Either Judas the apostle (Luk 6:16) or Judas the half-bro of the Lord (Mat 13:55). The first of these is ruled out by most commentators on the ground that one who was himself an apostle would not write: “Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v 17). But why shouldn’t he? There is a very close parallel in 2Pe 3:2: “… that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of our Lord and Saviour through your apostles”. If Peter could write about “your apostles”, why should not one of his fellow apostles do the same? There is also the consideration that if this Jude were the apostle, then all the epistles of the NT came from apostolic pens. (The strength of the case for regarding the Epistle of James as written by the son of Zebedee is not to be set aside.)

On the other hand, this Jude is explicitly “brother of James”. But by analogy with “Judas Iscariot of Simon” (Joh 6:71), “Judas of James” (Luk 6:16) appears to mean “son of James”, and not “bro of James”. If it can mean “brother of James”, the point is settled.

What grounds are there for identifying Jude with the son of Mary and Joseph (Mat 13:55)? Exactly none, except that he appears to be the only alternative to the Judas just discussed. There is, of course, the possibility of the writer being some other Judas of whom nothing is known, but the likelihood of this is mighty small.

DATE: The date of the epistle has to be inferred from the slight incidental indications which the text affords. It is surely a valid argument that Jude wrote before the troubles of AD 70, for had he written after that date, he could hardly have let the destruction of the temple go unmentioned. Indeed, there seem to be several prophetic hints in the epistle of impending judgement. God destroyed His saved people “who believed not” (v 5). A judgement of being “plucked up by the roots”, such as Jesus foretold regarding Jewish opposition to the gospel, is implied (v 12). “Wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness of the ages” (v 13) seems very appropriate to the dispersion of Israel.

Peter’s prophecy concerning evil men “in the last days” (2Pe 3:3) is picked up by Jude as having a fulfillment in the corrupt movement he excoriated: “These be they…” (vv 18,19). What “last days” if not the last days of the temple?

PURPOSE: The great enemy of the gospel in the first century was neither Jewish nor Roman persecution, but the systematic infiltration of the ecclesia, as part of an insidious Judaistic campaign, by unscrupulous Jews who were set on wrecking this new movement from within. The methods employed were, in the main, threefold:

1. The insidious corruption of Christian morals: “lasciviousness… fornication… defiling the flesh… they corrupt (the ecclesia)… twice dead” (vv 4,7,8,10,12).
2. Abrupt rejection of the authority of the apostles, and the exaltation of other leaders in their place: “speak evil of dignities…. hard speeches… murmurers, complainers… having men’s persons in admiration” (vv 8,15,16).
3. One part of the campaign which does not come in for mention in Jude, but which caused Paul much trouble elsewhere, was an insistence that faith in Christ must be bolstered up with observance of the Law of Moses.

One has the impression that the recipients of the letter were Jewish believers, and probably Jews of the Holy Land. Some of the phrases seem to take on special meaning from this point of view. But there is not enough to go on regarding this.

OUTLINE

1. Introduction: vv 1,2 2. Godless men — their sin and ultimate doom: vv 3-16 3. Exhortation to perseverance: vv 17-23 4. Doxology: vv 24,25

1Jo 5:2

“A brother among the children of Sodom, whether these bear the name or not, might have the experience of Lot ‘whose righteous soul was vexed from day to day.’ His love would be undrawn out. His soul would be stirred within him disagreeably, in accordance with the characteristic of divinely approved men, who ‘cannot bear them that are evil’ (Rev 2:2) and despise vile men, honouring them that fear the Lord (Psa 15:4); but by John’s rule, he would be able to comfort himself in the drought and in bitterness. He knows within himself that God is his chief delight, and the commandments of God the subject of his supreme regard. He can therefore say to himself, ‘Though my antipathies are stirred; though my soul eats in bitterness; though my love is rarely called out, I know that I love the children of God, because I love God and keep His commandments. I have only to meet them to have my soul awakened to the fullness of love, and borne aloft with exceeding joy’ ” (SC 42).

1Jo 5:8

See Lesson, Three in one (1Jo 5:8)?.

1Jo 5:11

GOD HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE: See Lesson, Eternal life now?

1Jo 5:13

YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE: Eternal life not — literally — a present possession: Mat 19:29; 25:46; Mar 10:30; Joh 12:25; Rom 6:22; Gal 6:8; Tit 1:2; 3:7; Jud 1:21. But see Lesson, Eternal life now?

Author: John

Time: AD 85 – 95

Summary: During the early growth of the church, the gospel was spread by travelling preachers. Preachers could also travel spreading different teachings. This letter is addressed to “an elect lady” who is advised not to have fellowship with those teachers who bring wrong doctrine. The ideas of love, truth, and obedience are emphasized.

Key verses: “I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands” (2Jo 1:5,6).

Outline

1. Introduction: 2Jo 1:1-4 2. Love defined: 2Jo 1:5,6 3. False teachers and antichrists: 2Jo 1:7-11 4. Conclusion: 2Jo 1:12,13

2Jo 1:3

GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE: Cp 1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 1:2. (1) Grace is for the worthless; it is God giving me what I don’t deserve. (2) Mercy is for the helpless; it is God withholding from me what I do deserve. (3) Peace is for the restless; it is the assurance that whatever happens to me will work out for God’s glory.

2Jo 1:10

For more detail, see Lesson, Godspeed (2Jo).

V 10: Not a general rule, but esp for such as v 7 (SC 98). “A mixed and preparatory state” (Xd 35:187).

IF ANYONE COMES TO YOU: “Comes to you”, NOT “if you find anyone”! Does not apply to searching for “error” in other localities.

BRING THIS TEACHING: Applies to active, positive teachers of error, not passive recipients of error!

DO NOT… WELCOME HIM: “Do not bid him Godspeed” (AV). Lit, “Do not welcome him” (Mat 26:49; 27:29; Luk 1:28; Joh 19:3; Act 15:23) or perhaps “Do not rejoice (with him?)” (Mat 2:10; Joh 3:29; 16:22; Rom 12:12). If merely refusing to punish error is “bidding Godspeed” to it, then was Xt a “partaker of the evil deeds” of the adulteress when he said, “Neither do I condemn thee”? Cp JT in Herald 1851:204 (re slave-owners) and 120 (“The salvation of individuals is not predicated on the purity of their neighbor’s faith”).

Have no fellowship with: teachers of false doctrines (2Jo 1:10); workers of false deeds (Eph 5:11); worshipers of false gods (1Co 10:20,21).

