Title: Introduction to I Peter

Text: I Peter

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Peter chapter 1. Today we will begin our study of the books of I and II Peter. Sometimes when we begin a new book, I include a couple verses of the greeting, just to get our feet wet. I fully intended to do that this week, but having looked ahead to the first two verses of I Peter, and seeing how full and rich they are with doctrine, I thought it best to stick to teaching the background information on the book this week and save the beginning of his letter until next.

A few studies ago we began reading the whole book out loud together before we begin to study it – and I very much enjoy that. So, after I get done introducing I Peter, I’ll pray and we’ll take 5 volunteers to read a chapter from the pulpit.

So why I and II Peter?

Well, first the obligatory cop-out answer… why not?

Next, is the overarching super spiritual answer… because I am to preach the whole counsel of God and we haven’t done it yet.

But if you pressed me, I don’t think I could give you a solid answer. I know I wanted to do a longer book study, but Table Talk has done Hebrews and are in the midst of Corinthians right now. I didn’t really feel the Lord was pulling me Revelation or another gospel just yet. I didn’t really want to do another book by Paul just yet. Acts sparked my interest for a moment, but several things I’ve read recently have drawn me to I and II Peter.

And Peter is such an interesting case study in the scriptures. He is a man with very high highs and fairly low lows. Maybe you can relate to that a little bit?

So, after prayer and reading through both books, I felt that God would have us here. Where to go from there, I’m never really sure. We’ll see where the Lord leads.

So, the one question that must necessarily come first, is who is the author of I and II Peter?

[Slide 2] Authorship:

In both I and II Peter the author identifies himself immediately. “Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ” and “Simon Peter a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ” respectively.

So right off the bat we do not have a question of authorship but rather a question of canonicity. What do I mean by that?

With some books in the New and Old Testament we can have discussions and debates on who the author may or may not be, without necessarily affecting whether or not the book is legitimately inspired by God or not. Matthew never identifies himself as the author of Matthew. So we could discuss whether or not it was Matthew who wrote it, without jeopardizing its place in our biblical cannon. But when the text of the book indicates that a specific writer wrote it… we only have one of two options. Either they are telling the truth or they are lying.

And especially in I and II Peter where the writer claims to be the same Peter who is an apostle of Jesus… who is also named Simon.

So if the author is lying, this cannot be a book written under the inspiration of God, because the very first words would be a lie.

Historically speaking, these books could not be further apart on the traditional acceptance of their apostolic authorship.

I Peter is widely accepted historically as a legitimate work of the apostle Peter. Clement of Rome is said to have quoted this letter, along with Irenaeus and Ignatius. In fact, after the gospels and Paul’s primary letters, I Peter is one of the most easily recognized canonical work of the New Testament.

But then there is II Peter. As widely accepted as I Peter was to be truly from Peter, 2nd Peter was one of the last books included in the canon of scripture. Indeed, it is fair to say that of all the books of the New Testament canon, II Peter has the least support for its inclusion. Of course, the flipside of that coin is, that of all the books not included in the New Testament canon, II Peter has more support than any.

[Slide 3] So, what was the big hang up with II Peter?

It all comes down to two big issues.

1.) No church father before Origen quotes II Peter.

2.) Stylistically, II Peter is very different than I Peter.

You may be thinking… well, so. Who cares! Peter said he wrote it.

Yes… but the early church was saturated with pseudepigraphal (sue- deh- pig-ref-al) works where writers claimed to be someone they were not in order to influence doctrine. Gnosticism and Epicureanism were some of the greater offenders of this. There is actually quite a collection of gnostic gospels out there all claiming to have been written by this apostle or that apostle, to influence Christians toward another gospel.

Peter was a popular pen name adopted by some of these authors. And so, a work that differed so sharply from I Peter would have drawn a great deal of uncertainty from early church fathers. This explains their hesitancy to quote the work for fear of quoting a false epistle.

But the statement that no church father before Origen quoted it may be true, but that doesn’t mean that no church father before Origen addressed the book. Eusebius affirmed the letter as legitimate. And even though others expressed doubts, it was never considered a spurious work – spurious being fraudulent and heretical.

If the first problem is not as big of a problem, the second problem is much less strong. Still, we should address it. What of the stylistic differences between I and II Peter? There are really, any number of reasons why style might change from one book to another.

