2 Peter 3:1-7

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”  For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.  But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

In a world that is fallen, the likelihood of facing people who reject the Gospel and Christ is very high.  We are called to stand firm against the false prophets no matter how many there may be and how loud they may become.  This final chapter points us to the future we must take into consideration while living in this fallen world.  This opening section warns us about the reality of many who will reject the truth and instructs us on how we can best be prepared to face them.

REMEMBER THE SCRIPTURES: Peter is writing this second letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit just like his first one.  He wants his readers to remember his teachings.  He also has pointed out in both letters the importance of looking at the Scriptures of the Old Testament.  There is no better way to combat false prophets than to look at true prophets.  Additionally, Peter refers to the teachings of Jesus as being recorded and published by the Apostles.  When Peter writes these letters, the three synoptic Gospels have already been written so were available to his readers.  All teachings in the church should be derived from the Word of God. The Old and New Testaments are the only reliable sources for truth.  Any teachings that are in contradiction to the Scripture must be rejected as false.

REJECT THE SCOFFERS: The presence of scoffers is inevitable.  The further we get from the incarnation of Christ and the close we get to the revelation of Christ; the more likely we are to face scoffers and false teachers.  These scoffers are motivated to reject the Scriptures because they want to feel free to fulfill their own fleshly and sinful desires.  However, they are especially dangerous because they are not satisfied to sin alone.  They want to entice other people to sin with them.  There is comfort in numbers.  If they can convince more people to join them in sinful activities, the phrase: “everybody is doing it” becomes a comfort for them.  Their method is always to question the authority of God’s Word.  They do this by falsely claiming that God does not exist or that He does not intervene in the affairs of men.  The lies that deny God and His care must be soundly rejected.

REVERE THE SAVIOR: The best way to confront lies is with truth.  For the truth about God and His dealing with man, we must simply look back to the Scriptures and the history recorded there.  Genesis records the creation of the world as well as the judgment upon the original creation with water.  God caused the water that surrounded the earth and the water that was under the earth to flood the entire surface of the world.  That does not sound like a distant and uninvolved God to me.  Peter reminds us that this current earth will not be judged by water but by fire.  Whatever we believe about global warming, of one thing we can be certain; one day this earth will become very warm to the point of melting away all that exists on the surface of this planet.  All who reject Christ and follow false teachings will be eternally condemned to an eternal punishment in fire completely separated from God.  These awesome truths should cause us to be sober and live in the fear of the Lord.  They should also prevent us from any temptation we have to lend ears to false teachers.

APPLICATION: Study the Word of God, both Old and New Testaments and compare all teachings to the Scriptures.  Expose false teachers who try to tempt us with sinful practices and question God and His Word.  Worship the Lord Jesus and be prepared for the judgment of others that is sure to come.