2 Peter 3

2 Peter 3:1-18

Teacher’ s Notes for SECOND PETER Chapter THREE 1. To what is Peter referring in verse two? A secondary question would be, where would you look to find the words spoken by the holy prophets? The Old Testament. And where would you look for the commandments given through the apostles of Jesus Christ? The New Testament. Now how would you answer question number one? a. Does this make reference of the fact that the commandments of the New Testament supersede the words of the prophets of the Old Testament? It would seem to. Keep in mind that many of the Jewish converts of that day continued to believe and teach that circumcision and other Jewish customs were still binding (cf. Acts 15:1-31; Galatians 5:1-6). b. If we are no longer under the Old Testament law why is it necessary that we be mindful of the words of those prophets? We learn from history by looking at the achievements and mistakes of those of the past. Those who were faithful to God show us that our faithfulness will be rewarded, and those who were unfaithful teach us of the terrible fate of those who oppose God. Romans 15:2-6 is a great passage showing this very thing: “ Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. … For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is writ-ten, ‘ The reproaches of those who reproach You fell on Me.” (Where is that writ-ten? In the Old Testament book of Psa 69:9) … “ For whatsoever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. … Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus. … That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2.

What was Peter’ s purpose for writing this letter? (Verse 1). To remind them, and us, to be mindful of the words of the prophets. The Scriptures mentioned in Romans 15:4 would be the Old Testament because at that time the New Testament was just being revealed to the apostles. 3. What question will scoffers ask, and why will they ask such? (Verses 3-4). Where is the promise of His coming? They ask such because they walk according to their own lusts. They only saw the here and now. He hasn’ t returned, and there is no sign of Him coming, so when is your great God going to keep His promise? a. Do we have people today who think this way? There are scoffers all around us, especially in the entertainment industry. It would be difficult to watch TV for one full evening without seeing someone in “ prime-time” making light of our Christian hope. b. How did the scoffers of Peter’ s day, and those of our modern times forget what had happened in the days of Noah? Verse 5 says “ they willfully forget.” “ They did not like to retain God in their knowledge,” (Romans 1:28 a). so they choose to put God, and His Christian ethics out of their mind. c. Here is the danger of not being mindful of the words of the holy prophets: we forget “ that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, … by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water” (2 Peter 3:5-6). Where would you find such a story as that? In the words of a prophet named Moses (Genesis 6:1-22; Genesis 7:1-24; Genesis 8:1-22; Genesis 9:1-29). 4. How do we know the earth will never again be destroyed by water? (Verse 7). By that same word the heavens and the earth are now preserved for fire. a. Are there any other Scriptures which tell of this? Genesis 9:1-17 where God placed the rainbow in the cloud and promised never again to destroy all flesh by water. 5. How does Peter describe eternity? (Verse 8). With the Lord a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day. God does not recon time by minutes, hours, days and years. God is eternal-never having a beginning and never to end. To God the two-thousand years that have passed since His Son died on the cross is as if it were yesterday. Likewise, our beautiful mansion prepared by the Lord Himself (John 14:1-4) will be never-ending. Time there will not be measured as it is here. And in that eternal home “there will be no tears, there will be no death, nor sorrow or crying. There shall be no more pain,” because all of these things belong here in this life, and God promises that they will be no more (Revelation 21:4). 6. What attribute of God keeps Him from destroying sinful man from the face of the earth? (Verse 9). He is longsuffering. 7. What is God’ s will for mankind? (Verse 9). That all should come to repentance. a. Why do you suppose God would demand that we repent of our sins? With-out repentance there is no real acknowledgment of wrongdoing; thus no feeling of guilt, and no real feeling of a need for salvation. Oftentimes people generalize sin. By this I mean that they think of sin on a worldwide basis with-out considering the individuality of sin. One may believe Jesus is the Christ and that He died for the sins of the whole world, but never bring the guilt of sin down to that personal level. Without the feeling of personal guilt there is really no knowledge of personal sin. “ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. … If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness. … If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10). 8. What will happen when the Lord returns? (Verse 10). We see a number of things happening at His return: Ø “ The heavens will pass away with a great noise” . This is referring to what we call “ outer space.” Those things God created for man’ s good. The greater light that rules the day, the lesser light that rules the night, and all the billions of stars and planets will be no more. Ø “ the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” Everything of a physical nature will be burned to nothingness. a. What will happen just before this great catastrophic event? Paul said, “ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel. And with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16 a). Could this be that great noise Peter mentions? THEN WHAT?

