Back to 2 Peter...2 Peter 3:1-7 - What God has said and what God has done

 

I am so thankful for Peter's elevation of what God has said; what God has done; and what God will do in relationship to what He has said.  It has been great to go back to the Gospels and see where Peter is pulling from the words of Jesus.  Peter also refers back to the Old Testament and the words of the prophets and psalmists and the great events like the Flood.  Peter is contemporary enough to pull from the words of Paul who was penning the words of God through the Epistles.  Peter is using the whole counsel of God.

In chapter 1 Peter reminds us that we have a great salvation from God that we are to be living out for God and it is based on the more fully confirmed words of God than even his own eye witness experiences.  In chapter 2 Peter warns about the false teachers among the flock who make Jesus less than He is, offer other ways to God, and diminish or twist the words of God.  These false teachers attract followers with their arrogance (confidence in self), sensuality (desire to please self) and greed (the desire for more).

These first 7 verses are wrapping up about the false teachers and directing the beloved (the dear ones, the people of God) unto how to stay in line with what God has said.  The false teachers are disregarding God's words.  The false teachers (scoffers) are making claims that God hasn't done anything since creation.  They have forgotten the history of God's words and the lessons learned from His activity upon the heavens and earth that He created by His word.  The present moment for the scoffers takes precedence over the proven past.

A highlight of my study of this passage was found in verse 2, "...that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets (Old Testament) and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,..." (New Testament)  The parentheses are mine to indicate that we are to strive to know the whole counsel of God and especially what the prophets and the apostles spoke of when it came to the fact that the Messiah would come to save, suffer and evidently judge and also their predictions about those who would deny it.  We are being lovingly warned to these facts that God has made known to us in His word.  

It is hard to stop here because these 7 verses flow into the next 6 as Peter starts to apply how the people of God should be living in the noise of the scoffers.  We are not only to know the facts but we are to live in a certain way because of the facts but that will be for next week.  There is never enough time on a Sunday morning to get out of my head what is in it.

I am going to miss 1st and 2nd Peter when we finish in a couple of weeks.  I have come to appreciate more the transformation that has happened in Peter's life after the 3 denials and his restoration to Jesus on the seashore.  His simple personality comes through as he speaks shortened lists in contrast with Paul's.  I have grown to love these books of simple warnings to stay true to God's word in the face of persecution.

Adam