2Jo 1:12

PAPER: Papyrus (ie Job 8:11; Isa 35:7).

Author: John

Time: AD 85 – 95

Summary: This letter was probably written as a circular letter to several communities who faced a common problem — probably the beginnings of the Gnostic heresy. John wants to restate the importance of leading a moral and sinless life, avoiding the false teachings which would lead them away from the grace of Christ, their advocate and atoning sacrifice. John repeatedly encourages them to love one another and to hold their faith in the Son of God.

Key verse: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1Jo 2:1).

Outline

1. Introduction: 1Jo 1:1-4

2. Walking in God’s light: 1Jo 1:5 – 2:14

3. Warnings about the world and antichrists: 1Jo 2:15-27

4. God’s love for his children and their response: 1Jo 2:28 – 5:21

a) Christians are children of God and should love: 1Jo 2:28-3:24 b) Test the spirits: 1Jo 4:1-6 c) God is love: 1Jo 4:7-21 d) Love for God’s son gives life: 1Jo 5:1-21    

1Jo 1:1

See Lesson, Fellowship in 1Jo.

FROM THE BEGINNING: See use of “archee” (beginning) in 1Jo 2:7,14,24; 3:11; 2Jo 1:5,6.

WE: The message is being proclaimed by those who had heard the gospel with their own ears and who had touched him with their own hands (perhaps a reference to the Resurrection appearances: Luk 24:39, Joh 20:24-29).

SEEN… LOOKED AT: The first wordd (“horao”) ref to natural, ordinary sight; the second (“theomai”) sig to gaze closely and fixedly, with a serious concentration.

THE WORD OF LIFE: The “Word of life”, in this case, is something tangible: it can be heard, seen, and touched.

I would say that — for the apostles — the real “beginning” was not so much (or ‘just’) the birth of Jesus; nor was it ‘just’ the beginning of his ministry — although some of them might have witnessed all that. It was — especially — when he appeared to them, resurrected from the dead and glorified, and invited them to touch and handle him. NOW they KNEW they were truly at a new “beginning” of God’s spiritual creation, and what the implications of that were, for them! NOW they could see and touch “eternal life” in the tangible person of the “Word made flesh”. NOW they knew he was the “Word of life”, and that that life was “eternal life”.

1Jo 1:3

OUR FELLOWSHIP IS WITH THE FATHER: “There is no joy like service. There is no pleasure like perfect peace. There is no happiness like holiness. There is no satisfaction like victorious godliness. There is no glory like total fellowship with God. There is no success like self-overcoming. ‘Our fellowship is with the Father.’ Is it? What does fellow-ship mean to us? What is our conception of it? Have we brought ourselves — or rather, are we bringing ourselves — into true, active, fellow-ship with Him, in all His holiness and beauty and glory and perfection? We are invited to. We are promised the power to. We are promised the necessary understanding to, and even the irresistible, overwhelming desire to — if we seek it with total dedication, as a deep-hidden treasure of incalculable value and beauty. At first the concept of pure, endless, irreversible spirituality and holiness frightens us, bores us, depresses us. Always to be self-consciously holy, and serious, and intensely straining upward, while others play in total, animal relaxation and effortless self-indulgence in the sunny green fields below us. But we are promised — if we persevere — the peace, and joy, and desire that will make the struggle its own all-satisfying reward, and reveal the shallow vanishing emptiness of the mindless play in the soon-darkening valley of the flesh that we have left behind to seek the eternal fulness of the fellowship of God” (GVG).

1Jo 1:7

What saves us? Grace (Eph 2:8,9). Hope (Rom 8:24). Belief (Mar 16:15). Baptism (1Pe 3:21). Gospel, and its memory (1Co 15:1,2). Blood of Christ (1Jo 1:7). Faith (Rom 5:1). Works (Jam 2:24). Ourselves (Act 2:40). Endurance (Mat 10:22). What saved the “drowning man”? The rock, the rope, another man, himself… or all of them?

IF WE WALK IN THE LIGHT, AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT: “What is meant by the expression that the Christian is to walk in light as God is in the light? We conceive it to import likeness, but not degree. We are as truly in the light, we are as heartily in the light, we are as sincerely in the light, as honestly in the light, though we cannot be there in the same measure. I cannot dwell in the sun, it is too bright a place for my residence, but I can walk in the light of the sun; and so, though I cannot attain to that perfection of purity and truth which belongs to the Lord of hosts by nature as the infinitely good, yet I can set the Lord always before me, and strive… after conformity to His image. That old commentator, John Trapp, says, ‘We may be in the light as God is in the light for quality, but not for equality.’ We are to have the same light, and are as truly to have it and walk in it as God does, though, as for equality with God in His holiness and purity, that must be left until we cross the Jordan and enter into the perfection of the Most High. Mark that the blessings of sacred fellowship and perfect cleansing are bound up with walking in the light” (CHS).

PURIFIES US FROM ALL SIN: “From all [or every] sin”.

“The blood of Christ never cleansed an excuse.” A woman said to her brother, “I’m deeply troubled about a problem I have: I exaggerate. I always seem to enlarge a story until it’s all distorted. People know they can’t trust me. Can you help me?”

The brother said, “Let’s pray about it.” So she began to pray, “Dear Heavenly Father, Thou knowest I have a tendency to exaggerate.” At this point the brother interrupted, “Call it lying, sister, and you may get over it!” The woman began to weep, because she knew he was right. She had been trying to make “lying” acceptable, and her excuse-making had made praying about it nearly impossible.

All of us are prone to cover up our sins by giving them polite names. Bad temper is said to be “nerves” or “righteous indignation”, meanness to be “zeal for the Truth”, lying is labeled “harmless exaggeration”, and dishonesty is dignified by calling it “good business practice”. To grow in grace, we must put aside all rationalizing and get to the heart of the problem. The blood of Christ does not apply to excuses, but it has the power to cleanse any sin.

“Pray to God that He will make you a part of Himself; that He will look upon you with love and compassion and mercy; that He will strengthen you in all your weaknesses, and cleanse you from all your uncleannesses. This is the only hope. This is the only peace. Of course we must do our part. God plays no favorites. He has told us exactly whom He will favor, and whom He will not. For us, our part is very big. It is everything: total submission, total dedication of the life, total service; nothing less will do. But, though big for us, it is such a small part of the whole. God’s part in the process is so great in comparison that our part, though vital, is really nothing at all. But our little part is the essential key that activates God’s mighty and glorious part. So He wills. First He calls, and waits. Then we answer, with all our heart and love. Then He puts into motion His tremendous transforming power, and totally absorbs us into Him. ‘It is God that worketh in you, to will and to do’ ” (GVG).

