2 Peter

In the second letter we have from Peter in the Bible Peter addresses the same believers as in his first letter. We can derive this from the first verse of chapter 3 of this second letter (2Pet 3:1). As in the first letter ‘the government of God’ is the central thought in this letter. The difference is that in the first letter it is about the government of God over the believers, while in this letter it is about God’s government over the unbelievers.

God rules. He is sovereign and firmly in control of the government of the world, even if to the natural eye it appears otherwise. Therefore you should not judge the things as they present themselves to you, but you should see them all in the light of God’s Word. That’s why this letter is also of great importance in order not to be confused by the actions of the ungodly who even seem to have the right on their side. That is just an appearance and appearances are deceiving.

Peter writes this letter as his spiritual testament. His departure is coming soon. In his first letter he encouraged the believers with a view to the persecutions and the sufferings they were enduring. In the kingdom of peace it will not be like that at all. That’s where he has drawn their attention to, over and over again. His second letter is full of warnings with a view to the destruction that is worked by the deceivers.

This is a character of other ‘second letters’, like the second letter to the Thessalonians and the second letter to Timothy. Then the point is not that much about dangers from the outside, from the world, but more from within, from within professing Christianity. You are also to be kept from the deceivers.

In both letters the coming of the Lord will change everything. Also in his second letter Peter refers to that coming. Thereby he even goes further than the coming of the Lord to establish the kingdom of peace. He writes about the eternal condition of the new heavens and the new earth. That is a great encouragement to be faithful and to see to it that the deceivers will get no chance to undermine the faith of God’s children.