Peter’s Final Address

These are the closing verses of the second book bearing Peter’s name. “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:17-18). In these verses, we are given a warning, a why and a how.

The warning consists of four words, “be on your guard” (2 Pet. 3:17). This comes on the heels of another warning about those, “untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Pet. 2:16). The last warning of the book is in the context of properly understanding the scriptures. The inability to properly read or the deliberate distorting of the scriptures leads to one’s destruction. It is for this reason that Peter says, “Knowing this beforehand, be on guard.” If you knew that someone was going to attack you or break into your home, would you be ready? Would you warn your family and friends about the potential of them being a victim of the same kind of crime? We need to think about it as seriously in regard to the scripture (Matt. 10:28).

Peter is very clear about the why or reason. We need to be alert and ready for those that would distort the scriptures and potentially lead us down the wrong path. He says it this way, “so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.” There are two things that are important to notice. One, it is possible to teach error. Just because you believe something to be true, that does not make it true. There is a correct way to teach and understand the scriptures, and there is a way that is destructive. Second, it is possible to fall from our place of steadfastness. Our actions, specifically our teaching, can cause us to fall out of a right relationship with God.

It is always nice to be given a road map for a solution. How can we be on guard? By “grow[ing] in the grace and knowledge or our Lord.” When a person prepares themselves to be ready to detect a counterfeit coin or bill, they don’t study all the fakes. They study and memorize every detail of the original. That is the power of the passage we read in the Psalms. “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Psa. 119:11). We don’t have to know all the false teaching that is out there. We just need to know the original well. Be on guard and armed with truth to fight against the distorted versions that are being taught today.

~Josh Blackmer