“From where I stand, it seems that we have our priorities slightly wrong — no, wildly wrong, but the emphasis has been placed rather too much on the academic and not enough on the practical. This could all change so easily if we just stepped down off our pedestal, as it were, as a community and concentrated on the needs and lives of others more. We are a very academic, studious community, and while that is laudable and I would not want it any other way, for many that seems to be where it stops; and the outworking of the knowledge so gained seems stunted.

“If we could stop condemning others and concentrate instead on our own salvation, and that of our brethren and sisters and all those in the world who are seeking Truth, whether they have yet found it and whatever they choose to call themselves, then I think we would do better as this would alter our perspective, and make it less inward-looking and selfish.

“The crux of this, as I see it, is our misuse of the scripture word ‘fellowship.’ We speak as if fellowship were something that we have the authority to dish out — as if it is a word that can only be applied to members of our community, and as if it was humanly determinable, etc. We confuse fellowship with ‘membership’ and in doing so, lose the whole scriptural concept, and give ourselves an authority that is not ours to have. Fellowship is something which each individual has with God through Jesus by love — God’s love that is, and this brings us to a position of responsibility and humility. It is only those who find this who are to be saved, but we do not know who they are. The fellowship we have with each other is a spin-off of this situation, and should be kept in perspective. We have no rights here on this earth, and certainly no right to assume authority over whether a fellow human being has fellowship with God or not!

“I believe that if we recognised these things in their correct light and perspective, the whole face of our community would change overnight! We would stop condemning others (in and out of the Truth), and start seeking the Kingdom, praying and reading together with true desire” (PC).

1Jo 2:1

ONE WHO SPEAKS TO THE FATHER IN OUR DEFENSE: “Parakletos” = “Comforter”: Joh 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7. Cp same idea in 2Ti 4:16-18 and Act 7:55,56.

1Jo 2:13

Vv 13,14: The drawing of lines, and the erecting of barriers between the generations, can only injure Christ’s body in the long run. We are all “one family” and “one body” — young, middle-aged, and old together. Each class has a strength peculiarly its own, but each has its special weakness. Young men are wise to seek the help of the old that they may guard against the errors of inexperience. Old men are wise to listen to the young that they may guard against a self-satisfied and crotchety prejudice. This distinction is nicely made by the Apostle John: “I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him (ie, Christ) from the beginning” (1Jo 2:13). (The words “that is” are italicized in the AV; the sense is best when they are omitted.) The old have a great wealth of experience. Their strength is that experience; but their weakness can be a desire to live in the past, and to resist all change.

“I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong” — strong and energetic in body, the envy of many older ones. But that strength is a two-edged sword; what may be great strength to serve God may also be great strength misdirected to satisfy natural desires.

“… and the word of God abideth in you” — Youth has keener wit and quicker intelligence; the memory is better; ideas may be grasped and elaborated more readily by the young. But there is, again, the corresponding danger, that the desire for some “new thing” or for notoriety may mean a greater potential for harm.

“… and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1Jo 2:14).

But what may look like an easy battle, at the beginning, against the lusts of the flesh, may only lull the “strong” young brother into a pride and a complacency that can prove fatal. “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off” (1Ki 20:11).

1Jo 2:15

The Christian is not ruined by living in the world, but by the world living in him.

“One of the striking formal dissonances in the Johannine corpus is the clash between the Gospel’s assertion of the love of God for the world (John 3:16) and the first epistle’s prohibition of love for the world (1Jo 2:15-17). In brief, God loves the world, and Christians had better not. The impression is rather strong that if people love the world, they remain under God’s wrath: the love of the Father is not in them. The dissonance, of course, is merely formal. There is a ready explanation. But this formal dissonance reminds us yet again that the ways the Bible speaks of something are diverse and contextually controlled. God’s love for the world is commendable because it manifests itself in awesome self-sacrifice; our love for the world is repulsive when it lusts for evil participation.

“God’s love for the world is praiseworthy because it brings the transforming gospel to it; our love for the world is ugly because we seek to be conformed to the world. God’s love for the world issues in certain individuals being called out from the world and into the fellowship of Christ’s followers; our love for the world is sickening where we wish to be absorbed into the world.

“So ‘do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father [whether this love is understood in the subjective or the objective sense] is not in him’ (1Jo 2:15). But clearly believers are to love the world in the sense that we are to go into every part of it and bring the glorious gospel to every creature. In this sense we imitate in small ways the wholly praiseworthy love of God for the world” (DA Carson, “God’s love and God’s wrath”).

1Jo 2:16

Three basic sources of sin (cp Eve in garden, Christ in wilderness).

The lust of the flesh: sensualism. The lust of the eyes: materialism. The pride of life: egotism.

1Jo 2:19

THEY WENT OUT FROM US: Ref Judas leaving the upper room (John 13:30).

Note that the righteous are not held guilty whilst temporarily associating with those who hold false doctrine.

1Jo 2:22

ANTICHRIST: The word “antichrist” is a term referring to false teachers who denied the fact that Jesus came “in the flesh”, and who eventually left the first-century church when their lies were exposed. Thus “antichrist” describes men who taught a false doctrine; the word does not specifically point to a particular powerful individual:

• The word “antichrist” appears only in the letters of the apostle John. And John defines his term as meaning “he who denies that Jesus is the Christ”, “he who denies the Father and the Son”, “men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus in the flesh” (1Jo 2:22; 2Jo 1:7; cp 1Jo 4:2).
• John stated that “many antichrists had come”, and that they were trying to deceive the believers, but that they “went out from” the true church “that it might be plain that they all were not of us” (1Jo 2:18,19,26). Thus “antichrist” was/were deceitful men who once belonged to the church, but who left it to “go out into the world” which would listen to their error (2Jo 1:7; 1Jo 4:3-5).
• The issue was between “the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1Jo 4:6). John urged the believers to test the “spirits”, ie teachers, to see whether they taught the truth about Jesus (1Jo 4:1-3); believers were to reject any person who preached the antichrist doctrine (2Jo 1:7-11).
• What did the antichrist deny? “…the gospel of God which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning His Son who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord….” (Rom 1:1-4; cp 2Jo 1:7).
• The apostle Peter also warned about false teachers who would arise up within the church and who would “secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them….” (2Pe 2:1). By exploiting believers with false words and enticing them to forsake the knowledge of truth of Jesus Christ and the way of righteousness, the way of the truth would be reviled (2Pe 2:2,3,20,21).
• Jude also wrote about the antichrist problem: “For admission has been secretly gained by some who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jud 1:4).
• Finally, the apostle Paul was constantly expressing grave concern over a very real antichrist plot; in his letters, he exposed a deliberate infiltration of the church by false brethren, men of counterfeit faith whose pseudo-apostolic works had gained them credibility, and whose perverse teaching was already having its effect, as believers were turning away from the truth to follow the lies of the deceivers (Gal 2:4,5; 2Co 11:12,13; Act 20:29,30; 1Ti 4:1-3; 2Ti 4:3,4; 3:1-13; 2Th 2:7-12).

