Biblical Commentary on the Enduring Word 2 Petrus Kapitel 3 (2023)

Video of 2 Peter 3:

2 Peter 3 – Living as a latter-day Christian

A. The certainty of the last days and the promise of God.

1. (1-2) Another reference to the importance of being remembered.

Beloved, now I write to you this second epistle (inbothas a reminder, I awaken your pure minds), so that you remember the words that were spoken before by the holy prophets, and our commandment, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,

a.Now I write you this second epistle: Peter already wrote about the importance of being remembered (2 Peter 1:12-13). But here he wanted to emphasize what must be known in light of the coming of Jesus and the prophecies about his coming.

I. “The purest minds need to be awakened sometimes. It would be a great pity to incite impure minds. That would just be playing jokes; but pure minds can be stimulated as much as they like, and the more the better. (Spurgeons)

b.So you can be aware of the words that were said before: Peter knew the importance ofrememberinghis readers of the message of the Scriptures, both received from the Old Testament (spoken before) and contemporary of his time (and the commandment of us).

I. Peter clearly believed that thewordsof the Scriptures were important; EITHERwordsthemselves, not justmeaningbehind the words

ii. “Peter believed in the inspiration of the very 'words' of Scripture; he was not one of those precious "forward thinkers" who, if they could, would tear the soul out of the Book and leave us nothing at all; but he wrote: 'That you may remember the words' - the very words - 'which were spoken beforehand by the holy prophets.' 'Oh!' says one, 'but the words do not mean; it is the inner sense that is really important.' Exactly; that's exactly what the fool said about the eggshells. He said they didn't mean; the only important thing was the germ of life inside the chick; so he broke all the shells and thus destroyed life... If words could be taken from us, meaning itself would disappear. (Spurgeons)

C.By the holy prophets, and by our command, the apostles of the Lord and Savior: By placing the messengers of the new covenant on the same level as the messengers of the old covenant, Peter understood the authority of the New Testament even as it was being formed.

I. Peter understood that Jesus gave hisapostlesthe inspired authority to carry God's message to the new covenant community. He understood this from passages like Matthew 16:19, where Jesus gave the apostles authority tolinkmilose, as well as the authoritative rabbis of his time.

ii. “your apostlesit does not just mean 'your missionaries', the people who evangelized you. When the New Testament writers mean merely "church emissary" bythe apostles, they say so, or the context makes it clear (Philippians 2:25). Peter refers here to "the apostles of Jesus Christ." It is they and only they who are on a par with the prophets of the Old Testament. (Green)

iii. Significantly, Peter saw this authority reversed inthe apostles, not only in that. It would seem strange to him if the supposed papal authority was attributed to him.

2. (3-4) The message of the scoffers.

Knowing this first: that in the last days mockers will come, walking according to their own lusts, and saying: Where is the promise of his coming? Because since the parents slept, all things remain asthey werefrom the beginning of creation."

(Video) 2 Peter 3 - Living Like a Last Days Christian

a.knowing this first: Christians should not be surprised to find that there are those who scoff at the idea of Jesus returning. Peter told us that hescoffers will come. This is thefirstthing to know

I. “Every time a blasphemer opens his mouth to deny the truth of revelation, he helps us to confirm our conviction of the very truth that he denies. The Holy Spirit told us, by the pen of Peter, that it would be so; and now we see how truly he wrote. (Spurgeons)

b.He will come in the last days: In a way, thelast daysIt began when Jesus ascended into heaven. Since then, we have not run to the precipice of the consummation of all things; but we run along that edge, ready to go at any moment, according to God's will.

I. "With the advent of Jesus, the last chapter of human history was opened, although not yet concluded." (Green)

C.Walk according to your own lusts: These words remind us that scoffers don't just have an intellectual problem with God and His word. They are also clearmoralproblem, wanting to reject the Lordship of Jesus Christ over their lives.

3. (5-7) The error of the scoffers.

Because they willfully forget this, that by the word of God the heavens were made from the beginning, and the earth arose out of water and in water, by which the worldthatthen it existed perished, being inundated with water. But the heavens and the earthwhichnow they are preserved by the same word, they are reserved for the fire until the day of the judgment and the perdition of the impious men.

a.This is why they deliberately forget: Scoffers boast of God's mercy and longsuffering, insisting that because they have never seen widespread judgment from God, there never will be. Butthey willingly forgetGod's creation and the judgment that God poured out on the earth in the days of Noah.

