Peter assures his readers that God is not slow. He is not dragging his feet to fulfill the promise of the Son’s return. He appeals to Psalm 90 to make his case. That Psalm is all about God and his relationship with time: “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4). God is eternal and therefore exits over and outside time. The Lord’s patience has a gracious purpose. Unwilling to lose a single one of his people, he delays the final judgment until the elect from every nation will be gathered in to “the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells” (vs. 13).

When we forget, we lose sight of what is revealed to us in his Word, and we lose our orientation to truth, which has devastating consequences. Life and death hang in the balance and it is only through the clarity of the Scriptures that we can know how to be saved from the wrath of God.

In the first chapter of 2 Peter, the church is encouraged to remember the blessings of being united to Christ. He urges them to remember lest they forget and fall into error. Here in chapter 3, Peter returns to this theme.

The false teachers deny the return of Christ and his judgment so that they can revel in their sin and lead others into sin. We should not be so proud to think that we are impervious to false teaching. It is enticing. We can be drawn in when the false teachers’ message lines up with the false teachings we privately believe. When we preach to ourselves the false narrative of “I’m a failure,” we will readily believe someone who says, you aren’t a failure, you just need to try harder. When we believe that we’re actually pretty good and that God should take that into consideration when he hands out wealth and health and the good life, we’re susceptible to false teaching. When we say to ourselves, “This isn’t really sin. It’s not that big of deal,” we will find ourselves attracted to false teachers who don’t talk about sin and repentance. When we wander so far into sin that we call sin good, we are headed for heresy and there are plenty of false teachers who will lead us further into sin. When we find ourselves in the same sin again and again and our half repentance doesn’t produce righteousness and holiness, we are prone to look for a false teaching that will justify our sin instead of heeding the Biblical warning to flee from sin.

Peter identifies these false teachers and their teaching as “waterless springs and mists driven by a storm” (2 Peter 2:17). They promise life, but give death. We would do well to heed the warning Peter gives us. We must look out for false teachers. We must “look in” at the false narratives we regularly preach to ourselves. And we must look to our Savior who is the “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

“This is precisely why such a large part of the Bible is devoted to exposing the subtleties of false prophets and teachers – their power lies in their appeal. So, a vital element in Christian maturity is the ability to see beyond outward appearances and recognize the difference between what is true and what is false” (Mark Johnson, p. 43). Though Peter’s criticism of the false teachers is harsh, he is not being gratuitous or angrily self-indulgent. Rather, the apostle is demonstrating proper indignation over those who lead God’s people astray. Like Balam of old, these men seek to satisfy their greed by peddling falsehoods.

Throughout her history the church has been burdened by those who seek to harm her. As the great hymn acknowledges, the world watches the church with “scornful wonder,” as they observe that she is “by heresies distressed.” But we do not despair for we also sing with full biblical warrant:

The Church shall never perish!

Her dear Lord, to defend,

To guide, sustain, and cherish,

Is with her to the end.

Though there be those that hate her

And false sons in her pale,

Against both foe and traitor

She ever shall prevail.

Peter’s approach conflicts sharply with Paul’s treatment of the pagan philosophers in Athens with whom he spoke to respectfully, seeking to persuade them. Writing to Timothy, Paul wrote that “the Lord’s servant” should go about “correcting his opponents with gentleness” (2 Timothy 2:22-26). So what are we to do with Peter’s unabashedly aggressive approach? The key is found in his opening salvo in verse one “There will be false teachers among you…” Peter was not addressing pagan philosophers in Athens. He was dealing with those within the church; teachers who claimed to be Christians – in some cases apostles! – who taught such twisted doctrine and led such ungodly lives that they were leading undiscerning Christians into their own falsehood and debauchery.

It was the proximity and influence of these false teachers within the church that explains the difference we see between Paul in Athens and Peter writing to the churches. Remember Paul’s words concerning those who teach a false gospel to the church? He said that they are damned (Galatians 1:6-9). That’s not exactly subtle. Nor should there be much subtlety or nuance when the shepherds of God’s flock encounter wolves who would lead the church down the path of destruction. “Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (vs. 3).

At the threat of false teachers, Peter reminds the church that the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, making the Bible the inspired Word of God. And because of this, there is no other ultimate authority but the Scriptures. They are our guiding light in a spiritually dark world which lead the way for as we wait for the return of Christ