1Jo 2:28

HIS COMING: See Lesson, “Parousia”.

1Jo 3:1

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (KJV). “Sometimes we fail to ‘behold’ this. Many things help cloud it from our view — the natural weakness of the flesh, personal shortcomings, preoccupations with the things of this life, physical and mental weariness, trials of various kinds. When we thus fail, we deny ourselves the strength, comfort and help that true worship will provide. We try to fight the battle of life in our own strength, and we wonder why we fail. Therefore, the invitation of the Psalmist provides a means of real help in the fight of faith: ‘O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker!’ (Psa 95:6)” (HPM).

1Jo 3:2

WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS: “There is one to whom all hearts are ‘naked and laid open’ (Heb 4:13). Darkness is as light to Him, the thought unspoken is heard by His ears, because He is beyond ‘things seen’ — beyond the visible phenomena of the universe which He has created: and therefore because the Father is in secret, He seeth in secret; and to the invisible One the invisible things are known. Along with awe at that penetrating knowledge, and grief at the frailty which it reveals, there is joy for disciples in the fact that they are truly known. In private prayer they need not fear men’s malice or misunderstanding, and they cannot seek men’s praise — unless (God forbid) it be their own. Here if anywhere in the world, they will be true, because they are alone with the God of Truth. And from such communion a fellowship may grow to reach its fullness in the day when they shall ‘know even as they are known’, being like the Son in whom the Father is made manifest, for they shall ‘see him even as he is’ ” (TM 161).

1Jo 3:3

The believer’s hope: an anchor to the soul (Heb 6:19); a treasure in heaven (Col 1:5); a person in the heart (Col 1:27); and a power in the life (1Jo 3:3).

JUST AS HE IS PURE: “He” = Christ, who is “pure”.

1Jo 3:5

See Lesson, Jesus destroys the devil… along with 1Jo 3:8; 4:2.

1Jo 3:9

HE CANNOT GO ON SINNING: Not an automatic quality, but the standard: BS 11:122.

1Jo 3:12

AND MURDERED HIS BROTHER… MURDER HIM: In each case, the word is “sphazo”, sig to butcher (esp an animal for food or in sacrifice) — suggesting that Abel was a type of Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed!

Spiritually, Cain was the firstborn of the serpent, who did the work of his “father”, who was also a murderer!

1Jo 3:15

NO MURDERER HAS ETERNAL LIFE IN HIM: A murderer seeks to deprive someone else of life, but he really, and ultimately, deprives himself of life! And so it may be with every premeditated sin against another: that which the sinner seeks to take from the other party, he is actually taking from himself: the young man seeking to deprive the young woman of her virtue is actually depriving himself of the same; the false accuser seeking to deprive another of his good name is ultimately destroying his own good name. And so forth.

This verse would imply that some people, in some sense, DO have eternal life in themselves! How can that be? Of course, we know that eternal life is not — literally — a present possession, and many, many passages prove this (as examples, Mat 19:29; 25:46; Mar 10:30; Joh 12:25; Rom 6:22; Gal 6:8; Tit 1:2; 3:7; Jud 1:21.) But, in a figurative sense, it may be true: if one may be physically living while being spiritually “dead” — ie, Rev 3:1; 1Ti 5:6 — then another may be physically mortal while being spiritually — or prospectively — “immortal”!) How can we be spiritually “immortal”? By living a life which, even now, shows our keen and abiding awareness of and hope in the glorious life to come — in all that we think and say and do. Thus, as much as we possibly can, we will be living in God’s Kingdom right now! In other words, in a world of material, but temporal, things, we must learn to see the invisible, but eternal things (2Co 4:17,18). Or, as DG put it: “In a world which looks horizontally, we must learn to look vertically.”

“From John’s perspective, like the kingdom of God, eternal life is a present possession. It is a state the believer comes into rather than a physical reality. As they say in real estate, the key is ‘location, location, location.’ In spiritual matters, the key is ‘position, position, position.’ What really matters is how God sees us, not what we really are… In the eyes of God, the believer has eternal life which is why we can speak of believers as being asleep in Christ (1Co 15:18) Jesus alludes to this in Mark 12:26-27 when he states to the Sadducees concerning the resurrection, ‘And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.’ We know that Abraham was dead from many scriptures, yet in the eyes of Yahweh he was alive. It makes perfect sense to us when we realize that baptism into Christ lifts from us the sentence passed upon mankind in the Garden and therefore conditionally grants us life beyond the sentence of death. If we do not practice ‘lawlessness’ and we ‘walk in the light’ (1Jo), our provisional state of eternal life will be made into the physical reality of immortality at the Judgment Seat of Christ” (KT).

1Jo 3:18

NOT… BUT…: ‘Not only… but also…’

1Jo 3:24

Notice that having the “Spirit” (whatever that might involve) did not necessarily make it any easier to “obey his commands”!

1Jo 4:1

TEST THE SPIRITS: “Why is it that every church claiming to have the Holy Spirit puts forward un-Biblical teaching of some kind or another? If the Holy Spirit were truly at work in these churches, would not complete harmony exist between that church’s teaching and the Bible? It is difficult to believe that gifts of the Spirit would be given by the Lord to give added power to teaching that is false. Yet, over and over again, Pentecostal churches are found, on investigation, to differ markedly from the basic truth of the Word of God.

“This is the kind of test the apostle John requires us to apply: ‘Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God’ (1Jo 4:1-3).

“Although it gives one no pleasure to write it, the fact has to be faced, that careful investigation of one Pentecostal church after another has revealed the sad fact that their claims of Holy Spirit guidance are made by people whose religious beliefs are very different from the teaching of the Bible. This, at the very least, should teach us to be cautious” (WGHS).