I. A literal belief in Creation, Adam and Eve, and Noah's Flood is essential to a true understanding of God's handiwork then and now. Denying these things undermines the very foundation of our faith. Unfortunately, today there are many Christians whodeliberately forgetthese things, thus putting himself in the place of scoffers.

b.That by the word of God the heavens have existed since ancient times: The Bible clearly teaches that the active agent in creation was Godword. He spoke and the creation came into being.

C.The world that then existed perished, being inundated with water: Peter's point is that things on this earth have not always continued as they are now. The earth was different when God created it and after the flood it was different again. Therefore, no one should scoff at God's promise that he will do the opposite again, judging them not with water but with fire. the sameGod's wordwho created all matter and judged the world in the flood will one day bring a judgment of fire on earth.

I. “The lesson the flood taught was that this is a moral universe, that sin will not go unpunished forever; and Jesus himself used the flood to point out this moral (Matthew 24:37-39). But these men chose to neglect it." (Green)

4. (8-10) Truths mockers deny, but God's people cling to.

But, beloved, do not forget one thing, that with the Lord one dayEsas a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow inIt is deletedpromise, although some have it late, but he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to proceed to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great roar, and the elements will melt with great heat; and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

a.That before the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day: What seems like an eternity to us is but a brief period of time to God, just as an hour may seem like an eternity to a child, but a moment to an adult.

I. Peter quoted this idea from Psalm 90:4:Because a thousand years in your eyes are like yesterday when it is over, and like a watch in the night."All time is as nothing before him, because in thepresenceof coursenatureeverything is from Godeternity; therefore nothing islargo, anythingshort, Before him; Nolapseof centuries damages his purposes.” (Clarke)

ii. “All things are equally near and present to his vision; the distance of a thousand years before an event occurs is no more to him than the interval of a day would be. With God, in fact, there is no past, present or future. He takes his name the 'I AM'... He is the I AM; I AM in the present; I AM in the past and I AM in the future. Just as we say that God is everywhere, we can say that he is always; he is everywhere in space; he is everywhere in time.” (Spurgeons)

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iii. Peter did not give any prophetic formula, saying that one prophetic day somehow equals a thousand years. Rather, he communicated a general principle about how we view time and how God views time. When people use this verse as a hard prophetic key, it opens the door to great error.

4. “God sees time with aperspectivewe lack; even a thousand years late can seem like a day against the backdrop of eternity. Also, God sees time with aintensitywe lack; one day with the Lord is like a thousand years.” (Green)

b.The Lord does not take long to fulfill his promise: The truth is that Godofulfill his promise, and without delay according to his time. Any perceived delay from our perspective is due to thelong-sufferingof God, who gives man as much time as possible to repent.

I. Many who are Christians today are happy that Jesus did not return ten years ago, or five years ago, or two years ago, or a year ago, or even two months ago. There is a compassionate purpose in God's timing.

C.Not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance: Peter here revealed something of the glorious heart of God. The reason why the return of Jesus is not sooner is so thatall must come to repentancebecause God isnot wanting anyone to perish.

I. We understand that God isnot wanting anyone to perishnot in the sense of a divine decree, as if God haddeclaredthat no sinner perish. Rather, Peter's statement reflects God's heart of love for the world (John 3:16) and his compassionate sadness even in the just judgment of the wicked.

ii. It is the same thought expressed in Ezekiel 33:11:As I live, says the Lord GOD, I do not desire the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

iii. "So wonderful is his love for humanity, that he wants everyone to be saved, and he himself is prepared to grant salvation to the lost." (Calvin)

4. “How is Godnot wanting anyone to perish, and how is itwishing all come to repentanceconsequently, he never planned or decreed the damnation of any man, nor made it impossible for any soul to be saved. (Clarke)

d.But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night: Although the Lord's patient love for the lost makes it seem like He might delay His coming, the truth is that He will certainly come. And when Jesus returns, he will come at a time that will surprise many (like a thief in the night). The end result of his coming will be a total transformation of this present world (in which the heavens will pass away with a great roar, and the burning elements will be undone.).

I. DiosI coulddestroy the earth again as it did in the days of the flood. "There are stillaguaenough to drown the earth, and there isiniquityenough to induce God to destroy it and its inhabitants. (Clarke) Yet God has promised to deal with this world withfog, Noflood.

