Peter’s last letter reminds God’s people about how they will get to heaven. They will get to heaven by trusting the promise of God, and adding to faith all the qualities that lead to love. We need to do the same.
A good leader gets his people to their destination. Christopher Columbus[1] said, ‘By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination’.
Arthur Phillip managed to get the First Fleet of 11 vessels from Portsmouth to Port Jackson. They covered 24,000 kms for 252 days and didn’t lose a single ship. Out of the 1480 that left England, only 48 people died en route. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet)
This was a remarkable feat for the time, especially compared to the second fleet. 26% of the second fleet died en route, around half were desparately sick when they arrived, and 124 of them died soon after arriving in Port Jackson. The Rev Richard Johnson, who went among them as soon as the ships reached port, wrote:
"The misery I saw amongst them is indescribable ... their heads, bodies, clothes, blankets, were all full of lice. They were wretched, naked, filthy, dirty, lousy, and many of them utterly unable to stand, to creep, or even to stir hand or foot." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Fleet_(Australia)
Over 180 died en route in the 3rd fleet.
Why was Arthur Phillip so successful in getting so many to Australia, while the second and third fleet where unsuccessful? Phillip treated the convicts well and gave enlightened commands. Phillip allowed the convicts above deck for fresh air. He stopped at least three times en route to pick up fresh water, vegetables, bread and meat to feed his people. He ordered the bilge water to be pumped out daily and the bilges to be cleaned daily. He took radical actions to control infections. So he burned all the female clothing infested with lice, even though they had no spares, and gave them rice sacks instead. Most deaths occurred on the Ship Alexander, where his orders were not followed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet)
The Apostle Peter also has responsibility to get his people to their destination. Peter wants to make sure God’s people get to heaven. He wants the bilge water pumped out daily, he wants to stop and give you fresh meat, veges and water, to burn your lice infested clothes, and to bring you above deck for some fresh air. And so before he dies, he writes his second letter.
Simon Peter identifies himself as ‘a slave and apostle of Christ’ (verse 1).[2] Jesus has redefined Simon into Peter, the rock. Jesus gave him a new name, a new identity, and a new task. And Simon Peter establishes his credentials. He was an eyewitness of Christ’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, which he alludes to in verses 16 to 18. Peter mentions the transfiguration so that we trust in his words, in his eye- witness testimony, and in his letter.[3]
In chapter 3 verse 1, Peter say that this is his second letter (2 Peter 3:1). We’ve spent the last term looking at Peter’s first letter, 1 Peter. It is quite reasonable to assume that Peter’s second letter was addressed to the same people as 1 Peter.[4]
And Peter himself gives us his reasons for writing a Second letter. Firstly, look at 2 Peter chapter 3 verses 1 and 2.
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. (NIV)
Peter writes to awaken and arouse us to pure, uncompromised thinking. And the way we are to guide ourselves into proper thinking is by what we read, and what we remember. Peter wants us to think about and remember what is in the bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
He wants us to read and reread the Old Testament, and whatever they had of the New Testament. And he wants us to remember those things. Peter wants his readers to be bible readers. Look what Peter tells us in chapter 1 verses 19:
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (NIV)
Do you read the bible? Not just read it, but think about it, and study it, meditate on it, chew over it, and try and work out what it means. Do you pour over and think about the word spoken in the past ages by God’s prophets in the Old Testament. Do you return to and remind yourself of the commands given by our Lord and Saviour through your Apostles? You should. You need to. You must. Because it did not originate from human thinking. Rather, men spoke from God. They were born along by the Holy Spirit, and that’s why they wrote what they did. God spoke it out.
We wealthy Aussie Christians have no excuse for not reading, meditating on and studying the bible. We have so many resources so available so cheaply everywhere. We have abundant bibles and Christian books and cds and apps and videos and tapes and live streaming. With the internet and mobile devices, never has it been so easy to get access to excellent bible teaching, as well as the heretical. The riches are everywhere, if you want them, and have a little discernment.
So my question is this, ‘Do you use the bible? Do you read the bible, and return to the bible, and remind yourself of what the bible says? Are you hungry for the bible, for the Prophetic word of the Old Testament and the Apostolic word of the New Testament?
Suppose you know the bible really well. Well that doesn’t matter. Peter doesn’t care. You could have a photographic memory and be a bible genius, and Peter doesn’t care. He will remind us and refresh our memory. Look at 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 12 to 15.
So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. (NIV)
You know it all already, you’ve heard it for years. Good, it won’t hurt you to hear it again. Peter says, ‘I’ll be dead soon, so while I’ve got breath, I will tell you this stuff again and again.’