FALSE PROPHETS: // 1Jo 2:18; Mat 24:5,23-26; Mar 13:21; Luk 21:8; Act 19:13; 20:29; 1Ti 4:1; 2Th 2:2-7; 2Ti 3:13; 2Pe 2:1; 2Jo 1:7.

1Jo 4:7

LOVE COMES FROM GOD: “If we do not have love, we are nothing — just an empty shell, a rattling skeleton: love of God, love of Christ, love of the Brotherhood, love of mankind, love of every vital, living blade of grass in God’s glorious Creation, so full of endless marvels of beauty and design. And love of Truth, of Beauty, of Holiness, Purity, Goodness, Nobility, Unselfishness: love of the bottomless richness of the treasures of the Word. Love scorns to descend to petty criticism and shallow victories, even in the cause of Truth. Love grieves at sin, strives for good, yearns for universal happiness and blessing. Love is life. Love is always busy, always building, always working and praying for good. Love is compassionate, and patient, and understanding of weakness. But it does not condone, or belittle, or pamper sin and error, any more than a sensible doctor belittles or pampers corruption and infection. He fights it vigorously, though an ignorant bystander might think him extreme and harsh. Love discharges its unpleasant duty toward sin and error faithfully and resolutely, though very carefully and self-searchingly and prayerfully — ever conscious of its own weakness and limitation and need” (GVG).

1Jo 4:8

“In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double mark was clearly to be seen in all believers in Jesus; they were men who knew the love of Christ, and rested upon it as a man leaneth upon a staff whose trustiness he has tried. The love which they felt towards the Lord was not a quiet emotion which they hid within themselves in the secret chamber of their souls, and which they only spake of in their private assemblies when they met on the first day of the week, and sang hymns in honour of Christ Jesus the crucified, but it was a passion with them of such a vehement and all-consuming energy, that it was visible in all their actions, spoke in their common talk, and looked out of their eyes even in their commonest glances. Love to Jesus was a flame which fed upon the core and heart of their being; and, therefore, from its own force burned its way into the outer man, and shone there. Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians. Because of their dependence upon Christ’s love they dared much, and because of their love to Christ they did much, and it is the same now. The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love — the love of Christ constraineth them [2Co 5:14]; they rejoice that divine love is set upon them… and then by force of gratitude they love the Saviour with a pure heart, fervently” (CHS).

1Jo 4:16

“To love God and to be loved of God is the only peace, joy, happiness and satisfaction in this life. Secure that, and you have everything. And it must not just be first in our lives. It must be everything. It does not eliminate many other loves. Rather it totally absorbs and directs and empowers them: unites and fortifies them in every darkness and disappointment: sustaining when every human aspect fails” (GVG).

1Jo 4:18

‘Live your life in the Truth with love as your dominant motive and rationale. Where true love is, there cannot be fear. So dismiss fear from your life by truly loving… God, and your brethren. And you will find that a life lived in love will look to the mercy of God, and be centered on that mercy… but — sadly — a life lived in fear will look to punishment. Be positive, not negative. And don’t forget, my dear children, that God loves you; you have nothing to fear!’

PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR: “Pray to God with all your heart and strength for perfect love. Absolute perfection is not a quality associated with the present dark time of weakness and struggle and probation; but He may endow you with something very close to perfect love if you seek and desire it enough: seek and desire it all the time with all your being. The question of whether perfection in anything in this weak day — the question of how close to perfection we can, and are required, to come — is not a profitable or practical question. What is preeminently practical is how hard we must strive, and how earnestly we must desire. How close we get is not our present concern. God will measure us in the scale of what He has given us, and what He has laid upon us. For each, the scale is different, and known only to Him. How close we try and desire to get to perfection — in the irresistible and burning compulsion of love — is supremely important. It is all-important. In our striving toward the attainment and fulfillment of perfect love, how repeatedly we in weakness stumble and fail is not of great seriousness (though it can never be shrugged off as unimportant). Perfect love is perfect oneness with God in all we do and in all we are. It is an ultimate attainment. It is the divine promise of the Memorial Name. All life, and hope and peace and joy lie within the boundaries of total, single-minded dedication to it. Outside it, all is the blackness of eternal night. In anything you do, keep continuously in mind the need for Divine guidance and help in prayer: or else — no matter how sincere the effort or ‘sanctified’ the deed — the result will be of the flesh. Without God held constantly in mind, and without His constant help and direction, no activity will rise above the flesh” (GVG).

1Jo 4:19

WE LOVE: Not, as KJV, “we love HIM”.

1Jo 4:20

Vv 20,21: But how can we love our brother, or sister… since he or she is very little like God? We can love God because we can recognize something of His perfect character, and something of the awesome gifts which He has given us. But why should we love this little, snivelling, whiny, demanding, selfish, bothersome pest who is our brother or sister — who, with all his shortcomings and inadequacies, is probably proud and egotistical as well?

Well, let’s see…

Most of us parents love our children, and love them pretty much unconditionally. The baby comes into the world bawling, and for the first year or two doesn’t do much but cry, and demand to be fed, and demand to be changed, and changed again, and again. And then he needs to be fed again, and then bathed, and then changed, and then fed. Always demanding and selfish and bothersome, and plainly thinking only of himself! Even when he smiles at us, it’s probably only gas. Or maybe he’s just amused at how readily we respond to his every desire!

Why do we bother? Three reasons, at least:

• Somebody, probably our parents, did all these things for us… and now it’s “payback” time… no, not really! But we do love the rascally little infant because we were loved by our parents. And now we begin to understand, on a higher level, what love has been bestowed on us.
• That child is part of me: how can I not love my own self?
• And, also, we love that baby for the potential it has — one day he or she might actually turn into a human being, something of worth! And every one of those little scraps of life is precious, because he or she is made in the image of God.

So we are all God’s children… and — sure! — we are all whiny, selfish little bundles of ego. But God seemingly loves us! Why? Because He is our Father, because — spiritually — we are a part of him, made in His image… and because we have an unlimited potential, to truly reflect His glory forever.

Are these the reasons why we should love our brothers and sisters? Because, with the eye of faith, we may see them — not just for what they are, now, with all their warts and blemishes — but for what they are in process of becoming. And because God loves you and me — not for what we are, now — but for what we are becoming, under His loving care.

2Pe 3:1

THIS IS NOW MY SECOND LETTER TO YOU. I HAVE WRITTEN BOTH OF THEM AS REMINDERS TO STIMULATE YOU TO WHOLESOME THINKING: Peter’s first letter was most likely 1Pe. He implied that he wrote this letter soon after the earlier one. This second epistle, he said, went to the same audience in northern Asia Minor (cf 1Pe 1:1). His purpose in writing the second letter was to refresh his readers’ memories (cf 2Pe 1:13).

