At age sixteen, Peter could never have guessed what his life would become.
He grew up in Galilee, fished in the Sea of Galilee, and knew dozens in his family’s circle. As a young adult he was called to drop the fishing to follow Jesus with his brother. He became the “first among equals” among the twelve disciples. They were all “sent” out by Jesus, which is why we know them today as apostles (sent ones). He accompanied Jesus, listened to Jesus, observed Jesus, and did his best to do what Jesus did.
His failures became a matter of public record: he sunk in the water when trying to walk on water, and he failed miserably to own up to being a close follower of Jesus during Jesus’ trials. But Jesus forgave him, restored him, and commissioned him all over again.
So much for the story of Peter in the Gospels.
Peter After the Resurrection
Peter was at Pentecost. He preached the first Pentecost Day sermon. He was for a short while the go-to apostle in Jerusalem for the suddenly growing church. The authorities learned about him and ordered him to stop publicly claiming Jesus as the Messiah. He didn’t; he suffered for it; he was pushed from Jerusalem.
In a famous vision of unclean foods and animals and then in a just-as-famous incident in Caesarea (by the sea) he proclaimed the gospel to a gentile named Cornelius. Not long after he was in Jerusalem where he was queried by the “circumcised believers” (Acts 11:2) about how kosher his gospel and practices were. He witnessed to what happened; they could not deny the mighty acts of God.
Back in Jerusalem, Peter was arrested once again, and he was liberated from prison by a miracle. Jerusalem’s Christian leaders held a conference about how much of the law of Moses these new gentile converts were to observe. Peter gave a short summary of watching God’s movement among the gentiles, and the leaders sent out a letter requiring a gentile minimum when it came to observing the laws of Moses. They ferreted out the four laws specifically given for gentiles in the Land. Those laws are found listed in Acts 15:16–18 and they derive from Leviticus 17–18.
What we know from this point on about Peter is not much. What we do know is that Peter, like his parallel but sometimes contentious friend (Paul), became a missionary in Asia Minor. He seemed to have planted churches throughout Asia Minor. We also know he was in Rome, from where (presumably) two letters in the New Testament were written.
Intro to 2 Peter
Second Peter strikes the reader as far less pastoral in tone than 1 Peter and more strident in expression. Some false teachers are in view, and Peter describes them in strong, even loathsome terms. These false teachers deny the second coming (1:16–18; 3:4–10) and break down common Christian moral practices (2:2,10,13,18–22).
Another tone emerges because Peter appears to be on the verge of dying, making 2 Peter a bit of a farewell letter (1:14). In fact, many think 2 Peter not only borrows from Jude, but that this letter may not have been written by Peter but by one who followed his teachings carefully. Jude bears many similarities to 2 Peter, both in tone and content. But each letter has its own distinctives.
The Transformative Power of Redemption
Peter, pastors, and parents long for those they love to be transformed into a Christlike life. We all do. We want it for ourselves.
The Second Letter of Peter taps the keys of transformation from beginning to end. The origin of Christian transformation is the work of God in Jesus Christ, so Peter’s opening to his letter, like most letters in the early church, frames redemption as a transforming power available to each of us. Like those other letters, too, Peter scratches onto the papyrus words with considerable weight.
Salvation is knowledge, the kind of knowledge that leads to transformation in Christian virtues. Peter’s fresh developments in his understanding of salvation emphasizes (1) Jesus as Savior (1:1,11; 2:20; 3:2,18) and (2) the transformative power of knowledge. What he says in this letter supplements what is taught in 1 Peter.
Whose We Are
It begins with where we are and who (or whose) we are. Peter is a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ (1:1). The word slave ironically exalts Peter in the Jewish and Christian traditions (cf. Deuteronomy 34:5; 2 Samuel 3:18).
He envisions his audience in theological categories: “To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” (1:1, NIV). These terms for his audience are piled on top of one another, and I have translated them as follows: “To the ones designated with an equally-honorable-for [or with]-us allegiance in the rightness of our God and Deliverer, Yēsous Christos” (Second Testament).
The term “allegiance” corresponds to the NIV’s “faith,” which is the beginning of redemptive knowledge, not unlike Proverbs‘ sketch of wisdom originating in the fear of God. That Peter connects “God” with “Savior” as he does, and Savior to “Jesus Christ,” indicates Peter believes Jesus is God (see John 1:1; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8–9).