That’s Peter’s attitude. As long as he has breath in his lungs and strength in his bones, he will remind them, refresh their memory, and do everything humanly possible to establish the scattered Christians in the truth. And so Peter gives a gift that keeps on giving. Peter gives the bible. Peter writes it, in the letter of 2 Peter. And Peter points them back to the bits of the bible they’ve already got, like the Old Testament, the Gospels, which he cites, and Paul’s writings, which he speaks about in chapter 3 as the wisdom of God and Scripture. And Peter urges them to read the bible until the day dawns and the morning star rises in their hearts. Read it until you get it. Read it until it makes sense and you understand what the prophet or the apostle is talking about.
James Foley was the American Journalist recently beheaded by Islamic State. ISIS don’t do the Geneva convention or Human Rights. They don’t let the people they kidnap and torture send letters. So James Foley dictated a final letter to a fellow prisoner about to be released. Daniel Rye Ottosen spent 13 months in the same cell as James Foley and 16 other kidnapped people. James Foley had Daniel Ottosen learn his final letter off by heart. And about 3 weeks ago he dictated it to James Foley’s parents. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28927568http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2733580/Parents-James-Foley-release-heartbreaking-hopeful-final-letter-sent-home.html
It was important for Daniel Ottosen to remember James Foley’s last letter. How much more important is it for us to remember St Peter’s last letter. Especially since Peter dictated it for our good?
Peter’s purpose in instructing us in chapter 1 is very simple. He wants us to make it to heaven. He wants us not to fall away. He wants Jesus to welcome us in to his eternal kingdom, and not refuse us entry. Look with me at 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 10 and 11:
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (NIV)
It is not Botany Bay or Sydney Cove that Peter wants to bring us to. It is Christ’s kingdom that Peter wants us to enter into. He doesn’t want us to fall away en route. And following Peter’s commands comes with a promise. If you do these things, you will never fall.
Peter is saying, this is how you will assuredly come to heaven through a dark and difficult journey. This is how you will not become a statistic, a fatality of the journey. Peter says ‘doing these things will mean you will never fall’. And this is what makes your calling and election sure. If you do these things, you will never fall.
However, he is not saying that you are called and elected because you do these things. It doesn’t mean we are called and elected because of the things that we do.
So what does ‘make your calling and election sure’ mean? None of us knows the content of God’s secret decree of election to salvation. None of us have access to the book of life, to look up and read our name in it. And a good thing too, because then we would be tempted to trust something other than the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rather than let us read his book of life or know his eternal decree, God wants us to trust his general promises issued to all people. God wants us to trust his saving acts and his promises. Here are some of them.
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies, and the whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
Whoever believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Come to me and I will give you rest.
Whoever confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead will be saved.
You have to trust those promises. There is no point trying to work out what God, from his eternity, has decided to do with us. You will only be miserable. If we trust in Christ, we have all the assurance of faith we need.[5] So take God at his word, and obey his commands. God makes promises. He says things that would apply to all people, if they would only believe. It is through their response to the general promises of God, indiscriminately published for whoever will accept them, that the elect are saved. All are invited, but only the elect, in the end, make it. Many are called, but few are chosen. So when Peter says in verse 10 ...
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall
… what we are called to do is to believe the promises and obey the commands that show that we really are God’s elect people.
We cannot access the decree of election. But we can respond to faith, and do the things we are commanded. The fruit of God’s eternal election before time began is our faith and obedience within time. Do you want to know and show that you are elect, both to yourself and others? Believe the promise of God and obey his commands. And your faith and obedience then are the confirmation and seal of God’s election. Trust and obey, there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but trust and obey. Trust the promises, obey the commands, and you won’t fall away. And that’s what Peter is so keen for his readers to understand.
Given, then, that promises and commands are so important, Peter reminds us of God’s both God’s promises – in verses 3 to 4 – and God’s commands – in verses 5 to 9. First of all, Peter reminds us about God’s promises in verses 3 and 4:
3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he as given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world caused by evil desires. (NIV)
First, in verse 3, we are told that God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. If we haven’t got it, we don’t need it to live the Christian life. That’s why we don’t need to know God’s eternal decree of election. All we need to know is what he has given us – the gospel of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, that he is Lord and Saviour.
God has given us two related things. The first is our knowledge of the one who called us, Jesus Christ. We know Christ, and what he is like, from the New Testament. We know his love and mercy, which drove him to death on the cross. We know his power and sinlessness, which meant death could not hold him. We know his supremacy and authority, because now he is at the right hand of the Father. All this we accept from what Peter and his companions saw and testified to.
And we have, secondly, the promises of God. Not only do we know what God and his Christ are like, their character, we know God’s words, what God has promised to do. In giving promises, the all powerful God who never lies has bound himself by his word. These promises are for our eternal life and salvation.
Peter continually talks about Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour in 2 Peter (1:1, 2 8, 11, 14, 16; 2:20; 3:2; 3:18). Inherent in the title ‘Lord and Saviour’ are Jesus’ acts in history for us.
