating.
JOHN the Apostle died at Ephesus on September 26th.
2 Peter
KEYWORDS
Precious
Knowledge
Through
Called / Calling
Multiplied / Add / Abundantly
Divine
Wherefore / Therefore
Power
Everlasting
Remembrance
Words / Preacher / Speak
Vexed
2Pe 1:1-21
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to them that have obtained like precious faith with us
through the righteousness of God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our
Lord,
3 According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him
that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises:
that by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust.
to your faith virtue; and
to virtue knowledge; 6 And
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giving all diligence, add
9
5 And beside this,
2 Peter
to knowledge temperance; and
to temperance patience; and
to patience godliness; 7 And
to godliness brotherly kindness; and
to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you,
and abound,
they make you that ye shall
neither be barren nor unfruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind,
and cannot see afar off, and
hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your
calling and
election sure:
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you
abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
though ye know them, and
be established in the present truth.
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in remembrance of these things,
10
12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always
2 Peter
13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to
stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle,
even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able
after my decease
to have these things always in remembrance.
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables,
when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For he received from God the Father
honour and glory,
when there came such a voice to him from the
excellent glory,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard,
when we were with him in the holy mount.
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and
that no prophecy of the scripture
is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time
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20 Knowing this first,
11
the day star arise in your hearts:
2 Peter
by the will of man: but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.
2Pe 2:1-22
1 But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them, and
bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways;
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of.
3 And through covetousness
shall they with feigned words
make merchandise of you:
whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and
their damnation slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world,
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes
condemned them with an overthrow,
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a preacher of righteousness,
12
but saved Noah the eighth person,
2 Peter
making them an ensample
unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot,
vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them,
in seeing and hearing,
vexed his righteous soul from day to day
with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptations, and
to reserve the unjust
unto the day of judgment to be punished:
10 But chiefly them
that walk after the flesh
in the lust of uncleanness, and
despise government.
Presumptuous are they, selfwilled,
they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
11 Whereas angels,
which are greater in power and might,
bring not railing accusation against them
before the Lord.
speak evil of the things that they understand not; and
shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness,
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made to be taken and destroyed,
13
12 But these, as natural brute beasts,
2 Peter
as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time.
Spots they are and
blemishes,
sporting themselves
with their own deceivings
while they feast with you;
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and
that cannot cease from sin;
beguiling unstable souls:
an heart they have exercised with covetous practices;
cursed children:
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and
are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,
who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
16 But was rebuked for his iniquity:
the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the
madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water,
clouds that are carried with a tempest;
to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity,
those that were clean escaped from them who live in
error.
19 While they promise them liberty,
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through much wantonness,
14
they allure through the lusts of the flesh,
2 Peter
they themselves are the servants of corruption:
for of whom a man is overcome,
of the same is he brought in bondage.
20 For if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ,
they are again entangled therein,
and overcome,
the latter end is worse with them than the
beginning.
21 For it had been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness,
than, after they have known it,
to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true
proverb,
The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and
the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
2Pe 3:1-18
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you;
in both which I stir up your pure minds
which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and
of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and
Saviour:
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2 That ye may be mindful of the words
15
by way of remembrance:
2 Peter
3 Knowing this first, that
there shall come in the last days
scoffers,
walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying,
Where is the promise of his coming?
for since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were
from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of,
that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and
the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now,
by the same word
are kept in store,
reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and
as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward,
not willing that any should perish, but
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9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
16
a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter
that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord
will come as a thief in the night;
in the which the heavens shall pass away
with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt
with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be
in all holy conversation and
godliness,
12 Looking for and
hasting unto the coming of
the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and
the elements
shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we,
according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth,
seeing that ye look for such things,
be diligent that
ye may be found of him in peace,
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14 Wherefore, beloved,
17
wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2 Peter
without spot, and
blameless.
15 And account that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation;
even as our beloved brother Paul also
according to the wisdom given unto him
hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things;
in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest,
as they do also the other scriptures,
unto their own destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also,
being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
To him be glory
both now and for ever.
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Amen.
2 Peter
2Pe_1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with
us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ:
2Pe_1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe_1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe_1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust.
2Pe_2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned
words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of
a long time lingereth not, and their damnation
slumbereth not.
2Pe_2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of
vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through
much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from
them who live in error.
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2Pe_1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe_1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe_1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
2Pe_1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness;
19
2Pe_2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and
overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the
beginning.
2 Peter
2Pe_1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they
make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe_2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and
overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the
beginning.
2Pe_3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now
and for ever. Amen.
2Pe_1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
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2Pe_1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always
in remembrance of these things, though ye know them,
and be established in the present truth.
2Pe_1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this
tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
2Pe_1:15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able
after my decease to have these things always in
remembrance.
2Pe_3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you;
in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of
remembrance:
20
2Pe_1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with
us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ:
2Pe_1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust.
2 Peter
2Pe_1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall:
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2Pe_1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust.
2Pe_2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the
lust of uncleanness, and despise government.
Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to
speak evil of dignities.
2Pe_2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of
vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through
21
2Pe_1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the
day star arise in your hearts:
2Pe_1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe_1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost.
2Pe_2:1 But there were false prophets also among the
people, even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction.
2Pe_2:16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass
speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the
prophet.
2Pe_3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were
spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the
commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and
Saviour:
2 Peter
much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from
them who live in error.
2Pe_3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last
days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
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2Pe_1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall:
2Pe_1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always
in remembrance of these things, though ye know them,
and be established in the present truth.
22
2Pe_1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the
day star arise in your hearts:
2Pe_2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned
words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of
a long time lingereth not, and their damnation
slumbereth not.
2Pe_2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of
vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through
much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from
them who live in error.
2Pe_3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were
spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the
commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and
Saviour:
2Pe_3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the
word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth
standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe_3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men.
2 Peter
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23
2Pe_3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such
things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace,
without spot, and blameless.
2Pe_3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things
before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error
of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
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24
2 Peter
2 Peter
2 Peter 1
Peter’s second epistle was written shortly (3 years) after his first
letter (as also Paul to Corinth, Thessalonika, and Timothy).
It was probably written after Paul’s death, somewhere between
a.d. 64-68; Peter mentions “all his epistles” as being in
circulation already.
This epistle has had a rough passage through the centuries.
It was considered second-class Scripture by Luther, rejected
by Erasmus, and regarded with hesitancy by Calvin.
Despite some scholastic controversies (which we won’t bother
to detail) by the 4th century it was well accepted throughout
most of the world.
In Cave 7 at Qumran a papyrus fragment, 7Q5, appears to be part
of Mark’s Gospel, comprising 6:52-53.
A tiny fragment (only 2 cm), 7Q10, found in the same cave has
on it 6 letters in two lines which could come only from 2 Peter
1:15, if they come from the NT at all.
[Source: Jose O’Callaghan, “Los papiros griegos de la
cueva 7 de Qumran,” Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores
Cristianos, 1974, pp. 74-75, plate v.]
It has been conjectured that this letter might have been a covering
document to Mark’s Gospel to the Qumran community shortly
before the Jewish War in a.d. 68 when the cave was closed.
Like all “second” epistles, it is corrective: it is the prophet or
exhorter who speaks.
In his final message just prior to his martyrdom, Peter gives us
some specific warnings concerning the oncoming apostasy
that will sweep over Christendom.
The declaration of the building of the Church (Mt 16) and
The Transfiguration (Mt 17).
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The two epistles were linked to the two great experiences of his
life:
25
The Two Epistles of Peter
2 Peter
2 Peter 1
1] Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to
them that have obtained like precious faith with us
through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ:
1Pe 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who
reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be
sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in
the fullest measure.
“...servant”: doulos, bondslave.
Clearly this is the same audience as his first letter.
“...precious”: One of Peter’s favorite words.
“...righteousness of God”: Righteousness which God imputes to
the believer.
It would be unrighteous of God to refuse to save anyone who
desired to avail himself of the result of the work of the Cross.
God desires that all men should be saved and come to the
knowledge of the truth.)
The faith of the apostles was no different from the faith of any
believer.
The faith given them by God was of equal honor or privilege with
that of the apostles’ faith.
“...knowledge of God”: A knowledge that only the Holy Spirit can
give/ It is also interesting to note how frequently Peter uses
mathematical terms: “be multiplied” (also in 1 Pet 1:2).
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2] Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
26
This contrasted with the Gnostic doctrines of the false teachers
who spoke of an “inner circle” of special knowledge attainable by
and available only to a privileged few.
2 Peter
3] According as his divine power G1411 hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
“...power” (dunamis) is another one of Peter’s favorite words (cf.
