2 Peter 3:1-9, Beloved Reminders (2)

Peter is reminding us of things we know about God.

§  God is faithful.  The faithfulness of God concerns His keeping His word.  The scoffers want to describe God as if he were like us.  But what we know of God is this: If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13).  God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent.  Has He said, and will He not do?  Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num. 23:19) 

§  God is patient.  The word long-suffering refers to God’s patience with people.  He has a plan to bring in all those who are His.  Rom. 11:25 says He will be patient until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  God will put up with a lot of dishonor from wicked men in order to accomplish what He has lovingly planned.

§  God is sovereign.  Lastly Peter reminds us God is doing what He wills.  What He wills to do is to exalt His Son and He will bring this about regardless of the seeming power of the wicked one.  God is in control of the situation.

Scoffers are dangerous, denying Biblical doctrine, Biblical sufficiency, Biblical morality and the Biblical record.  What we must do is to deal with these scoffers according to the will of God.  What is that will?

·        Psalm 1:1: We must not sit where they sit.  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in te seat of the scornful.

·        Prov. 9:7-8: We must not reprove them.  He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, and he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.  Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.  Jesus said it this way: Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces (Matt. 7:6).

·        Prov. 3:34: Trust God to judge them.  Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.

·        Prov. 29:1: Pray for them, that God will soften their heart.  He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.  Pray that God will cultivate the soil of their heart so that the word will land on good ground and bear fruit (Matt. 13:18-23).

In concluding this part of 2 Peter let us hear the call of Christ to put our hope in Him.  We are doomed to discouragement and defeat if we do not have hope.  And our hope is that He will someday come for us to take us to be with Him in the place He is preparing for us (John 14:1-4).  Don’t let the scoffer deprive you of the power of this precious promise.