01-25-2025, 04:55 PM
Peter wanted his readers to keep their minds in subjection to the Spirit. We inform the brain of divine revelation so it will know how to respond, equipped to cooperate with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Teaching was aimed at locking down the boundaries for the fleshly nature. One of the tricks of these Gnostic heretics was to reason that Christ was not coming back. Has anything changed since Creation? Yes, it has.
Peter recites the Creation story, and it should be obvious he is dictating this letter in Hebrew to someone translating it into Greek, because the wording is sometimes clumsy. He says the Gnostics know they are lying about the return of Christ. Genesis portrays how dry land appeared below the watery canopy of the sky and rose up out of the sea of waters to drain off. So, it wasn't very hard for God to then destroy the world with all that same water that was held back by His hand. After the Flood, He changed the physical structure of the world so that water would not be used again that way.
We no longer have that exceedingly wet situation from before the Flood. Now, the Lord has promised that the next destruction will come by fire instead of water and it won't be just the earth. That will be the Day of Judgment. Peter reminds them of one more hole in the Gnostic argument: God is not under the time-space constraints because He lives in Eternity. His attention decides whether the passage of time is for Him slow or fast. The false image of God being slow misses the whole point. Noah's prophetic warning of a flood coming took 120 years while he built the Ark. Was that too long? God was being patient, giving the rest of humanity a full chance to repent and gave Noah time to finish that massive boat.
Don't misread verse 9 like the Calvinists and Arminians do. It's Hebrew thoughts in Greek words: God is not eager to destroy anyone, but He has warned that the time for such a burdensome task does eventually come. And when that day comes, it will not seem to make sense to anyone but Him. There will be nothing about the situation to warn anyone. However, no one will miss it. The noise will be horrific when the physical universe passes away. More to the point, every human deed will be exposed for all to see.
Let's be clear: One does not take a vacation from holiness. Stay on top of your Kingdom mission. Peter repeats the image of how the universe will be destroyed. God will remove His restraining hand and the molecular bonds of all the particles in the universe will dissolve so that all the stored energy will be released at once. You cannot imagine the fiery storm!
There will be a new heavens and earth that we also cannot imagine, but one without mortality and the damage done by the rebellions of creatures God made. Our duty now is to make ready for that day. Realize that God's patience about judging your suffering and sorrow is good for you, too. You have more time to discover ways you could serve Christ better. This is the same kind of thing that shows up in Paul's letters; he and Peter were on the same team. Because Paul was fluent in Greek, his writings are a lot more challenging to read.
And, quite naturally, the Gnostic heretics have twisted his letters, same as they do all the rest of the Scriptures. Yes, Peter says that Paul's letters were Scripture. By this time Paul had already been executed and Peter was next. The Apostles recognized Scripture when they saw it. And Peter asked his readers to invest the time and effort to lock in a clear doctrine of Christ so they could stand against the lies of the Gnostic heretics.
The only real "gnosis" was in Christ and His teaching.
Peter recites the Creation story, and it should be obvious he is dictating this letter in Hebrew to someone translating it into Greek, because the wording is sometimes clumsy. He says the Gnostics know they are lying about the return of Christ. Genesis portrays how dry land appeared below the watery canopy of the sky and rose up out of the sea of waters to drain off. So, it wasn't very hard for God to then destroy the world with all that same water that was held back by His hand. After the Flood, He changed the physical structure of the world so that water would not be used again that way.
We no longer have that exceedingly wet situation from before the Flood. Now, the Lord has promised that the next destruction will come by fire instead of water and it won't be just the earth. That will be the Day of Judgment. Peter reminds them of one more hole in the Gnostic argument: God is not under the time-space constraints because He lives in Eternity. His attention decides whether the passage of time is for Him slow or fast. The false image of God being slow misses the whole point. Noah's prophetic warning of a flood coming took 120 years while he built the Ark. Was that too long? God was being patient, giving the rest of humanity a full chance to repent and gave Noah time to finish that massive boat.
Don't misread verse 9 like the Calvinists and Arminians do. It's Hebrew thoughts in Greek words: God is not eager to destroy anyone, but He has warned that the time for such a burdensome task does eventually come. And when that day comes, it will not seem to make sense to anyone but Him. There will be nothing about the situation to warn anyone. However, no one will miss it. The noise will be horrific when the physical universe passes away. More to the point, every human deed will be exposed for all to see.
Let's be clear: One does not take a vacation from holiness. Stay on top of your Kingdom mission. Peter repeats the image of how the universe will be destroyed. God will remove His restraining hand and the molecular bonds of all the particles in the universe will dissolve so that all the stored energy will be released at once. You cannot imagine the fiery storm!
There will be a new heavens and earth that we also cannot imagine, but one without mortality and the damage done by the rebellions of creatures God made. Our duty now is to make ready for that day. Realize that God's patience about judging your suffering and sorrow is good for you, too. You have more time to discover ways you could serve Christ better. This is the same kind of thing that shows up in Paul's letters; he and Peter were on the same team. Because Paul was fluent in Greek, his writings are a lot more challenging to read.
And, quite naturally, the Gnostic heretics have twisted his letters, same as they do all the rest of the Scriptures. Yes, Peter says that Paul's letters were Scripture. By this time Paul had already been executed and Peter was next. The Apostles recognized Scripture when they saw it. And Peter asked his readers to invest the time and effort to lock in a clear doctrine of Christ so they could stand against the lies of the Gnostic heretics.
The only real "gnosis" was in Christ and His teaching.
