Peter had been writing his second letter, describing how the knowledge of God and Jesus gives us grace and peace. God’s divine power enables us to live a godly, righteous life, and that comes to us via the knowledge of Him who called us. He then starts to explain how Christians have not followed invented stories, but were eyewitnesses to the Majesty of God. In Christ we have the Old Testaments’ prophetic message made more certain, or proved completely reliable. Peter starts to explain that Prophecies don’t come from the prophet’s interpretation or the will of the man giving the prophecies, they come directly from God. In the second chapter he starts comparing the true prophecy fulfilled in Jesus Christ with false teachers. He said that the false teachers’ message is completely fabricated, claiming to be of God, but using a human desire and human origin to build the false message. The goal of the false teachers is more followers, more revenue, more popularity. The false teachers in his time were adulterous and greedy, they blasphemed against an all powerful God, and they have set themselves in a dangerous trap. Peter recalls that we’ve seen God punish blasphemy and rebellious disobedience, in the Angels, in the World that was flooded, in Sodom and Gomorrah. And while God is Just and gives out deserved punishment, He also extends mercy, and rescues those who are His followers, like Noah and Lot. In the same way, the False teachers who Lie and Deceive in the Name of the Lord are destined to perish. Later in Chapter 2, he explains that those false teachers are being held for blackest darkness and punishment. Now he begins Chapter 3, the final chapter in 2nd Peter.
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.
Peter begins this last chapter reminding the readers what the purpose of his letter is. It sounds kind of like the beginning of the letter, but it’s the end. It is important to reiterate why you are talking sometimes. I have had meetings and discussions with coworkers that got totally derailed. We were talking about how to fix a certain problem or thinking through a solution, but then that discussion allows someone to recall another project or idea they had. All of a sudden 20 minutes goes by and we are wondering why we had this meeting in the first place. Why are we reading this letter from Peter? Was he writing this letter to describe how bad the false teachers were, and they were going to get what’s coming? Chapter 3:1 Peter says these letters are to remind you and stimulate you towards wholesome thinking. 3:2 says Peter was reminding the readers about the words of the holy prophets and to recall the instructions and command from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He had to discuss how true prophecy looks different from false teaching. But we aren’t supposed to meditate on the fabricated stories of false teachers. We shouldn’t make ourselves experts on different false teachings, we are supposed to be on the lookout for how things we hear compare to Scripture. When they differ and are found to be false, Peter says we should return to the Truth of the Prophets of Old and the words of Jesus Christ. The purpose or Peter’s letter is ReDirection. Read Peter’s letter, that’s a stimulus- the response? Wholesome thinking. Maybe we get back to the wholesome thinking by reviewing the differences between false teachers and orthodox sound doctrine. Maybe some people need reassurance that God knows how to rescue the Righteous like Lot or Noah. Maybe it serves the reader to consider the history of the Bible when people are condemned and others are rescued. Maybe it’s a comfort to know that those bad people who are deceiving their followers with false doctrines will eventually be punished. But our goal is always to stimulate wholesome thinking. Wholesome thinking means getting your mindset to be Biblical, getting your outlook back in sync with the true Word of God spoken in the past by the holy prophets and Jesus Christ. Return to the words of the prophets, and see how their prophecies lead you to the cross of Jesus where your sin is paid for, your punishment is inflicted on the perfect Son, while you are set free from your sins, you are given his imputed righteousness, you are adopted, and you are given the promise of being resurrected and glorified. That all happens on an eternal scale. Peter says for wholesome thinking, recall the words, redirect your thoughts. Similarly to Peter, In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he had written another request to redirect thoughts, He said don’t be anxious of anything, but whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable, think of those things. We humans have a way of worrying about the worst things that can happen. Maybe that trait has historically helped us avoid danger or increased our ability to do contingency planning, but Scripture shows us that we need to be frequently stimulated to meditate on wholesome thinking. We need to be reminded Of sound doctrine. We need to be reminded of what the will of God is, and how our lives should look, and how that all differs from the will of our flesh and our hearts. We need to understand and be reassured that the end will look a certain way. That end is described by some of the prophets of the Old Testament, and that end is also described by Jesus (and aspects of it are demonstrated in His Resurrection). But what he and other Prophecies say is that the end will happen like a thief in the night so be on watch and ready. The end will happen, nobody knows exactly when, and God will be glorified. The fulfillment of Gods promises might not be happening at the pace we want but rest assured.
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.”
Peter says we must understand that scoffers will come in the last days. They will scoff at sound doctrine and doubt God’s promises. They will question the coming of the Lord that’s promised. They will try to sow seeds of doubt, in order to increase their followers or to give themselves license to continue following their own selfish and evil desires, behavior and actions. The scoffers will say things which make no sense when you compare their words to truth. “Everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
Ok. So you believe God created the world and your ancestors were called to be set apart, holy for Him? Yet you scoff and don’t follow God because His coming hasn’t happened yet?
If you think about this, if God’s coming HAD happened already, wouldn’t it already be too late? Right? Isn’t that how the end works? Definitionally- it’s the End.
