2 Peter 3
3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
Peter’s aim in chapter 3 is to remind us that our thinking must be driven by purity. This is a reminder from Peter, as he has stated previously. But why is Peter so apt to remind us? What is so important about being reminded of how we should be conducting our lives?
If we recall the story of the Israelites, their history is a study in understanding God on a deep level and then wandering from that understanding. These people, many of whom were escorted by God through the desert, were not adverse from wandering. If we are to look at their story and wonder what we should glean from it, it is possibly this: that even the best of us naturally drift away from God.
The world is a key problem for us. It offers a plethora of temptations to drag us away from a deeper relationship with God and a desire for purity. We need the reminders from scripture, from history and the prophets to remind us not to wander away. The world, remember, is eager to take us away from this understanding. Satan’s job isn’t to turn us completely evil, but to take us off the road just enough to distract us. To get us wandering toward something that isn’t of God, something we believe can satisfy.
Our reminder to stay pure is especially important while in the realm of the world system. To some degree we each must be in the world. But the drive for purity, striving for relationship and the hope that it offers is also a deterrent to the world. It defines us as something different, a person who does not operate on pure instinct, a person who understands true authority and truth, and also a person who is willing to be that light for others. This understanding also helps distinguish the truth from lies and helps us move away from the world dynamic.
As Peter points out, the last days (the days we live in, the days the world has mostly existed in since the resurrection of Christ), will be filled with what he calls “scoffers.” A scoffer is a person who treats others, information or truth with contempt. They use ridicule, jeering and mockery to drive their position home. A scoffer is a person who rejects a different truth than their own without every truly believing in anything. A scoffer is a person who has rejected the truth of God and believes in their own version of the truth.
So in accepting their own truth, Peter states that they “follow their own evil desires.” This means that the scoffer is a person who has rejected God’s truth and created their own truth, perhaps based on myths, their own impulses, or their rejection of everything else. They believe that since Jesus has not returned, He never will. In short, a scoffer does not understand God’s truth.
Since none of it has happened, then it is not true, the scoffer says. It gives license for someone who follows his own evil desires to continue in his debauchery while believing in nothing. But Peter reminds us that once, a long time ago, God deluged the world with water. Our present world’s judgment is by fire, and this will happen whether the scoffer believes it or not, because that day is reserved for the ungodly who don’t believe.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
The scoffer may say it will never happen, but the scoffer doesn’t understand God’s mercy and patience. He also doesn’t understand that God operates on a different time frame than our linear time perspective. We don’t understand how God views time.
And even though we don’t understand God’s time frame, we must understand this: God had promised judgment on the ungodly. Because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean that God is slow or uncaring, but He is patient. This is part of His mercy; he doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants to give people time to repent, time to come to hm after they have had their fill of sin and realize it can never bring them the satisfaction they crave. The path is always one back to God. But Jesus’ return will come in a flash, a sudden event, and all those things that we held dear will be gone.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
And we come to Peter’s great climax: Because of this very event, one which we don’t understand the timing of, one that will come in a flash, how should we then live? Our job on planet earth isn’t to consume everything possible, or even to enjoy life fully. Our job is to move toward holiness, purity and salvation so that our relationship with Christ is the most important relationship we possess. And if we spend our days moving toward that purity, growing deeper in relationship and bringing others into understanding, then whoever that flash moment happens, we will be a good steward of God’s gifts He has given us.
Luke 12:35-47 speaks of this very thing. In the story there are two servants who are left at the master’s house. The master is away and could return at any moment. One servant keeps the house clean, makes sure all of the chores are done, and prepares a lamp for the master’s return. When the master returns, he finds that the servant has made the best of his time, energy and focus and rewards the servant.
But there is another servant. The second servant decides, since the master is away, to beat the other servants, to drink and to be perfectly miserable to others. This servant is beaten when the master returns.
Luke and Peter are seizing on the same concept: since Christ hasn’t returned yet, it isn’t our job to play the part of the bad servant and do whatever we want; its our job to be the good servant, to remember we have the duty to move toward Christ as best we can each day. To prepare ourselves and others for the master’s return. Our readiness supersedes the judgment; we must be ready at any time. Those who remain vigilant will be effective for God. Those who do not will be punished.
In verse 13, Peter reminds us that Christ’s return is not a bad thing for believers. in fact, it’s quite positive. Upon Christ’s return, there will be a new heaven and earth, of which Christ is the ruler. Kingdoms will vanish. The strife of the world will be gone. Sin and death will be obliterated. This is not a fantasy…it is promise from God (Revelation 21:1-8).
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Our desire and effort are the parts we perform in the divine nature. The divine nature, our striving toward holiness, is only about our desire to know God and our willingness to understand, love and work for God. But not everyone knows or understands this. That is why it is important to be that light for people. Even though God is patient and merciful, those who must be reached still need a human interaction to find God. That’s our place in the story of redemption, just as it was for us long ago.
Peter also talks about Paul here. Peter and Paul were often adversarial, but they had the common ground of the truth, and interestingly enough, touched on the many hallmarks of the faith via different points of view. Here Peter acknowledges that sometimes Paul talks above people’s heads, but also reminds us that those who don’t understand find opportunity to distort what he is saying. In doing this, they are displaying their unstable mind and causing their own destruction (2 Timothy 1:7).
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Peter’s final statement in this book, the last he ever wrote, is to the point:
You have been warned to be on guard. Why? So you won’t be tricked by the world view and lose your footing with Christ, the truth. Instead, strengthen yourself in knowing God and following Him. If the aim is to understand God and move toward holiness, then sin, the world, and satan lose their influence in your life. It is about refocusing on the importance of eternity rather than the frailty of the temporary.