1 Pet 1:5; 3:22; 2 Pet 1:16; 2:11).
G1849 ἐξουσία exousia
1) power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases
2) physical and mental power one possesses; capability
3) the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)
4) the power of rule or government
G1411 δύναμις dunamis
1) strength, power, ability
G2904 κράτος kratos
1) force, strength
2) power, might: mighty with great power
3) dominion
G2479 ἰσχύς ischus
1) ability, force, strength, might
“...precious promises”: Indeed.
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4] Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust.
27
I
2 Peter
“...partakers”: Lit., “became partners” koinonos; sharing assets
and liabilities.
Because they are “partakers” of God’s nature, Christians can
share in His moral victory over sin in this life and share in His
glorious victory over death in eternal life.
Because of
the promise of the new birth (1 Pet 1:3),
the promise of God’s protecting power (1 Pet 1:5), and
the promise of God’s enabling power (2 Pet 1:3),
believers can “participate in the divine nature,”
that is, become more like Christ (Rom 8:9; Gal
2:20)
1Pe 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who according to His great mercy has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled
and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
2Pe 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us
everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and
excellence.
Rom 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
5] And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
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“...lust”: Includes covetousness and every sort of forbidden
yearning.
28
Gal 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself up for me.
2 Peter
6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness;
7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness charity.
“...add” = in the imperative, translates epichoregeo, from which
come the English words “chorus,” “choreograph,” and
“choreography.”
Like an orchestrator adds/furnishes harmonies and
instruments to a melody
epichoregeo In ancient Greece the state established a chorus but
the director, the choregys, paid the expenses for training the
chorus.
Then the word came to be used of one who provides for or
supports others or supplies something for them in abundance.
A believer is to “furnish, supply, or support” his faith in life
with these virtues.
“...virtue”: This is more than merely chastity: it is really valor, as a
soldier.
“...knowledge”: There can be no growth without a deepened
understanding of spiritual realities.
“...temperance”: Self-control.
Faith, goodness, and spiritual knowledge are not enough for a
Christian’s walk.
He must also make every effort to practice self-control
(egkrateia ; used only two other times in the NT: Acts 24:25;
Gal 5:23
This means to have one’s passions under control.
Murmuring is a sin (!) “...godliness”: God-likeness; true piety.
“...charity”: Love (Gal 5:6; 1 Cor 13).
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“...patience”: To endure without complaining.
29
It contrasts sharply with the anarchy and lack of control on the
part of the false teachers whom Peter will expose in Chapter 2.
2 Peter
8] For if these things be in you, and abound,
they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“...barren”: A better word is idle or inactive; not unfruitful (Mt
25:14-30). [parable of the talents]
Peter’s concluding benediction in this epistle—his last words to
us—will be that we are to “grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior.”
9] But he that lacketh these things
is blind, and cannot see afar off, and
hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
“...diligence”: “Due diligence” is a stewardship, or investor, term.
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10] Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure:
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
30
“...blind”: typhlos, and myopazon, or myopic; unable to see
clearly, to discern spiritual things.
2 Peter
Manifestation is a confirmation.
“...sure”: The Greek word for “sure” (bebaian) was used in
classical Greek to refer to a warranty deed, somewhat like
those people use today on houses and other pieces of
property. Proof of: ownership & Right of possession
One’s godly behavior is a “warranty deed” for himself that
Jesus Christ has cleansed him from his past sins and
therefore that he was in fact called and elected by God.
[Bebaian is rendered “secure” (Heb 6:19),
“guaranteed” (Rom 4:16),
“firm” (2 Cor 1:7),
“courage” (Heb 3:6),
“confidence” (Heb 3:14), and
“in force” (Heb 9:17).]
“...calling”: This refers to God’s efficacious work in salvation
Holy Spirit’s call to acknowledge Jesus Christ and serve His
purposes.
Rom 1:7 To [you then] all God's beloved ones in Rome,
called to be saints and designated for a consecrated life:
Grace and spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. [Amp]
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Rom 8:28-30
28 And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those
who are called according to his purpose, all things are
working together [Other mss. read that God works all things together for good for
those who love God and who are called according to his purpose]
for good. 29 ¶
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son [Lit.
that he]
might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And
those whom he predestined, he also called; and those
31
Rom 8:30 And those whom He thus foreordained, He also
called; and those whom He called, He also justified
(acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing
with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also
glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition
or state of being]. [Amp]
2 Peter
whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he
justified he also glorified. [ISV]
1Co 1:9 Faithful is the God by whom you were called into
fellowship with his Son Jesus the Messiah, [Or Christ] our
Lord. [ISV]
“...election”: God’s work of choosing some (by His grace, not their
merits) to serve Him in particular places and ways
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Rom 11:2-5
2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do
you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about
Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
32
Rom 8:31-39
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us,
who is against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over
for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all
things?
33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the
one who justifies;
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who
died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand
of God, who also intercedes for us.
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING
PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE
CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through
Him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
2 Peter
3 "Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY
HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM
LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE."
4 But what is the divine response to him? "I HAVE KEPT for
Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT
BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL."
5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the
present time a remnant according to God's gracious
choice.
1Pe 1:1-2
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Col 3:12-17
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and
beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other,
whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord
forgave you, so also should you.
14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect
bond of unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed
you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all
wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
33
Eph 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In
love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely
bestowed on us in the Beloved.
2 Peter
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as
aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be
sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in
the fullest measure.
A believer shows by his godly life and his growth in the virtues
mentioned in 2 Pet 1:5-7 that he is called of God and His elect.
“...fall”: Such a believer will not fall (or “stumble,” ptaiseìte).
This word “stumble” does not suggest that a believer loses his
salvation, for salvation does not depend on one’s spiritual
growth.
The Greek word for stumble means “to trip up” or “to
experience a reversal.”
Certainly one who is maturing in Christ will not trip up in his
spiritual life as readily as one who is immature and nearsighted.
ELECT (Heb. bahir, "chosen") to be selected; appointed
CALLED
to be solicited; offered an opportunity; ordained
Israel was Elected by God and then Called to service as a nation.
God chose (selected / elected) Israel (as a bride is chosen) and
then Israel chose to accept or reject
The Church was Called by God and Elected to service as
individuals
He did not choose individuals who can or who cannot be saved
– who will or will not be saved.
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God predetermined the process, the way, the method by which
man is saved.
34
God calls us by His Spirit, We choose, God elects (selects) for
our role and place of service within the Body of Christ
2 Peter
We as individualsc hoose to be saved – or not !!
2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance.
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Mar_8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with
his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it;
but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the
gospel's, the same shall save it. Mat_16:25 Luk_17:33 .
Joh_3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Rom_10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
11] For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you
abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
Not an earthly kingdom but the everlasting kingdom of the
Lord
Constant victory in Christ is the goal. (Mt 16:13>)
Who do you say that I am?
He knew our need of repeated remindings.
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12] Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in
remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and
be established in the present truth.
35
In memory of what the Lord had told him when he was publicly
reinstated to the place of apostleship at the seaside (John 21).
2 Peter
13] Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to
stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
14] Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle,
even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
John 21:18,19.
18 "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you
used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but
when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and
someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do
not wish to go." 19 Now this He said, signifying by what
kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had
spoken this, He *said to him, "Follow Me!"
To be with Christ, which is far better (Phil 1:23. Cf. 2 Cor 5:1-10).
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2Co 5:1-10
1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is
torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house
we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4
For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being
urdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be
clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5
Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who
gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. 6 Therefore, being always
of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the
body we are absent from the Lord-- 7 for we walk by faith, not
by sight-- 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather
to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9
Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or
absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be
36
Php 1:21-24
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 But if I
am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me;
and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed
from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with
Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the
flesh is more necessary for your sake.
2 Peter
recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he
has done, whether good or bad.
The image of this earthly body being like a tent fits well with
Peter’s pilgrimage theme
1Pe 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who according to His great mercy has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled
and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while,
if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
1Pe 1:17 If you address as Father the One who impartially
judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves
in fear during the time of your stay on earth;
1Pe 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to
abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
15] Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my
decease to have these things always in remembrance.
“...my decease”: exodon, same word as the title of the second
book of the Torah: Exodus.
Some speculate that Peter, in “keeping these things always in
remembrance,” may have had in mind his Gospel, through Mark.
It is possible (likely) that Moses and Elijah may well be returning to
Israel as the two witnesses during the first half of the Tribulation
period representing the Law and the Prophets .
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Luk 9:30-31
30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were
Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking
of His departure which He was about to accomplish at
Jerusalem.
37
On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah spoke
of Jesus’ “departure” (exodon).
16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
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Rev 11:1-12
1 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and
someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and
the altar, and those who worship in it.
2 "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not
measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will
tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.
3 "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will
prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in
sackcloth."
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that
stand before the Lord of the earth.
