Written ~ 12-16-2024
Read 2 Peter Chapters One through Three
2 Peter 1-3
This letter from Peter was written about three years after the first one, around 67 A.D. Peter was nearing his death, he would be martyred for his faith in 68 A.D. He wrote what was weighing heavy on his heart. Peter will give advice to all believers to continue to grow in faith and pay attention to what the Scriptures say. This letter warns about the future and the probability of more false teachers coming on the scene. Every reminder he writes about is just as relevant to us today. Peter ends this letter with the hope all believers have and that is the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:3-7…
3 “By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.”
Let’s look at a few key points in these verses…
The first key point is found in verse 1:3, “God has given us EVERYTHING we need for living a godly life.” And how does He do that for us? “By His divine Power.” We have an unlimited source of power to tap into by way of the Holy Spirit. When we live in fear or despair because of our circumstances, we are not relying on the power we have been given by God Himself.
For the next key point, look at verse 1:4, “He has given us great and precious promises.” When we study the Word of God and begin to see all that God has done for us and everything He has promised for those who trust in Him, our minds should be blown! We have been given the gift of Salvation and He has promised us an inheritance that we can’t even fathom while we live on this earth.
So how should we respond to these promises…
Verses 1:5-7 give us those answers and the rest of the key points…
- We must supplement our faith by gathering together with other believers, by studying our Bibles and earnestly praying for our needs to be met
- We must obtain a higher standard of moral excellence; we should be set apart from the world
- We add to our knowledge by increasing the study of God’s Word
- We must understand and acknowledge the areas where we struggle with self-control; by doing so we obey the Word of the Lord
- When we suffer through various circumstances our endurance will produce godly patience
- When we mirror the image of Christ and seek His attitude above all else, it will produce godliness in all of our actions
- The Lord’s greatest command, “You must love one another,” when we love each other as brothers and sisters we become more like Christ
2 Peter 1:10…
10 “So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.”
As we grow in our faith, study the Word of God and fellowship with other believers we will prove to the world that we are a child of God. When our lives reflect Christ, the more we focus on Him, the less likely we will fall away and allow our faith to diminish.
2 Peter 1:12-13…
12 “Therefore, I will always remind you about these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. 13 And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live.”
I can relate to what Peter says in these two verses. When I study these verses and write what the Lord puts on my heart, I do feel at times that I am saying the same thing over and over again. But just like Peter, I feel I must remind anyone who reads these Bible Studies that we have been chosen by God! We have His Son residing within us and it is important to continue the reminders that living a godly life and pursuing the things of heaven should be the believer’s highest concern.
All the prophets of the Old Testament and every writer of the New Testament wrote with the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. 2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” When we hear from the Lord we are just like those prophets and apostles of old… we may not understand everything we hear, or read, but it is the Holy Spirit who will give us clarity.
2 Peter 2:1b-2…
1b “…there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.”
In 2 Peter chapter two, Peter warns believers of the false teachers who will try to infiltrate their churches. They are clever and will do or say what they can to turn the attention of the faithful to things that are not true and not found in the Word of God. We must guard our hearts for such falsities which can cause a lot of destruction in its wake. Unfortunately, many will be deceived and follow an evil path. But it says in verse 2:9 that “…the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials…”, that’s all the more reason to keep our eyes on Jesus because He knows how to help us in our time of great distress.
There will be great punishment for the person who takes on the persona of a false teacher. If anyone continues to deceive one of God’s children, they will reap the same punishment as the angels who sinned, they were swept away and thrown into the gloomy, dark pits of hell (2 Peter 2:4).
To sum up 2 Peter chapter two, we must keep our guards up, we must be alert to the schemes of the devil. He will try at every turn to pollute our minds with half-truths and blatant lies. If we give into what we hear, we will be led down a path to destruction.
2 Peter 3:1-3…
1 “This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. 2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.”
Even though we must endure the evil of this world, we have the hope of heaven and that’s what keeps us going each and every day. Yes, there will always be those that come against the truth of God’s Word. But God’s Word will always prevail, in every single situation. The scoffer may try to steer us off on a tangent of doubt because the Lord hasn’t made His appearance yet. They will poke fun at what we believe in and just as in the Old Testament times when people deliberately forgot who God is were destroyed, those who do the same now will be destroyed. We must never lose hope that Jesus, our Messiah is coming back again, it’s the promise of God and what He says will happen… will happen.
2 Peter 3:8-9…
8 “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”
Do you recall the story of Noah? God promised a flood was going to cover the earth and destroy every evil person that populated the earth. This didn’t happen in just a day or two, God allowed one hundred years to go by, giving every person on earth a chance to repent and turn to Him. However, they did not repent, all except for Noah and his family, so everyone was destroyed in the flood.
When we wonder why it’s taking so long for Jesus to return… it’s because God is waiting for everyone to repent and turn to Him. But there will come a day when God will say, “It’s time.” And in that very moment, Jesus will call us home.
If ever we doubt or get impatient with why it’s taking the Lord so long to return, take a look at what these next two verses from the Prophet Isaiah say and keep them in mind…
Isaiah 55:8-9…
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways
and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
We may not understand exactly how… But God has everything under His control, and He will do everything in His timing.
2 Peter 3:11-14, 17-18…
11 “Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, He will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight.
17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All glory to Him, both now and forever! Amen.”
If you have spent time studying your Bible, you will be familiar with what Peter is talking about. Jesus foretold the future, Paul was always reminding believers to stand firm in their faith, every Apostle in the New Testament spoke of our need to follow the Word of the Lord. By now we shouldn’t have any more excuses not to adhere to what we have learned from the Word of God.
Jesus is coming again. Are you ready?
~AMEN~