“ And the dead in Christ will rise first, … Then we who are alive and re-main shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall ever be with the Lord. … Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 16 b-18). 9. “ Therefore, SINCE all THESE THINGS will be , what MANNER of PERSONS ought you to be in HOLY CONDUCT and ?” (2 Peter 3:11). a. We may develop the habit of reading Scriptures like we read a novel, without really considering our own personal connection to what is being said, but each one must answer Peter’ s question for themselves. How would you assess your own personal faithfulness today? 10. If the earth is to be burned up why then should we look for a new one? (Verse 13). In answering, permit me to ask another question. Where do we first read of a new heaven and new earth? a. I will once again rely on Brother Guy N. Woods for our perspective on this thought. “ The promise of a new heaven and a new earth is in Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22. John had a vision of it which he describes in Revelation 21:1. The “ heavens and earth” to which Peter refers here is described as “ new.” There are two words translated “ new” in the New Testament; one is prospective and indicates that which is young as opposed to old; the other is retrospective and points to that which is fresh in contrast to that which is worn out. It is the second of these (kainos) which is used here. The heavens and earth which the apostle describes in this passage will be fresh and new, and not worn and old, as are the heavens and earth which now exist. In this new heaven and earth righteousness will dwell.

Righteousness dwells wherever righteous people live. The heavens and earth here contemplated will, therefore, be the abode of righteous and faithful people.

More than this we cannot, with our present store of information, know. Numerous questions men are disposed to raise regarding the matter it was not Peter’ s intention (or, for that matter, any inspired man’ s) to answer. Where will this new heaven and earth be located? What will be the nature and characteristics of it? Are questions beyond our ken. It is sufficient for us to note that: (a) The new heaven and earth will follow the destruction of the present heavens and earth. (b) The earth that will then be is not this one. (c) It is this earth which embodies the hopes and expectations of the future kingdom advocates. (d) There is no hint of a reign of Christ on the earth which Peter describes. (e) Christ will have terminated His reign and delivered the kingdom to the Father before the events are accomplished which the apostle details. (1 Corinthians 15:23 ff). (f) There is, therefore, no support whatever in this passage for the pre-millennial theory….

Heaven is the final abode of the people of God. Therefore, the phrase “ new heavens and new earth” must be understood as a designation for heaven!” Gospel Advocate Commentary on Peter, John and Jude, page 188-189). 11. What three words does Peter use to describe the same state of man? (Verse 14). (1). Peace. (2). Without spot. (3). Blameless. a. The things for which they looked (Verse 14) are the second coming of Christ, the complete and total dissolving of the physical elements, and the presentation of the faithful into that new heaven and new earth. Thus, Peter answers his own question from verse eleven, “…what kind of persons ought you to be?” He says we ought to live by Christ in peace (with God and man.) As Paul stated in Philippians 2:14-15, “ Do all things without complaining and disputing. … That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” b. Give a one-word definition of being at peace, without spot and blameless. ! Jesus, in Revelation 2:10 said in essence, “ Be in peace, without spot, and blameless until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” 12. How does Peter describe the longsuffering of our Lord? (Verse 15). The longsuffering of our lord is salvation. a. Why would he say God’ s longsuffering is salvation? Had God not been longsuffering toward us (verse 9) He would not have sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die at the hands of sinful man. Mankind would have had no hope of forgiveness, and no hope of a home in heaven. Because God is longsuffering, He has made a way, through His Son Jesus, for us to be saved from our sins and reconciled to Him, and has given each of us ample time to make our life right through obedience. Thus, God’ s longsuffering is our salvation. 13. Why are those who twist the Scriptures unstable? (Verse 16). They are untaught in the ways of God. a. Although Peter here speaks of being untaught in spiritual matters, is it not the case that most illiterate persons have difficulty understanding many basic things of life, and even get facts twisted? Often time illiteracy will cause a person to seem unstable in mind. Apply that thought to Peter’ s statement and we see that those who are untaught in God’ s Word are spiritually unstable. b. Is there anything in Peter’ s words that indicate that the New Testament is in-spired of God? He speaks of Paul’ s letters being equal to the Old Testament scriptures. “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Thus Peter indicates that those epistles found in the New Testament are from God. c. Is it easy to understand everything written in the Bible? Peter says in verse 16 that Paul wrote some things that are hard to understand. This is just another reason we should study the Bible constantly. 14. For what are we to beware? (Verse 17). That we not be led from our steadfastness to God’ s inspired Bible to something that will cause us to be lost eternally. Peter continues to speak of those scoffers (verse 3), who willfully forget (verse 5), and twist the scriptures (verse 16) to make them meet their own ideas, rather than standing steadfastly on God’ s truth found in the apostle’ s doctrine (cf. Acts 2:42). 15. How do we avoid falling from our steadfastness? (Verse 18). By growing in grace, and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. a. This brings us right back to chapter one, verses five through ten. We avoid falling from our steadfastness by adding “ to your faith, virtue, to virtue, knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control, perseverance, to perseverance, godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. … if you do these things you will never fall.”