5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth
and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them,
he must be killed in this way.
6 These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not
fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power
over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth
with every plague, as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes
up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome
them and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which
mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord
was crucified.
9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will
look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not
permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and
celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because
these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God
came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear
fell upon those who were watching them.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them,
"Come up here." Then they went up into heaven in the cloud,
and their enemies watched them.
38
2 Peter
2 Peter
“...eyewitnesses of his majesty”: (Matt 17:1-8)
It is important to distinguish between
the written Word (the BibleL Remah G4487) and
the incarnate Word, the Logos G3056: (Christ).
They are both major avenues of God’s revelation and therefore
both come into focus throughout the remainder of this chapter.
1 Ptr 1:25] But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever.
And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto
you.
“...the Word of the Lord”:
Logos G3056: The whole revelation of God
Remah G4487: The sayings of God
This imperishable Word was the content of Peter’s
preaching
1Pe 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not
serving themselves, but you, in these things which now
have been announced to you through those who
preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from
heaven--things into which angels long to look.
“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth” (James
1:18).
His hearers must be affected by its life-changing power, as
indicated in 1Pe 2:1-3
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Psa 19:7-11
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The
testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
39
1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and
hypocrisy and envy and all slander,
2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the
word, so that by it you may grow in respect to
salvation,
3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
2 Peter
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The
judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous
altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine
gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the
honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping
them there is great reward.
Joh 1:17-18
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth
were realized through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God
who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Heb 1:1-2
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets
in many portions and in many ways,
2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made
the world.
A Christian’s faith does not rest on clever stories or fables
(mythois) as did the doctrines of the false teachers which Peter
will attack in Chapter 2.
Instead, true faith is founded on historical facts, which
eyewitnesses corroborated.
His defense of the doctrine of the Second Coming therefore is
based on his eyewitness experience on the Mount of
Transfiguration at which time he truly saw Christ’s majesty.
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1Pe 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is
imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God
40
Several times in his earlier epistle he spoke of Christ’s return.
2 Peter
through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time.
1Pe 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in
spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 4:12-13
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among
you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some
strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree
that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so
that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with
exultation.
Obviously Peter considered the doctrine of Christ’s return to
be of great importance, one his readers should always keep in
mind.
In Peter’s preaching during the days of the early Church he was
firmly committed to the doctrine of the Second Coming
Act 2:32-33
32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all
witnesses.
33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God,
and having received from the Father the promise of the
Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see
and hear….
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Act 3:16-21
16 "And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of
Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and
know; and the faith which comes through Him has given
him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 "And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance,
just as your rulers did also.
18 "But the things which God announced beforehand by the
mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He
has thus fulfilled.
41
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that
God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom
you crucified."
2 Peter
19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be
wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come
from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send
Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven
must receive until the period of restoration of all things
about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets
from ancient time.
Was the Transfiguration a “staff meeting”?
A view of the kingdom in advance?
Location? Moses and Elijah ended their ministries in the
same region near Mt. Nebo (Pisgah); Deut 34:1; 2 Kgs 2.
Was the Mt. of Transfiguration in this same region? (Mk 9:30).
17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory,
when there came such a voice to him from the excellent
glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
As at His baptism...(Mt 3:17).
Mat_12:18, Mat_17:5; Psa_2:7; Isa_42:1, Isa_42:21;
Mar_1:11, Mar_9:7; Luk_3:22, Luk_9:35;
18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when
we were with him in the holy mount.
He seems as much impressed with what he heard as with
what he saw.
Mat 17:3-4
4 Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they
were talking with Jesus.
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Mar 9:4-7
42
3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
talking with Him.
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be
here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here,
one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
2 Peter
5 Peter *said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be
here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and
one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
6 For he did not know what to answer; for they
became terrified.
7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a
voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son,
listen to Him!"
19] We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto
ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in
your hearts:
“...a more sure word of prophecy”: Prophecy here refers to the
future 2nd Coming and return of the Lord
20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of
any private interpretation.
“...private interpretation”: This has been interpreted several
ways:
1) Scripture should be interpreted only in context, that is,
a prophecy cannot stand alone without other prophecies to
aid in its understanding.
2) Scripture should not be interpreted according to one’s own
individual liking.
3) Scripture cannot be correctly interpreted without the Holy
Spirit.
4) The prophecies did not originate with the prophets
themselves.
Verse 20 speaks not of interpretation but of revelation, the
source of the Scriptures.
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The Scriptures did not stem merely from the prophets
themselves;
their writings came from God.
43
The word epilyseos (“interpretation,” lit., “unloosing”) and the
word givnetai, ginetai (“came about”) favor the fourth view.
2 Peter
There is integrity of design, and each part takes relevance as it fits
into the “whole counsel” of God (Act 20:27).
Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the
world... Acts 15:18
Amo 9:9-12
9 "For behold, I am commanding, And I will shake the
house of Israel among all nations As grain is shaken in
a sieve, But not a kernel will fall to the ground.
10 "All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, 'The calamity will not overtake or
confront us.'
11 "In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David,
And wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom And
all the nations who are called by My name," Declares
the LORD who does this.
Isa 46:9-10 9 "Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and
there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the
beginning, And from ancient times things which have
not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be
established, And I will accomplish all My good
pleasure';
Num 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a
son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and
will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not
make it good?
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22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to
take place; As for the former events, declare what they
were, That we may consider them and know their
outcome. Or announce to us what is coming; 23
Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good
or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear
together….
44
Isa 41:22-26
2 Peter
26 Who has declared this from the beginning, that we
might know? Or from former times, that we may say,
"He is right!"? Surely there was no one who declared,
Surely there was no one who proclaimed, Surely there
was no one who heard your words.
Isa 44:7 'Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;
Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time
that I established the ancient nation. And let them
declare to them the things that are coming And the
events that are going to take place.
21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.
“...were moved”: “Borne along” or “carried along” translates the
word, pheromenoi.
Luke used this word in referring to a sailing vessel carried
along by the wind (Acts 27:15, 17).
Act 27:15-17
15 and when the ship was caught in it and could not face
the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven
along.
16 Running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda,
we were scarcely able to get the ship's boat under control.
17 After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in
undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground
on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and in
this way let themselves be driven along.
As the authors of Scripture wrote their prophecies, they were
impelled or borne along by God’s Spirit.
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2Ti 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work.
45
What they wrote was thus inspired by God.
2 Peter
The Scriptures’ human authors were controlled by the divine
Author, the Holy Spirit.
Yet they were consciously involved in the process; they were
neither taking dictation nor writing in a state of ecstasy.
No wonder believers have a word of prophecy which is certain.
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46
They are the very words of God Himself!
2 Peter
Measuring Our Confidence: How Sure Can We Be?
Until we can measure a thing, we really know very little about it.
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)
The Nature of Einstein’s Revolution
We have the advantage of modern physics, although few
appreciate its aid to our understanding Biblical insights!
• Special Relativity (1905): Length, mass, velocity and time
are relative to velocity of the observers
• General Relativity (1915): No distinction between time &
space = a 4-dimensional continuum (confirmed 14 ways to 19
decimals).
Gravitational Time Dilation
Two identical Atomic clocks are located at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado,
and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England.
Both are accurate to better than 1 second per million years,
yet the NIST clock ticks 5 μ seconds/year faster than an
identical clock at Greenwich.
Which is correct? Both are!
Boulder, Colorado = 5400 ft altitude;
Greenwich, England = 80 ft.
Atomic Clocks run faster by 10-16 sec/meter elevation.
Other Demonstrations
• Aircraft experiment (1971):
Eastward : lost 0.059 microseconds;
Westward: gained 0.273 microseconds.
Time Is Not Uniform
Time is a physical property; it varies with mass, acceleration
and gravity… among other things…
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• Twin Astronauts (hypothetical) Alpha Centauri trip…
47
Accounting for the Earth’s rotation, etc., it was exactly what
Einstein’s formula predicted.
2 Peter
We exist in more than three dimensions (apparently, 10…).
This physical insight will dissolve most theological
paradoxes…
The Nature of God
Is God subject to the restrictions of mass? Acceleration?
Gravity?
He is not simply One with “lots of time,”
He is outside of the restrictions of time.
This uniqueness is His Personal Imprint…
From Outside Time
For thus saith the High and Lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity…
Isaiah 57:15
Since God has the technology to create us, He certainly has
the means to get a message to us; but how does He
authenticate His message so that we know that it is really from
Him, and not a contrivance or a fraud?
Authentication
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done...Isaiah 46:10
Prophetic Scriptures
In the Bible there are 8,362 predictive verses;
Covering 1,817 predictions on 737 separate matters.
J. Barton Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy
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Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek by 270 BC.
They contain over 300 prophecies detailing the Coming Messiah.
