A few short years after writing 1 Peter, the apostle Peter writes to the same general audience (2 Pet 3:1) and sounds many of the same themes. Two themes are intensified in 2 Peter: false teachers and eschatology.

Peter could have written a much longer letter addressing each specific error in depth, but his initial words are instead focused on affirming and reaffirming the authority and inspiration of his own writing and that of other writers of Scripture. He writes affectionate reminders of God’s truth and urges his readers to trust God’s “precious and very great promises” (2 Pet. 1:4).

In the initial section which comprises 2 Peter 1:3-15, there is a consistent exhortation to vigilance when Peter calls his reader to “be diligent” (2 Pet 1:10) and to “make every effort” (2 Pet 1:5, 15) to ensure they are following the teaching of the apostles so that they would be able to “recall these things” (2 Pet 1:15).