B. Live in light of the last days and God's promise.

1. (11-13) A holy and godly life in anticipation of a new created order.

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, in what wayof peoplemust you be in a holy and pious conduct, waiting and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will dissolve in flames, and the elements will melt with burning fire? However, we, according to his promise, await new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells.

a.Therefore, once all these things are dissolved, what kind of people should you be?: In light of the fact that this world order and the things associated with it will dissolve, we must live our lives seeking first the Kingdom of God and his justice, that is, having holy and pious conduct.

I. We tend to think that the world is more durable and will last longer thanpeople. This is not true, and Peter reminds us of it.Peoplewill live in eternity, even longer than the earth.

ii.will be dissolved: "All will beapart, alldecomposed; but none of themdestroyed.” (Clarke) “The solar system and the great galaxies, including space-time relations, will be abolished... All the elements that make up the physical world will be dissolved by the heat and completely melted. It is a picture that to a surprising degree corresponds to what could actually happen according to modern theories of the physical universe. (Bo Reicke, quoted in Green)

iii. “This world, as far as we know, will not cease to exist; he will pass through the purifying flame, and then it may be that the soft and gentle breath of Almighty love will blow upon him and cool him quickly, and the divine hand will mold him as he cools into a lovelier paradise. (Spurgeons)

4.What kind of person should you be?: “The king is coming; he comes to his throne and to his judgment. Now a man does not go to a king's door and there he speaks of treason; and men do not sit in a king's audience chamber when they expect him to enter at every moment, and there speak ill of him. The King is on his way, and almost there; you are at his door; he is in yours. What kind of person should you be? How can you sin against the One who is so close?” (Spurgeons)

b.Waiting and hastening the arrival of the day of God: Peter says that there is a sense in which we canspeed upthe coming of the Lord. It is remarkable to think that we can actuallydothings that will affect the return of Jesus. In the immediate context, Peter says to hasten the coming of the Lord with ourholy conduct and piety.

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I. We can also hasten the coming of the Lord throughevangelism. Paul said that God's prophetic focus on Israel will resume when theThe fullness of the Gentiles has come(Romans 11:25).

ii. We can also hasten the coming of the Lord throughprayer. Just as Daniel called for a speedy fulfillment of the prophecy about captive Israel (Daniel 9), so too can we pray."Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

C.whereby the heavens will dissolve: Peter tells us that the very elements of this world orderwill be dissolved. God will genuinely make anew heavens and a new earth, just as Isaiah promised:For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the first will not be remembered or come to mind(Isaiah 65:17).

d.A new land where justice dwells: The most glorious feature of this new heaven and new earth is that it is a placewhere justice dwells. In God's plan of the ages, this happens after the millennial earth ruled by Jesus Christ.

I. It is the recreation of this world order as described in Revelation 21:1: “Now I have seen a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth have passed away..”

2. (14-15a) Be diligent and do not despise God's long-suffering.

Therefore, beloved, while waiting for these things, do your best to be found by Him in peace, blameless and blameless; and considerthatthe patience of our lordEssalvation-

a.In anticipation of these things, be diligent: If our hearts are truly set on the glory of the new heaven and new earth, we will strive to walk piously toward our brothers and sisters (in peace) and in relation to God (blameless and blameless).

b.The patience of our Lord is salvation: Sometimes it is easy for Christians to resent thelongsuffering of God; after all, in a sense, he delays his coming. Still,the patience of our Lord is salvationfor others, and it is salvation for us.

I. “We were intrigued by the long-suffering caused by such a tedious delay. One of the reasons is that we ourselves do not have much patience. We think we do well to be angry with the rebels and thus prove that we are more like Jonah than Jesus. Some have learned to be patient and merciful to the wicked, but many more are of the same opinion as James and John, who would have called fire from heaven on those who rejected the Savior. We are in such a hurry." (Spurgeons)

3. (15b-16) A note on the letters of the Apostle Paul.

— as also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some difficult to understand, which are not taught, and changeablepeopleroots for your own destruction, asthey doalso the rest of the Scriptures.

a.Just like our dear brother Paulo: It is fashionable for some critics to say that the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul do not agree. These same critics also often say that Peter and Paul disagree with Jesus. Yet here Peter expressed Paul's teaching in the warmest of terms. he called paulamadoand said that Paul wrote withwisdom.

