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December 22, 2025

Wrapping Up the New Testament: Highlights from 2 Peter through Revelation

by Jason Neill

Scripture reading: 2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, & Revelation

We’ve reached the end of our Bible reading plan! If you’ve stuck with it this year, congratulations!

If you dropped off the reading plan at some point, I encourage you to pick it up and give it another go as we draw closer to the new year. This week, I’ll hit the highlights of the remaining six books of the New Testament.

Let’s look at each one in turn.

2 Peter

  • Author: The Apostle Peter
  • Date: A.D. 67
  • Recipients: The same audience he addressed in his first letter (see 1 Peter 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; 3:1).
  • Key Themes: Peter wrote to encourage believers to grow in their faith (see 2 Peter 1:3-21), to warn them about false teachers (see 2 Peter 2:1-22), and to remind them the Lord will keep his promise to return. Consequently, believers should always be ready (see 2 Peter 3:10-18).
  • Notable Verses: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:17-18, ESV).

1-3 John

  • Author: The author does not identify himself, but church history and scholarly consensus suggest the Apostle John wrote these letters.
  • Date: A.D. 85-90
  • Recipients: The intended audience is not known; however, John demonstrated a familiarity with the readers. It is thought that the church at Ephesus were the original readers since John ministered there for an extended period.
  • Key Themes:
    • 1 John: Fellowship with God and fellow believers (see 1 John 1:3).
    • 2 John: Abiding/obeying the truth and refuting the error false teachers sought to teach (see 2 John 4-11).
    • 3 John: Showing hospitality to teachers of the truth while rebuking Diotrephes, a self-centered leader in the church (see 3 John 9-11).
  • Notable Verse: “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3, ESV).

Jude

  • Author: Jude, the half-brother of Jesus (see Jude 1; Matthew 13:55). He was considered the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
  • Date: A.D. 70-80
  • Recipients: The audience is not identified.
  • Key Themes: Jude wanted his readers to be prepared to defend the truth of the body of doctrine handed down by the Apostles (see Jude 3).
  • Notable Verse: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, ESV).

Revelation

  • Author: The Apostle John
  • Date: A.D. 90-95
  • Recipients: Seven churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, & Laodicea (see Revelation 2-3).
  • Key Themes: John writes concerning the events that will unfold at the end of the world (see Revelation 4-22).
  • Notable Verse: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John” (Revelation 1:1, ESV).

 

Application from Revelation: The Waters of Life

As I wrote in an earlier blog (Bible Survey: Genesis, posted on January 6, 2025), the Bible is a Jesus book. The first prediction of a Savior to come is Genesis 3:15.

I thought it fitting to close this series of blogs by mentioning Revelation 22:17:

“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (ESV).

What the Savior offers us is eternal life and the forgiveness of sins (see John 3:16; 4:10; 5:24; 6:47; 11:25-26; Acts 10:43). We are encouraged to “take the water of life without price.”

John, the Apostle, is alluding to Jesus’ comment in the Gospel of John:

“Jesus answered her (speaking to the Samaritan woman), “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10, ESV).

The living water Jesus offers us is eternal life, free of charge; it’s a gift. How do you appropriate said gift? By trusting in Jesus alone for the free gift of eternal life. Just as you would trust in a chair to hold you up, through no effort of your own, so you must trust in Christ to give you eternal life through no effort of your own (see Romans 4; Ephesians 2:8-9). Once you do, you are immediately transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ (see Colossians 1:13). At the moment of faith, you are in immediate possession of eternal life which can never be lost.

Since none of us are promised tomorrow, I encourage you to trust in Christ alone for the free gift of eternal life today (see John 3:16; James 4:13-14). What are you waiting for?

Keep Reading in the New Year

As you reflect on finishing the reading plan, remember that our goal isn't just to finish the book, but to continue growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you're looking for a way to engage with the Scriptures in 2026, consider the ESV Everyday Gospel Bible.

Thank you for traveling this spiritual road with me this year. Remember, keep reading your Bible!