His
divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. (2 Peter 1:3)
1 Peter was
written secretly from Rome to those displaced by Neronian persecution, warning
them to never respond to evil with evil, but to let their faith be refined by
suffering. Time has passed since that writing. It would seem that Peter has
been discovered, or maybe he just thinks he can’t remain hidden much longer.
His life is in danger, and he writes to his friends one last time.
2 Peter is another
of his letters to the same refugees informing them among other things that he
is living on borrowed time. There are some things he needs to tell them while
he still can.
Keep growing in faith, goodness,
knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection and love (from 1:5-7). This takes effort, but
we have two choices: we can work to grow up in Christ or we can stall and
become worthless. God has graciously given us everything we need.
Christ’s return is sure (from 1:16), but false prophets have leveraged his delay to infect his followers
with doubt (from 2:1). They will say,
“Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?” (3:4) No matter what detractors say, we
can be sure we have not been forgotten.
Christ’s delay is measured to allow
unbelievers time to repent and believers time to mature (from 3:8-10). God wants no one to
perish, but all to come to repentance.
How does Peter’s second
secret letter speak to you?
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