We are now going to examine just eight of them.
For this statistical analysis, I am indebted to Peter Stoner, Science
Speaks (which I took as the basis and modified).
Can we measure our confidence that Jesus really was who He
said He was?
48
The Old Testament (The Tenach)
2 Peter
Prophecy #1: Born in Bethlehem
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2
What is the probability of any person, taken at random, of
fulfilling this?
p=10,000/1,000,000,000 p=104/109=1:105 (1:100,000)
Prophecy #2: King on Donkey
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and
having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a
colt the foal of an ass. Zechariah 9:9
How many have presented themselves as a king to Jerusalem
riding a donkey?
p = 1:100
Prophecy #3: 30 Pieces of Silver
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if
not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of
silver. Zechariah 11:12
How many people have been betrayed for 30 pieces of silver?
p = 1:1,000
Prophecy #4: Temple, Potter, etc.
And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly
price that I was prized at of them.
The Final Transaction
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And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, “It is not
lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price
of blood.” And they took counsel, and bought with them the
potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was
called, The field of blood, unto this day. Matthew 27:6-8
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And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the
potter in the house of the Lord. Zechariah 11:13
2 Peter
Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he
was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the
thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, “I
have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” And
they said, “What is that to us? see thou to that.” And he cast
down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and
went and hanged himself. Matthew 27:4-5
The Precision of Zech 11:13.
Price: 30 pieces of silver; location of the transaction: the
House of the Lord (Temple); who ends up with the money?
The potter!
p = 1:100,000
Prophecy #5: Wounds in Hands
And one shall say unto him, “What are these wounds in thine
hands?” Then he shall answer, “Those with which I was
wounded in the house of my friends.” Zechariah 13:6
Thomas’ Unbelief
But he [Thomas] said unto them, “Except I shall see in his
hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of
the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and
Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut,
and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace be unto you.” Then
saith he to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my
hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side:
and be not faithless, but believing.”
Prophecy #6: No Defense Though Innocent
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How many people, taken at random, have been “wounded in
their hands” in “the house of their friends?”
p = 1:1,000
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And Thomas answered and said unto him, “My Lord and my
God.” Jesus saith unto him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen
me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen,
and yet have believed.” John 20:25-29
2 Peter
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth. Isaiah 53:7
How many prisoners, accused of a capital crime, make no
defense even though innocent?
p = 1:1,000
Prophecy #7: Died with Wicked; Buried with Rich
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth. Isaiah 53:9
How many died among the wicked, yet were buried with the
rich?
p = 1:1,000
Prophecy #8: Crucified
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked
have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. Psalm
22:16
(700 years before crucifixion invented.) How many, taken at
random, have died by having hands and feet pierced?
p = 1:10,000
Composite Probabilities
If a population has 60% male and 40% female, what is the
probability that one taken at random is female? 40%, or p = 0.4
8 Prophecies
Micah 5:2
Zechariah 9:9
Born in Bethlehem
King on Donkey
1:100,000
1:100
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What is the probability of selecting a left-handed female?
p = 0.4 x 0.4 = .16
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If a population is 60% right handed and 40% left handed, what is
the probability that someone taken at random is left handed? 40%,
or p = 0.4.
2 Peter
Zechariah 11:12 30 pieces of Silver
Zechariah 11:13 Temple, Potter, etc
Zechariah 13:6
Wounds in hands
Isaiah 53:7
No defense; innocent
Isaiah 53:9
Died with the wicked
Grave with the rich
Psalm 22:16
Crucified
1:1,000
1: 100,000
1:1,000
1:1,000
1:1,000
1:10,000
1:1028
8 Prophecies Combined
• Total population # 100 billion (1011)
• Combined probabilities: 1028/1011 = 1017
• A “bucket” of 1017 silver dollars?
1017 silver dollars would cover the State of Texas 2 feet
deep
16 Prophecies Combined
Over 300 to choose from; the next 8 would be more specific
(each less likely than the previous);
Assuming no decrease in likelihoods: 1028 x 1028 = 1056.
Combined probabilities: 1056/1011 = 1045
How big of a “bucket” do we need now?
A ball of silver dollars with a radius that is 30 times the
distance between the Earth and the Sun!
Absurd - Impossible
• Only 1018 seconds in the history of the universe;
31.7 billion years
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Science claims there are:
52
Any possibility <10-50 (<1 chance in 1050) is defined by
science as being absurd
– a statistical impossibility without some independent,
intelligent, external intervention or influence.
2 Peter
Science = Universe is ~16-20 billion years old
• Only 1066 atoms in our entire galaxy;
• Only 1080 particles in our entire galaxy;
48 Prophecies out of 300 Combined
Over 300 to choose from; assuming no decrease in
likelihoods:
1028 x 1028 x 1028 x 1028 x 1028 x 1028 = 10168.
Combined probabilities:
10168/1011 = 10157 Silver dollars won’t work this one…
48 Prophecies: 10157 Make a “ball” of every atom in the
universe:
1066 Make one for each atom of the universe:
1066 x 1066 = 10132
Repeat this exercise every second since the universe
began: 10132 x 1017 = 10149
10149 vs. 10157 ?
…we are still short by 108: 100,000,000 times
…and we’ve dealt with only 48 of over 300 prophecies!
The Most Amazing Ones
• His detailed genealogy;
• The specific prediction of the precise day that the Messiah
would present Himself as King to Jerusalem;
• Old Testament Midrashic Prophecies.
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Islam’s Koran;
Hindu’s Veda;
Bhagavad-Gita;
Book of Mormon;
Nostradamas’ Centuries;
Occultic mediums, channelers, “New Age” spirit guides,
etc.
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• There are no other equivalents —
2 Peter
The Scarlet Thread
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Old Testament Prophecies Quoted in the Gospels
• He was to be of David’s family (2 Sam 7:12-16; Ps 89:3-4;
110:1; 132:11; Isa 9:6, 7; 11:1).
• He would be born of a virgin (Gen 3:15; Isa 7:14).
• He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
• He would sojourn in Egypt (Hos 11:1).
• He would live in Galilee (Isa 9:1, 2).
• …in Nazareth (Isa 11:1).
• To be announced by an Elijah-like herald (Is 40:3-5; Mal 3:1;
4:5).
• Would occasion massacre of Bethlehem’s children (Ge 35:1920; Je 31:15).
• Would proclaim a Jubilee to the world (Isa 58:6; 61:1).
• His mission would include the Gentiles (Isa 42:1-4).
• Ministry would be one of healing (Isa 53:4).
• He would teach through parables (Isa 6:9-10; Ps 78:2).
• He would be disbelieved, rejected by Rulers (Ps 69:4; 118:22;
Isa 6:10; 29:13; 53:1).
• Would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Zec 9:9; Ps
118:26).
• Betrayed by friend for 30 pieces of silver (Zec 11:1-13; Ps 41:9).
• Would be like a smitten shepherd (Zech 13:7).
• Would be given vinegar and gall (Ps 69:21).
• They would cast lots for His garments (Ps 22:18).
• His Side would be pierced (Zech 12:10; Ps 22:16).
• Not a bone would be broken (Ex 12:46; Num 9:12; Ps 34:20).
• Would die among malefactors (Isa 53:9, 12).
• His dying words foretold (Ps 22:1; 31:5).
• Would be buried by a rich man (Isa 53:9).
• Rise from dead on 3rd day (Gen 22:4; Ps 16:10-11; Jon 1:17).
• Resurrection followed by destruction of Jerusalem (Dan
9:26;11:31; 12:1,11).
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• The “Seed of the Woman” Genesis 3:15 – The Human Race
• Abraham Genesis 22:18 – The Nation of Israel
• Jacob Genesis 49:10 – The Tribe
• David 2 Samuel 7:11-16 – The Family
2 Peter
Epistemological Approach
Epistemology (from Greek ἐπιστήμη, epistēmē, meaning
"knowledge, understanding", and λόγος, logos, meaning
"word")
Establish the Integrity of Design in the Bible;
which Establishes the Identity of Jesus Christ;
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55
which in turn Authenticates the Integrity of Design.
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56
2 Peter
2 Peter
2 Peter 2 False Teachers
False doctrines had begun to make inroads; both 2 Peter and
Jude deal with these.
A greater apostasy was to come.
There are significant similarities with Jude.
This “double testimony” by the Holy Spirit should get our
attention in this day!)
Paul also dealt with similar libertine false teachers
1Co 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and
that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
1Co 7:23 You were bought with a price; do not become
slaves of men.
A false teacher is not a person who teaches false doctrine out of
ignorance but rather one who teaches error intentionally
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Act 18:24-28
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an
eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the
Scriptures.
25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord;
and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching
accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted
only with the baptism of John;
26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue.
