2 Peter 1

Peter wrote a second letter to encourage believers who were facing persecution. He warned them about false teachers and emphasized the importance of living a godly life. Peter mentioned that Paul's letters were on the same level as the Old Testament scriptures. He urged believers to supplement their faith with virtues such as goodness, knowledge, self-control, and love. Peter reminded them of their responsibility to grow in their faith. He wanted them to remember Jesus and the truth of the gospel. He mentioned the Mount of Transfiguration and the voice of God affirming Jesus as the Messiah. Peter emphasized the importance of paying attention to the prophetic word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in interpreting scripture. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If, by chance, you want to contact me, you can do that at theab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering Chapter 1 of 2 Peter. To recap from yesterday's introduction, I hold to the traditional view that Peter, one of the twelve apostles, while in Rome, wrote this second letter to Jewish and Gentile believers who lived in what is modern-day Turkey because they were scattered due to persecution for their faith. Nero was the emperor in Rome, and he burned Rome in AD 64-65 and blamed the Christians for it. Paul had been put to death around AD 62 in Rome, and James, the leader of the Jerusalem church, was martyred for his faith in Jerusalem around AD 62, and so Peter's first letter was written to give them hope in the midst of persecution around AD 64-66, and his second letter was written around AD 66-67. Its purpose was to warn believers against false teachers and to encourage them to live a godly life as they wait for Christ's return. Now that the eyewitnesses of Jesus are dying off, Peter wanted to encourage them that the way to discern the truth is through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, through the scriptures. Keep in mind that at this time, their only scriptures were the Old Testament, and now that Paul had died, people were gathering his letters, and the church had begun the process of trying to figure out what becomes the New Testament. In 2 Peter 3 verses 15-16, Peter talks of our beloved brother Paul, and then verse 16 reads, As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the scriptures, to their own destruction. Peter is here saying that Paul's letters are in the same category as the Old Testament scriptures. I wonder if Peter ever dreamed that his words would be too. We covered verses 1-4 in the introduction, and Peter was affirming to the believers who had not seen Jesus, but had received like precious faith as us, people who had seen Jesus. Jesus had told Doubting Thomas, after he had seen the resurrected Messiah, Blessed are those who believe and have not seen, John chapter 20 verse 29. Peter then reminded his readers that through Christ's divine power, he has given everything we need for life and godliness, but it only comes through the knowledge of Jesus and through the very great and precious promises. I also mention that with Peter starting off his letter with using the word precious twice, which was one of his favorite words in 1 Peter, this confirms to me that Peter wrote both letters. Now in verses 5-9, Peter addresses Christian characteristics. He said, For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly love, and brotherly love with agape love, godly love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and short-sighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. One thing I want to point out is that Peter makes it clear our human responsibility with our salvation. We are called to grow in our faith. I also thought about how Peter stressed in his first letter that we are to love the brotherhood throughout his first letter and here he has it mentioned again. Now Douglas Moos said, Peter is not suggesting that the virtues he lists must always be acquired in the order in which he lists them. Indeed, it is unlikely that he thinks believers can truly acquire goodness before knowledge since knowing God is basic to all virtues. Ray Summers said, With his faith as the foundation, the Christian is to add these qualities, one after the other, in an ascending scale until love crowns the whole. The framework suggests the construction of a multi-floored building with faith as the foundation and love as the roof. Michael Green calls it the ladder of faith, with faith as its starting rung and love as its top rung. Paul then said, If these qualities are ours and are increasing, they will keep us from being useless or unfruitful or ineffective in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We talked yesterday that knowledge or a form of the word is used 16 times in these three chapters. Remember, salvation is a process, so the question for us is are these things increasing in me? Am I better today than I was last year? Then Peter said, The person who lacks these are blind and cannot see far away and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sin. Michael Green in his commentary suggested that Peter may mean that such a man is blind to heavenly things and engrossed in the earthly. He cannot see which is afar off, but only what is near. In other words, she lives in the moment. It makes me think of James's words about looking in a mirror and then forgetting what kind of person you are. They are hearers of the word and not doers. James chapter 1 verses 23 and 24. Verse 10 