Bible Gateway passage: 2 Peter 3 - New King James Version (2024)

FAQs

What is the main point of 2 Peter 3? ›

Peter reminds his readers that God is the one who made the world. Noah's flood is evidence of His willingness to alter the course of nature in order to bring judgment on humanity for sin. Christians should be looking forward to the new heavens and earth, rejecting false teaching, and leading holy lives.

Here in this verse, Peter insists that we cannot apply human demands about time to the promises of God. He is not slow in keeping His promise. God is the one who made the schedule: He cannot be "late." Instead, God keeps every promise at the perfect time for His glory and for the good of those He loves.

In this verse, Peter shows one motive of the false teachers: greed. They want power and money, and they're willing to distort God's Word to try to get it from God's people. They won't just lie about the truth of God's Word, though; they will tell false stories about other things, as well.

He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Peter wrote the letter to encourage the Saints to grow in their knowledge of the Lord and to make their “calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10).

Lesson Focus: In God's timing Jesus will return; until then God waits for anyone to turn from their sin and be saved. Tell them to color their clock and to write the remaining numbers on the clock. Remind them of the lesson today. That God does not measure time like we do.

The second reason the Lord delays His coming is that He wants to see more people come to Himself. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. The word “slack” means to hesitate, linger, or delay; this is the only occurrence in the New Testament. God is not tardy with keeping His timetable for the earth.

In this concluding reminder of coming fire, Peter provides one more reason to consider the world's destruction as a good thing. It is because of the Lord's return, because of the day of God, that the world will burn. In other words, if the world remains unburned, then the Lord is not here.

Peter reminds Christians that God made the world and Noah's flood is evidence that He is willing to alter it in order to bring judgment on the sins of humanity. In the coming judgment, everything will be destroyed and laid bare with fire. Christians look forward to the new heavens and earth which will come after.

The world just keeps going on and on in the same way it always has. So Jesus must not be coming back." As a result, these deceivers convince others that God's other promises are not true. If there is no return of Christ, their argument goes, there must not be a judgment coming for sin.

What does 2 Peter 3 5 mean? ›

We are free to do whatever we want without ever having to worry about God judging us for sin. Now Peter reveals the flaw in their deceptive argument: They are deliberately forgetting some huge details. First, they forget the origin of the very world they say will just keep going the way it always has.

Come to repentance indicates that it may take time for us to repent. God continues to deal with any and everyone as long as there is the possibility for a person to repent and come to faith in Jesus. As verse 9 indicates God's display of patience is motivated by His desire that none be lost.

Repentance is always available, even if you've made the same mistake again. The Lord has said, “As often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me” (Mosiah 26:30). Be one of “His people,” and return to the Lord whenever you stray. Also, talk to your parents and your bishop.

God's Word is what calls people today to be saved - and everyone chooses how they will respond to the proclamation of God's Word. These people heard the gospel of Jesus Christ - and responded differently.

When God forgives our sins; He forgets them. That means He no longer holds our sins against us.

Three such fundamental issues occur throughout 2 Peter: the nature of godliness, the danger of false teaching, and the hope of Christ's second coming. Godly living. Godliness in 2 Peter is described as something that requires the utmost effort, the most strenuous and ardent devotion.

This text says that we must grow "in the grace and knowledge of Christ." This means that we increasingly become aware of the fact that salvation is by grace alone, and that God therefore deserves all the glory. To grow in the knowledge of Christ means that we learn to know Him more experientially.