Bible Commentaries
2 Peter 1

Verses 1-2

SALUTATION

2 Peter 1:1-2

Like First Peter, Second Peter opens with a salutation closely resembling Paul’s modification of the usual opening of the Greek letter of that day. The naming of Peter as author of the letter differs in two respects from that employed in 1 Peter 1:1 — first, in joining Peter’s original Aramaic name of "Simon" with his Greek name (see Matthew 16:17; John 1:42); and second, in describing Peter as "a servant" as well as an "apostle of Jesus Christ," In this respect also Second Peter is somewhat patterned after Paul’s formula (see Romans 1:1).

Unlike First Peter (see 1:1), Second Peter is not addressed to any particular group of churches, but instead is written to "those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (vs. 1). This unusual description of the readers of the letter, together with its general format and the fact that it contains no closing greetings, suggests that in origin it was an essay or sermon, later converted into a letter by the addition of the opening salutation. However, as we shall see, the stamp of Peter’s experiences and character is so impressed upon the composition as a whole as to point to its essential unity and to the fact that it must have been the original author — whoever he may have been, Peter or another — who superimposed upon the essay the letter form in the name of Peter (see 1:14, 17-18; 3:1-2).

"Faith" plays a relatively small part in the teaching of Second Peter, the word being found only in verses 1 and 5 of this first chapter, whereas in First Peter it is found in 1:5, 7, 9, 21, and 5:9. Nowhere else in the New Testament is "faith" said to be "in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ," the nearest equivalent to this expression being found in Galatians 5:5 (see also Romans 1:17). The idea, however, is a thoroughly biblical one, inasmuch as "righteousness" in the Scriptures represents a far more concrete conception than with us. We might, therefore, translate the Greek here rather as "faith ... in the righteous activity" of God, such activity being the equivalent of the "salvation" or "deliverance" which he works out for man on the plane of history through a series of redemptive acts (see Isaiah 51:5-6; Isaiah 51:8).

The first part of the benediction in verse 2 ("May grace and peace be multiplied to you") is identical with that found in 1 Peter 1:2 (see comment). In what follows in this verse ("in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord") we are introduced to two points of striking significance for the letter as a whole — first, its emphasis upon "knowledge," and second, its high view of the person of Jesus Christ. This is seen here in the close connection of "God" and "Jesus our Lord," a phenomenon which is duplicated many times elsewhere in the New Testament (see 1 Corinthians 8:6). The expression "our God and Savior Jesus Christ" in verse 1, however, goes beyond the one in verse 2. It is comparable in form to the expression "our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" in 1:11; 2:20; and 3:18 (see also 3:2). There can be no doubt that in these latter references "Lord" and "Savior" both apply to "Jesus Christ," and it is natural, therefore, to take the expression "God and Savior" as also referring to "Jesus Christ," as is done in the Revised Standard Version. The only other New Testament passage in which Jesus Christ is called at once God and Savior is Titus 2 Peter 2:13.

Verses 3-4

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

2 Peter 1:3 to 2 Peter 3:13

The Knowledge of God in Jesus Christ (1:5-11)

Knowledge Leads to Partaking of the Divine Nature (1:3-4)

One of the most striking characteristics of Second Peter (and one incidentally which distinguishes it markedly from First Peter) is the emphasis upon "knowledge." Two Greek words, both from the same stem, are translated in this way in the Revised Standard Version. The more simple of the two, the word which gives us "Gnosticism," is found in 1:5, 6 and 3:18; its verb form (to "understand") appears in 1:20 and 3:3. The related word, also translated "knowledge," is found in 1:2, 3, 8, and 2:20, and its verbal form appears twice in 2:21, where it is translated "known" and "knowing." None of these forms with the exception of the very first is found in First Peter (see 1 Peter 3:7, "considerately”) and this one instance has no theological significance. In Second Peter the "knowledge" in question concerns, in the first instance, an intimate acquaintance and fellowship with God, or, alternatively, with Jesus Christ as Lord. In the New Testament the nearest approach to Second Peter’s meaning is to be found in numerous passages in Paul (see Romans 1:28; Romans 10:2; Ephesians 1:17; Ephesians 4:13).