Jesus’ death for our sins bought us, saves us and brings us forgiveness. Jesus’ resurrection made him living Lord. (1:9, 2:1) If Jesus is still dead, he is not Lord. Only if Jesus Christ is living is he Lord.
And the Promise Peter has in mind is Christ’s bodily return to earth (3:8-9). Jesus Christ has promised to forgive us and save us, and at the core of this is Christ’s promise to return to earth. We declare that faith in the Apostle’s Creed when we declare that ‘Jesus Christ will come to judge the living and the dead’.
The result of us believing in these promises is two fold. In verse 4, we participate or fellowship in the divine nature, and escape corruption in the world caused by lust. Participating in the divine nature and escaping corruption are two sides of the same coin. God is eternal and ever living. God is not subject to corruption and decomposition and death, as we are. And we get to be part of that through our precious faith in God’s precious promises.
We are promised a resurrection life which will burst through death, corruption, and decomposition. If we keep trusting Jesus Christ, we will become like the Lord and Saviour Jesus is now, at the right hand of God. Jesus has a new resurrection body at the right hand of God the Father. And Jesus promised to raise us from from the dead, give us a new resurrection body, never to die again, and give us the eternal life we desperately need and want.
Yay! Don’t you want that? All this getting old and decrepit and our bodies groaning and aching and falling apart. The Lord Jesus Christ says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’ (John 11:25-26 NIV)
Do you believe this? Why can’t it be true? The God who allows a beautiful baby to be born, who brings the butterfly from the caterpillar and the chrysalis, says, ‘I will bring life from death’. The one who creates mighty trees from tiny seeds being buried in the ground says, don’t worry, I will do the same with you, and raise you from the dead. And here is the proof. I raised Jesus Christ, your Lord and Saviour, your brother, my only Son, from the dead on the third day, and now he is now Lord and Christ. So I will raise you too from the dead.
And of course, this all starts now, ethically, with us living the resurrected life. We get ready now for our immortal and incorruptible life by saying no to sinful desires, by putting them to death. This is the fight we must engage in now, but that will be completed at our resurrection, when we are sanctified and made thoroughly godly. Then we will be like him. Now we are in training for that day.
Peter wants us to get to heaven. That’s the purpose of chapter 1. Peter is issuing commands that will make sure all of God’s people get to heaven. If they are kept, they will get you there. And so Peter gives us a ladder of virtues. That’s verses 5 to 9.
At the foot of the ladder is faith. At the top of the ladder is love. Because what matters is faith expressing itself with love. You have faith in God, and that leads to love of neighbor. And the rungs, the steps, are goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and brotherly kindness.
Four of the eight virtues in the ladder of verses 5-8 are drawn from verses 1-4. The Christians Peter writes too already have faith and knowledge. God is already rich in godliness and excellence. So we are called to contribute and to supply in addition to faith all these other qualities. Peter is using the figure of speech of a ladder of virtues to say what Paul does, that our faith must work itself out through love, or that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.
So brothers and sisters, keep going. Trust and know Jesus Christ, which is God’s gift to you. Add to this goodness and self-control. Persevere, don’t give up, keep going. Be godly, because we will participate in the divine nature. Be kind to one another as brothers and sisters. And love one another, because God is love.
Peter’s last letter reminds God’s people about how they will get to heaven. They will get to heaven by trusting the promise of God, and adding to faith all the qualities that lead to love. We need to do the same.
Look at where we are going, better than New South Wales or Sydney Cove. As much as we love Sydney now, it was harsh, difficult, they faced starvation for the first years, with hard wood gum trees that broke their tools, and soil that wouldn’t easily produce crops.
God promises us salvation and eternal life. We will participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world. Don’t give up. Don’t fall away. Keep going. Trust and obey. Climb the ladder which starts at faith and ends at love. And after love, there is a rich welcome.
Let’s pray.
[1] Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/destination.html#LAecR7Y8pyQcJpZC.99
[2] While 2 Peter is widely held pseudonymous, the case for it being authored by Peter through a different amenuensis is provided by C Bigg, St Peter & St Jude: ICC, 199-247.
[3] Surely 1:18-20 puts paid to the position that 2 Peter is pseudipigraphic but still has any authority in the Christian church. If the substantial author is not Simon Peter, it is a dishonest claim to eyewitness authority, and no other good teaching can rescue the letter for this spurious taint.
[4] Bauckham takes the letter referred to as 1 Peter: WBC, 285-6. Bigg deals with the arguments that 1 Peter is not referred to, and says ‘We cannot feel absolutely certain that 1 Peter is here referred to, any more than we say with confidence what particular epistle is meant in iii.15. Yet I Peter will satisfy the conditions fairly well.’, Bigg, St Peter & St Jude: ICC, 289.
[5] J Calvin, A Brief Outline of the Christian Faith 1537 (ET: S Olyott: Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1998), 27-28.