2Pe 3:2

HOLY PROPHETS: As opposed to just “prophets”, used only 3 times in the NT: Luke 1:70; Act 3:21; Rev 22:6; the “holy” is prob emphatic, but it could also be taken as a point against “unholy” prophets.

THE COMMAND GIVEN BY OUR LORD AND SAVIOR THROUGH YOUR APOSTLES: Cp Christ’s words: “Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (Mat 24:11). Peter put the teaching of the apostles, which these men received from Jesus Christ, on a level of authority equal with the writings of the OT prophets (cf 2Pe 1:12-21; 3:16; Acts 1:16; Rom 9:29; Heb 4:7).

2Pe 3:3

IN THE LAST DAYS: The days before Jesus Christ’s return. This is the same way other writers of Scripture used the phrase “last days” (cf 2Ti 3:1-5; 1Jo 2:18,19).

SCOFFERS WILL COME…: See Article, Listen up!

SCOFFING AND FOLLOWING THEIR OWN EVIL DESIRES: Examples of scoffers: Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39:14-17), the Israelites in the wilderness (Exo 32:1), and in Isaiah’s (Isa 5:19; 66:5) and Ezekiel’s day (Eze 12:22,23,27). Cp also Amo 5:18; Mal 2:17; 3:1.

2Pe 3:4

The overthrow of Jerusalem was not the “coming” of Jesus. See Mar 12:9; Luk 20:15,16; 13:6-9.

THIS ‘COMING’ HE PROMISED: See Lesson, “Parousia”.

EVER SINCE OUR FATHERS DIED, EVERYTHING GOES ON AS IT HAS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF CREATION: One could hardly find a better summary anywhere of the philosophy of naturalism that so thoroughly permeates modern western civilization (cf Jer 17:15; Mal 2:17). Peter referred to a denial of supernaturalism and an assertion of uniformitarianism, or gradualism. In particular, the scoffers denied the promise of the Lord Jesus that he would return (John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; etc). They assumed that God — if there IS such a Being — does not intervene in the world.

2Pe 3:5

BY GOD’S WORD THE HEAVENS EXISTED AND THE EARTH WAS FORMED OUT OF WATER AND BY WATER: Peter cited two events in the creation of the cosmos that show things have not always been as they are. God did intervene in the world in the past. When God spoke, the universe came into existence (Gen 1:6-8; cp Heb 11:3). God spoke again and the dry land separated from (“out of”) the waters (Gen 1:9-10). Thus God used water to form the dry land.

A new “earth” was formed out of water and through water. God saved the earth by “baptizing” it!

2Pe 3:6

BY THESE WATERS ALSO THE WORLD OF THAT TIME WAS DELUGED AND DESTROYED: Peter’s emphasis is on the Flood as a universal judgment on sinful men and women. But he evidently conceives this judgment as having been executed by means of a cosmic catastrophe which affected the heavens as well as the earth.

This catastrophe involved the opening up of the heavens to deluge the earth with rain (Gen 7:11). Peter spoke of world history in three periods divided by two cataclysms: the world before the Flood (v 6), the present world (v 7), and the future world (v 13).

The literal world/earth will NOT be destroyed: cp Zec 3:8 with Zec 3:9,10; Mic 1:4; Num 14:21; Hab 2:14; Ecc 1:4; Isa 45:18.

2Pe 3:7

BY THE SAME WORD THE PRESENT HEAVENS AND EARTH ARE RESERVED FOR FIRE: God has given orders that the present heavens and earth (vv 5,6) will experience another judgment yet future. Then God will with His word destroy them by fire rather than by water (cp vv 10,12). The world is presently “reserved” for fire in the sense that this is its inevitable destiny (cp Deu 32:22; Isa 66:15,16; Zep 1:18; Mal 4:1).

RESERVED FOR FIRE: In Noah’s day destruction by water came from heavens and earth. In Last Days, destruction by fire will come from heaven (guided missiles, controlled satellites) and earth (vast stores of atomic weapons). Cp Isa 24:21.

The Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, tells a parable of a theater where a variety show is proceeding. Each show is more fantastic than the last, and is applauded by the audience. Suddenly the manager comes forward. He apologizes for the interruption, but the theater is on fire, and he begs his patrons to leave in an orderly fashion. The audience think this is the most amusing turn of the evening, and cheer thunderously. The manager again implores them to leave the burning building, and he is again applauded vigorously. At last he can do no more. The fire raced through the whole building and the fun-loving audience with it.

“And so,” concluded Kierkegaard, “will our age, I sometimes think, go down in fiery destruction to the applause of a crowded house of cheering spectators.”

2Pe 3:8

A DAY IS LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS, AND A THOUSAND YEARS ARE LIKE A DAY: Cit Psa 90:4. “Peter did not say that to God ‘one day IS a thousand years, and a thousand years ARE one day.’ The point is not that time has no meaning for God but rather that His use of time is such that we cannot confine Him to our time schedules. His use of time is extensive, so that He may use a thousand years to do what we might feel should be done in a day, as well as intensive, doing in a day what we might feel could only be done in a thousand years” (Hiebert).

There really is nothing about this phrase remotely of the precision required as a foundation for the “7-day / 7,000-year” equivalence theory. Firstly, the passage here is plainly figurative throughout. Furthermore, if the first part of the v “proves” that one day (of 24 hours) = 1,000 literal years, then the addition of the last phrase (“and” — or ‘or’ — “as a watch in the night”) would equally “prove” that either: (a) 28 hours (ie a day plus a “watch”) = 1,000 literal years, or (b) 4 hours (ie a “watch” only) = 1,000 literal years. Either such “proof” would totally disarm any “day for a thousand years” “principle”! By the first, one day (of 24 hours) = 24/28 times 1,000 years, or 857.143 years. And by the second, one day (of 24 hours) = 6,000 years. As to whether the “thousand years” of Rev need be taken as a precise literal measurement of time, or merely as a round figurative number, see NRev 321-323.