In verses 3-4 Peter’s thesis is that this intimate "knowledge" of God is the means whereby men are led to share his "glory and excellence," thus receiving the fulfillment of "his precious and very great promises" and at last becoming "partakers of the divine nature." The creative cause, says our author, which lies behind this redemptive process is God’s "divine power." The expressions "divine power" and "divine nature," which represent at once the beginning and end of this redemptive activity of God, find no parallel in the New Testament, but the ideas involved are biblical. It needs no proof that throughout the Scriptures the power of God lies behind the redemptive process. And it is clear that for Second Peter, to be "partakers of the divine nature" is simply to say that God has "called us to his own glory and excellence" — a wholly biblical idea (see Romans 2:10; Romans 5:2; Romans 8:21; 1 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

In the phrase "his own glory and excellence" we probably have a form of expression where two words are used to express a single idea. In Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 42:12 the Greek translation of the Hebrew (rendered in the Revised Standard Version "glory" and "praise") employs the same two Greek words as are found here. "Excellence," therefore, should be taken to mean the same as "glory," and both together represent the fact that, by the "divine power," man is to be raised to the stature of the manifested nature of God in all of his moral excellence (see Ephesians 4:13). The statement that God gives his people "all things that pertain to life and godliness" sounds very much like the teaching of Jesus, as for example, in Matthew 6:33; Matthew 7:11. God’s salvation of man issues in "escape from . . . corruption" and the effects of man’s "passion" (see also 2 Peter 2:10; 2 Peter 2:18; 2 Peter 3:3).

Verses 5-11

Confirmation of Election by Ethical Living (1:5-11)

The title of this section might equally have been "confirmation of faith by ethical living," inasmuch as it opens with the suggestion that the readers should "make every effort to supplement . . . [their] faith with virtue" (vs. 5). The thesis which is developed here is that one’s theology or religion should be followed up by ethical living appropriate to it. And in this respect the teaching is like that of Paul in Romans and Ephesians. For in these two letters the earlier chapters (Romans 1-11; Ephesians 1-3) are devoted to theology, and as the "therefore" (Romans 12:1 and Ephesians 4:1) indicates, the ethical exhortations which follow are based upon the sound theology which precedes. Second Peter’s "for this very reason" in the present section has the same effect as Paul’s "therefore."

The general teaching of the passage is to the effect that the Christian’s "faith" should blossom in right ethical living, in order that his "knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (vs. 8) might not prove "ineffective or unfruitful," but that rather he should show himself as one "cleansed from his old sins" (vs. 9) and so "confirm . . . [his] call and election" (vs. 10). The ultimate end or goal of this confirmation of the Christian’s "faith" and "election," says Second Peter, is that he may find "entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (vs. 11).

Here for the first time we have a reference to the eschatological perspective which is fundamental to the thought of our author. As we shall see, this perspective dominates his thought from verse 16 onward to the end of the letter, and more particularly in chapters 2 and 3. In this respect his teaching approximates closely that of First Peter (see 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 1:11; 1 Peter 1:13; 1 Peter 3:21-22; 1 Peter 4:6-11; 1 Peter 4:13-14; 1 Peter 5:10). The phrase "eternal kingdom" appears nowhere else in the New Testament, the nearest approach to it being in Luke 16:9 ("eternal habitations") and in 2 Corinthians 5:1 ("a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"). The author may have in mind, of course, Jesus’ teaching in Mark 10:15 and the Johannine concept of "eternal life" (John 3:15-16), and there is even some remote relation to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 15:24; 1 Corinthians 15:28.

Somewhat similar lists of the ethical implications of "faith" (vss. 5-7) are to be found in Romans 5:1-5; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:9; 1 Timothy 6:11. Paul terms all of these "the fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22) , and Second Peter has already expressed the similar idea that they proceed from God’s "divine power" (vs. 3). Nonetheless, for both Paul and Second Peter, man is to put forth "every effort" to see that the ethical life matches his religious faith (vs. 5; see Romans 6:11-23). "Virtue" (vs. 5) refers to the "excellence" of man’s character and activity which give expression to his "faith." "Self-control" was a virtue much admired by the Stoics and other Greeks, but it had already been baptized into Christian usage by the Church (see Acts 24:25; 1 Corinthians 9:25; and Galatians 5:23). In Christian thought it is the natural outcome of complete surrender to the lordship of God over one’s life (Matthew 6:33; Romans 6:17-18; Romans 6:22). Ethical living, says Second Peter, is a clear indication of the Christian’s not forgetting that he has been "cleansed from his old sins" (vs. 9) . This is a favorite teaching of the Apostle Paul also (Romans 6:1-11; Romans 8:1-11; Galatians 5:13-24; see also 1 Peter 4:1-6). The idea that the ordinary Christian receives a "call and election" from God (vs. 10) was also a common doctrine of the Church by the time Second Peter was written (for "call" see Matthew 22:14; Mark 2:17; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:26; 1 Corinthians 7:20; Galatians 1:6; and for "election," Matthew 22:14; Luke 18:7; Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12;IThess. 1:4).

