2 Peter 3:16 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist as they do the other Scriptures to their own destruction.
Peter continues to refer to Paul’s letters. It is remarkable that Peter knew about these letters. Some scholars dispute the Petrine authorship of this letter because of references like this, with the assumption that it would have taken many years for Paul’s letters to circulate and be known. However, this argument is circular in that it builds on the assumption that Paul’s letters were isolated or not widely known until late in the first century. It is possible that when Peter wrote this letter, Paul’s letters were already making an impact and were beginning to circulate, at least in the area of the readers. Both Paul’s and Peter’s letters were written to second-generation Christians, who heard about Jesus second-hand from the apostles and other eyewitnesses.
Paul’s letters had the important outcome of fostering theological unity in the church. What Peter wrote in his letters agrees with Paul’s writing, indicating further unity in the church. One of the central themes of this letter is a reminder of Jesus’ second coming. Eschatology is also one of the major themes of Paul’s letters.
Peter recognizes that Paul’s letters are not easy to understand. They take careful study and consideration. Even by the early 60s, evidence with Paul’s letters indicate that people were distorting his teaching. He wrote several of his letters to specifically combat the emergence of heresy and the struggle to break from legalistic Judaism. False teachers followed Paul to many places and criticized his message, methods, and person (2 Corinthians, Galatians). Many of his letters, such as 1, 2 Timothy and Titus, give direction about how to deal with false teachers. In writing to deal with these issues, Paul also explained the gospel more clearly.
The problem was that such people were ignorant and unstable. Their ignorance caused them to be shaky and easily swayed and deceived (2 Timothy 3:13). They were not firmly grounded in the gospel but distorted the gospel for their own purposes. Significantly, Peter calls Paul’s letters Scripture (graphas), which can simply mean “writing” or a “book,” but it can take on the meaning of sacred writing. By ignoring the true meaning of Paul’s letters, people were headed for destruction. We must carefully study Paul’s letters and the rest of the Bible so that we do not distort them through ignorance or poor method.