Although Peter wrote both epistles, perhaps even to the same audience, his theme and purpose in the two letters are vastly different. His theme in First Peter has to do with encouragement to suffering Christians. In the midst of persecution for their faith he reminds them of Jesus’ sufferings as an example. Peter’s theme in Second Peter is to equip his readers with knowledge in the face of skillful deceivers. False teachers may succeed where fierce persecution failed. Everyone who claims to be a Christian is not authentic. Some who claim to be Christians, even highly qualified teachers of the faith, are in fact devious enemies to the faith. Good intentions alone will not insulate Peter’s beloved audience from these errors. Genuine faith from, not simply in, the Lord Jesus Christ, coupled with a solid foundation of knowledge of the true teachings of our Lord, must unite to inform and equip the believer against these insidious teachers. The pedestrian twenty-first century Christian notion that you check your mind at the door before entering the church will not stand the test of Scripture. It also will not prepare the sentimental, thoughtless Christian for the subtle and deceptive onslaught of the deceivers who prey on unprepared Christians.

“…[T]o them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Modern Christianity has lost sight of the character of Biblical faith. For the contemporary believer, faith is merely a natural, human response to the evidence presented regarding Jesus. That it is a supernatural quality imputed by God in regeneration is alien to the modern Christian mind. However, Paul clearly affirmed that faith is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Contemporary Christian thought effectively turns this passage on its head, making the Holy Spirit’s personal indwelling in the believer the fruit of faith. A tree is planted and grows before it produces fruit. The Holy Spirit indwells a person in regeneration, the new birth, and produces faith. Peter affirms Paul’s teaching on faith. We obtain faith through the righteousness of our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, not through our own righteousness or mental processes. Supernatural faith, bestowed on us by God, becomes the foundation of our defense against error.

Biblical faith is not a certain feeling or emotional outlook. It is not blindly accepting what you can’t understand, the spiritual equivalent of a leap into the darkness. Quite the opposite, the faith that God bestows on His children informs and enlightens their minds. The Hebrew writer defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). “Substance…evidence,” these are not words of sentimental feeling, but of confirmed fact. Sentimental feelings would never motivate the life-sacrificing devotion and walk of the heroes of faith that follow in Hebrews 11. I believe that a shallow, emotional concept of faith among contemporary Christians makes any significant sacrifice of personal comfort and lifestyle, such as that documented in Hebrews 11, nearly implausible.

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” Peter immediately lays the foundation for his entire letter. Having moved beyond the danger of persecution, his readers now face a greater danger, deception from false teachers. Grace and peace do not magically appear in our life. We don’t simply walk out one morning and decide to have them, fruit merely picked off a tree in our yard. They multiply only through knowledge, a particular kind and degree of knowledge. Children of God may have basic grace and peace with God, but lack the multiplication of those traits because of their ignorance.

Strong defines the Greek word translated “knowledge” in this verse as “[1] precise and correct knowledge. [1a] used in the NT of the knowledge of things ethical and divine.”¹ Twice in this brief opening commentary Peter refers to Jesus as God. The first line of a Christian’s defense against error is a firm knowledge that Jesus is God, not a created angel, not part God and part man, and not a mystical “emanation’ from the unknowable deity. Understandably then, Satan’s first line of attack will focus on Jesus’ deity and Incarnation. We see this strategy clearly in ancient Gnosticism and in modern New Age philosophy. The fiercest controversies throughout the history of Christianity have involved the nature of God and of Jesus in the Incarnation. Satan fosters either ignorance or false ideas to motivate believers into his camp, all the while believing that they are correct in their thinking.

“Precise and correct knowledge” requires intense and prolonged study of Scripture. We do not gain this quality of knowledge by slothful neglect. Peter will end this letter with a similar note to its beginning, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…” (2 Peter 3:18). Centuries earlier the prophet Jeremiah foretold the true character of the New Testament faith, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15). True knowledge, derived from Scripture alone, and reflective, thoughtful understanding, not emotional hype, produces healthy spiritual growth.

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” Knowledge that grows a healthy Christian occurs in conjunction with God’s providence in our lives. Where do we gain knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? Many Christians in our time rely more on personal experience and esoteric sentiment than on Scripture. Several years ago I was talking about a particular Biblical question with a young man. When I read a Scripture that specifically contradicted his ideas, he immediately responded, “Oh you are being a legalist.” To rely on Scripture alone, in his mind, was legalistic. Is it any wonder that the Christian worldview has fallen into such disrespect? If we give our critics the rocks that they throw at us, we can’t complain when we hurt from the rock’s blow.

Both ancient Gnosticism and modern New Age philosophy claim a secret source of deeper knowledge than the normal Christian can find in Scripture. Supposedly the apostles and other first generation believers handed down their deepest knowledge by verbal tradition, not in writing. Iranaeus, On Heresies, an early Christian writer, confronts this erroneous claim and exalts Scripture alone as the exclusive source of the Christian’s reliable knowledge.

Most Christians will not readily fall prey to New Age mysticism, but they often fall into their own form of mystical thought that is no less damaging to accurate Biblical knowledge. Interpretation for them involves free thought, not solid Biblical research. Ask them a question regarding a particular passage. Instead of examining the passage and its context, they will stare into space, allow their imagination to run unimpeded for a few seconds, and then go off in whatever direction their free-flowing thought took them. Historical Biblical interpretation has relied on three pillars for its respectful approach to Scriptural understanding; 1) the most literal interpretation possible of the passage and its context, 2) grammatical integrity of the Biblical text, and 3) historical continuity of interpretation. Leave these three essential principles of exegesis, and you have no solid ground on which to base your understanding of Scripture.

Peter will confront the dark underbelly of apostate heresy in this letter. Before taking us into the black hole of heresy, he clearly establishes the insulating protection of true Biblical knowledge as the believer’s only safeguard against being deceived by highly skilled proponents of error. He will confront, and reject, any form of “private interpretation” of Scripture (1:19-21). He will present us with a foundation of Biblical knowledge that transforms our lives as our only acceptable course. Scripture does not pursue endless witch-hunts, but it clearly exposes error and equips us to withstand it. The primary Christian strategy is not to focus on error, but to teach clear Biblical principles that will enable the believer in Christ to resist any form of error that may confront him/her. How well are we equipped?

Little Zion Primitive Baptist Church

16434 Woodruff

Bellflower, California

Worship service each Sunday 10:30 A. M.

Joseph R. Holder Pastor