A woman who worked for the Internal Revenue Service at times had to communicate with delinquent taxpayers. On one occasion she called Anchorage and was patched through to a ham operator in the Aleutian Islands. Two hours later the ham operator raised the taxpayer’s home base and from there reached him at sea with his fishing fleet.

After the woman identified herself as being with the IRS in Utah, there was a long pause. Then over the static from somewhere in the North Pacific came: “Ha! Ha! Come and get me!” (In Reader’s Digest, “Life in These United States,” 10/82)

A lot of people scoff at God and the warning of His coming judgment like that fisherman scoffed at the IRS. They somehow think that either it will never happen because it hasn’t happened yet or that if it ever does happen, they’ll be okay. And while few are so bold as openly to scoff at God and the judgment, many do so practically by living as if they will never stand before Him to give an account. The idea of facing Him in judgment is so far from their minds that it never affects how they live.

Just before the apostle Peter’s death, some false teachers were plaguing the early church by scoffing at the idea that Christ would return to judge the world. At the root of their mocking, as we will see, was the fact that they were living for their own lusts. As Peter said, they had eyes full of adultery (2:14) and they enticed others by fleshly desires and sensuality (2:18). When people who profess to know Christ decide to pursue their own lusts, they have to invent some doctrinal loopholes to justify their sins and pacify their consciences. These false teachers scoffed at the idea that Jesus Christ would return in power and glory to judge the world.

They were clever operators, as all false teachers are. They mixed their errors with some truth, so that the unsuspecting would swallow the whole package. They professed to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (2:20). For a while they gave the appearance of knowing the way of righteousness (2:21). They joined in the church life as if they were in full agreement with everything (2:13). But they were not living in submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ. They were following their lusts, claiming to be free in Christ. But in reality, they were slaves of corruption (2:19), living for sensual pleasure and greed. Peter describes them as dogs returning to their own vomit or as pigs going back to wallowing in the mire (2:22).

After exposing these false teachers for what they really were (chapter 2), Peter as a shepherd now urges the church not to follow these mockers who are heading for judgment. He addresses his readers as “beloved” four times in this chapter (3:1, 8, 14, 17). He wants them to know that he cares for them. He also assures them that they have sincere (“pure” or “unmixed”) minds (3:1). But he wants to stir them up by way of reminder (as he did in 1:12-15), so that they would stand firmly upon God’s Word and not be deceived by the mockers. His message is that…

In spite of mockers who scoff at the prospect of Christ’s coming, God’s Word promises that He will come in judgment of the whole world.

Throughout these verses, Peter’s emphasis is on God’s Word. He mentions it in verse 2 as the authoritative message that we must remember. He refers to it in verses 5 and 6 as the means by which God created the world and brought the judgment of the flood on all the wicked. He refers to it again in verse 7 as the basis on which we know that there is a terrifying day of judgment to come.

1. When mockers attack the faith, God’s Word is our sure foundation (3:1-2).

Peter says (3:1), “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder….” Scholars spill a lot of ink debating what the first letter was and whether Peter really wrote this second letter or whether a man posing as Peter wrote it in the middle of the second century. It is possible that the first letter is one that we no longer possess, just as some of Paul’s letters were not included in the New Testament (1 Cor. 5:9; Col. 4:16). But I don’t see any convincing reasons why the first letter isn’t First Peter or why Peter didn’t write Second Peter (as he claims, 1:1). Like every effective teacher, Peter knew that repetition is a key to learning. So he wrote his two letters to stir up the minds of believers to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ (see, also, 1 Pet. 1:13). Note three things:

A. Even the godly must be stirred up to remember the sure foundation of God’s Word.

The implication of verses 1 & 2 is that we do not need “new” truths, but rather we need to be reminded of and remember the old truths that we already possess, but tend to forget. It’s easy for our thinking to become distorted through the godless culture around us and by those who deliberately attack the truthfulness and reliability of God’s Word.

For example, the world assumes as fact that everything on earth evolved by chance over hundreds of millions of years from pond scum into the forms of life that we now see around us. The world mocks those of us who believe the biblical account of creation, as if we somehow haven’t progressed in brain power much beyond our ancestral monkeys! When you’re constantly bombarded by this mindset, it’s easy to get lulled into believing at least some of it. So we need to be stirred up (the word is used of awakening Jesus when He was asleep in the boat, Luke 8:24) to remember what God’s Word says.

