Beware false teachers — the day of the Lord will come
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.
2 Peter 2:92 Peter is Peter's final letter, written shortly before his martyrdom around 66 AD. The tone is urgent. False teachers have infiltrated the church, denying the Lord, promising freedom while being slaves of corruption. Peter writes to warn believers and remind them of the truth. The letter has three chapters: grow in grace (1), beware false teachers (2), the day of the Lord is coming (3).
Chapter 1 calls believers to add to their faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Peter reminds them of his eyewitness testimony of Christ's transfiguration and the reliability of Scripture. Chapter 2 is a blistering attack on false teachers — they bring in damnable heresies, make merchandise of you, and will face certain judgment like the fallen angels, the flood generation, and Sodom and Gomorrah. Chapter 3 addresses scoffers who mock the second coming. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will pass away with a great noise. Believers should live holy lives, looking for new heavens and a new earth.
The theological high point is 1:19-21 on the inspiration of Scripture: prophecy did not come by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And 3:9 on God's patience: the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God delays judgment to give time for repentance. But the day is coming.
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'We have also a more sure word of prophecy... knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' Scripture is not human speculation. It is divine revelation. The prophets did not invent their messages. They were moved (carried along) by the Holy Spirit. The origin of Scripture is God. The writers were human, but the source was divine. This is the doctrine of inspiration. Every word is God-breathed. Every word is authoritative. Scripture is the more sure word — more reliable than even Peter's eyewitness testimony of the transfiguration.
Chapter 2 is one of the harshest passages in the New Testament. False teachers bring in damnable heresies, denying the Lord who bought them. They speak evil of the way of truth. They make merchandise of God's people. They promise freedom but are slaves of corruption. Their judgment is certain. Peter compares them to the fallen angels (cast into hell), the flood generation (destroyed), and Sodom and Gomorrah (turned to ashes). The dog returns to its vomit; the washed pig returns to the mud (2:22). Apostate teachers will face judgment. Genuine believers will be delivered. God knows how to distinguish between the two.
'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.' Scoffers ask: where is the promise of his coming? Peter's answer: God is not slow. He is patient. The delay is mercy. God is giving time for repentance. He does not delight in the death of the wicked but desires that all come to repentance. This does not mean all will be saved (universalism). It means God genuinely offers salvation to all and delays judgment to give opportunity for repentance. But the day is coming. When it does, the heavens will dissolve and the earth will be burned up.
Peter lists a chain of virtues to add to faith: virtue (moral excellence), knowledge, temperance (self-control), patience (endurance), godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity (love). These are not optional extras. They are the evidence of genuine faith. 'For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1:8). If these are absent, you are blind, short-sighted, and have forgotten you were purged from your sins (1:9). The Christian life is progressive sanctification. Faith is the root. These virtues are the fruit.