Biblical Theology LVXII: 2 Peter

The Second Epistle of Peter is written to counter gnostic antinomianism in the church that uses the human perspective and experience in its arguments to undermine apostolic Christianity. There are four, and perhaps five, arguments the book makes against the claims of false teachers. Although the teachings of these apostates are not explicitly cited in the book, their arguments can be reconstructed by what arguments the book puts forth to counter them. 

Theology:  It is clear that the false teachers are putting forth theological arguments that undermine biblical ethics by emphasizing the human experience as an authoritative guide to confirm their worldview. The book will argue the opposite, as it is the revealed perspective of God that is revealed that should be the guide of the Christian.

The first heretical argument is that humans, by their nature, are sinners, and thus, one should not expect them to be able to follow the moral code laid out in Scripture/the apostles. 

The book counters this by saying that "He has gifted to us everything that is necessary for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the One who called us to His own glory and excellence" (1:3). In other words, any human lack is compensated by God's gift to us for more than enough for us to live out our lives in godliness. Through the promise God gave to us, we partake of the very divine character that allows us to escape the things that are produced by a corrupted, not normal, desire (v. 4).

The second heretical argument is that Scripture and the apostolic witness to Christ is unreliable because it was produced by human subjects. Therefore, it is the compilation of human opinions and subjective religious experiences.

The book counters this by arguing that the apostles did not follow cleverly concocted human stories when they taught the church about Christ (1:16), but were eyewitnesses of His very glory and the kingdom that God granted to Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. Hence, this is not some cult interpretation of some puffed up human that is overblown in mythological fables, but that Christ is the real deal, and the apostles really did witness, rather than merely interpret, who He was and what He had received from the Father. Furthermore, no prophecy in Scripture was ever the private interpretation of some mere human speculating about God either, but men who were moved by God the Holy Spirit spoke God's teaching, not their own (vv. 19-20).

Chapter 2 is a condemnation of the false teachers that may evidence another objection given by them to undermine apostolic teaching--that is, that orthodox teachers are merely men, and their authority to combat other teachings comes merely from themselves. 

The book argues that these men are backed by angelic authorities who these teachers are reviling by reviling the authority of the church (2:10-12). The book will also argue in the end that these false teachers are unstable and untaught (3:16), meaning that their problem is that they are not taught by the church to interpret the Scripture correctly, and so do so with their own paradigms, nor are they stablized by allowing themselves to be corrected by ecclesiastical authority. There is a "way of truth" taught by orthodox interpreters of the Bible and these people speak against it (2:3).

The fourth objection is that Christ isn't literally going to be returning, as it has been a long time already and He has not returned. The promise of His physical return is nonsense. The word concerning the matter must not be true.

The book argues that it only looks to be so from the human perspective. From God's perspective, He created and destroyed the earth already long ago in water, and all of this by His word. so the perspective of the false teachers is near-sighted even in terms of what God has upheld by His word throughout history (3:5-7). Furthermore, in God's persective, a thousand years is but a day, so it has not been a long time at all in His eyes (vv. 8-9). He is waiting for His elect to come to repentance, but will absolutely fulfill His promise.

Finally, there seems to be an argument that the Apostle Paul taught what these false teachers teach, namely, something that feeds into their antinomianism. Hence, this is likely an appeal to what Paul says about grace, and turning it into a lifestyle that is directed by one's own moral code rather than God's.

The book argues that Paul actually agreed with everything Peter has taught, and not with the false teachers. They merely distort what he wrote because of their blindness and ignorance brought about by their lack of principles. Their spiritual lack has led to their interpretive lack to where they misunderstand and twist Scripture to their own destruction (3:15-16).

Ethics: Hence, since we have everything we need to become godly, the very divine power and character of God, we are to pursue maturity in moral excellence, perseverence, and love. The one who does not pursue these things has forgotten his former cleansing and is blind, even unsaved (1:9-11). Believers are told to make sure of their calling and election by pursuing godliness that an entrance into Christ's kingdom will be wholeheartedly granted to them.

Since the Scripture and apostolic teaching are true, they should be followed as completely reliable, not as the words of men, but of God (1:19).

Since the orthodox, apostolic church is backed by heavenly authorities, i.e., angels from God, it should be revered rather than slandered, and its interpretation of Christianity followed.

Since Christ will return and destroy the present world, Christians should not attempt to hold onto this world, nor should they live as though Christ is not going to return for some time, but always have a sense of imminence reflected in their lifestyles because they believe His promise to bring the world to its completion in a renewed heavens and renewed earth, where righteousness alone dwells (3:11-14).

Since the false teachers have misunderstood Paul and the rest of the Scriptures, genuine believers need to stear clear of them, be on their guard against such people in the church, and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ passed down to them by the apostles (3:17-18). 

As in other texts, Peter makes it clear that what one's theology produces is a tell-tale sign of whether it is of God. If it affirms the apostolic witness and produces a life of order and godliness, it is from God. If it rejects the apostolic witness and produces chaos and an immoral life, then one can know for sure that such teaching comes from a false teacher and is not of God. Here, again, is the idea that one must have both biblical truth and ethics in order to show that one belongs to God and will enter His kingdom. Bad ethics stem from false religion, as only the image of God will reflect the creational activity of the true God.