Peter’s audience has an “equally honorable allegiance” to Jesus, which the NIV translates a “faith as precious as ours” (1:1). “Precious” helps but as a translation more needs to be evident. The Greek word is isotimos, coming from “equal” (iso) and “honor” (timos). Their faith and Peter’s faith, and the faith of each who was to receive this letter, are equally honorable.
The NIV’s “as precious as” is not as precise or social as Peter’s language. This is about equality in faith, and this equal faith gives such persons honor before God and with one another. Thus, their social status in the family of Jesus has nothing to do with what the world thinks of them. They are honored by God because they are connected to Jesus Christ.
Formed Into Righteousness
Such a faith-connection with Jesus forms us into righteousness, a righteousness that comes to us in and through Jesus Christ. Righteousness describes someone or something that corresponds consistently with the character and will of God. We speak of it as:
- Practice (we grow in righteousness as we follow Jesus).
- Character trait or attribute of God and the Lord Jesus (Jesus is the Righteous One).
- Status (in Christ we are righteous because he is righteous).
Righteousness then is fundamentally relational: we acquire it only in relation to Christ.
Flourishing in Grace and Peace
Peter prays they will flourish in both “grace and peace” (1:2). Grace in the New Testament comes to us by an act of the God who loves us, and grace draws us into a relationship of mutual exchange. Our exchange is gratitude, thanksgiving, love, and obedience. Peace points at the inner tranquility that can lead to mutual good relations among one another in the fellowship.
Noticeably their flourishing in both grace and peace occurs “through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Perception of the truth about God as the agent of flourishing is quite the claim. I have to say that, as a theologian myself, an emphasis on the power of knowing God and Christ plucks strings of resonance.
Redemptive Knowledge
Too many today pooh-pooh theology and knowledge and study and intellectual distinctions. Yes, we are to give practice a noticeable priority. After all, we experience some who know but don’t do, who think but don’t love.
But those sorts do not replace the importance of knowledge. Instead, we are to prioritize a discipleship that is gospel-informed in such a way that the knowledge yields its God-shaped goal: transformation of character. Redemptive knowledge is so important that I want to record primary instances in this letter of the term “knowledge” to set the tone for what is to come in the rest of this letter. (Greek terms for knowledge in 2 Peter: *Gnōsis; +Gnōrizō; #Ginōskō; Epiginōskō unmarked. NIV throughout.)
- Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (1:2).
- His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (1:3).
- For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge*; and to knowledge*, self-control . . . (1:5-6).
- For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:8).
- For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you+ about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (1:16).
- Above all, you must understand# that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things (1:20).
- If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning (2:20).
- Above all, you must understand# that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires (3:3).
- But grow in the grace and knowledge* of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen (3:18).
This letter will work out line after line what redemptive knowledge looks like. As a taste of what it is to come, redemptive knowledge is about Jesus Christ, it is about transformation in virtue, and it is about perceiving false teachings.
Each of these become vital themes in 2 Peter, but the larger theme is knowledge of God. Sister Athanasius, a leading character in Lil Copan’s precious novel, Little Hours, opens a window to let in the sun’s light on how knowledge and life work best, writing to her friend Miriam, “Knowing God in each moment simply raises that moment” (Copan, Little Hours, 34).
Questions for Reflection and Application
- What does “righteousness” mean to Peter?
- How does Peter flesh out ideas of understanding and knowledge in this letter?
- How can knowledge help accomplish transformation of character?
- What can knowledge do to help believers perceive false teachings?
- What has helped you gain useful and transformative knowledge in your Christian life?
Adapted from 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Staying Faithful to the Gospel, a Bible commentary by Scot McKnight, in which he explores how the most demanding challenge for early believers in Jesus Christ was how to live as a Christian in the Roman empire — how a household was to live, how to respond to suffering, how to live a holy life, and how to maintain faithfulness to the truths of the gospel.
Scot McKnight(PhD, Nottingham) has been a Professor of New Testament for more than four decades. He is the author of more than ninety books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as The King Jesus Gospel, A Fellowship of Differents, One.Life, The Blue Parakeet, Revelation for the Rest of Us, and Kingdom Conspiracy.