Verses 12-18

Sources of the Knowledge of God (1:12-21)

The Apostolic Witness (1:12-18)

The remainder of chapter 1 is devoted to a discussion of the sources of the knowledge of God about which the author has been writing in verses 3-11. These sources are: first, the Apostles (note "we" in vss. 16-19), and second, the prophets (vs. 19). In attributing the knowledge of God which was the possession of the early Christian Church to the Apostles and to the prophets before them, Second Peter is in line with the teaching of First Peter (see 1 Peter 1:10-12; 1 Peter 5:1).

The author first describes the apostolic witness which lies behind the Church’s knowledge of God, and in so doing he identifies himself with the Apostle Peter (vs. 14; see John 21:18-19). He declares that "the putting off of . . . [his] body" (which the "Lord Jesus Christ showed" him) would occur "soon." In other words, he writes as Peter would have written in his old age and when conscious of the fact that the end was near. He speaks of his witness as merely a "reminder" (vs. 13; see also vs. 12 and 3:1). It is clear that he does not think of himself as giving his readers the great gospel facts for the first time, for they already "know them and are established in the truth" with regard to them (vs. 12; see 3:1-2). His "reminder" — or, as it were, his memorandum — is made with a view to their being able after his "departure . . . at any time to recall these things" (vs. 15).

To demonstrate the validity of his witness as a source of the knowledge of God, the author selects out of numerous possible experiences that one when Peter with his two associates was "with him [that is, Jesus] on the holy mountain" of transfiguration (vs. 18). Here Peter and his associates had been "eyewitnesses of his majesty" (vs. 16), a "majesty" the like of which Jesus in his incarnate life had not hitherto assumed. And he would not again assume such "majesty" until the second "coming" (vs. 16), when the event would be accompanied with unique "power."

This witness which the author proclaims is no doubt to be identified with the "truth," which he says in verse 12 his readers have already come to possess. Such identification of the apostolic witness or gospel with "the truth" is a common phenomenon in the New Testament (see John 5:33; John 8:32; Galatians 2:5; Ephesians 1:13). In 2 Timothy 4:4 and Titus 1:14, this "truth" of the gospel is contrasted, as in verse 16, with "cleverly devised myths." Both Jews and Gentiles, as the other two references suggest, knew and propagated such myths devised to express or undergird religious teachings. The author’s clear intention is to deny that the Christian faith must look for support to such a worthless mythology. Rather, like the prophetic faith taught in all of Scripture, it is founded upon eyewitness testimony to the redemptive activity of God on the plane of history.

Verses 19-21

The Prophetic Word (1:19-21)

The second source of information (actually the first chronologically) of the "knowledge" of God, of which the author has been speaking, is "the prophetic word" (vs. 19). In the context of the author’s thought and the situation in which he is writing, this "prophetic word" is of an eschatological nature and has as its content the "coming" of Jesus Christ (see vs. 16). The Transfiguration has "made more sure," through its revelation of the "glory" of Jesus Christ, the fact of his coming; it is a sort of foretaste of the glory of Christ which will be his at his coming again.

The author warns his readers that they "will do well to pay attention" to this prophecy regarding Jesus’ coming again, inasmuch as "no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man" (vs. 21). Rather, the prophets were "men moved by the Holy Spirit" and they, therefore, "spoke from God." It is not too much to say that to his mind the prophets and Apostles were on a par as instruments of revelation. A comparison of verses 18 and 21 with each other makes this clear; the Apostles had a "voice borne from heaven" to them, and similarly the prophets were recipients of the "Holy Spirit" and in consequence "spoke from God."

Second Peter’s suggestion further that "no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation" (vs. 20) is quite clearly intended as a basic principle to be used in replying to the "scoffers" (see 3:3) with whom he is about to deal. Verses 20 and 21 taken together are intended to say that only the "Holy Spirit," through whom the prophetic word comes, is capable of interpreting that word. In consequence, his readers are forewarned that it is their duty to discover through whom Scripture is being properly interpreted in their generation.

In verse 19 "the day" which is about to dawn is the day of consummation, of judgment, of the coming of Jesus Christ (see Amos 5:18; Mark 13:32; 1 Thessalonians 5:2). The Greek word here translated "the morning star" occurs nowhere else in the New Testament; "the morning star" in Revelation 2:28 and "the bright morning star" in Revelation 22:16 represent other Greek expressions. However, the latter gives us the key to the author’s meaning, as it is Jesus who is there speaking as he says, "I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star" (see Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 11:10). In any case, when the author combines two expressions such as "the day dawns" and "the morning star rises in your hearts," he is rather obviously referring at one and the same time to a general future fact (the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," vs. 16) and to a personal experience (the same Jesus’ "coming" in one’s own life). This combination need not seem strange to us, in view of the fact that the author had seen in his own experience of the Transfiguration an anticipation of the Final Coming.