Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: 2 PETER #3 - 3:1-18)
III. 3:1-18 - NEGLECT OF VIRTUE: BRINGS JUDGMENT, THOUGH DELAYED
1. 3:1-7 THE CERTAINTY AND NATURE OF DIVINE JUDGMENT
a. 3:1-4 TO BE FOREWARNED OF SCOFFERS IS TO BE FOREARMED
TAUten Ede, a-ga-peTOI, deuTEran huMIN GRApho e-pis-toLEN [1992];
This is now, beloved, a second letter that I write to you;
en hais di-eGEIro[1326]huMON en hu-pomNEsei [5280]ten ei-li-kriNE[1506]diAnoi-an [1271];
in these I stir up your sincere mind by reminder;
mnesTHEnai [3415]ton pro-ei-reMEnon [4280]'reMAton huPO ton haGIon pro-pheTON,
2 that you should remember the words spoken before by the holy prophets,
kai tes ton a-poSTOlon huMON en-toLES tou KuRIou kai soTEros [4990]: TOUto PROton giNOskon-tes,
and the commandment of the Lord and Savior throughyour apostles: 3 knowing this first,
HOti eLEUson-tai ep' esCHAton [2078]ton he-meRON en em-paig-moNE[1703]emPAIKtai [1704],
that in thelast of the days mockers shall come with mockery,
kaTA tas iDIas e-pi-thuMIas [1939]auTON po-euOme-noi,
walking after their own :lusts,
kai LEgon-tes, POU es-tin hee-pag-geLIa [1860]tes pa-rouSIas [3952]auTOU?
4 and saying, Where is the promise of his presence?
aph' hes gar hoi paTEres e-koiMEthesan [2837], PANta HOUtos di-aMEnei [1265]ap' arCHES KTIse-os [2937].
for, since the fathers fell asleep, all thingscontinue thus from beginning of creation.
b. 3:5-7 FIRE VERSUS WATER: AGENT OF COMING DESTRUCTION
lanTHAnei [2990] gar auTOUS TOUto THElon-tas, HOti ou-raNOI Esan EKpa-lai [1597],
For this they wilfully forget, that heavens were from of old,
kai ge ex HUda-tos kai di' HUda-tos su-neSTOsa [4921], totou TheOU LOgo;
and an earth compacted out of water and through water, by the word of :God;
di' hon ho TOte KOSmos, HUda-ti ka-ta-klusTHEIS [2626], aPOle-to [622]:
6 by which means the then world, overflowed with water, perished:
hoi de nun ou-raNOI, kai hege, toauTOLOgote-the-sau-risMEnoi [2343] eiSIN puRI [4442],
7 but the present heavens, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire,
teROUme-noi [5083] eis heMEran KRIse-os kai a-poLEIas [684] ton a-seBON [765] anTHROpon.
being reserved against a day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly men.
2. 3:8-13 GOAL OF DELAYED JUDGMENT: CONVERSION AND HOLINESS
a. 3:8 JUDGMENT DELAYED WILL STILL BE FULFILLED
Hen de TOUto me lan-thaNEto [2990] huMAS, a-ga-peTOI,
But forget not this one thing, beloved,
HOti MIa heMEra paRA KuRIo hos CHIli-a Ete [2094], kai CHIli-a Ete hos heMEra MIa.
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
b. 3:9 REASON FOR DELAY: MORE OPPORTUNITY TO REPENT
ou braDUnei [1019] KUri-os tes a-pag-geLIas,
TheLord is not slack concerning the promise,
HOS ti-nes bra-duTEta [1022]heGOUNtai [2233]; alLA ma-kro-thuMEI [3114]eis huMAS,
as some count slackness; but is longsuffering toward you,
mebouLOmeNOS [1014]ti-nas a-poLESthai [622], alLA PANtas eis meTAnoi-an [3341]choREsai [5562].
not intending that any perish, but that all come to repentance.
c. 3:10 SUDDENNESS AND INEXPRESSIBLE FIERY TERROR OF HIS COMING
HExei de heMEra KuRIou hos KLEPtes [2812]; en hehoi ou-raNOI 'roi-zeDON [4500]pa-reLEUson-tai [3928],
But the Lord's day will come as a thief; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
stoiCHEIa [4747]de kauSOUme-na [2741]luTHEse-tai [3089],
and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat,
kai gekai ta en auTEERga eu-reTHEse-tai [2618].
and the earth and the works in it shall be disclosed.