But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him
aside and explained to him the way of God more
accurately.
27 And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the
brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to
welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped
those who had believed through grace,
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Apollos mistakenly taught the message and the baptism of
John, but he was not a false teacher
2 Peter
28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public,
demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
False teachers are professed believers who

know the truth but who deliberately teach lies in the
hope of promoting themselves and getting financial
gain from their followers (1 Pet 2:3,14);

are able to live in sin to please themselves (1 Pet
2:10,13,14,18,19);

use deceptive means (1 Pet 2:1,3) and

twist the Word of God to suit their fancies.
1] But there were false prophets also among the people, even
as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift
destruction.
“...false prophets”: They arose in Israel (Jer 5:31; 23:9-18),
in Peter’s day, and
also among us.
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Jer 23:9-18
9 As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my
bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even
like a man overcome with wine, Because of the LORD And
because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns
because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have
dried up. Their course also is evil And their might is not
right.
11 "For both prophet and priest are polluted; Even in My
house I have found their wickedness," declares the LORD.
12 "Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them,
They will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it;
For I will bring calamity upon them, The year of their
punishment," declares the LORD.
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Jer 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule
on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what
will you do at the end of it?
2 Peter
13 "Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an
offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My
people Israel astray.
14 "Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a
horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in
falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So
that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of
them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants
like Gomorrah.
15 "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the
prophets, 'Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood And
make them drink poisonous water, For from the prophets
of Jerusalem Pollution has gone forth into all the land.'"
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Do not listen to the words
of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are
leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own
imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 "They keep saying to those who despise Me, 'The LORD
has said, "You will have peace"'; And as for everyone who
walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say,
'Calamity will not come upon you.'
18 "But who has stood in the council of the LORD, That he
should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His
word and listened?
“...privily”: False teacher never announce their arrival as such.
The church is never injured from the outside; only from the
inside.
“...damnable heresies”: There is no heresy that has not been
anticipated by the Holy Spirit.
Heresy is like leaven: it corrupts all with which it comes in contact.
…and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world. 1 John 2:2
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“...denying the Lord that bought them”: A direct rebuttal of
limited atonement, the view that Christ died only for those whom
He would later save.
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Gal 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
2 Peter
False Teachers
• Their teaching was flattery;
• Their ambitions were financial;
• Their lives were dissolute;
• Their conscience was dulled;
• Their aim was deception.
Isa 28:7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from
strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong
drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong
drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when
rendering judgment.
Jer 23:14 "Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen
a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in
falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So
that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of
them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants
like Gomorrah.
Eze 13:3 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the foolish
prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen
nothing.
Zec 13:4 "Also it will come about in that day that the prophets
will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies,
and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive;
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Mat 7:15-21
15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not
gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are
they?
17 "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree
bears bad fruit.
18 "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree
produce good fruit.
19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire.
20 "So then, you will know them by their fruits.
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“Wolves in sheep’s clothing” is the way our Lord pictured them
2 Peter
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
who is in heaven will enter.
2Co 4:1-2
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received
mercy, we do not lose heart,
2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of
shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of
God, but by the manifestation of truth commending
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
2Co 11:13-15
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers,
disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel
of light.
15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise
themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will
be according to their deeds.
2] And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of
whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
“...pernicious ways”: aselgeiais: debased sexually; immoral
practices.
Debauchery (1 Pet 4:3); filthy (2 Pet 2:7); lustful (2 Pet 2:18).
2Pe 2:18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they
entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely
escape from the ones who live in error,
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2Pe 2:7-8
7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the
sensual conduct of unprincipled men
8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while
living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented
day after day by their lawless deeds),
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1Pe 4:3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have
carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a
course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing,
drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
2 Peter
aselgeia unbridled lust, excess, lasciviousness, wantonness,
outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence
Rom 13:13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and
sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
2Co 12:20-21
20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find
you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to
be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife,
jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip,
arrogance, disturbances;
21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may
humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many
of those who have sinned in the past and not repented
of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they
have practiced.
Jud 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those
who were long beforehand marked out for this
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Eph 4:17-19
17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you
walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the
futility of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from
the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them,
because of the hardness of their heart;
19 and they, having become callous, have given
themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every
kind of impurity with greediness.
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Gal 5:19-21
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:
immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of
anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like
these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have
forewarned you, that those who practice such things
will not inherit the kingdom of God.
2 Peter
condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our
God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and
Lord, Jesus Christ.
This will become important in v. 4.
3] And through covetousness shall they with feigned words
make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long
time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
“...feigned words”: “Counterfeit words” or “manufactured,
fabricated words.”
plastos, from which we get the English word “plastic.”
They take familiar Bible words and manufacture new
meanings for them.
They use our vocabulary but empty these words of spiritual
meaning.
They will fall into the same judgment as former violators of
truth.
God’s judgment is never late.
4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved unto judgment;
Jud 1:6-7
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1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face
of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the
sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful;
and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man
forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days
shall be one hundred and twenty years."
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also
afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters
of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the
mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
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“...the angels that sinned”: Gen 6:1-4.
2 Peter
6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but
abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal
bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them,
since they in the same way as these indulged in gross
immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an
example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
“...hell”: Tartarus: a Greek term signifying a region that was as far
below Hades as Hades was below the earth [Homer; also
Josephus Apion. ii.33.]
Rev 9:1-2
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Aka: equivalent to the Abousso
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In Greek mythology, Tartarus was the place of punishment for
the departed spirits of the very wicked, particularly rebellious
gods like Tantalus.
2 Peter
1 Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from
heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of
the bottomless pit was given to him.
2 He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of
the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun
and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the
abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek
he has the name Apollyon.
Rev 11:7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast
that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them,
and overcome them and kill them.
Rev 17:8 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is
about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction.
And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not
been written in the book of life from the foundation of the
world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was
and is not and will come.
Rev 20:1-3
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding
the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is
the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it
and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive
the nations any longer, until the thousand years were
completed; after these things he must be released for a
short time.
Nephilim
The hybrid offspring of this unnatural intercourse were the
Nephilim, the “fallen ones” (from the Heb. Nephal, to fall.)
These were the heroes, or giants, preserved in ancient mythology.
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This reference (along with Jude 6, 7) seems to corroborate the
identity of the b’nai Elohim of that strange passage.
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“...chains of darkness”: An allusion to Gen 6:1-4.
2 Peter
Satan’s attempt to adulterate the human race, to thwart God’s
plan of redemption through Adam’s kinsman-redeemer, was
terminated through the judgment of the Flood…
Where are the spirits of the Nephilim?
Their bodies were washed away in the flood.
Only man can be redeemed through Christ’s redemption; are
these disembodied spirits what we know as the demons?
5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth
person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood
upon the world of the ungodly;
“...a preacher of righteousness”: Only Noah, whose genealogy
was uncontaminated (Gen 6:9) was spared, with his family.
Gen 6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless H8549 in his time;
Noah walked with God.
H8549 tamim from H8552; complete, sound: - blameless
(22), blamelessly (1), complete (1), entire (1), full (1),
intact (1), integrity (4), perfect (5), sincerity (1),
unblemished (2), uprightly (1), who is perfect (1), whole
(2), without blemish (12), without defect (36).
Noah was a preacher (declarer).
His very life must have been a testimony.
Every nail that Noah drove into the ark was a sermon, declaring
that judgment was about to fall.
Other Revelations in Allusions
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Jud 1:14-15
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied
of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten
thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that
are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which
they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard
speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
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• Jude: Prophecy of Enoch (v.14,15);
2 Peter
• Paul: Words of Christ not in Gospels (Acts 20:35);
Act 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so
labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember
the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more
blessed to give than to receive.
• Names of the two magicians in Egypt (2 Tim 3:8);
2Ti 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so
do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds,
reprobate concerning the faith.
• James: Elijah shut the heavens for 3 ½ years (1 Kgs 17:1 &
18:1;
1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the
inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of
Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew
nor rain these years, but according to my word.
1Ki 18:1 And it came to pass after many days, that the
word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying,
Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the
earth.
Jas 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as
we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain:
and it rained not on the earth by the space of three
years and six months.
Luk 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in
Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut
up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land;
Here, as a warning to us. Jude 1:6, 7.
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Sodom and Gomorrah must be important: they are alluded to 7X
in each the OT and NT.
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6] And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes
condemned them with an overthrow, making them an
ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
2 Peter
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their
own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in
like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going
after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire.
7] And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked:
8] (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing
and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day
with their unlawful deeds;)
“...from day to day”: “He sat in the gate...” (Gen 19:1ff).
Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and
Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to
meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the
ground;….
Lot appears to have been an alderman of the city.