John Calvin pointed out (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], on 2 Pet. 3:1, pp. 412-413) that even the godly, who have some degree of biblical learning, will become dim and mentally rusty if they do not receive these constant reminders and warnings. And so the church needs faithful teachers to impress the truth on the memory of their hearers, just as Peter is doing here.

B. The godly should remember the word of the Old Testament prophets.

When Peter tells us to “remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets,” he is referring to the Old Testament prophets. As you know, the prophets are full of warnings about impending judgment both on Israel and on the surrounding nations if they do not repent and obey God. Peter says that we need to be stirred up to remember these repeated warnings about judgment.

So, I will again try to stir you up to read through the entire Bible, over and over again. Psalm 119:160 declares, “The sum of Your word is truth.” We need all of God’s Word to give us balance. You wouldn’t hear professing Christians say inane things like, “I believe in a God of love, not in a God of judgment,” if they were reading and submitting to all of God’s Word.

C. The godly should remember the commandment of the Lord and Savior, spoken by the apostles.

Peter does not specify which commandment of the Lord that he is referring to, but he used the same word just a few verses before (2:21) when he said that the false teachers had known the way of righteousness, but had then turned “away from the holy commandment handed on to them.” Thus I infer that Peter is talking about the ethical demands that stem from the gospel, which come to us through the apostles in the New Testament. Peter Davids puts it this way (The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude [Eerdmans], p. 261):

In Jesus the rule of God became manifest in this world, and this manifestation of the rule of God brings with it a demand that people turn from their way and submit to God’s way, that is, obey the good news and submit to the way of life that it proclaims. While often missing from contemporary preaching, this is the message of the New Testament.

By the way, “Lord and Savior” in verse 2 is governed by one definite article in Greek, showing that it refers to the same person, Jesus Christ (Thomas Schreiner, The New American Commentary, 1, 2 Peter, Jude [Broadman Publishers], p. 271). You cannot separate Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord. If you truly trust in Him as your Savior, you must submit to Him as your Lord.

So Peter’s opening comments in chapter 3 show us that when mockers attack the faith, God’s Word is our sure foundation.

2. When mockers scoff at the prospect of Christ’s coming, it is because they willfully ignore that God created the universe and judged the wicked in the flood by His word (3:3-6).

A. God’s Word predicts that mockers will come in the last days, following their own lusts, denying the promise of Christ’s coming (3:3-4).

Peter says, “Know this first of all,” meaning, of first importance. He wants us to be forewarned, “that in the last days, mockers will come with their mocking” (3:3). The entire age between the two advents of Christ is referred to as “the last days.” During that time, we who know Christ as Savior and Lord should be living in the hope and expectancy of His bodily return in power and glory. But we also should not be surprised when mockers attack biblical truth, including the truth of the second coming.

The early church lived with the expectancy that Christ could return in their time (1 Thess. 4:15). That is no wonder, since the 260 chapters of the New Testament have about 300 references to Christ’s coming and only four books (Galatians, Philemon, 2 & 3 John) lack any specific reference to it (The MacArthur Study Bible [Nelson Bibles], ed. by John MacArthur, p. 1928; The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 2 Peter & Jude [Moody Publishers], p. 117). But even by the mid-60’s, when Peter wrote, skeptics were becoming disillusioned that Christ had not returned, and some were so bold as to attack openly the very idea that He ever would return. But Calvin rightly pointed out that you cannot take away the promise of Christ’s return without destroying the very core of the gospel. He said (p. 415),

… for when that is taken away, there is no gospel any longer, the power of Christ is brought to nothing, the whole of religion is gone. Then Satan aims directly at the throat of the Church, when he destroys faith in the coming of Christ. For why did Christ die and rise again, except that he may some time gather to himself the redeemed from death, and give them eternal life?

Years ago, I knew a man here in Flagstaff who wrote a book claiming that Jesus returned in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed and so He is not coming again. He was trying to resolve the difficult verse (Matt. 24:34) where Jesus says, “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” But I told him that his “solution” was not only heretical, but also it robs us of any hope for the future. I did not convince him, but I stand with Calvin in saying that if we deny the promise of Christ’s coming, we destroy the gospel itself.