d. 3:11-12 VIRTUE: LOGICAL RESULT OF COMING JUDGMENT
TOUton HOUtos PANton lu-oMEnon, po-taPOUS [4217]dei huPARchein huMAS
Since these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of personsought you to be
in haGIais a-na-stroPHAIS [391] kai eu-seBEIais [2150],
in all holy living and godliness,
pros-doKONtas [4328]kai SPEUdon-tas [4692]ten pa-rouSIan tes tou TheOU heMEras,
12 looking for and hastening the presence of the day of :God,
di' hen ou-raNOI puROUme-noi luTHEson-tai [3089], kai stoiCHEIa [4747]kauSOUme-na [2741]TEke-tai?
by reason of which heavens being on fire shall be dissolved,and elements shall melt with fervent heat?
e. 3:13 BLESSING WILL FOLLOW DESTRUCTION
kaiNOUS de ou-raNOUS kai gen kaiNEN,
But, according to his :promise,
kaTA to ePANgel-ma auTOU, pros-doKOmen [4328], en hois di-kai-oSUneka-toiKEI.
we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
3. 3:14-18 VIRTUE: A REASONABLE GOAL IN LIGHT OF SURE JUDGMENT
a. 3:14 A SPOTLESS LIFE: A REASONABLE GOAL
Di' ho, a-ga-peTOI, TAUta pros-doKONtes [4328],
Wherefore, beloved, since you look for these,
spouDAsa-te [4704], ASpi-loi [784]kai aMOme-toi [298]auTO, heu-reTHEnai en eiREne.
give diligence to be found in peace, spotless and blameless before him.
b. 3:15-16 DELAYED JUDGMENT: A SIGN OF GOD'S MERCY
kai ten tou KuRIou heMON ma-kro-thuMIan [3115]so-teRIan [4991]heGEISthe;
And account that the longsuffering of our :Lord is salvation;
kaTHOS kai ho a-ga-peTOS heMON a-delPHOS PAUlos,
even as our beloved :brother Paul also,
kaTA ten doTHEIsan auTOsoPHIan [4678], Egra-psen huMIN;
according to the wisdom given him, wrote you;
hos kai en PAsais e-pis-toLAIS, laLON en auTAIS peRI TOUton;
16 as also in all hisletters, speaking in them of these things;
en hais EStin dusNOeTA [1425]ti-na, ha hoi a-maTHEIS [261]kai aSTErik-toi [793]streBLOUsin [4761],
wherein are some hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstedfast wrest,
hos kai tas loiPAS graPHAS, pros ten iDIan auTON aPOlei-an.
as also the other scriptures, unto their own :destruction.
c. 3:17 BEWARE OF GOSPEL SEDUCERS!
HuMEIS oun, a-ga-peTOI, pro-giNOskon-tes [4267], phuLASses-the [5442]HIna me,
YOU therefore, beloved, knowing beforehand, beware lest,
te ton aTHESmon [113] PLAne [4106] su-na-pachTHENtes [4879], ekPEse-te [1601] tou iDIou ste-rigMOU [4740].
carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own :stedfastness.
d. 3:18a But grow in grace and knowledge of our :Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
auXAne-te [837] de en CHAri-ti kai GNOsei tou KuRIou heMON kai soTEros IeSOU ChrisTOU.
e. 3:18b To him the glory both now and unto theday of theage.
auTO he DOxa kai nun kai eis heMEran aiOnos.
NOTE: It is so important that we see “time” from God's perspective. Those in the apostles' day made serious errors in judgment and interpretation, because they failed to grasp His concept of time. Imagine, a day with Him is as 1000 years, and 1000 years as a day! To understand this is to put an entirely new concept in our thinking. Impatience then flies out the window.
Then too, Peter acknowledges that his friend Paul is not the easiest teacher to understand. So many facile students feel they understand him, and miss his point completely. Peter claims that many destroy themselves by failing to understand the apostle Paul. You will find that by studying Paul in the context of Ivan Panin's Numeric Outlined Interlinear Greek New Testament - there is less likelihood of making shipwreck over the more difficult concepts of Paul.
Chapter 3 of 2 Peter continues to enlarge upon chapter 2. Delay in God's timing is often because of His mercy and grace - seeking to give extra time for wise decisions. But finally, the day of grace ends, just as in the days of Noah. That is soon to take place for our generation also.
Note how many big words Peter uses in the Greek. To take time to check some of these out through Strong's Concordance will be a great help.
From this epistle of Peter, we can see how unwise it is to take God's grace for granted. God's desire is that each one of us understands that salvation through conversion is but the open door. It is then our privilege and responsibility to choose the way of Virtue - and to let Christ through the Holy Spirit live out the fullness of His holy life through us. - J.A.W.