Steadfast Day 14: 2 Peter 3:3-7

Read 2 Peter 3:3-7.

Ponder

So, if you’re like me, you read through today’s passage and immediately said, “What did I just read?” Take a deep breath and remember:

• The false teaching Peter was trying to combat in this letter in some way denied Jesus’ Second Coming. He’d spent most of Chapter 2 detailing the character of false teachers and the effect their teaching had on the church, and now he had returned to the importance of Jesus’ Second Coming.
  

• Much like us today, Peter’s original audience was trying to live faithfully, which often flew in the face of the culture that surrounded them. The world viewed the idea of Jesus’ return with skepticism, reflected in the questions they asked in 2 Peter 3:4.

In verse 5, Peter began to outline his argument against the scoffers and their idea that God doesn’t intervene in the world. First, he pointed out a flaw in the argument. The scoffers proclaimed that since the world had been created, everything continued much the same as it ever was—meaning that God didn’t intervene. But Peter stressed that creation itself was an act of deliberate intervention, in which God spoke into the chaos and created order. 

Second, Peter refuted the scoffers claim that the world has remained the same by reminding them of the flood in Noah’s day. How could they claim that God hadn’t intervened in the world when a massive flood had destroyed humanity because of their sinfulness? The flood was God’s judgment on the world, and Peter wanted his readers to remember that God’s judgment was both real and sure. 

The final piece of Peter’s argument in verse 7 builds upon the first two. God had intervened in the world in creation and with the flood, and he would surely do so again on the day of judgment. Peter described a day that harkens back to the Day of Lord of the Old Testament, a day of destruction for the ungodly. 

We’ve been living in the last days since Jesus returned to heaven, but it’s so easy to become focused on the moment-by-moment needs of our daily lives that we lose perspective about the larger story God is writing. As Christians, when we observe communion, it is not only an act of remembrance but also one of proclamation that we believe Christ will one day return in power and glory. 

The world may scoff. 

False teachers may say it isn’t true. 

But the prophets and Jesus himself, as Peter stressed in v. 2, taught about it—and the God who has been faithful to intervene in the world time and time again will be true to his word. 

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Journal

• What are some ways that the world is living in denial that Jesus will one day come again? How do you think the world would be different if more people understood the truth of his Second Coming? 

• How would your daily life be different if you lived with Jesus’ return in mind? 

• Why is Jesus’ Second Coming good news for believers, but a terrible day for the ungodly? 

• How have you experienced God’s intervention in your own life? Who in your life needs to hear about how he has worked in your life as a way to bolster or encourage their faith?