2Pe 3:9

THE LORD IS NOT SLOW IN KEEPING HIS PROMISE: Citing Isa 46:10-13. Prophecy is necessary because God has chosen to settle His accounts with men slowly. God is eternal, and so is His plan for all creation. God is in no hurry to fulfill His promises, whether His promise of the eternal kingdom for all the saints or the promise of eternal destruction and judgment for sinners. Prophecy is necessary then so that men are reassured of divine deliverance and blessing, as well as divine judgment (see 2Pe 2:4-9). Through the ages, the saints have learned that they must wait for the promises of God to be fulfilled and that this may not happen in their lifetime (Heb 11:13-16,39,40). God may choose to delay judgment on the wicked until their sin reaches full bloom; the possession of the land of Canaan would not happen in Abraham’s lifetime, but more than 400 years later after the suffering of the people of God (Gen 15:12-17). God also allows the wicked to persist and even to prosper, so that those whom He has chosen might be saved (Rom 9:22-24). God’s plan and program are carried out on His schedule, not ours (see 2Pe 3:8-10). Prophecy becomes necessary from time to time to remind men of those things God has planned for the future which He will surely fulfill.

NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH: Cp Eze 18:28,32; Eze 33:11; Jer 29:11. Do these verses suggest some sort of “universal salvation”? Not necessarily.

“This verse [Eze 33:11] is frequently used to support the view that God wants to save all men and it is only their refusal to turn to Him which prevents this, for does not Peter say, ‘The Lord is… not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (2Pe 3:9)?

“A moment’s reflection is enough to cast doubts on this conclusion. That God is merciful, gracious and a God of love, goes without saying; but to argue that He is so to all men, meaning every individual, contradicts the fundamental teaching of Scripture that God’s purpose is being worked out ‘according to ELECTION’ (Rom 9:11).

“The words of Jesus indicate a selection process: ‘No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me DRAW him’ (John 6:44). It is because of this that Paul writes to the Thessalonians: ‘We give thanks to God… knowing, brethren beloved, your ELECTION of God’ (1Th 1:2,4)….

“God is all-powerful and able to do as He wills in His universe. If He will indeed have all mankind to be saved, why is it that so many never get to hear the gospel message? The words of the apostle in 1Ti 2:4 — in which he says that ‘[God] will have all men to be saved’ — cannot mean that it is His desire to save every member of the human race. To interpret it thus would contradict the fundamental principle that God’s purpose is being worked out on the basis of election. In these words the apostle, who had been divinely appointed as a preacher to the Gentiles, is simply saying that it was no longer the case that ‘salvation is of the Jews’. God is now working with the Gentiles (all mankind) and it was His will that salvation be offered to ‘all men’ (ie, all nationalities) and not just to Jews.

“In 2Pe the apostle is writing to the brethren in the Ecclesias of Asia Minor. It is to these, troubled by the Judaizers and in danger of grave apostasy from the Truth, that he writes: ‘The Lord… is longsuffering to us-ward (RV, youward), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (2Pe 3:9). These to whom Peter writes had been called by the Father but were in danger of failing to ‘make [their] calling and election sure’ (2Pe 1:10). The same applies to these verses from Ezekiel. They are not addressed to the individuals of the pagan world but to the Covenant People.

“The vast majority of the Gentile world, then and now, comprise that great crowd of mankind that ‘is in honour, and understandeth not’ and who are, by God’s appointment, ‘like the beasts that perish’ (Psa 49:20). Being left by God to wander ‘out of the way of understanding’, they will by His divine decree ‘remain in the congregation of the dead’ (Pro 21:16). That this sad fact does not give God pleasure, we would agree. Let us not, however, go to the extreme of emphasizing this to the point where we deny that God’s purpose is ‘according to election’ ” (AEz 186,187).

TO COME TO REPENTANCE: Any apparent delay is due to God’s loving kindness, allowing greater opportunity for salvation.

2Pe 3:10

THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME LIKE A THIEF: Ref return of Christ in LD: Mat 24:43; Luke 12:39; 1Th 5:2; Rev 3:3; 16:15. Christ is portrayed often — he even portrays himself — as a “thief” in the NT, in connection with his Second Coming (Mat 24:42-44; Luke 12:39,40; 1Th 5:2,4,6; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15). This may seem extraordinary, since stealing is a sin, and a “thief” therefore must be a sinner — and how could Christ be a sinner? (A similar question might be asked: how could Christ compare himself to a serpent: John 3:14; Num 21:7-9? But that’s another story!) However, there is one instance when a “thief” is not committing a crime, and that is when he is simply reclaiming (by stealth or surprise) what is rightfully his (cp David and his men, who followed the Amalekites and retrieved their kidnapped families and stolen goods: 1Sa 30!). And that seems to be exactly the point in these NT instances also: Christ when he returns will be merely taking back what is rightfully his! The true “thieves” will be seen to be those servants who ate his bread and drank his wine and enjoyed themselves in leisurely consuming that which belonged to their Master (see the parable in Mat 24:48-51 and Luke 12:45-47). Their mistake — and it was a crucial one — was in forgetting they were mere stewards or caretakers, and instead supposing that all their Master’s properties belonged to them, and acting accordingly! So, if we are to be sure that Christ does not come as a “thief” to us, we must not act as “thieves” ourselves now, stealing from him what is rightfully his. We must remember that all we possess really belongs to the One who is our true Lord and Master; that we merely hold it all in trust, to be used to serve him.

THE HEAVENS WILL DISAPPEAR WITH A ROAR: “Heavens” are used figuratively of the established Mosaic order in Psa 50:4,5; 102:26 (cp Heb 1:11,12); Mat 24:29,35; Joel 2:30,31; Rev 6:12-14.

THE ELEMENTS: Gr “stoicheia” — one of Paul’s words for the entire Judaistic framework (Gal 4:3,9; Col 2:8,20).

DESTROYED: Gr “luo”, to be unloosed, not to be destroyed. Like the unloosing of a tent (Joh 2:19). Cp v 12.

EARTH: Gr “ge”, the equivalent of the Heb “eretz” — which may (and often does) sig the “Land”, esp the “Land of Israel”. See Lesson, “Land” or “earth”? Also see Lesson, Earth burned up?

2Pe 3:11

WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE OUGHT YOU TO BE?: “So it is with all the doctrines of Scripture; they are all intended to have a transforming power, and it is in this way that we should view them. This reflection provokes another: if the Scriptures are designed to have such a vital influence upon us, how regularly and how prayerfully we should be reading them; and what a wise arrangement it has been that in our daily readings we set out to read all of them, and not just a selection according to our taste” (FP, Xd 114:169).

2Pe 3:12

AND SPEED ITS COMING: If Christ’s coming is deferred to allow greater repentance (vv 9,15), then his coming may be hastened by greater repentance and godliness.