In one breath they acknowledge the Creation of the world, they identify their ancestors to be God’s chosen people. And in the next, they disobey God due to what they believe to be His delayed timing. Peter continues beautifully.
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.
Scoffers cite the creation. And you still see even the biggest doubters do this today. Where is God? There’s no evidence. But here we sit on Planet Earth that rotates around a sun that is burning its finite fuel core, and our solar system is part of a galaxy that is also in motion, in a universe that is all expanding. Entropy says this process can’t be undone. All these things happen over time, nothing’s exactly the same as it was, and if it were possible to, you press the rewind button on this process, even the most diehard atheist has to admit it all started at some point both in space and time. There was a beginning. We don’t fully understand the how or exactly what moment. But Scripture affirms that it was God who created it all. And in some way or some manner, God used his Word to set it all in motion. Waters covered the earth. The world was formed and carved out with these waters. Waters destroyed the earth at one point. Everything continues somewhat predictably, the sun goes down and up, the seasons start and end, days get shorter and then longer then shorter. For now its predictable and doesn’t appear that it will change, but This order of all we see happens by the Word of God. Paul writes something similar in Colossians, In Him (Christ) all things were created. All things were created through Him and For Him. He is before all things and in Him all things are held together. Peter says God’s Word sustains all things. Paul says Christ Sustains all things, John says God’s word became flesh and is Christ. We see things continuing predictably, but Christ himself said the future isn’t going to be the same as the past. Peter said The Earth is destined for fire. The same word of God that sustains and maintains the known order of the world is going to do something different in the end. By Gods word, fire will consume the heavens and earth. For right now, the earth is being kept and reserved for this final event. We will meet God on that day of Judgment, and the ungodly will be destroyed. Where are we on this timeline? Everything is being held or reserved for that day.
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.
Peter reminds those who heard the words of scoffers. A day is like a thousand years for God. And a thousand years is like a day.
We don’t really understand time, at least on the celestial God timeframes. Here’s a bit of an exercise, go outside at night and look at orion’s belt. The furthest star is about 2000 light years away. So when you look at it, you are looking at the result of a reaction that happened as Jesus was walking the earth. Each of our days is just one rotation of the Earth on its axis. But in God’s perspective, each of God’s days is much longer. God is immortal and has infinite time. Whether his promises are fulfilled today, tomorrow, or in 5000 years, from God’s perspective its soon. I read a commentary that compared buying something in the store for 1 penny, versus another thing for 10 cents. I don’t know what they were buying but maybe a gumball from those machines? One costs 10x the price of the other but both of those “prices” are effectively the same for someone with hundreds or thousands of dollars in the bank. God has so much time, infinite, that no matter how long he takes in fulfillment of the promise, He can say it is happening soon. We can say we are in the last days, because we are between Jesus first coming and his second.
So those scoffers complaining that God is slow?? God is not being slow, he is being patient. When the scoffers who haven’t seen the coming of the Lord finally see it, they will wish they had more time. Ironically, they will wish for the very time that God had already patiently given them. But they spent that time accusing God of being slow. These scoffers will get their punishment eventually, after wasting their precious hours coming up with excuses in order to keep following their sinful evil desires. God’s slowness is patience. Remember that silly comparison I made in the post from 2 Peter 2 with the false teachers challenging God’s authority? I said false teachers challenging God was like Me challenging Floyd Mayweather to a fist fight. How long do you think I’d last against Floyd? How Long until that fight is over? I will tell you when that fight ends. That fight ends as soon as Floyd Mayweather decides to begin it. I don’t walk in the ring saying, not my will but your’s be done, Floyd. Any seconds I have in the ring against him are seconds that he has decided to give me. If I make it 10 seconds, it’s because he allowed it. Floyd Mayweather is “sovereign” in the ring with me. He is in charge. That’s how God’s sovereignty works with His creation! If a false teacher hasn’t been punished, if a scoffer hasn’t seen the Coming of the Lord, if we are standing around here encouraging one another toward Wholesome thinking, it’s because God is being patient. He is allowing us the mercy of Time passed.
Peter says God is patient with you (the reader) God doesn’t want anyone to perish. God wants everyone to come to repentance. God offers time and his patience as a common grace to the world to allow sinners to repent. Peter’s writing here demonstrates the difference between the Will of God, which is the things that will happen, and the want of God, which would lead to repentance for everyone. Is peter saying God wants a universal salvation? God is glorified in both his justice and his mercy, both are required given the condition of a fallen humanity. But Gods grace and mercy are beautiful to us. Those aspects of Gods character are precious to his Elect. Gods judgment and wrath are given to those hard hearted people. The vengeful ones who want to see people get what’s coming, the self worshippers who want to make themselves gods, the greedy who want ownership of not just themselves but their neighbor’s stuff, the scoffers and doubters who don’t bother to study God, who think God and the cross of Christ are just foolish things. Perhaps God desires everyone to come to repentance; Jesus offers salvation to all who are weary and burdened, but we know not everyone hears the shepherds call. Maybe that “everyone” means all of the elect who are reading Peter’s letter. But the reality is, there are people who God is patiently dealing with, who are destined for destruction. God extends grace and mercy while they are alive, giving them precious time and forbearance, but in his infinite wisdom and knowledge, God knows they are destined for punishment and bears with them until the End. It would be more amazing and precious to us if they could come to repentance, but that just won’t happen, and no amount of time or life lessons or mercy or trials will change their rebellious minds.
