In the first two chapters Peter has been very forceful in his denunciation of false teaching and false teachers. As Paul Cedar noted … his vocabulary was confrontive and strong. It is a message that we need to take to heart here in America in the 21st century. False teaching is alive and being spread abroad all across the country as a great part of the church is becoming more concerned with social justice, numbers and budgets than with the Cross of Christ. The answer that Peter provided is one of love and encouragement as he points to the answer to false teachers — God, the One who is always to be trusted. His return is certain, it is near and He is always on time.
2 Pet 3:1-7 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Peter opens this chapter with the love of God; he uses the term agapetos; dearly beloved. It is the love of God that he wants us to walk in so we won’t be led astray. He wants his message to stir up (diegeiro; arise, awake, raise up) our minds by reminding us of what we already know. This is a message the bride of Christ desperately needs today, to be fully awakened to the truth of the Word of God. Peter says there are three things that we need to be reminded of:
- Be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets. The contrast here is evident; the holy prophets were the exact opposite of the false prophets that he has been warning of (1 Pet 1:20-21). These prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit and not the spirit of the antichrist that is moving in America. What they wrote didn’t come from man’s mind or man’s perspective; it came by the will of the Holy Spirit. He is the same Spirit that brings the same truth to us today. We need to be sure that we are not led into the false teachings and to do so we must put our trust fully in God and His Word, which he gives us through the teaching of His Spirit-led pastors and teachers.
- Be mindful of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour. Remember that when Peter wrote this letter the New Testament had not been written and that is why he referred to the holy prophets who were memorialized in the Jewish scriptures. But at the same time the commandments of the apostles of Christ were being followed by believers:.
Ac 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
- Be mindful that God is in control. False teachers — scoffers — don’t listen to the words of the holy prophets or the apostles; they just look at the outward circumstances and ask: Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. We can’t afford to listen to these false teachers that don’t follow the Word of God. They refuse to follow the One who has everything He created under complete control and one day they will find out that He is still in charge of it all.
Peter’s answer to these scoffers and their teaching is to stir up our remembrance of who God is because the false teachers are “willingly ignorant and are leading many down the same path:
2 Pet 3:5-7 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
The message that the world was destroyed by water and is reserved to be destroyed by fire is lost on them; they are ignorant of the message and the One who sent it. When God’s creation disobeyed Him and chose to live in blatant sin God brought the great flood. We are standing in America today on the precipice of that happening once again. But as He saved righteous Noah and his family so He will save His righteous people from the fire. It is foolish to fail to remember who God is and who we are. By His Word alone He created and He has destroyed. Jesus warned of what is coming:
Mt 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
And Paul warned us in his letter to the Hebrew Christians:
Heb 1:10-12 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
And John saw it all:
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
There can be no doubt that God is in control of this planet in spite of the one who calls him the god of this world. We don’t know God’s timing but Jesus gave us the “signs of the time” and they are here now; altogether. While the false teachers spread their false doctrines, ignoring the Word of Truth, they scoff at God’s promised return. They fail to understand that God has His timetable and He is always on time.
2 Peter 3:8-9 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
In verse 8 Peter calls our attention to the psalmist:
Ps 90:4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
These modern day scoffers disregard the fact that Jesus has come and has promised His second coming. They say since He has not come he is either lying or can’t keep His promise. But Peter makes the point that Jesus is not limited by time. Many have tried to use verse 8 to determine the time of Jesus’ second coming, attaching seven days of creation to 7,000 years, etc. Jesus said it is not for man to know:
Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Matt 24:36-37 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Not only are they misguided, they miss the point completely — “time is not an issue with God.” The issue is what is contained in verse 9.God has extended this “time of grace” — His longsuffering — because He is not willing that any should perish. Peter said that the Lord is not slack concerning His promise; slack (branduno; delay or tarry). God is never delayed by circumstances or by others. His only motive with regard to “time” is His love for us and because He loves us so much He has refrained Jesus from returning. His love is “longsuffering” (makrothumeo; enduring, patient, forbearing). Peter referred to this in his first letter:
1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
What is so often missed in this is the fact that God doesn’t even want the false teachers to suffer the end they are heading toward. Listen to Ezekiel:
Ezek 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
That is “agape” love! We hear the same thing from Timothy and Paul:
1 Tim 2:3-4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Rom 11:32-33 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
The bottom line is simply that Jesus has not returned because it is not God’s time, and the reason is because He is not willing that any should perish but come to repentance — even the false teachers!
Next time we will take a look at what kind of people Peter said that we should be because Jesus’ second coming is not a matter of “if” but “when.”