The Greek participle translated “hastening” or “speeding” (“speudontes”) sometimes means “desiring earnestly” (RSV mg). If Peter meant that here, the sense would be that believers not only look for the day of God but desire earnestly to see it (cp vv 8-10; Mat 24:42; 25:13). The KJV has “hastening unto” — a rather poor translation, implying that Peter meant believers are rapidly approaching the day of God. Yet “unto” would have to be added; it is not in the text. Most of the translators and commentators, however, take “speudontes” in its usual sense of hastening. They assume that Peter was thinking that believers can hasten the day of God by their prayers (cp Mat 6:10) and perhaps by their preaching (cp Mat 24:14; Acts 3:19,20) (EBC). Believers affect God’s timetable by our living and our praying (cp Jos 10:12-14; 1Ki 20:1-6; etc).

“Clearly this idea of hastening the End is the corollary of the explanation (v 9) that God defers the Parousia because He desires Christians to repent. Their repentance and holy living may therefore, from the human standpoint, hasten its coming. This does not detract from God’s sovereignty in determining the time of the End… but means only that His sovereign determination graciously takes human affairs into account” (Bauckham).

COMING: See Lesson, “Parousia”.

DESTRUCTION: Gr “luo”, to be unloosed, not to be destroyed. Like the unloosing of a tent (Joh 2:19). Cp v 10.

2Pe 3:13

A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH: Citing Isa 65:17,18: “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth” — which consists of “Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy”, in other words, with a distinctively Jewish orientation. Not just a new world order, but a new world order revolving around Israel!

THE HOME OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: Isa 65:17,18 is quoted in Rev 21:1-3 (to which Peter may be alluding), for this passage adds the thought that “the dwelling of God” — and thus the “home of righteousness” — “is with men” (Rev 21:3).

“Give us a government animated by pure benevolence, armed by universal authority and irresistible power; and distinguished by the wisdom essential to successful enterprise of all kinds, with the world’s exchequer at their disposal, and therefore untrammeled by considerations of economy in the arrangements made for the comfort and convenience of the people — give us such a government, and all the people in every land would be as well looked after as the passengers on board the magnificent liners that plough the ocean in all directions. Man cannot give it us: God can and will: for He has promised. Therefore, we patiently wait” (RR, Diary 27).

2Pe 3:14

MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO BE FOUND SPOTLESS, BLAMELESS AND AT PEACE WITH HIM: Peter again urged his readers to “diligent” action (cp 2Pe 1:5,10). “Spotless” means without defect or defilement (as in a spotless sacrifice, cp 2Pe 2:13; 1Pe 1:19), and “blameless” means without justifiable cause for reproach.

2Pe 3:15

OUR LORD’S PATIENCE MEANS SALVATION: We should view the Lord’s tarrying as a manifestation of His longsuffering that leads people to repentance and salvation rather than as a sign that he is never coming (v 9; cp 1Pe 3:20). While God is waiting, He is both giving time for the unbeliever to be saved, and for the believer to be working out his salvation (cp Phi 2:12,13) in terms of progress in sanctification.

JUST AS OUR DEAR BROTHER PAUL ALSO WROTE YOU WITH THE WISDOM THAT GOD GAVE HIM: Prob Peter has in mind Rom 2:4; 9:22,23; 11:22,23.

2Pe 3:16

IN ALL HIS LETTERS: In one of these letters, Gal 2:11, etc, Paul publicly blames Peter for inconsistency and hypocrisy!

“Readers may safely make the tacit assumption that already Paul’s letters were in general circulation. Peter himself had his own personal copies. Bigg, professor of ecclesiastical history at Oxford early this [20th] century, has this illuminating • Comment on the efficiency with which the early church would probably organize the circulation of these treasured letters: ‘Under the Empire, epistolary communication was as easy as it is now, though the speed of conveyance was not quite so great. It is not only possible but probable that Peter received every one of Paul’s epistles within a month or two of its publication.’ (Cp the implications of 1Th 1:8,9.) Col 4:16 provides a clear example of those early ecclesias exchanging copies of Paul’s epistles” (WPet).

HIS LETTERS CONTAIN SOME THINGS THAT ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND, WHICH IGNORANT AND UNSTABLE PEOPLE DISTORT, AS THEY DO THE OTHER SCRIPTURES, TO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION: It is somewhat comforting to learn that even the Apostle Peter found some of what Paul wrote hard to understand! Peter also wrote some things in his two epistles that tax our understanding. The “untaught” (Gr “amatheis”) are those who had not received teaching concerning all that God had revealed. The “unstable” (Gr “asteriktoi”) are those who were not always consistent in their allegiance to God or the world, namely double-minded, fence-straddling compromisers. These types of people misunderstood and in some cases deliberately misrepresented the meaning of Paul’s writings. However, this only added to their own guilt before God.

“The verb ‘distort’ (‘streblousin’), occurring only here in the NT, means ‘to twist or wrench,’ specifically, ‘to stretch on the rack, to torture’ (Moulton). They take Paul’s statements and twist and torture them, like victims on the rack, to force them to say what they want them to say” (Hiebert).

OTHER SCRIPTURES: Certainly means “other parts of the Bible”, because here Paul’s letters are described by a word normally used only for the OT. This in itself is an amazing statement — as Peter is putting Paul’s writings on the same level as those of Moses.

A comparable example is found in 1Ti 5:18, where Paul quotes Luk 10:7 as an inspired scripture. In 1Pe 5:12 the apostle makes a direct assertion of inspiration. Also see Gal 2:9; Col 1:29.

2Pe 3:17

BE ON YOUR GUARD SO THAT YOU MAY NOT BE CARRIED AWAY BY THE ERROR OF LAWLESS MEN AND FALL FROM YOUR SECURE POSITION: Much of what Peter had written was warning that he summarized here. His appeal was tender throughout this epistle (cp vv 1,8,14). The threat to his readers was the false teachers (2Pe 2). Peter’s mental picture was of a torrent of false teaching knocking believers off their feet and sweeping them away.

2Pe 3:18

BUT GROW IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST: Finally, Peter adds a positive exhortation (cp 1:5-10). Rather than being swept away by error his audience should keep on growing (present imperative) in God’s grace. They could do so by consciously depending on His resources (His power and promises, 2Pe 1:3,4) and by growing in the knowledge (Gr “gnosei”) of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (cp 2Pe 1:11; 2:20; 3:2). They could do the latter by getting more intimately acquainted with Him day by day (2Pe 1:5-8).