Briefly, note three things in verses 3-4:

1. The mockers’ skepticism was rooted in their desire to live according to their lusts (3:3).

We saw this at length in chapter 2, and Peter’s mention of it here indicates that he is referring to the same group. If you are living to pursue your own lusts, you do not want to believe in a future judgment! You have to do something to ease your guilty conscience. So these men looked around, saw some who were wondering why the promises about Christ’s return had not been fulfilled, and started proclaiming, “He’s not coming. Everything is going on just as it has since the beginning of creation.” As we’ve seen, sinful living always results in false doctrine, and vice versa.

2. The mockers’ charge that God’s promise has failed was an attack against His honor (3:4).

To say that any of God’s promises has failed is to call God a liar. We may not understand why God does not seem to answer our prayers when they are in accord with His will and for His glory. If we do so with submissive hearts, I think it is legitimate to bring our complaints to the Lord when we wrestle with these problems, as the psalmists often did. But we dare not charge God with unfaithfulness and assert that we’re right and He is wrong! Because they attacked God’s honor, these false teachers stood condemned.

3. The mockers’ error was based on their assumption that God does not act in history (3:4).

These mockers were basically deists, claiming that God created the world, but then He stepped back and has not been involved in the events of history. Note that they used Christian terminology: they referred to the time when “the fathers fell asleep.” To refer to death as sleep was a New Testament way of saying that Jesus took the sting out of death, so that those who are in Him do not die, but merely fall asleep (1 Cor. 15:18; 1 Thess. 4:13-14). This does not mean that the soul sleeps until the resurrection. To be absent from the body is “to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). But the point is, the false teachers used common Christian language to draw in the naïve and snare them with their deism.

Michael Green notes (The Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude [Eerdmans], p. 128), “Had they been alive today, they would have talked about the chain of cause and effect in a closed universe governed by natural laws, where miracles, almost by definition, cannot happen.” Thus the idea of God breaking into history in judgment was not possible. And, a further implication of this was that the first coming of Jesus Christ was not an act of God.

But Peter hits them for failing to note that two cataclysmic events in past history point to the final cataclysmic judgment:

B. The mockers willfully ignore that by God’s Word He created the universe and He judged the wicked in the flood (3:5-6).

Scholars are divided on the translation. The NASB translates, “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice ….” The ESV puts it, “For they deliberately overlook this fact, …” The phrase seems to mean that in their desire to do away with the future judgment, these men failed to see two huge interventions of God in past history, namely, the creation of the universe and the flood.

1. The mockers willfully ignore God’s authority as the Creator of the universe by His word (3:5).

Peter says, “… by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water.” He is referring to Genesis 1, which repeatedly states, “and God said,” as the effective power that brought the creation into existence. As Psalm 33:9 says in reference to the creation, “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”

It is not totally clear what Peter means when he says that “the earth was formed out of water and by water.” He is referring to Genesis 1, where on the first day of creation, the earth was covered with water. “Then,” (on the second day, Gen. 1:6), “God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’” God then divided the waters on earth from the waters in the heavens, forming a sort of vapor canopy over the earth. Then on the third day (Gen. 1:9-10), God lifted up the land so that it was separated from the seas. Peter’s point seems to be that water, the agent that God predominantly used in creation, is what He then used to judge the world in the flood.

Peter is also making the point that the mockers were ignoring the implications of the doctrine of God as Creator. The Bible repeatedly emphasizes the point that God created the world, including people. Therefore, He is the rightful Lord of His creation and the righteous Judge of those who do not submit to His lordship.

2. The mockers willfully ignore the fact that by His word, God destroyed the world by the flood (3:6).

“Which,” (3:6) in Greek is a plural pronoun, referring to both God’s word and the water of the flood (Schreiner, p. 377). How could the false teachers claim that everything has continued on just as it was from the beginning of creation when God directly intervened in the most catastrophic judgment in history? The lesson of the flood was that God intervened in history to judge the wicked, and thus He will again intervene. All who follow their own lusts and do not repent and submit their lives to the Lord and Savior will face Him when He comes again in judgment.

3. When mockers scoff at the promise of Christ’s coming, it is because they willfully ignore God’s word about the future judgment (3:7).

Again Peter emphasizes God’s word: “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” This is the only New Testament passage (except for 3:10, 12) that states explicitly that the future judgment will be by fire. But there are several Old and New Testament passages that allude to it.

Isaiah 66:15-16 states, “For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.”

Malachi 4:1 says, “‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.’”

In the New Testament, John the Baptist predicts that Jesus will “burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12). Paul pictures the second coming as “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire” (2 Thess. 1:7), dealing out retribution to the wicked.

