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While First Peter was written to bring hope and strength to the Jewish Christians of Asia Minor who would soon face persecution, this second letter was written to warn against false teaching. It appears to have been written to Christians everywhere. "Knowledge" is the key word in this letter. It is used so frequently that it suggests that the Author was trying to combat the false knowledge of the Gnostics. i.e. "The knowledge of Christ will successfully combat heresy." "Through the true knowledge of Christ comes grace and peace." "Knowledge makes the Christian fruitful in their witness."
The Author was disturbed about the fading away of hope in the return of Christ which had been a vital belief in the early church. The delay had fanned the fires of the Gnostics who scoffed at the thought of the resurrection and Christ's return. It had also dampened the hopes of the believers and they were becoming targets for other false teachings.
This book incorporates most of what is found in the book of Jude, chapters 4 through 18, but emits the references in Jude 9 and 14 to Michael and Enoch from the non-Biblical books of the Assumption of Moses and the book of Enoch, respectively. This is keeping with the purpose of the letter which is to denounced unauthorized teaching.
Of all the New Testament writings, none had a more difficult time in establishing itself as God's Word, as did this letter. The Author, the date, the destination is vague at best. It has been attributed to many other writers in spite of the first verse which indicated that it was written by Peter, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, who had been with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Ch.1:17) and whose martyrdom is predicted (Ch. 1:14). But further study of the evidence and historical facts, do not support Peter's authorship.
Difference of style and language from First Peter to Second Peter, indicate that the books were written by different authors. Further evidence of this can be found in Chapter 3:2-4, in which the author designates himself and his readers as "a generation which had been taught by the Apostles, then dead." The early church appears to have doubled that it was one of Peter's letters. Many first century theologians believed that only the first letter was a genuine epistle of Peter's.
But in spite of this confusion and disagreement, until and unless someone else is definitely established as the author of Second Peter, we will consider that Simon Peter wrote it and phrase God for having preserved it for us as it contains so much that is relevant today concerning the identifying of false teachings and what we should do about it.
| Cultivation of Christian Character | |
|---|---|
| Salutation | 1:1-2 |
| Growth in Christ | 1:3-15 |
| Grounds for Belief | 1:16-21 |
| Condemnation of False Teachers | |
| Danger of False Teachers | 2:1-3 |
| Destruction of False Teachers | 2:4-9 |
| Description of False Teachers | 2:10-22 |
| Confidence in Christ's Return | |
| Mockery in the Last Days | 3:1-7 |
| The Day of the Lord | 3:8-10 |
| Maturity | 3:11-18 |
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