God Speaks
1-2 This is my second letter to you, dear brothers, and in both of them I have tried to remind you—if you will let me—about facts you already know: facts you learned from the holy prophets and from us apostles who brought you the words of our Lord and Savior.
3 First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will come scoffers who will do every wrong they can think of and laugh at the truth. 4 This will be their line of argument: “So Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? He’ll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly as it was since the first day of creation.”
5-6 They deliberately forget this fact: that God did destroy the world with a mighty flood long after he had made the heavens by the word of his command and had used the waters to form the earth and surround it. 7 And God has commanded that the earth and the heavens be stored away for a great bonfire at the judgment day, when all ungodly men will perish.
8 But don’t forget this, dear friends, that a day or a thousand years from now is like tomorrow to the Lord. 9 He isn’t really being slow about his promised return, even though it sometimes seems that way. But he is waiting, for the good reason that he is not willing that any should perish, and he is giving more time for sinners to repent. 10 The day of the Lord is surely coming, as unexpectedly as a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the heavenly bodies will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be burned up.
11 And so since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives we should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along—the day when God will set the heavens on fire, and the heavenly bodies will melt and disappear in flames. 13 But we are looking forward to God’s promise of new heavens and a new earth afterwards, where there will be only goodness.
14 Dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen and for him to come, try hard to live without sinning; and be at peace with everyone so that he will be pleased with you when he returns.
15-16 And remember why he is waiting. He is giving us time to get his message of salvation out to others. Our wise and beloved brother Paul has talked about these same things in many of his letters. Some of his comments are not easy to understand, and there are people who are deliberately stupid, and always demand some unusual interpretation—they have twisted his letters around to mean something quite different from what he meant, just as they do the other parts of the Scripture—and the result is disaster for them.
17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear brothers, so that you can watch out and not be carried away by the mistakes of these wicked men, lest you yourselves become mixed up too. 18 But grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be all glory and splendid honor, both now and forevermore. Good-bye.
Peter
Source: The Living Bible: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Peter wanted both of his letters to stimulate believers to wholesome thinking. These letters were to remind readers of the words spoken by the prophets and by Jesus, passed on to them by the apostles. He declared that scoffers would always be following their own evil desires; they would question the promise of Christ’s coming. (This author believes that is true of both His first and second coming.) Peter referred to various times of construction and destruction that the Lord brought about by merely speaking a word. The expression, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day,” is meant to convey that God is beyond time. He is not constrained or bound by it. God is patient so that everyone (who is meant to) will come to repentance. In the end, the earth will be purified by fire, and in the meantime those who know and love God should live holy and God-honoring lives. This will speed the coming of the day of the Lord. Then He will create (or re-create) the new heaven and the earth, the home for those He has made righteous, spotless, blameless, and at peace with Himself. Peter referred to Paul’s writings, agreed with them, and called them Scriptures. Peter wanted his readers to be on guard and stand against the errors of lawless men. He urged them to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Dear Awesome Father God, my congregation, nation, and I need You to stimulate us to wholesome thinking. Cause us to remember the words spoken by the prophets and by Jesus through the apostles. Scoffers have arisen who mock the truth and follow their own evil desires. They deride those of us who believe Your promises of both Christ’s first and second coming. At various times You have wrought both creation and destruction by merely speaking a word. You are beyond time. It does not hinder Your plans whatsoever. You are waiting patiently until everyone (who will) comes to You in repentance and faith; then You will purify the earth by fire. In the meantime, You empower Your people with Your Spirit to live holy and godly lives. As we do so, we speed the coming of the day of the Lord. Thank You for preparing the new heaven and the earth as the home of those You have made righteous, spotless, blameless, and at peace with You. Thank You for guiding both Peter’s and Paul’s writings. Please help me and others of Your followers to be on guard against the errors of lawless men. May all of us be growing in grace and the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is and all He has done. AMEN
Action: (Ask the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will join a biblically based small group which will help me learn wholesome thinking.
- I will do whatever I need to avoid being influenced by scoffers–turning off mass media and social media for example.
- I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and do whatever He shows me.
- I will memorize 2 Peter 3:18 in whichever version I am most comfortable.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.