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.[a]
Like a thief we aren’t expecting it, nobody knows, and like a thief in the night, something will be taken away. What is going away? It sounds like everything is going away. Everything we can see and hear and taste and touch. The heavens and earth, the elements will melt, everything will be laid bare. The footnote a says everything done in it will be laid bare may also just say be burned up
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.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
We should be a people that are focused a lot more on what will endure after the final day of judgment. We should live holy and godly lives, demonstrating God’s love to others. We should be less concerned with the things that will pass away. But also understand that those things we see today and enjoy, our earth the planet, nature, animals, Gods creatures and His creation all of this has an expiration date. Sometimes I buy something at the grocery store and I am so excited about it I save it and wait for the right moment, and then the time comes and I look and it expired. That’s the worst kind of waste. I am wasting something I liked and wanted. We don’t want to treat our planet for granted, like it will always be here. We want to respect it, knowing someday it will pass away and sadly, for some people, this place is the closest thing to heaven that they will ever see. For us we may look forward to the day of the Lord and want to speed it’s coming. Footnote b says this phrase may just be As you wait eagerly for the Day of the Lord to come. (without any mention of speeding his coming) So the footnote is even more passive from human’s perspective, Let’s read on
13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Some Christians seem to think speeding the day of the lord is something that humans are supposed to do, as if our efforts and ingenuity will help us to bring about the new heaven and new earth, either by modification of this earth or by discovering the new earth before this one is subjected to the fire. I don’t think Scripture really supports that it is within the capability of humankind to bring about this fire or do what the book of isaiah or revelation say when the stars in the sky dissolve or the heavens roll up like a scroll. And the other thing that is distinct about the new heaven and new earth is the places are described as a place where righteousness dwells. It is consistent with other parts of Scripture to believe that humans, even the elect who were saved by Christ and set free from sin, aren’t really in control of our righteousness or the righteousness that will dwell in the new heaven and earth. We’ve been dead in our sins, we’ve been imputed righteousness from Christ, up to now, the righteousness of mankind has been given to us by God, by his grace. To think it will become our job to either rebuild or find or construct a new heaven or earth where Righteousness is to dwell sounds a bit far fetched. The language Peter uses seems like we are looking forward to this thing that God will primarily do, which seems most consistent with scriptures
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.
We should be looking forward to being with the Lord, but must remember we are not like him. We are sinners, and rebels, God is perfection. When we meet him, it will be jarring. We should be making every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace. Reading this might mean we have to be working to earn our salvation. But he is not saying, Be spotless, be blameless, be at peace! But he is saying to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace. How does God find us spotless? Only when we are in Christ. How does God find us blameless? In Christ. How can we be found by God to be at peace? ONLY by Christ can have peace with God. So when the end of time happens we need to be In Christ. When the coming of the Lord Happens, we want to be ready and the only way to be ready is to be in Christ.
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.
The coming of our Lord means the end of time. While we can still say today is today, there is time to repent. There is time for people to hear the shepherd calling, respond to the voice that tells them to come all who are weary, for Jesus yoke is easy and his burden light. Gods patience means salvation and mercy from impending judgment. This doctrine and description of the Day of the Lord is consistent with Paul’s letters, and Peter is saying that the material can be hard to understand. As soon as topics become difficult, the ignorant and unstable distort the content as they tend to do with other Scripture. Its interesting because I had always read the confrontation between Peter and Paul in Acts, and figured there was some sort of negative tone to this letter. He writes the same way in all his letters. And they are hard to understand. Sounds critical, but he is saying they are consistent, even with the difficult content and somewhat intangible ideas. He also basically calls Paul’s letters Scripture, because he says people distort it to their own destruction, like they do other Scripture. And he said Paul writes with the wisdom God gave, which also confirms the teaching is true and the wisdom is from God. The origin of Pauls letters is not Paul’s interpretation or Paul’s desire
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.
The letter is a reminder and a way to stimulate wholesome thinking. At the end Peter has a warning to be on guard against the error of the lawless. He had been discussing the way of Balaam and false teachers, pointing out errors and the selfish motives that cause false teaching. We don’t want to fall from a secure position of righteousness by grace and instead return to the vomit of the sin we were enslaved to. We also don’t want to fall the opposite direction, from a secure position of having the righteousness of Jesus by grace and instead embrace our own imperfect relative righteousness by works.
Peter says the way we can remain secure is by growing in grace and in knowledge. By being stimulated to a response of wholesome thinking. Growing in knowledge of Him, Jesus Christ, who we call our Savior and our Lord. All glory is and will be His alone.