2 Peter 3:1-10

COMMENTS

I don’t know about you; but I accept warnings, suggestions, and correction much better when they come from someone who loves and accepts me.  The same words that I hear from a friend and then apply to my life sometimes provoke anger and resentment when they come from someone who frequently criticizes me.  In these matters, relationship is vitally important.  I believe our blustery friend Peter has learned a few things as he has matured in Christ ;-).

NOTES

If love and acceptance are prerequisites to effective communication, Peter certainly applies them in this letter.  He shows his acceptance of his readers by telling them that he knows their faith is real (2 Peter 1:1).  Then, he starts this section of the letter (Chapter 3) with a reminder of his love for them by acknowledging their relationship—“dear friends”.  (He actually uses this term four times in Chapter 3.)  These people are his friends.  He cares for them deeply, and he wants the best for them.  They are special to him, and he wants them to know it!  He has been vocal and critical of those who have been trying to lead the people astray, but he has done this because he cares.  He wants their thoughts to be “wholesome” (V. 1).  He wants them to remember all that the Lord has spoken to them through the holy prophets of the past and through Peter and the other apostles (V. 2).  God has not left them on their own.  He has sent messengers to guide them into His truth.

Why is it so important for them to remember these things?  And what does remembering the words of the prophets and apostles have to do with the scoffers (false teachers) in the next few verses?  Just this:  God made us, and He knows that we’re impatient.  When we get impatient, we get discouraged.  When we’re discouraged, we’re susceptible and more easily led astray. 

That’s what the false prophets were trying to do—lead the people astray.  “Didn’t God say He was coming back?  Where is He?  Nothing has changed!  Everything is the same as it’s always been!” (V. 4).  The impatient, wavering mind hears that and starts to question.  But throughout history, God has spoken love and hope to His people through His messengers.  By remembering that, the deceptive words of those evil men cannot gain any traction because God’s words build faith and hope.

God’s Word.  Powerful.  Reliable.  True.  In Verses 5-7 Peter reminds them and us that by the word of His mouth, God created the heavens and formed the earth.  By the word of His mouth, He destroyed the earth in a flood.  And by the word of His mouth, He will destroy the present heavens and earth and ungodly men.

We’re arrogant people and, even though we’re so inferior to the One True God, we judge Him by our own standards.  How foolish!  We think God should operate on our time schedule; but if we compare the time we’ve waited to the “forever” of an Eternal God, it has only been a few days (V. 8)!  Peter tells us to “remember”—we’re on God’s time, not human time.

But really, why doesn’t He just hurry up and come?  Things are just getting worse.  Humanity is more self-centered and evil all the time.  Society seems to be falling apart.  Dissension has replaced unity….  All that may be true, but Peter reminds us of one very important thing—the moment Jesus returns, everyone who has not accepted His sacrifice will be doomed to Hell.  So He waits, “not wanting anyone to perish” (V. 9).

As if to put an exclamation point on what he has just said, Peter ends this section of Chapter 3 with a declaration:

“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 in it will be laid bare.”  (2 Peter 3:10, emphasis mine)

It WILL happen.  Count on it.  Remember—and let His Word fill you with the confidence and hope it was meant to bring.  With that as your foundation, you cannot be led astray.