Peter’s point is that the God who created the universe by His word and destroyed the wicked in the flood by His word has also warned by His word that He will judge the ungodly in the future by fire. Those who mock the second coming of Christ so that they can continue following their own lusts are fools!

Conclusion

I offer two applications based on these verses for each of us to consider:

·         To move away from the truth that God created the world by His word of power is to move toward skepticism and licentious living.

I am not saying that you must hold to a recent, six 24-hour day view of creation, although that seems to be the most obvious interpretation of the biblical record. But if you hold to a different interpretation, you still need to emphasize the miraculous power of God’s spoken word in the process. In other words, creation was a miracle of God’s power however and whenever He did it. If you minimize the miraculous, you move toward skepticism, which at some point undermines the authority of God’s moral standards.

·         To move away from the truth that Christ is coming again to judge the world is to move toward skepticism and licentious living.

Our tolerant culture that doesn’t want to make any moral judgments has swayed many Christians to minimize the biblical truth of God’s judgment. Some deny the eternality of hell. Others believe that God will ultimately save everyone. If you move in that direction, you move toward skepticism of God’s Word and, eventually, toward moral relativism.

If you are a Christian—a follower of Jesus—the bottom line has to be, “What does God’s Word say?” It clearly says that God created the world by His word, judged the world at the flood by His word, and will judge the ungodly when Christ returns by His word. Thus we must stand firm on these truths and out of love warn everyone to flee the wrath to come.

Application Questions

1. Discuss: Are the Bible and science at odds? Must we abandon reason and go by blind faith to believe in the Bible?
2. Why is the doctrine of creation by God’s word so foundational to the Christian faith? Which views of creation are permissible within the boundaries of biblical interpretation?
3. Why is the doctrine of Christ’s bodily return in power and glory to judge the world essential to the gospel?
4. Agree/disagree: To move away from the truths of creation and/or judgment is to move toward skepticism and licentious living?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

I’m always amazed at how fascinated everyone is by biblical prophecy. One night when I was in the Coast Guard, I was sitting alone in the bridge of the cutter on radio watch when the chief came up to get some paperwork. I was reading First Peter. The chief looked over my shoulder and asked, “Whatcha reading?” Then he answered his own question, “Oh, Peters huh? You ought to read Revelations. It’s really [expletive meaning “cool” deleted].”

I thought, “Here is this thoroughly pagan man who thinks that the book of the Bible that describes God’s awful wrath and judgment against sinners is a cool book!” People are drawn to prophecy like moths to the fire, not realizing that biblical prophecy warns sinners to repent and flee from God’s coming wrath.

As we’ve seen, Peter is writing to counter some false teachers who were denying that Jesus is coming again to judge the world. They denied that truth because they wanted to pursue their greedy, sensual lifestyle. They were drawing away some naïve professing Christians with their message of “freedom,” which was really leading people into slavery to sin (2:19).

After explaining why the Lord’s return seems to be delayed—because He has a different perspective of time and because He is patiently waiting for all to come to repentance (3:8-9)—Peter returns to the theme that he mentioned in 3:7, that the day of judgment is coming. As with all biblical prophecy, it is not given to satisfy our curiosity about the end times, but rather to motivate us toward godly living. Peter’s message is simple:

Since Christ will return in frightening judgment, we must live in holiness in light of that day.

Peter is not interested here in setting forth a detailed, chronological account of the end times, so that we can draw up prophecy charts. Rather, he is driving home one main point: This world and all that it treasures is going to burn. God is going to re-create a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells. So, you need to make a basic choice: Do you want to live for everything that is certain to be destroyed, or do you want to live so that you will have an inheritance in that new heavens and earth? While I will try to explain a few details about biblical prophecy as we work through the text, I don’t want us to get distracted from the central message: Christ is coming again in frightening judgment. Are you living in holiness in light of that day?

1. Although Christ has not yet returned in judgment, that frightening day will come, with disastrous consequences for all who have not repented of their sins (3:10).

In verse 9, Peter explains that one reason for the delay in the Lord’s coming is that He is patiently giving sinners the opportunity to repent. But it would be a huge mistake to conclude that because He delays, He will not come at all. “Will come” is first in the Greek text to emphasize that the Lord certainly will come (Thomas Schreiner, The New American Commentary, 1, 2 Peter, Jude [Broadman & Holman Publishers], p. 383). There is no doubt about it!