“...that righteous man”: Lot a righteous man?
Yet he was in the wrong place; thus, in a constant state of
vexation.
Are you still shocked by sinful things?
Or has our consciences been dulled to sin, with apathy toward
today’s moral standards
It could never be said of him that “by faith Lot dwelt in Sodom.”
Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and
Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I
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Yet he was saved out of it, yet as by fire
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Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat,
because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is
sin.
2 Peter
will go down now, and see whether they have done
altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto
me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces
from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood
yet before the LORD. And Abraham drew near, and said,
Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt
thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty
righteous that are therein? Ge 18:20-24
A very important principle is laid down here.
Abraham intercedes for the righteous—including Lot.
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the
righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as
the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the
earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their
sakes.
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken
upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous:
wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I
find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure
there shall be forty found there.
And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will
speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there.
And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto
the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there.
And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
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And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet
but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there.
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And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.
2 Peter
And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left
communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his
place.
Genesis 18:25-32
A very important principle: The two angels will spend an entire
chapter (Genesis 19) getting Lot out of there before they can
accomplish their assigned mission!
[What does this imply regarding the church and the Tribulation?]
Genesis 19: The Destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah
17] And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth
abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee,
neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest
thou be consumed.
18] And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 19] Behold
now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast
magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in
saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some
evil take me, and I die: 20] Behold now, this city is near to flee
unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a
little one?) and my soul shall live.
21] And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee
concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for
the which thou hast spoken.
22] Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till
thou be come thither.
Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
26] But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became
a pillar of salt.
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24] Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25] And he
overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants
of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
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23] The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into
Zoar.
2 Peter
With burning sulfur the Lord overthrew the wicked cities and the
entire plain (vv. 24-25).
(Some have suggested that deposits of sulfur erupted from the
earth (cf. the “tar pits,” Gen 14:10), and then showered down out
of the heavens in flames of fire (cf. Lk 17:29).)
Gen 14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and
the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them.
But those who survived fled to the hill country.
Luk 17:28-29
28 "It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they
were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they
were selling, they were planting, they were building;
29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained
fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
Lot’s wife gazed back intently and was changed into a pillar of
salt, a monument to her disobedience; covered and encrusted
with deposits from the raining brimstone.
Jesus admonishes us to “remember Lot’s wife”
Luk 17:32-33
32 "Remember Lot's wife.
33 "Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life will preserve it.
9] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of
temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished:
(This verse concludes the sentence begun in v. 4.) A declaration
of God’s sovereignty.
Praise His name!
Lot did accept divine intervention on his behalf, as did
Elizabeth and Zacharias, who are also called dikaioi
(“upright”) (Lk 1:5, 6).
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“...deliver the godly out of temptations”: In Lot’s case, he had to
be literally dragged out!
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1Co 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you
do, do all to the glory of God.
2 Peter
Luk 1:5-6
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest
named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a
wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
Elizabeth. 6 They were both righteous in the sight of
God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and
requirements of the Lord.
This says much for Abraham’s intercessory prayer in Ge 18:23-33
Lot’s removal was a condition precedent to the judgment falling.
Noah and Lot stood alone, however.
God delivered them both.
There is no hope for the unjust...
10] But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous
are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of
dignities.
“Presumptuous are they, selfwilled”: These also make sport of
the Second Coming in Chapter 3.
Self-willed, his world contracts until the only thing he has left is the
self he has corrupted.
Rejecting (all) authority.
11] Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might,
bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
“...railing accusation”: “Railing”: blasphemos, blaspheme, insult,
slander.
Jud 1:9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the
devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare
pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The
Lord rebuke you!"
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There, Michael was on a mission for the Lord which Satan was
obstructing!
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Jude’s parallel example of Michael has to be about the most
bizarre (Jude 9).
Still, Michael left it in the Lord’s hands.
2 Peter
12] But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and
destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand
not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
The “Jesus Seminar” is a dismal example.
The false teachers are willfully blind to what the Bible teaches
2Pe 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice
that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and
the earth was formed out of water and by water,
They call evangelical Christians “uneducated” and Biblical
theology “old-fashioned”!
The reference to “brute beasts” may have evoked Peter’s use
of the Balaam’s ass in v.16.
13] And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they
that count it pleasure to riot in the day time.
Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own
deceivings while they feast with you;
14] Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from
sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have
exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
“...beguiling”: deleazo, to catch with bait; a fishing term.
Are you surprised that Peter, the fisherman, would use such a
term?
15] Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved
the wages of unrighteousness;
The Way of Balaam (2 Pet 2:15)
2Pe 2:15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray,
having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who
loved the wages of unrighteousness;
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• The Way of Balaam 2 Pet 2:15
• The Error of Balaam
Jude 11
• The Doctrine of Balaam Rev 2:14
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“...the way of Balaam”: Three related aspects:
2 Peter
Pretending to be subject to the Lord, they crave the riches of
Balak (the world; cf. Num 22-24).
Num 31:16 attributes his influence the immorality of the
Israelites at Baal-Peor (Num 25).
This type is used also in Jude 11, where Baal-Peor is implicit
(1 Cor 10:8; Rev 2:15).
1Co 10:8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did,
and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Num_25:1-9;
Psa_106:29;
Rev 2:14-15
14 'But I have a few things against you, because you
have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam,
who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block
before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to
idols and to commit acts of immorality.
15 'So you also have some who in the same way hold
the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Error of Balaam (Jude 11)
Jud 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain,
and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of
Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Reasoning from natural morality and seeing the evil in Israel, he
supposed a righteous God must curse them.
He was blind to the higher morality of the cross, through which
God maintains and enforces the authority and awful sanctions
of His law, so that He can be just and the Justifier of a
believing sinner.
Rev 2:14 'But I have a few things against you, because you
have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept
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Doctrine of Balaam (Rev 2:14) His teaching Balak to corrupt the
people who could not be cursed (Num 31:15,16; 22:5; 23:8).
74
The reward of v.11 is not necessarily money; it may be popularity,
fame, or applause.
2 Peter
teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of
Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of
immorality.
Num 31:15-16
15 And Moses said to them, "Have you spared all the
women?
16 "Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the
counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the
matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation
of the LORD.
Num 22:5 So he sent messengers to Balaam the son of
Beor, at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of the
sons of his people, to call him, saying, "Behold, a people
came out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the
land, and they are living opposite me.
Num 23:8 "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not
denounced?
Baal-Peor is implicit
1Co 10:8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and
twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
“...son of Bosor”: Some manuscripts call Balaam “son of Bosor”
not son of Beor here.
If correct, this could be a paranomasia with basar (“flesh”).
It also could be a Galilean mispronunciation of the guttural in
the Hebrew name, expected of Peter.
The OT was not a problem to the early church; it was their
Scripture – they were living and creating what we call the NT
If God can use Balaam’s ass, He can use any of us!
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16] But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking
with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
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Mat 26:73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to
Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; for even the way
you talk gives you away."
2 Peter
17] These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with
a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for
ever.
“...wells without water”: Psychology is but one example.
Psychology has no remedy for the cause (sin);
only patches for the symptoms (guilt).
In contrast to Living water.
Joh 4:13-14
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks
of this water will thirst again;
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall
never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in
him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
Joh 7:38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From
his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"
“...the mists” homichle, metaphorically, of the evil workers here
mentioned; is a haze which heralds dry weather [Aristotle, Meteor,
1.34b.]
It is easily dispersed by a sharp gust of wind; i.e., instability.
Pretentious vendors of man’s alternative doctrines are doomed to
darkness.
18] For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they
allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much
wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them
who live in.
“...swelling words”: unnaturally swollen; bombastic, haughty.
“...brought in bondage”: The promise of modern psychological
counseling: liberty.
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19] While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the
servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of
the same is he brought in bondage.
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Ostentatiously verbose.
Have you ever sampled the psychological literature
Talk about “great swelling words of vanity”!...
2 Peter
The delivered result: bondage to self.
Psychoanalysis gives the term “couch potato” a whole new
meaning!
To be enslaved to oneself is the heaviest of all servitudes. —
Seneca
20] For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome,
the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
“...entangled”: another fishing metaphor.
It is quite different to know Christianity as a system; it is quite
another to know Christ as Savior!
Those who simply take up a series of doctrines are always
vulnerable to giving them up for some other “system.”
21] For it had been better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn
from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
Some stumble at vv. 20, 21 as suggesting that one truly “born
again” can become once more the seed of Satan.
Don’t confuse mere profession with reality.
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Heb 6:4-8
4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened
and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made
partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of
the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them
again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves
the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and
brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also
tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to
being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
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Like the men of Heb 6:4-8; 10:26-31 (Mt 12:45; Lk 11:26).
