Free Bible Commentary
“Second Peter 3:1-2”
Categories: Second Peter“This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.”
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Peter assured his readers that he was not bringing them any new revelations or novel ideas as he conveyed to them the words of truth. Like the first letter that he had previously written them, this one was also for the purpose of “stirring up” their minds “by way of reminder” (verse 1). One of his main purposes for writing this epistle was to discredit the false teachers who were deceiving them with “destructive heresies” (2 Peter 2:1). They didn’t need anything new to make them complete because they, like us, had been given “everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us” (2 Peter 1:2).
Friends, there will be no new messages emanating from the mind of God (2 Peter 1:12). Our “beloved brother,” the Apostle Paul (verse 15) had previously written that anyone teaching a different gospel than what the Lord’s true ambassadors had originally delivered would be accursed of God (Galatians 1:8-9), just like the “accursed children” (2 Peter 2:14) who had been troubling the Lord’s people already in the middle of the first century. Any time someone comes to you personally or into your assembly bringing anything but the pure, original doctrine of Jesus Christ, He does not have God’s endorsement (2 John 1:9). Reject his heresy and stick with the basics of “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
The Apostles of Jesus are “your apostles” (verse 2). Jesus hand-selected them, personally trained them and empowered them by the Holy Spirit to teach His words and guide them “into all the truth” for your spiritual benefit (John 16:12-15). The Apostles were not in it for their own personal enrichment. Everything they did was to help and save and edify us in the faith of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:13-15; 11:28; Philippians 2:17). Take their devotion and teaching very personally. God had you in mind when He sent His Son into the world to be a sacrifice for sin, and when He sent His ambassadors into the world to teach “the way of truth” (2 Peter 2:2).
All that we can and must put our trust in, and everything that we are going to be judged by are “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles” (verse 2). In short, this comprises all the books of the Old and New Testaments. Friends, the Bible is all that you need to teach you how to be everything that God wants you to be and how to be pleasing in His sight (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Old Testament is still relevant today because it encourages us and instills hope within us (Romans 15:4), and teaches us about God’s characteristics and what He expects of His people, even though we are not bound by its various laws and ordinances (Galatians 3:10-14; Hebrews 8:13). And we are bound by every commandment that Jesus spoke and authorized His holy Apostles and prophets to speak and write in the pages if the New Testament (Matthew 28:19-20; Hebrews 1:1-2).
Accept nothing but the authorized original. When in doubt, return to the legitimate source of all truth!
Please read 2 Peter 3:3-7 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed Lord’s Day!
- Louie Taylor