The theme of the “day of the Lord” is familiar from the Old Testament prophets. Sometimes it points to near historical judgments, whereas other times it looks ahead to a final great day of judgment. In both cases, it always uses frightening language of destruction. For example, Isaiah 13:9 warns, “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it.” (See, also, Jer. 46:10; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Mal. 4:1, 5.) The New Testament repeats this theme (Acts 2:20; 1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 1:7-10; 2:2; Rev. 16:14). As I understand it, “the day of the Lord” in 2 Peter 3:10 is synonymous with the more unusual phrase, “the day of God,” in verse 12 (John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible [Nelson Bibles], p. 1929, sees a distinction).

There have always been those who don’t like the “fire and brimstone” imagery of God’s judgment. They prefer a kinder, gentler God, who will be nice to sinners. Paul talks about “the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience,” and adds, “the kindness of God leads you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). But keep reading! In the next verse he adds (Rom. 2:5), “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” So while we should proclaim the good news of God’s kindness if a person repents, we also must warn that a day of frightening judgment is coming for those who do not repent. Note four things from verse 10:

A. Christ’s return in judgment is absolutely certain.

“The day of the Lord will come.” There isn’t any doubt about it. It will happen personally the day we die: “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). It is appointed! You’ve got an appointment with death and no one yet, except for Enoch and Elijah, has been able to dodge that appointment. There is no reincarnation, where you get another chance to improve yourself. There is no purgatory, where if enough of your relatives pray and light candles and give money to the church, you eventually get into heaven. Rather, you have an appointment to die and face God in judgment. Are you ready for that appointment?

But there is also the coming day of the Lord, when Christ returns. At that point, there will not be a second chance. Although this idea may not appeal to the intellectuals, it is the very truth that Paul proclaimed to the philosophers on Mars Hill (Acts 17:30-31): “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” If God has fixed that day, you had better believe that it will come!

B. Christ’s return will be sudden, unexpected, and disastrous for all who have not repented of their sins.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief….” Peter is repeating the words of Jesus (Matt. 24:42-43), who said, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” (See, also, 1 Thess. 5:2-3.)

Just as in the days prior to the flood, the people around Noah were going on about life with no thought of impending judgment, so it will be in the day when Jesus returns (Matt. 24:37-39). People have heard that Jesus will come again in judgment. Maybe they’ve seen a movie about it or read the Left Behind books. But they procrastinate from doing anything to get ready.

It’s like preparing a will. Marla and I just updated ours, which we had last done about 18 years ago. But I confess that it took me over a year to really do it, even after I committed myself to do it. But the Bible’s message is clear: Don’t procrastinate about getting right with God! Dying without Christ will have far more disastrous effects than dying without a will! Don’t let the day surprise you like a thief in the night!

C. Christ’s return will not give anyone outside of Christ any avenue of escape.

When people in the Gulf States receive a warning that a hurricane is bearing down on their city, they usually have time to board up their houses, grab a few belongings, and get out of town. If we heard that Mount Humphries was threatening to erupt, we’d probably have time to escape. But if astronomers warned us that a giant meteor was heading straight for earth and it would disintegrate the entire planet, where could we go?

Peter warns (3:10) that at the coming of Christ, “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” There is a difficult textual variant on that last verb, with many reliable manuscripts reading, “will be found.” If it is original, the idea is probably as the NIV translates, “will be laid bare,” or as the ESV puts it, “be exposed.” The idea would then be that those who thought that they could hide their sins from God will be exposed. No one, no matter how clever, will get away with anything.

So whichever reading is authentic, it is clear that there won’t be any place to go to escape this judgment! If you could get in a rocket and head into outer space, it wouldn’t do you any good, because it’s not only earth, but also the heavens, that will be destroyed by this huge judgment of fire. Only those who are in Christ will be safe.

If 2 Peter were the only book of the Bible, we would have to conclude that this all-encompassing judgment by fire will take place at the instant that Christ returns. Amillennialists believe this. They argue that there will not be a literal, 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth. Rather, He will return, judge the earth, and create the new heavens and new earth, which will be the final, eternal state.

