CHAPTER 3. THESE FALSE TEACHERS ALSO DENY THAT THE LORD HAS COME AT ALL, BUT ALL SHOULD RECOGNISE THAT HE HAS COME AND HIS FINAL MANIFESTATION IS SURE AND WILL USHER IN A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH. Peter now calls on his readers to remember the teaching of the prophets, which pointed forward to Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CALL TO THEM TO REMEMBER WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN TAUGHT (2 PETER 3:1). He calls to their minds his own previous letter. Later in the chapter he will also call to their mind the letters of Paul. He clearly considers that both are to be seen as Scripture. Compare how he had previously called to their... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING (2 PETER 3:3). ‘Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come with mockery, walking after their own lusts,' Compare here Jude 1:17, ‘remember the words which have been spoken before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they said to you, “In the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And saying, “Where is the promise of his coming (parousia - presence)? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” ' Unlike Jude Peter spells out one aspect of their mockery. It lies in the fact that they jeer at what to the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth having been brought together out of water and amidst water, by the word of God. By which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.' Furthermore one thing that these false teachers were overl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.' And he wants all to realise that in the same way as that Flood arrived and took the world that then was by surprise, so in the fut... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.' Note again the use of ‘beloved'. His heart yearns for these saints of God who are resisting the false teachers. And he calls on them not to forget that with the Lord one day... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REASON FOR DELAY AND THE FINAL FULFILMENT (2 PETER 3:8).... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' So in view of the fact that what appears to be a large extent of time to us is in fact to God but the passing of a m... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (or ‘will be laid bare').' However, even though the Lord is merciful and longs... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy manner of living and godliness,' And what should be the response of believers to these facts? They are to live in the light of its reality by concentrating all their efforts on holy living and god... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Looking for and hastening (or ‘earnestly desiring') the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?' They are to live their lives as those who are looking for and seeking to speed up the coming of the Day... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.' They are to look for the new heavens and the new earth. For that is God's promise, the formation of a new heaven and a new earth in which dwells righteousness, that is the righteousness that is... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, give diligence that you may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight, and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.' Note again Peter's reference to them as ‘beloved'. His heart was filled with unfeigned lo... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHRISTIAN'S RESPONSE TO WHAT IS COMING (2 PETER 3:14).... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you,' The thought of the fullness of that salvation then turns his thoughts to the outstanding descriptions of that salvation in Paul's letters. Note that he assumes that they will have read his own first letter ... [ Continue Reading ]
‘As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsteadfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.' However, he acknowledges that some of what Paul says is ‘hard to understand', bei... [ Continue Reading ]
‘You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware (or ‘guard yourselves') lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked (or ‘the lawless'), you fall from your own steadfastness.' With a final ‘beloved' Peter makes his final appeal before his death (2 Peter 1:13). He points out... [ Continue Reading ]
FINAL SUMMARY (2 PETER 3:17). Peter now sums up what he has said, firstly with a warning and then with an appeal. They are to beware lest they be carried away by false teaching, and they are to grow in the true knowledge of ‘our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ'.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen.' And the way in which they are to ensure their own steadfastness is by ‘growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ'. It is by ever learning more a... [ Continue Reading ]