2 Peter is a sobering letter which might help many of us realize that we’re in serious danger.
Many of us might say that we believe Jesus is coming back but the way we live doesn’t reflect that. It could be a flippant attitude to the sinful ways we live now. It could be us investing all our hopes and dreams in this world. It could be an overly optimistic attitude about what we can do to transform this world. It could just be a really blasé attitude to the new world that Jesus will bring about when he comes again. In other words, we really don’t believe Jesus is coming back to judge this world and its people and to save those who live for the world to come.
In 2 Peter, the Apostle Peter is really worried about the Christians he’s writing to. Although they’re stable Christians established in the gospel, there’s a clear and present danger: There were ungodly false teachers in the community seducing them to ungodly living and justifying this by teaching that Jesus was not coming back! And so, the stable Christians are becoming wobbly! It’s a wobbliness that, if not dealt with, will lead to them perishing!
Therefore, the Apostle Peter writes to convince them that Jesus will one day come back again to judge the ungodly and to save the righteous. He addresses the following questions:
- How can we be sure if Jesus really is going to return again?
- If Jesus really is returning, why the long delay?
- What is going to happen when Jesus comes again?
- And what does this have to do with our lives in the here and now?
In addressing these questions, Peter’s desire is for his readers not to be led away from the error of these ungodly false teachers and so fall from their own stability but instead to grow in godliness and the certainty of Jesus’ return.
Take a look at the latest sermon series overview on the letter of 2 Peter to see how Peter makes his case!
Dan is married to his lovely wife Deb and together they have a son, Christopher. Dan attends Bethesda Church Bukit Arang, where he serves as the Young Adults and Adults Pastor. Dan first came to hear the good news of Jesus during his time studying as an undergraduate in Sydney, Australia and has since then been keen to help other young adults come to know Jesus for themselves. In his free time, Dan loves exploring local food spots with Deb. He also enjoys a good game of ping pong.
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