First, Peter is probably dictating what to write to someone else. He overtly mentions this in I Peter as Silas seems to be writing the letter for him. Perhaps for II Peter he did not have Silas to write the letter, so either he wrote it himself or had another write it. Perhaps II Peter borrows from Jude. When we studied Jude, about 5 years ago, we supposed that Jude borrowed from II Peter since there are many similar arguments and illustrations used to combat similar false teachers. But perhaps Peter is borrowing from Jude. Whenever you gain inspiration from another to write something, your style will most likely shift.

In any case – neither of these arguments were strong enough to overturn the doctrinal fidelity and spiritual fruit from this book. That is why it was included in our canon and attributed to the apostle Peter.

[Slide 4] So, all that being established – Who is Peter?

Well you remember Peter.

Hebrew name Simeon. Romanized into Simon. And then Jesus gave him the Aramaic name Kephas or Cephas – which is Petros in Greek… Rock.

Peter is one of the first disciples called by Christ. He and his brother Andrew were probably followers of John the Baptist. When Jesus called them to drop their nets and follow – they did.

Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the son of the Living God. Then Jesus called him Satan for trying to prevent His death.

Peter stepped out of the boat onto crashing waves to be with Jesus. Then he sunk because he realized he was waking on crashing waves.

Peter saw Jesus in his glorified state on the mountain. Then he tried to build booths to worship Jesus, Elijah, and Moses.

Peter said he would never deny Christ. Then he denied him 3 times.

Peter went back to fishing after Christ died.

But three times on the beach, Christ told him to feed his people.

Peter was commissioned to the Gentiles. Then he wouldn’t eat with those who hadn’t been circumcised.

Peter’s track record in scripture has always been a little… inconsistent.

But, Peter preached the Pentecost sermon and thousands were saved that day. And Peter repented when confronted by Paul, and supported his point at the Jerusalem council.

And Peter continued a long line of ministry to the Jews and Gentiles.

Peter wasn’t a fisherman from Galilee anymore. Something changed him. It was, of course, the power of God.

These are his epistles to the church of Christ.

[Slide 5] Series or Two Independent books?

But are they connected to one another?

I and II Peter are so named for their author like many other New Testament books. But is there any other connective tissue holding these two books together other than their author?

That is actually a difficult question to answer. There is nothing extremely specific in either I or II Peter indicating that these two books are linked.

There is, however, one statement in II Peter chapter 3 that links II Peter to a previous letter that he had written. He does not actually identify the letter or its content, but many scholars think that this reference is to I Peter.

Therefore, these two books do share some commonality. They are common in purpose.

[Slide 6] Purpose:

Purpose answers the question, what did the author want to tell his audience. As we said before, II Peter 3:1 answers that question.

“3:1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written you, in which I am trying to stir up your pure mind by way of reminder:”

To stir up means to wake up or bring to attention.

Pure means found spotless when viewed in the fullness of light.

And mind refers to the deepest part of your awareness – typically your spiritual mind.

In other words, Peter is writing to wake up Christians by reminding them of the truth.

Now what he is reminding them with and to in each letter is different… but both messages attempt to use the truth of the gospel to shake his audience into action.

But who was his audience?

[Slide 7] Original Audience:

Assuming that both audiences were the same based on this statement in II Peter chapter 3, we know that Peter writes to those who have been dispersed throughout Asia and are living in places that are not their home.

Many early church writers assumed that Peter was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience. However, the reasoning behind that may be due to an overblown division of labor between Paul and Peter. For whatever reason, many conclude that the events preceding the Jerusalem council caused such a dramatic rift between Peter and Paul that they were not permitted on each other’s territory. This is mostly fantasy, and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Peter dealt exclusively with the Jews, and we know for a fact that Paul preached the gospel to the Jew first.

That being said, there are many things within I and II Peter to suggest that Peter is not talking to Jews only but to Gentiles as well. Since the church was a healthy mix of both at the time – this conforms to whom we might expect an apostle to write.

[Slide 8] Date:

But when was this written? Our only clue is in the final words of I Peter. He says that the lady in Babylon greets you. Babylon was not a populated city in the 1st century, so much like John did in II John writing to an elect lady, it seems that Peter is referring to a church in a metaphorical Babylon.