3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
Peter’s aim in chapter 3 is to remind us that our thinking must be driven by purity. This is a reminder from Peter, as he has stated previously. But why is Peter so apt to remind us? What is so important about being reminded of how we should be conducting our lives?
If we recall the story of the Israelites, their history is a study in understanding God on a deep level and then wandering from that understanding. These people, many of whom were escorted by God through the desert, were not adverse from wandering. If we are to look at their story and wonder what we should glean from it, it is possibly this: that even the best of us naturally drift away from God.
The world is a key problem for us. It offers a plethora of temptations to drag us away from a deeper relationship with God and a desire for purity. We need the reminders from scripture, from history and the prophets to remind us not to wander away. The world, remember, is eager to take us away from this understanding. Satan’s job isn’t to turn us completely evil, but to take us off the road just enough to distract us. To get us wandering toward something that isn’t of God, something we believe can satisfy.
Our reminder to stay pure is especially important while in the realm of the world system. To some degree we each must be in the world. But the drive for purity, striving for relationship and the hope that it offers is also a deterrent to the world. It defines us as something different, a person who does not operate on pure instinct, a person who understands true authority and truth, and also a person who is willing to be that light for others. This understanding also helps distinguish the truth from lies and helps us move away from the world dynamic.
As Peter points out, the last days (the days we live in, the days the world has mostly existed in since the resurrection of Christ), will be filled with what he calls “scoffers.” A scoffer is a person who treats others, information or truth with contempt. They use ridicule, jeering and mockery to drive their position home. A scoffer is a person who rejects a different truth than their own without every truly believing in anything. A scoffer is a person who has rejected the truth of God and believes in their own version of the truth.
So in accepting their own truth, Peter states that they “follow their own evil desires.” This means that the scoffer is a person who has rejected God’s truth and created their own truth, perhaps based on myths, their own impulses, or their rejection of everything else. They believe that since Jesus has not returned, He never will. In short, a scoffer does not understand God’s truth.
Since none of it has happened, then it is not true, the scoffer says. It gives license for someone who follows his own evil desires to continue in his debauchery while believing in nothing. But Peter reminds us that once, a long time ago, God deluged the world with water. Our present world’s judgment is by fire, and this will happen whether the scoffer believes it or not, because that day is reserved for the ungodly who don’t believe.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
The scoffer may say it will never happen, but the scoffer doesn’t understand God’s mercy and patience. He also doesn’t understand that God operates on a different time frame than our linear time perspective. We don’t understand how God views time.
And even though we don’t understand God’s time frame, we must understand this: God had promised judgment on the ungodly. Because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean that God is slow or uncaring, but He is patient. This is part of His mercy; he doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants to give people time to repent, time to come to hm after they have had their fill of sin and realize it can never bring them the satisfaction they crave. The path is always one back to God. But Jesus’ return will come in a flash, a sudden event, and all those things that we held dear will be gone.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
And we come to Peter’s great climax: Because of this very event, one which we don’t understand the timing of, one that will come in a flash, how should we then live? Our job on planet earth isn’t to consume everything possible, or even to enjoy life fully. Our job is to move toward holiness, purity and salvation so that our relationship with Christ is the most important relationship we possess. And if we spend our days moving toward that purity, growing deeper in relationship and bringing others into understanding, then whoever that flash moment happens, we will be a good steward of God’s gifts He has given us.
Luke 12:35-47 speaks of this very thing. In the story there are two servants who are left at the master’s house. The master is away and could return at any moment. One servant keeps the house clean, makes sure all of the chores are done, and prepares a lamp for the master’s return. When the master returns, he finds that the servant has made the best of his time, energy and focus and rewards the servant.
But there is another servant. The second servant decides, since the master is away, to beat the other servants, to drink and to be perfectly miserable to others. This servant is beaten when the master returns.
Luke and Peter are seizing on the same concept: since Christ hasn’t returned yet, it isn’t our job to play the part of the bad servant and do whatever we want; its our job to be the good servant, to remember we have the duty to move toward Christ as best we can each day. To prepare ourselves and others for the master’s return. Our readiness supersedes the judgment; we must be ready at any time. Those who remain vigilant will be effective for God. Those who do not will be punished.
In verse 13, Peter reminds us that Christ’s return is not a bad thing for believers. in fact, it’s quite positive. Upon Christ’s return, there will be a new heaven and earth, of which Christ is the ruler. Kingdoms will vanish. The strife of the world will be gone. Sin and death will be obliterated. This is not a fantasy…it is promise from God (Revelation 21:1-8).
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Our desire and effort are the parts we perform in the divine nature. The divine nature, our striving toward holiness, is only about our desire to know God and our willingness to understand, love and work for God. But not everyone knows or understands this. That is why it is important to be that light for people. Even though God is patient and merciful, those who must be reached still need a human interaction to find God. That’s our place in the story of redemption, just as it was for us long ago.
Peter also talks about Paul here. Peter and Paul were often adversarial, but they had the common ground of the truth, and interestingly enough, touched on the many hallmarks of the faith via different points of view. Here Peter acknowledges that sometimes Paul talks above people’s heads, but also reminds us that those who don’t understand find opportunity to distort what he is saying. In doing this, they are displaying their unstable mind and causing their own destruction (2 Timothy 1:7).
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Peter’s final statement in this book, the last he ever wrote, is to the point:
You have been warned to be on guard. Why? So you won’t be tricked by the world view and lose your footing with Christ, the truth. Instead, strengthen yourself in knowing God and following Him. If the aim is to understand God and move toward holiness, then sin, the world, and satan lose their influence in your life. It is about refocusing on the importance of eternity rather than the frailty of the temporary.