2 Peter
Heb 10:26-31
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the
knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for
sins,
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF
A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.
28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without
mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much severer punishment do you think he will
deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has
regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he
was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I
WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS
PEOPLE."
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Mat 12:45 "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other
spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there;
and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.
That is the way it will also be with this evil generation." Lu
11:26
22] But it is happened unto them according to the true
proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and
the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Peter quotes Proverbs 26:11.
Pro 26:11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who
repeats his folly.
Deu 23:18 "You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the
wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God for
any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to
the LORD your God.
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Exo 11:7 'But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not
even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may
understand how the LORD makes a distinction between
Egypt and Israel.'
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The dog is used as a symbol of a false teacher (Ex 11:7; Deut
23:18; Judg 7:5; Ps 22:20; 59:6, 14).
2 Peter
Jdg 7:5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the
LORD said to Gideon, "You shall separate everyone who
laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as
everyone who kneels to drink."
Psa 22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from
the power of the dog.
Psa 59:6 They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go
around the city.
Psa 59:14 They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And
go around the city.
Both the dog and the pigs, unclean animals to the Jew, are united
by Jesus in Mt 7:6.
Mat 7:6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw
your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under
their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
One’s true (new) nature will be manifested in one’s subsequent
walk.
Their punishment is that they will be given over to the lot they
have chosen.
God underwrites a man’s deliberate choice.
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In the end, we will all go “to our own place.”
2 Peter
2 Peter 3
Parallelism of Two Books
Second Peter is the swan song of Peter, as Second Timothy is the
swan song of Paul.
There are striking similarities between the two books.
Both epistles put up a warning sign to identify the awful apostasy
that was on the way at that time and which, in our time, has now
arrived.
Facing Death
Both Peter and Paul speak in a joyful manner of their approaching
deaths (Cf. 2 Pet 1:13-14; 2 Tim 4:6-8).
Paul knew that the time of his departure had come: he had
finished his course; he had been on the racetrack of life, and now
he was leaving it; he had fought a good fight; and, he had kept the
faith.
A crown of righteousness was laid up for him.
You will find that same triumphant note here in 2 Peter as Peter
also faced the prospect of death.
Major Divisions (2 Peter 3)
1) The attitude toward the return to the Lord as a test of
apostates;
2) The agenda of God for the world; and
3) The admonition to believers.
1] This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both
which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
“...now”: ede (now, already) implies that the interval between the
two Epistles was not long.
Remembrance has been a key theme in this letter—add to your
memory verses (Cf. 2 Pet 1:12-15).
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“...remembrance”: Preparing to depart, Peter encourages them to
keep hold of what they have: the Word of God.
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“...pure”: heilikrines found pure when unfolded and examined by
the sun’s light; “sincere” is a better translation.
2 Peter
2] That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken
before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us
the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: “
...us the apostles”: He includes himself with Paul (2 Pet 3:15,16).
Paul was committed to the uncircumcision (the Gentiles); Peter to
the circumcision (Gal 2:7).
3] Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, “
...in the last days...”: Why are we surprised at the prevalence of
“scoffing” at the Word of God today? This very disparagement is a
sign of our times!
“...scoffers”: These were the apostates dealt with in the previous
chapter!
Members of churches—some, pastors “walking after their own
lusts…” victims of “heart” trouble…
4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of the creation.
“...continue as they were”: The Return of Christ questioned.
The Lord Himself revealed that He would be coming for His own
(John 14:2-3).
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Is there really a God who intervenes in history? Both the
beginning and the end are, thus, linked.
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Even from pulpits! Examples: Uniformitism; evolution, linked to
prophecy.
2 Peter
He is preparing a place for us…We are to meet Him in the air 1
Thess 4:17.
He—then—will be setting up His Kingdom on the earth… (Lk
1:32; Acts 1:6,7; 15:16, et al.).
But Peter cites OT examples to prove that God does break into
history.
The first is that of a flood:
a) An original judgment (the “Gap” theory); Gen 1:1-2;
b) The flood of Noah; Gen 6-9.
5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of
the water and in the water:
“...willingly are ignorant”: Ignorance is a response to the will
(Rom 1) A decision, not a lack of data.
The antediluvians wanted God to depart (Job 21:14).
So it is today.
[They want the Christians out of their hair.
God is going to give them their wish.] “...earth standing out of the
water and in the water”: “He stretched out the earth above the
waters;” (Ps 136:6).
“He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the
floods.” (Ps 24:2).
6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with
water, perished: 7] But the heavens and the earth, which are
now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
“...world that then was”: Gen 1 (v.9) through Genesis 9.
The “Gap Theory” (Genesis 1:1 - 2)
Some Basic Issues
When were the angels created?
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(If the flood of Noah was local, then God didn’t keep His promise!
Cf. Gen 9:11-12.)
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A universal flood in the time of Noah.
2 Peter
When did Satan fall?
Is there a “gap” (interval) between Gen 1:1 and Gen 1:2?
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Ge
1:1
This is certainly straightforward (and if you fully grasp that verse
you will have no problem with any other verse in the Bible!).
It is the next verse that raises some basic issues:
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2
The words “without form and void,” tohu v’bohu, will become
critical elements of our vocabulary.
tohu means without form, confused;
bohu means void, empty.
(The v’ vav between them is the conjunction “and.”)
When we examine a declaration of God in Isaiah we note an
apparent contradiction:
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God
himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established
it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am
the LORD; and there is none else. Isaiah 45:18
The same word for “vain,” tohu (without form, confused), appears
in both verses, and would appear to contradict the declaration in
Genesis 1:2.
The phrase in Genesis 1:2 also appears in Jeremiah:
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void;
and the heavens, and they had no light. Jeremiah 4:23
It’s like a signpost saying, “Dig here! A treasure is hidden here.”
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It may be what the rabbis call a remez: a hint of something
deeper.
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Whenever you find an apparent contradiction in the Biblical text,
we should rejoice!
2 Peter
So this compels us to more carefully examine the passage in
Genesis 1:2.
The verb “was” is actually a transitive verb (indicating action) and
the word order (normally, conjunction-verb-subject-object) is
reordered to suggest the transitive pluperfect form: “had become.”
(It is so ordered in the International Standard Version.)
It is the identical transitive verb which appears in Genesis 19:26,
where Lot’s wife “became a pillar of salt.”
Furthermore, we also find that the initial conjunction, “And,” is an
adversative conjunction (“but”) and is so rendered in both the
Septuagint and Vulgate translations.
It often suggests a significant time delay:
An 8-year period (Ex 2:1-2);
a 38-year period (Deut 10:5-6);
a 7-year period (1 Chr 10:14; 11:1); and,
a 58-year period (Ezek 6:22, 7:1).
Putting this all together suggests the following rendering:
But the earth had become without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep. Genesis 1:2
There appears to be an interval of some kind—perhaps
eons—between verses 1 and 2.
It would seem that the earth was not originally “without form and
void,” but had been subjected to some kind of catastrophic
judgment prior to the sequence that continues in Genesis 1.
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light.
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills
moved lightly.
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Compare: George H. Pember, Earth’s Earliest Ages,
Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1907; Donald Gray
Barnhouse, The Invisible War, Zondervan Publishing Co.,
MI, 1965; and Arthur C. Custance, Without Form and Void,
Ontario, CAN, 1970.
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The “Gap Theory” was originally suggested by Thomas
Chalmers in 1814.
2 Peter
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the
heavens were fled.
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the
cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and
by his fierce anger.
For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate;
yet will I not make a full end. Jeremiah 4:23-27
Why?
6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with
water, perished: 7] But the heavens and the earth, which
are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved
unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly men.
This “second world” is the one we are living in.
It is subject to a form of “global warming” that will quite a surprise!
“...fire”: Next time by fire (Cf. Isa 66:15; Dan 7:10; Mal 4:1; 2
Thess 1:8).
By Him are the very elements “held together” (Col 1:17).
God’s sovereignty over time (cf. Job 22:15-18).
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God has a perspective, an intensity, a priority, that we lack.
2 Peter
8] But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day.
“...as one day”: = “as yesterday” (Ps 90:4).
Not a calculation; a metaphor.
Time is relative.
We assume time is linear and absolute.
However, time is a physical property.
It varies with mass, acceleration, and gravity.
[Positron in time reversals? Cf. Beyond Time and Space; Beyond
Perception; et al.]
The Nature of Time
• Eternity is not “having lots of time” but being outside of our
particular time domain altogether.
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How do you tell? By exploiting the entropy laws as an arrow of
time...
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• Can time go backward?
2 Peter
• “7000 year” week = ancient notion.
First appears in the Epistle of Barnabas.
• Setterfield hypothesis: speed of light has been slowing down.
This, along with the entropy laws, may have begun as a result of
the curse (Gen 3; Rom 8:22).