Considering that Babylon was the center for the greatest empires that opposed Israel, and is often used in scripture to speak of a center for the forces of darkness, it seems to be a veiled reference to the city of Rome. And the lady would be the church there.

Tradition holds that Peter was executed around AD 65. Of course, we know that from AD 60-62 Paul was in Rome under house arrest. In none of Paul’s prison epistles did he mention Peter being with him in Rome.

That being said, it gives us a probable date of 62-65 for the writing of both I and II Peter. Peter probably being executed shortly before Paul arrives to stand trial again. Perhaps that is why Paul was so certain of his demise – since Peter had been martyred recently by the same court he would face.

[Slide 9] Occasion:

But what pushed Peter to write to his audience? We know what he wanted to say, which is a clue as to why he wrote.

This is where I and II Peter diverge. Certainly, in both Peter was trying to rouse them to action by reminding them of what they’d been taught, but the focus of that teaching and the action required are very different in each book.

In I Peter, which will be our focus for the remainder of our time this morning, Peter recognizes a growing movement of persecution in Asia. Certainly, it is coming from Rome as Nero takes the throne as Emperor, but this is not an organized politically arranged persecution so much as it is an opposition from those locally known by the church.

Generally speaking it is the overall opposition of people who desire to continue in their sin and their apprehension when they meet Christians who have ceased. This has caused some major friction between Christians and pagans, and has resulted in slander, insults, and growing tension.

Peter is writing to instruct believers what to do about it.

[Slide 10] Key Themes:

So, what are some key themes within I Peter?

1.) Suffering Persecution

2.) Upright living and suffering for the right reasons

3.) Things chosen by God endure

4.) Submission when the leader is just or unjust

5.) Christ is the ultimate example of doing good and suffering for it.

6.) Our God and His promises sustain us

[Slide 11] Phrases to keep an eye out for:

Old Testament quotes. In 5 chapters with 105 verses there are over 15 direct quotes from and even more allusions to Old Testament scriptures. It’s almost like this man knew his Old Testament.

[Slide 12] Theological Challenges and Spicy Topics

As with every book we study there are some teachings and difficulties that we are going to run into. They will provide a challenge to some or all of us as we come to them.

1.) Right out of the gate we have predestination and election of God. So, if you are still struggling with those teachings, that will be something you’ll have to square with as we approach it.

2.) Peter says that the prophets in the Old Testament had the Spirit of Christ in them. That may be a challenging concept for us to wrap our heads around.

3.) Peter puts some heavy emphasis on God judging us by our works. If salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone… why is God still judging us by our works?

4.) Foreknowledge is a word we must define if we are going to understand the scriptures accurately.

5.) Peter says that when people reject Christ, they do this because they disobey God’s word. Then he adds… as they were destined to do. Wait… they were destined to reject Christ and disobey the word? That sounds wrong

6.) Peter tells us to be subject to our rulers… even referencing the emperor. Then he talks about unjust masters and unbelieving husbands and tells us to submit to them too.

7.) Peter a couple of times talks about us ceasing from sinning. Uh oh. Is something wrong if I still sin?

8.) Peter calls wives weaker. That is not very feminist.

9.) In one of the most obscure passages in the New Testament Peter talks about Jesus preaching to spirits in prison who somehow were put there during the flood, and he talks about the flood being like baptism which washes away sin… oh boy. There is a lot there to look at.

10.) We can resist the devil? Is this like, rebuking him?

[Slide 13] Outline of I Peter

I.) Greetings (1:1-2)

II.) The great gospel which they inherited. (1:3-12)

III.) Response to that wonderful gospel given to them. (1:13-2:12)

IV.) Maintain proper submission so that suffering for righteousness will stand out. (2:13-5:5)

V.) Trusting the Lord in all things (5:6-11)

VI.) Closing (5:12-14)

[Slide 14(end)] Read I Peter

Well, having introduced I Peter to you, and getting a good jump on understanding the circumstance for its writing – let’s read together the words of Peter, breathed out by God through him as he wrote to comfort persecuted Christians.

Let me pray and as I do you can come up to the mic here to read a chapter. Don’t be shy – we’ll need 5 readers today.