reads, Wherefore rather, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things, you will never stumble. Again, we see human responsibility and we are to make every effort to confirm, to make reliable or valid our calling or the invitation of the Lord and our election or our selection or our chosenness. If we do that, we won't stumble in our walk. And then verse 11 says, For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you. In this verse, we see that it is an eternal kingdom. It belongs to Jesus. We are allowed access and it will be richly supplied to us. In verses 12 through 15, Peter tells his fellow believers that he is reminding them, even though they know the truth, because while he is still alive, he wants to encourage them to wake them up with a reminder, because he will soon lay down his tent, as the Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. If you remember, Jesus gave some hints as to how Peter would die in John chapter 21 verses 18 and 19, but it could also have been revealed during his prayer time with the Lord. Then in verse 15, he said that after he dies or after his departure, they can recall to mind what Peter had taught. He is not saying that he wants them to remember Peter and his legacy. He is wanting them to remember Jesus and the truth of the gospel. Then in verse 16, he said the gospel is not some clearly imagined myth or fable. It is not fiction, but Peter and the other apostles have been eyewitnesses of his majesty as we have made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the gospel of John chapter 14 verse 1 through 3, Jesus said, Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Ladies, even though the scripture does not use the terminology of the second coming, when Jesus said I will come again, he is making clear he will be coming again, which means a second time. Just something to think about as we are getting closer to revelation. Jesus never said he is coming a third time. Now in verses 17 and 18, Peter is retelling the story of the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was glorified and Peter, James and John saw it. They saw his honor and glory from God the Father. They heard his majestic and glorious voice. This is my beloved son, I take delight in him. In the Gospels this is found in Matthew chapter 17 verse 5, Mark chapter 9 verse 7 and Luke chapter 9 verse 35. One thing Douglas Moo said, these words of God himself at the occasion of the Transfiguration allude to two important Old Testament passages. The first is Psalm chapter 2 verse 7 where God addresses the Messianic King. The second is Isaiah chapter 42 verse 1, the opening of the first servant song in Isaiah. These words therefore combine to identify Jesus as the Messiah whose mission will take the form of the suffering servant of Isaiah. Then Peter said they heard God's voice while they were on the holy mountain, which may be a reference to Psalm chapter 2 verse 6, I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill. Jesus is also the King of Kings. When we understand that Peter is referring to the Old Testament with these quotes from God, then he said in verse 19, so we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. In other words, God has fulfilled these Old Testament passages. Then Peter continues, you will do well to pay attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in our hearts. Since it is Christmas time, I have three little buildings to make my Christmas village, a church, a school, and a bed and breakfast. Sometimes when I get up really early, I will turn on those lights so I can see in the dark room. That is what scripture and the prophetic word does. It gives us light in a dark place, but as the day dawns and the morning light comes in, those little lights don't add to the light in the room anymore. The morning star means light bringer. It may be referencing Numbers chapter 24 verse 17, and when Jesus comes again, the light will shine and the darkness will cease. Chapter 1 ends with verses 20 and 21. First of all, you should know this. No prophecy of scripture comes from one's own interpretation or from one's own origin. Because no prophecy ever came by the will of man, instead moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God. Summers said, what Peter is stressing is that the interpretation of this scripture requires more than human understanding. It requires the guidance of the Holy Spirit who gave it. The scriptures did not come just by the impulse of man. They came as men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. The word which is translated move means literally born or carried, born up or carried along by the Holy Spirit they spoke. What they spoke was in reality God's message. Scripture's emphasis is that since the Holy Spirit moved men in the writing of the scriptures, he must move them in the understanding of the scriptures. So ladies, has the Holy Spirit revealed anything to you as we have read chapter 1 today? For me it is like when I read a passage from scripture and a word or phrase jumps off the page at me as if I've never seen it before. Or when I read the Bible and then someone or something comes to mind that I know I need to either pray for or call or visit. If the Holy Spirit has given you understanding today, then please don't harden your hearts. Instead let's be women who grow in our faith, diligence, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly and sisterly love and then in godly love. Until next time and thank you so very much for listening.