9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.
“...not willing that any should perish...”: Another refutation of
Calvinism.
The great tragedy is, that after the entire panorama of redemption,
God doesn’t get what He wants out of the deal!
Not all will repent.
Time is our most inelastic (and thus, precious) resource.
Teach us to number our nanoseconds (Ps 90:12).
10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in
the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth
also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
“...as a thief in the night”: A term from Paul’s Epistle to the
Thessalonians (cf. 1 Thess 5:2-5).
“...day of the Lord”: [Cf. 1 Thess 4:13f (“bring with Him” v.14)]
“As a thief in the night” only to those who are in darkness: (1Th
4:18 introduces).
“...a great noise”: rhoizēdon.
It is the word used for the swish of an arrow, the rush of wings,
the splash of water, the hiss of a serpent.
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“...in the which”: The Day of the Lord closes at the end of the
Millennium when the destruction of the heavens and the earth
(Rev 20:11; 21:1).
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“Behold I create a new heavens and new earth.” (Isa 65:17).
2 Peter
“...elements”: stoicheia—basic building blocks.
“...melt”: luo to untie, loose.
11] Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness,
“...ought ye to be”: So how then shall we live? Does the realities
of all this impact our priorities?
12] Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of
God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat!
“Looking for and hasting unto”: You can hasten the Day of God!
Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom Come.”
Help bring in the “fullness” (Rom 11:25).
See also Mal 4:1; Joel 2:10; Mt 24:29; Mk 13:24; Rev 6, 8, et al.
Mountains melting: Ps 46:6; Micah 1:4; etc.
13] Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness.
“…new heavens and a new earth”: World #3? (Isa 65:17; 66:22.
Rev 21:1).
This one will have righteousness dwelling in it.
14] Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things,
be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
spot, and blameless.
“...be diligent”: This is the third time Peter has mentioned
diligence (2 Pet 1:5, 10).
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15] And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is
salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also
according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto
you;
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How then shall we live? Why?
2 Peter
“...hath written unto you”: This appears to be an authentication
of Paul’s authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
There are no other of Paul’s writings:
1) To the Jews, and
2) Which corroborates these eschatological truths (Cf. Heb
12:25-29).
16] As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things; in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they
do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.
“...hard to be understood”: Peter admits that Paul is tough to fully
understand!
The gospel that Paul preached which was a completely new
idea to the traditions and teachings of the Jewish beliefs and
religion.
Gal 1:13-24
20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I
lie not.
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16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him
among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood:
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were
apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and
returned again unto Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see
Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the
Lord's brother.
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13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the
Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God, and wasted it:
14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in
mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the
traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my
mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
2 Peter
21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;
22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea
which were in Christ:
23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in
times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
24 And they glorified God in me.
“...Scriptures”: Peter corroborates Paul’s writings as in the same
category as “the Scriptures”!
17] Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things
before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error
of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
“...beware lest ye also”: No will ever fail if he keeps his eyes fixed
on our Lord Jesus Christ.
Doctrinal error of a serious character is almost invariably
connected with some moral failure.
Exercise “due diligence...”
18] But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for
ever. Amen.
“...grow in grace”: Are you growing?
Summary: Grace
Grace is the method of divine dealing in salvation and in the
believer’s life and service.
As one is saved, he is “not under the law, but under grace” (Rom
6:14).
God ceaselessly works through grace, to impart to and perfect in
him corresponding graces (Jn 15:4,5; Gal 5:22-23).
• With Christian growth: 2 Cot 1:12; Eph 4:29; Col 3:16;4:6;
2 Thess 1:12; Heb 4:16; 12:28-29; 13:9; Jas 4:6; 1 Pet
1:2; 3:7; 5:5,10; 2 Pet 3:18; Jude 4.
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• With service: Rom 12:6; 15:15-16; 1 Cor 1:3-7;3:10;
15:10; 2 Cor 12:9-10; Gal 2:9; Eph 3:7-8; 4:29; Phil 1:7;
2 Tim 2:1-2; 1 Pet 4:10.
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Grace, therefore, stands connected:
2 Peter
• With giving : 2 Cor 4:15; 8:1,6-7,19; 9:14.
How to prepare against apostasy?
1) Knowledge of the Word of God;
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2) Personal knowledge of Christ!
2 Peter
Bibliography
 Barbieri, Louis A. First and Second Peter.Everyman’s Bible
Commentary, Moody Press, Chicago, IL 1977.
 Barclay, William. The Letters of James and Peter. The Daily Study
Bible. Rev. ed. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA 1976.
 Blue Letter Bible (and its numerous associated commentaries and
helps) On Internet, <http:www.blueletterbible.org>.
 Bigg, Charles. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of
St. Peter and St. Jude. The International Critical Commentary. T. & T.
Clark, Edinburgh, 1902.
 Blum, Edwin A. “1 Peter.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol.
12. Zondervan Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI 1981.
 Bullinger, E.W., The Companion Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers,
Grand Rapids, MI, 1958.
 Cranfield, C.E.B. The First Epistle of Peter. S.C.M. Press, London:
1950.
 DeHaan, M. R., Simon Peter, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand
Rapids, MI, 1954.
 Fleming, John, The Fallen Angles and the Heroes of Mythology,
Hodges, Foster, and Figgis, Dublin, 1879.
 Green, Michael, 2 Peter and Jude, InterVarsity Press, Leicester,
England, 1987.
 Henry, Matthew and Thomas Scott, Commentary on the Holy Bible,
Thomas Nelson Publishing Company, NY, 1979.
 Hunt, Dave, In Defense of the Faith, Harvest House, Eugene, OR,
1996.
 Ironside, H. A., Expository Notes on the Epistles of James and Peter,
Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune NJ 1947.
 Kistemaker, Simon J., Peter and Jude, Baker Book House, Grand
Rapids MI 1987.
 Lenski, R.C.H. The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John,
and St. Jude. Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis 1966.
Page
 Johnstone, Robert. The First Epistle of Peter: Revised Text, with
Introduction and Commentary. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1888. Reprint.
Minneapolis: James Family Publishers, 1978.
92
 Jamieson, Rev. Robert, Rev. A.R. Fausset and Rev. David Brown, A
Commentary Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New
Testaments, vol. V, William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, Grand
Rapids, MI, 1948.
2 Peter
 Maclaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture, vol. 16. Reprint.
Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1975.
 Marshall, I. Howard, 1 Peter, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL
1991.
 Missler, Chuck, Footprints of the Messiah, ...for a mathematical
analysis of why “We have the more sure Word of prophecy!” Koinonia
House, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 1994.
 Missler, Chuck, Expositional Commentary of the Epistle of Jude,
Koinonia House, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 1996.
 O’Callaghan, Jose “Los papiros griegos de la cueva 7 de Qumran,”
Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1974.
 Robertson, A.T. Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 6.
Broadman Press, Nashville, TN, 1933.
 Scofield, C.I., The New Scofield Study Bible, (KJV) Oxford University
Press, New York, 1967.
 Selwyn, E.G. The First Epistle of Peter. Macmillan Co., New York, NY
1964.
 Stibbs, Alan M. The First Epistle General of Peter. Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI 1959.
 Spitta, Fredrich, Christi Predigt und die Geister (1 Peter. 3,19ff.): Win
Beitrag zur neuetestamentischen Theologie, Vandenhoeck und
Ruprecht, Gottingen, 1890.
 Stoner, Peter, Science Speaks, Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 1963.
 Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge
Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.)
1983, 1985.
(Also available on Logos 2.0, Level 4.) Wiersbe, Warren W. Be
Hopeful. Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL
1982.
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 Wuest, Kenneth S. First Peter in the Greek New Testament for the
English Reader. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI
1942.
2 Peter
The Epistles of Peter
2 Peter 1 Introduction
OUTLINE
Key theme:
Spiritual knowledge
Key verse:
2 Peter 1:3
2 Peter 1:1–11
Knowing and Growing
2 Peter 1:12–21 Wake Up and Remember!
2 Peter 2:1–9
Beware of Counterfeits
2 Peter 2:10–16 Marked Men
2 Peter 2:17–22 False Freedom
2 Peter 3:1–10
Scoffing at the Scoffers
2 Peter 3:11–18 Be Diligent!
I. EXPLANATION: THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST (1)
A. The gift of knowledge—1:1–4
B. The growth in knowledge—1:5–11
C. The ground of knowledge—1:12–21
II. EXAMINATION: THE FALSE TEACHERS (2)
A. Their condemnation—2:1–9
B. Their character—2:10–17
C. Their claims—2:18–22
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A. Be mindful—3:1–7
B. Be not ignorant—3:8–10
C. Be diligent—3:11–14
D. Beware—3:15–18
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III. EXHORTATION: THE TRUE CHRISTIAN (3)