(A) The Scripture is human-authored and truthful: it points us to Christ
Peter wrote 2 Peter to try to encourage Christians and build their faith. In verse 16, he points out the purpose of Scripture -- encouragement by making known to them the "power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". Their work as apostles, could take one of two paths (2 Pet 1:16) -- either they were (a) following "cleverly designed myths", where the apostles were propagating manmade stories and mythologies about Jesus or (b) the apostles were "eyewitnesses of his majesty", and they were now reporting it all to them.
Nestled in this verse, are various truths about the New Testament! What is the New Testament? Verse 16 itself helps us see that it has a subject (Jesus), is truthful and verifiable (eyewitness accounts), makes claims about something and someone, is historical, and is apostolic (comes from a specific set of people). This verse refutes the claim and idea that the New Testament is a collection of clever ideas or myths by man, but is a result of the apostles' own experiences.
In 2 Pet 1:17-18, Peter goes to great length to describe "the voice". This voice is the voice of God the Father, who is also described as "the Majestic Glory" in verse 17. What is Peter trying to do here? Peter is highlighting God's greatness. This great God also spoke about and revealed His Son, Jesus, who is not just a man, but is majestic for He is the son of the Majestic Glory. It is this Christ that Peter and the apostles were eyewitnesses of, and now follow and are telling the people about.
What more can we learn about Scripture from these verses?
"human-authored"
We realise that there is a logic behind the eyewitness accounts, where there is also a purpose to every word of Scipture being recorded for us. Things are not place haphazardly and randomly. This also means that we go to the Scripture, not as if we're reading an impersonal textbook with plenty of information, but when we go to Scripture, we are actually attempting to meet another mind.
"truthful"
Scripture presents truth, and is authoritative. When we come to Scripture with this view in mind, we are able to do what Rom 12:2 says and be transformed by the renewal of the mind.
"points us to Christ"
It also tells us that Scripture does not exist to bring us to Scripture only, as if it is an end in itself. Scripture tells of a person, and this is the end goal of Scipture -- to bring us to the God who revealed Himself in the Word. Scripture exists to paint for us a picture of Jesus Christ in all His glorious beauty, and when we meditate on it and think upon it, our mind gets renewed and so does our heart.
This means that if we read the words without getting to the person behind the words, we may miss the poing completely. This also means that there is an intended purpose and point to Scripture. We can actually miss the intended purpose, and add our own meaning to it instead. These verses not only encourage us, but also implicitly provides a warning against reading the Bible and challenging its authority and making all sorts of things the point, when it is not, instead of listening to what Scripture has to say.
(B) The Scripture is divinely-authored and sacred: it demands our response
In the first half of 2 Pet 1:19, Peter emphasises another truth. He argues that we do not have Scripture merely as eyewitness accounts, but also as a "prophetic word". Peter is adding another layer to what Scripture is, that they are not just historical accounts, but has a unique source to its words. The certainty of Scripture lies not in it being verifiable, historical eyewitness testimonies, but because it is fundamentally from God.
2 Pet 1:20-21 goes on to explain this (rather) complex relationship between human and divine authorship. In 2 Pet 1:20, Peter assures us that what has been recorded is not merely someone's interpretation and experience of events in a subjective sense. Instead, every that was written was guided along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21). In John 16, Jesus spoke of this Spirit that will be sent to the disciples after He leaves. The Spirit, according to Jesus, will speak and declare truth to them (John 16:12-15). This Spirit was given to the discples at Pentecost (Acts 2), and transformed the cowardly disciples to give them boldness to proclaim God's words and truth. Peter had experienced it himself, and he was now writing to Christians to testify of it.
The Bible is so important, because as 2 Tim 3:16 reminds us, it is all "God-Spirited", breathed out by Him and therefore useful and purposed. 2 Tim 3:16 does not stop there, but also highlights some ways that it will achieve its purpose. The Bible exists to teach (i.e. gives information we do not know), correct (i.e. addresses wrong information), rebuke (i.e. not merely intellectual, but also addresses our desires and will) and trains in righteousness (i.e. instructions on what you have to do to live a life of righteousness). Scripture demands a response from us, and Peter gives a metaphor for how we ought to respond in 2 Pet 1:19. He exhorts us to pay attention to the Scripture, as we would to a lamp in a dark place. And yet, he encourages us by pointing out that it is only a temporary "arrangement". There will be a day when "the dawn rises" and the "morning star rises" (2 Pet 1:19). On that day, as we often sing, "our faith shall be sight", and the Lord, the one that Scripture speaks about, descends and we can see Him face to face, not only through the pages of His Words. This is the encouragement that Peter is offering to his readers, and us today, because we are still waiting for the night to be over, and for dawn to break. And as we wait, His Word continues to be lamp for our feet in the dark, guiding us until the day when we do not need it anymore.
What wonderful words! Yet, if we read subsequent verses in the book, verses like 2 Peter 2:1-3, 3:15-17, we read of Peter's serious concern for the Christians and for us today. We realise that there are many, many ways that we can ignore the lamp. Perhaps we pay attention to other sources of light. Perhaps we think that it is not that dark after all. Maybe we can think that it is not even dark in the first place. In these verses Peter warns us of false teachers and people that will come in to confuse Christians. He continues to warn us to pay attention. After all, false teaching rarely comes in announcing that it is false, but seeps in through subtle, sometimes devious means.
Christian history tells us that there were points when the gospel was a faint light in a dark night, and that heresies became more common than truth. This new series on the theology of the Reformation brings us back to the time where there were men who stood up against the prevailing cultural norms and traditions, and insisted that Scripture alone, would be their rule and guide. This was what Martin Luther, a mere German monk, and some of the other reformers fought to recognise again. This was what Martin Luther argued at the Diet of Worms, where he had to stand up to defend his convictions:
“Your Imperial Majesty and Your Lordships demand a simple answer. Here it is, plain and unvarnished. Unless I am convicted [convinced] of error by the testimony of Scripture or (since I put no trust in the unsupported authority of Pope or councils, since it is plain that they have often erred and often contradicted themselves) by manifest reasoning, I stand convicted [convinced] by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God’s word, I cannot and will not recant anything, for to act against our conscience is neither safe for us, nor open to us. On this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”
In contrast, this was affirmed at the Council of Trent of the Roman Catholic Church in 1546, in response to the convictions of the Reformers:
"...truths and rules are contained in the written books and in the unwritten traditions, which, received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ Himself, or from the Apostles themselves, the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down to us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand."
The differences are subtle, for it seems to affirm the apostles' teaching. But it also affirms human traditions. 2 Peter 1:16-21 reminds us of what Scripture is, who it speaks of, and calls us to respond accordingly. For the Christian, Scripture, and Scripture alone, should guide our lives. What are you doing with God's Word? Is it your only authority for life and practice?
"What Luther thus voiced at Worms shows the essential motivation and concern, theological and religious, of the entire Reformation movement: namely that the Word of God alone must rule, and no Christian man dare do other than allow it to enthrone itself in his conscience and heart."
(God's Inerrant Word by J. I. Packer)