‘But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen’ (2 Peter 3:18).

The blessings, that New Testament writers tend to end their letters with, encourage us to recap what the context of the letter has been. This is because these blessings often highlight the issues and the concerns of the Christians and Churches that are being written to. The same applies when we come to the end of Peter’s second letter.

The overwhelming concern of the letter, which takes up all of the second chapter, is that of false teachers who have started to infiltrate the Churches.  This explains why Peter is so concerned about the maturity of the Christians that he’s writing to. In chapter 1 his emphasis is on them growing in faith, supplementing their faith: ‘with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love’ (1:5-7). If they fail to do this, they will fail to fortify their faith and be susceptible to this false teaching!  Peter then includes his own personal witness of Christ’s glory when he witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration (1:16-18). Then he assures them of the Holy Spirit’s active participation in the writing of scripture (1:19-21). The reason? Such encouragement will fortify their faith against such false teaching.

In chapter 3 Peter assures those he’s writing to of the certainty of the second coming and how they should live in the light of that (vs11-13).  But in verses 14-17 we see Peter’s greatest concern. Peter realises that those who are genuinely the Lord’s cannot fail in their faith. But the danger is they can become distracted by what these false teachers are teaching. Peter wants to make sure that these Churches and Christians grow in their faith so that the false doctrine that is starting to infiltrate the Churches would not stunt their growth!

All this is referenced with the word: ‘But’ at the start of verse 18. Peter exhibits confidence that these Christians want to grow and therefore will heed his warnings and take on board the teaching of his letter.  The use of the word: ‘grace’ is not surprising as it is the basis of a Christian’s salvation (Ephesians 2:8). Yet there’s another element to grace, and that is the grace, which is so generously supplied by the Lord, that keeps the Christian going precisely because it is supplied by the Lord! If we depended on our own works we would seriously struggle every time persecution or difficulty rears its head.  Hence, if they look to the Lord, the bountiful supplier of this grace, they will not be affected, or laid low by false teaching, however eloquently it is expressed! This coupled with the: ‘knowledge’ of the Lord, that Peter has so urge them to acquire, will give them the kind of grounding their faith needs. Peter realises: ‘A growing Christian wants to know more of the Lord and desires to put him first in his life’.[1]  We should also note that Peter teaches this knowledge is based in the saving power of Jesus Christ, hence his use of the word: ‘Saviour’!  So, with this in mind Peter wants them to keep the cross central in their faith, undoubtedly because these false teachers pedalled doctrines that pushed this central work Christ to one side! Warren Wiersbe notes the danger of this as: ‘It is one thing to know the Bible, and quite another thing to know the Son of God the central theme of the Bible.’[2]

The blessing concludes with the exultation to glorify God. This is expected in the light of the glorious nature of our salvation.  But here it’s coupled with the strange phrase: ‘both now and to the day of eternity’. The most likely explanation is that this is probably a reference to verse 8 of the chapter, where Peter invokes Psalm 90:4: ‘with the Lord one day is as thousand years and a thousand years as one day.’ If so, it testifies to the Lord’s transcendence and sovereignty, but also their inheritance to be with him forever. All that is then left is for Peter is to urge us to join him in agreement with a resounding: ‘Amen.’

[1] Michael Bentley, Living for Christ in a Pagan World, 1 and 2 Peter Simply Explained (Darlington, Evangelical Press, 1990) 248.
[2] Warren Wiersbe Be Alert, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude (Colorado Springs, Chariot Victor Publishing, 1984) 99.