Peter reminds his readers that this is the second letter he's sent to them. (Oh, we remember, Peter.)
He's writing again to let them know that Jesus is going to come back. For real.
Yes, people are saying that he's a little bit behind. Yes, the disciples thought he would have been here by now. What can we say? Jesus likes to be fashionably late?
This is all part of the end of the world anyhow. Naysayers will pop up and start trash-talking the second coming. We thought he'd be here already. You keep telling us he's on his way, but everything's the same as it always was.
Look, scoffers, God destroyed the world once with water. Remember the flood? And Noah's ark? So, why wouldn't he take the whole place out again? This time he's going to do it with fire, though.
Also, you're forgetting that God doesn't keep time like humans do. He'll get here, but it won't be by our clocks, says Peter.
Besides, God might be waiting for more people to come around on this whole Jesus thing. After all, if he gives us some more time, more folks will be saved from those fires of destruction. See, that's just sensible.
Trust me, he says. The end of the world will come when we all least expect it. Everything's going to crumble and die, and only the faithful will be left standing.
That means keep the faith, guys. Stay strong, be good, and fight the good fight, and you totally won't be scorched alive as God burns the Earth to rubble, okay?
Paul also mentioned this stuff in his letters. Of course, some folks don't know how to properly interpret a letter, so they're claiming that Paul's writing supports them. Nope. Paul's on Peter's side all the way…says Peter.
Right, so stay on the good path. Don't stumble and fall as you're walking along. Love Jesus and everything's gonna come up roses.
There are teachers and then there are false teachers.
False teachers teach people to believe things that are completely wrong—like that the world isn't going to end and God isn't going to judge everyone. They're just ignoring stuff that Jesus said, and God won't be pleased when he gets a hold of them.
The worst part is that tons of folks fall for it. Don't let these guys drag you down with them, says Peter. They'll try to trick you with their lies about the end times, but don't believe it for a minute. God has judged them and he's going to annihilate them in the end.
Look, when a bunch of angels disobeyed God, he didn't just shrug it off. He cast them down into Hell. Naysayers will be seeing them soon.
When God saw the world was wicked, he flooded it and killed everyone. Well, everyone except Noah and (because of Noah) his family.
And when he saw those sinners behaving badly in Sodom and Gomorrah, he burned their town to the ground. Luckily, Lot 'nem was able to escape in time.
The moral of the story? God does not play.
He will bring an end to this world and judge folks. But like he did with Noah and Lot, God will show mercy on anyone who does what's right and follows him. Hey, God's not a total meanie.
These false teachers though? They're sinners. They want things they shouldn't have. They hate the folks in charge. And they're also not beneath telling lies.
They're kind of like stupid animals in a slaughterhouse. They're on a conveyer belt to their death and they don't even know it.
And the hating continues: false teachers are like a cancer that eats away at the Christian community. They're adulterous and sinful. They lead the *faithful astray. Oh, and they're super greedy.
They're kind of like Balaam, this guy from the Hebrew Bible. He loved money so much that he went against God. Bad move.
God has reserved a dark corner in Hell just for these folks. They spit out all kinds of nonsense and try to lure people in with the promise of "freedom."
People can only really be free if they give themselves over to God. These false teachers want Christians to tie themselves to the world and keep on sinning.
They might promise freedom, but they're actually slaves to sin. They won't be able to deliver on that promise.
The worst part about this all is that these guys know what is right. They were sinful pagans before they started following Jesus. Now they're going back to their evil ways even though they know it's wrong.
They might as well have never heard of Jesus. At least then they could plead ignorance when God comes knocking.
Peter's back. And this time he's writing to all of Christendom. Yeah, he likes to go big picture.
He's also got some good news: God has given Christians everything they need to live good lives now and in the coming world. Christians have the smarts to escape the trappings of "the world" and to live as one with God.
But Christians have to keep up their end of the faith bargain. They have to do good deeds and be smart and control themselves and preserve and be holy. Oh, and be loving, too. Exhausting.
If anyone doesn't do these things, well, it's not gonna work out so well for them in the end.
But if you stay on the path to goodness, everything will be alright and you'll get your ticket to board the train to Heaventown.
Death Becomes Him
Peter knows that Christians already get this stuff. But he wants to keep giving refreshers as long as he's around to do it. See, he's not long for this world—death is knocking. It's hard out there for an apostle.
Now, some folks have accused Peter of making up all this stuff about Jesus. (Who you gonna call? MythBusters!)
Not so fast. Peter saw all of Jesus' goodness with his own two eyes. Remember that time he went up to the mountain with Jesus and the boss started to sparkle and whatnot?
All this great stuff that Peter's been telling the world about actually happened. Not to mention, he adds, that the Hebrew Bible totally predicted that THAT was how Jesus' life would go down. (P.S. That's a New Testament POV and the Hebrew Bible fans don't agree.)
But just in case you're thinking that Peter is selectively interpreting the Bible—he's not. Those interpretations come straight from God. (And yes, this is Peter talking about himself…super trustworthy!)
