Peter was an old old man when he wrote his second letter. Paul had already written all his letters and had died by the time Peter writes this. There are very few people left living that had seen and walked with Jesus. As Peter writes his last words you can feel the passion of passing along warnings to the coming generations.2 Peter 3:1-7
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you 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 Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to 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 creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Peter wrote this second letter to the Christians to stir them up so they wouldn't forget. We all need a little stirring up from time to time. We get lulled into a complacency of our lives. The sun rises, the sun sets, we work, we sleep, we make money and pay bills. Every day life goes on, for the most part, just like the day before. That complacency ends up affecting our beliefs. Suddenly we quit looking for the return of Jesus. Today, right now, people believe there is no heaven and no hell, they've forsaken the second coming. There are "Christian" churches that are teaching these things every Sunday. They are beginning to deny the word, they scoff at His coming and are putting their trust in this world, this kingdom, as if that is all there is. This is a sad hope coming from the extremely low view of God.
Peter wrote this second letter to the Christians to stir them up so they wouldn't forget. We all need a little stirring up from time to time. We get lulled into a complacency of our lives. The sun rises, the sun sets, we work, we sleep, we make money and pay bills. Every day life goes on, for the most part, just like the day before. That complacency ends up affecting our beliefs. Suddenly we quit looking for the return of Jesus. Today, right now, people believe there is no heaven and no hell, they've forsaken the second coming. There are "Christian" churches that are teaching these things every Sunday. They are beginning to deny the word, they scoff at His coming and are putting their trust in this world, this kingdom, as if that is all there is. This is a sad hope coming from the extremely low view of God.
In Proverbs it says, "the fool says in his hear there is not God." The fool says it in his heart but he can't say it with knowledge. They have to deliberately forget or walk with blinders on in a world that has God's fingerprints all over it. When evolution is run aground by science, then the scientist says that there is evidence of intelligent design - they just can't credit God. There seems to be more and more of this talk in the last few years. Strangely enough, many who consider themselves Christians are moving toward the beliefs of the atheist while the atheist scientist is moving toward a belief in God by calling Him "intelligent design". We just all end up in the middle in a big warm vat of theological squishitude.
Peter said these people willfully forget. They choose to ignore the fact that the word of God was from the beginning. There was a time when the scoffers scoffed at Noah. Then the waters came. Did their scoffing stop when the water was knee high? Waist high? Up to their chin? We don't need to wait for the physical signs of God's judgment. We know it is coming just as sure as we know there was a flood. The word of God is sure. That word is preserving this world for now, but this world is also reserved for fire, for a day of judgment and for perdition of ungodly men. Does that stir you up?
The reference to 'pure minds' in verse one is Peter's belief that he is talking to the real converted Christian who hasn't been poisoned or polluted by the world. You couldn't write a letter and make an assumption like that to many churches today. Don't get me wrong. Our churches are full of good, moral, law abiding people. However are they pure in mind? Are they saved? Feeding the homeless, clothing the orphan, helping the downtrodden are great things, but they won't get you to heaven. We confuse this. We think because someone does these things that they are a 'good person' who will go to heaven. There are no good persons. There are saved and unsaved; forgiven and unforgiven.
Do you know the difference? Does your church and pastor teach it? It is only through repentance and faith that we recieve by grace the free gift of salvation. You don't have to clean your life first. You don't have to be a good person first. It's come as you are. When you are truly saved, He will regenrate you. You will have a new nature and the Holy Spirit will empower you to clean up any messes that need dealt with.
Make sure today. Then stand tall, be bold and hold on tight. Things are going to get interesting.
Just Thinking.
Doug
Facebook