I. This praise of Peter is even more wonderful when we remember that Paul once publicly rebuked Peter for publicly compromising (Galatians 2:11-21).

b.Where some things are hard to understand: Although Peter praised Paul's ministry, he admitted that some things in Paul's writings werehard to understand, and those who wereignorant and unstablethey could use some of the difficulties for their own ends, distorting the Scriptures.

C.Twist… the scriptures: Peter reminds us that the Scripturescould betwisted. Just because someone quotes the Bible does not mean that they are teaching Biblical truth. it is possible that theydistort… the scriptures. That is why we must be like those of Berea, who "I searched the scriptures daily to see if these things were so(Athos 17:11).

I. “It is to be noted that the Epistles of Paul are classified among thescriptures; term applied to divinely inspired writings, and only to them. (Clarke)

ii. “May I add that the verb [spin], which the apostle uses here, meansdistort, forbeing, fortorture, forstretch, mimove limbs; and therefore the persons here referred to are those who do not proceed according to a just plan of interpretation, butunnatural forcemisophistic meaningsin the word of God." (Clarke)

iii.Ruin: “Peter is very firm. The action of the false teachers in twisting Paul to justify his own debauchery and rejecting the Parousia is so serious as to disqualify them from salvation.” (Green)

4. (17-18) Conclusion.

Therefore, you are loved as long as you knowto bebeforehand, take care lest you also fall from your own firmness, being led by the error of the wicked; rather, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For himto beglory now and forever. Amen.

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a.Since you know this in advance: We who know the Lord's Day and wait for it with patient expectation, must persevere lest wefall from your own strength. We must be careful to remain in Jesus.

I. “So that they would know how to stand tall and not fall, he gave them this instruction: 'Grow in grace'; because the way to stay is to grow; the way to be firm is to keep going. There is no position except by progression." (Spurgeons)

b.Rather, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.: We avoid onefall from your own strengthfor continued growthgrace and knowledge ofJesus.

UE.Graciait's not just the way God draws us to Him at first. It is also the way we grow and remain in ourfirm. We can never partthe grace and knowledge of our Lord, and we never grow out of the grace of God.

ii. “But you will observe that our text says nothing about the growth of grace; it does not say that grace grows. It tells us to 'grow in grace'. There is a big difference between growing in grace and growing in grace. God's grace never increases; it is always infinite, therefore it cannot be more; it is eternal; it is always bottomless; it is always without borders. It can't be more; and, in the nature of God, it could not be less. The text tells us to "grow in grace." We are in the sea of God's grace; we may not be in a deeper sea, but we will grow now that we are in it. (Spurgeons)

iii. We must also grow in ourknowledgeof Jesus Christ. means to know moreaboutJesus, but most importantly,meeting jesusin a personal relationship.

C.To Him be the glory: When we are ready and firm in thegrace and knowledge of our lordgive glory to God.

I. Spurgeon noted that this second letter from Peter ends with "two trumpet blasts." One is from heaven to earth:grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The other is from earth to heaven:To him be glory now and forever.

ii.Amen: This final word is not included in all ancient manuscripts of 2 Peter, but it is appropriate for a letter that affirms the truth in the face of danger from false prophets and scoffers. We can say that there are four meanings of "Amen":

Express theheart's desire.

Express theaffirmation of our faith.

Express thejoy of the heart.

Express theresolution statement.

iii. below the lawAmenit was only said in the statement ofcurses(Deuteronomy 27:14-26). Under the New Covenant, we say "Amen" to the announcement of a great blessing and praise to God.

Adam Clarke added this insightful postscript to Second Peter:

“We have already reviewed all of Peter's existing canonical writings; and it is worthy of notice, that nowhere in the two Epistles already examined, nor in any of the sayings of this apostle in any other part of the sacred writings, do we find any of thepeculiarprinciples of the Roman Church: not a word ofis destroyedor thepope supremacy; there are no such words of endearment to be yourssuccessors; None of theinfallibilityclaimed by these alleged successors; nothing ofpurgatory,penances,pilgrimages,ear confession,candoguys,indulgences,extreme unction,pastas, miprayers for the dead; and not a word about the most essential doctrine of the Roman Church,transubstantiation.” (Clarke)

14Behavior

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