In our passage, Peter continues to address false teachers by raising a question that many of us have: How is it that, as false teachers seem to be succeeding, it appears God remains silent while they distort God’s Word and lead people astray? Peter will answer this question and show us that their judgment is coming soon. He will also equip his readers to recognize a false teacher by their character and teachings. 

As Peter directly addresses false teachers, one wonders why the Lord allows them to infiltrate the church. The Christian life is hard enough in dealing with the world, our flesh, and the devil; now we need to deal with false teachers as well. How do we discern between a false and a true teacher?

In Peter’s last letter, he makes clear that he will soon face death, and Peter wants to leave his readers with a final reminder of what he has taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ: The return of Christ in glory. Peter is going to provide us with two witnesses to establish the truthfulness of Christ’s return in glory—the witness of the apostles and the prophetic word.

If God has given us a faith that is equal to that of other Christians, what is our responsibility in receiving and possessing this faith? Peter, in addressing us with the challenging task of exercising our faith, provides two essential truths that must serve as the foundation for exercising our faith. These two truths keep us grounded from falling into the trap of performance-based Christianity or inactive-based Christianity.

In the first letter of Peter, the hostile powers came from outside the church, and in the second letter of Peter, the hostile powers come from inside the church through false teachers. If there are dangers outside and inside the church, how is the Christian supposed to live?

As Peter closes his letter, he speaks from personal experience — not as a perfect leader, but as one who has failed, suffered, and been restored by Jesus. He calls the church to lead with humility, to clothe themselves in trust, and to stay spiritually alert as the enemy seeks to devour.

In times of fiery trials, believers are called to remember God's sovereignty, knowing that suffering is not random but part of His refining purpose. We are to trust God's faithfulness, rejoicing that we share in Christ’s sufferings and will also share in His glory. And in every circumstance, we must do good, even when wronged, because Jesus is our example—He entrusted Himself to the Father and endured suffering for righteousness' sake.

Peter instructs us by reminding us that because of Christ and his suffering in the flesh, we must have a different mindset or perspective when it comes to suffering. This mindset of suffering affects our relationship with sin, our relationship with the world, and our perspective on the end of all things.

Why should Christians suffer well for righteousness? Peter reminds us of Christ's suffering and what He has accomplished for us through His substitutionary death. Just like Christ was vindicated and accomplished the ultimate victory, we too will be vindicated as we share in Christ’s victory. 

Peter addresses that the Christian life is marked by suffering for righteousness. How do we suffer well for righteousness? Why should we suffer well for righteousness? A common theme in the answers to these critical questions is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter addresses the life of a Christian marked by submission in the context of marriage. This passage not only confronts our culture but has also confronted the values of all cultures throughout the centuries for almost two thousand years. Peter gives clear instructions to the wife and husband. When wives live in submission to their husbands, and husbands live with their wives in showing honor and protecting them, both actions are a witness to the watching world.

Nothing comes more naturally to our hearts than self-defense and retaliation against those who mistreat us. To embrace a life of submission and unjust opposition requires a supernatural power and example to follow. As Christians, we have both in our crucified and risen Savior – Jesus Christ. 

When Peter addresses the Christian life, he reveals to us that the Christian life is marked by submission. Understanding the Kingdom of God helps us understand the command to submit to every human authority, as well as why and how we should submit.

The Christians who have been bought by the blood of Christ, chosen as God’s people, shaped to be a temple for God’s presence, are to live unique and countercultural lives so that the world cannot help but notice. When the world gives in to the desires of the flesh, the Christian abstains from sinful desires. We will examine sinful desires, how we abstain from them, and why.

Through Christ, God is building a spiritual house that grows as people come to him and are converted into living stones. Just like the temple and the priests in the Old Testament who mediated the presence of God to the people, believers in Christ mediate the presence of Christ to the outside world by offering the “spiritual sacrifice” of witness. In what we say and do, we mediate the presence of Christ by testifying to his “excellencies,” so that others might embrace him as Lord and Savior.

As elect exiles, we sincerely love one another. We will discover in our passage that what commands, enables, motivates, and equips us to love one another sincerely is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Since we are elect exiles who have received a salvation that brings living hope, joy in suffering, and it is a privilege, how do we live as elect exiles? Peter teaches us that as elect exiles we live with hope, we live holy lives, and we live assured lives.

Peter reminds us of the salvation we have received because of God’s great mercy that was displayed for us by Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. This salvation brings a living hope, a joy amid suffering, and a privilege that even angels longed to glimpse.

Our cultural context is increasingly becoming secular. A growing percentage of Americans no longer share a Christian worldview, hold to Christian beliefs and values, or identify with any Christian heritage. We find ourselves living in a post-Christian culture. How do we as Christians live in a post-Christian culture? In the introduction of 1 Peter, we will discover that it does not begin with what we do but with understanding who we are as elect exiles.