Peter begins his letter by speaking about how God wants to change the lives of believers; He wants to make us more like Jesus, and He has supplied the power for that change. God wants us to partake in the promises that He has given us, and through: having a position in Christ, believing and focusing on that position, and with faith, God will change us.

Peter writes to remind his readers that he and his companions were witness to the transfiguration, which sustained him even years later. The whole reason for this revelation was to rescue people and build them up. The reasons we are able to believe in the events that happened are through: 1) testimony of the apostles under torture, 2) predictive prophecy, and 3) the uniqueness of the Bible.

False teachers deny their Lord, work with a hidden motive, are arrogant, and construct their own "truth", such as fundamentally changing the idea of God's judgment. Humanity often has contempt for the idea of God judging, but only a just God can be truly loving. These false teachers have existed throughout history, and still do today.

Peter tells us to be on our guard as he speaks of the End Times. True prophecy must be 1) clear, 2) unusual, 3) known to have been made before it was fulfilled, 4) not an educated guess, and 5) cannot be staged or manipulated. Many end times prophecies fit these criteria, and therefore we should pay close attention.