But, as I said, Peter is not interested here in giving a detailed chronology of the end times. As in many biblical prophecies, Peter telescopes the events of the future, leaving out large gaps of time (cf. Isa. 61:1-2 with Luke 4:17-21). He is trying to impress on us the need to be right with God before this awful, inescapable day comes on the whole world. When you fit together other prophecies, such as Isaiah 65 and Revelation 20, it seems to me that when Christ returns, He will reign upon earth on the throne of David for 1,000 years. During that time, there will be unprecedented peace all over the earth. But at the end of that time, Satan will lead a final rebellion. God will destroy His enemies with fire (Rev. 20:9). I understand that to be the judgment that Peter describes here.

But in trying to figure out the sequence of end times events, don’t miss the main point: Christ’s return is absolutely certain. It will be sudden, unexpected, and disastrous for all who have not repented of their sins. Thus you need to be right with God before it comes, because then there will not be any avenue of escape!

D. Christ’s return will destroy all the proud works of man.

Peter not only says that the earth will be burned up (or exposed), but also “its works.” Everything that proud man has accomplished will go through this burning heat that is so intense that the very elements will melt (3:12)! Peter repeats this judgment by fire in verse 7, again in verse 10, and again in verse 12. Why does he repeat himself? Is he a forgetful old man? No, Peter knows, as the Old Testament often records, that those who need to heed the warning are prone to procrastinate or get distracted with other things and put off getting right with God.

Although there are similarities, Peter is not talking here about the same thing that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3, where he says that our works will be tested with fire. The wood, hay, and stubble will be burned up. The gold, silver, and precious stones will survive. In those verses, Paul is talking about the judgment of believers’ works, not of believers themselves, because he adds (1 Cor. 3:15), “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” But Peter is talking about both the destruction of sinners (3:7) and their works (3:10). Everything they have worked for will go up in smoke and then they will face eternal judgment in the lake of fire!

This is not to say that everything that unbelievers work for is a complete waste. Numerous medical and technological advances are for the good of the human race. God gives us things like music, art, and literature for our enjoyment and pleasure. But if, like the city and tower of Babel, those things are done for the glory of proud man (Gen. 11:4), then they will end up in a pile of ashes in the day of judgment. As the familiar wall plaque that was by our front door when I was a boy, puts it, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” I would encourage all of you, but especially those of you who are young, to read John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life [Crossway Books]. He will help you to make sure that however you spend your life, you will not watch your works go up in the big blaze.

So Peter’s first point is, although Christ has not yet returned in judgment, that frightening day will come certainly and unexpectedly, with disastrous consequences for all who have not repented of their sins (3:10).

2. Since Christ will return in judgment, we should be holy people, looking for and hastening that day (3:11-12).

A. Since Christ will return in judgment, we should be holy people (3:11).

“Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…” (3:11). It’s not a question; it’s an exclamation! The word “conduct” means way of life, or lifestyle. Peter uses it often in his first letter (translated as “behavior”). He writes (1 Pet. 1:15), “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” In 1 Peter 2:12, he urges, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (See also, 1 Pet. 1:18; 3:1, 2, 16.) “The day of visitation” is the same as “the day of the Lord” or “the day of God.” It is the day of judgment, when we must give an account to God.

“Holy” conduct (2 Pet. 3:11) means conduct that is distinct from this evil world. It doesn’t necessarily mean being weird. I’ve seen Christians who are distinct because they’re weird. But they would be weird whether they were Christians or not. If we’re weird, it should be because we live in obedience to God’s Word. We hold to the values that the Bible teaches us to live by. We live in light of eternity, not for all of the junk that’s going to burn. We value people above things. We treasure Christ above all else.

“Godliness” has the root idea of reverence and awe towards God. William Barclay (New Testament Words [Westminster Press], p. 107) says that it is “the attitude which gives God the place he ought to occupy in life and in thought and in devotion.” Peter used this word back in 1:3, where he said that God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” He includes it in the list of qualities that he gives us in 1:5-7: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.

In our text (2 Pet. 3:11), holy conduct and godliness are both plurals. It may refer to repeated acts of holiness and godliness (Schreiner, p. 389), or it may mean that every part of our conduct towards God and man should be holy and godly (editor’s footnote in Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], p. 421). In other words, we should live all of life in the presence of God, with reverence towards Him. We should always be thinking of that day when we will stand before the Lord, and govern everything we do in light of it.

B. Since Christ will return in judgment, we should be looking for and hastening that coming day (3:12).

Three times in three verses (12, 13, 14) Peter uses the verb, “looking for.” It is used (Acts 3:11) of the lame beggar by the temple gate, who when Peter told him, “Look at us,” was expecting to receive a gift. It is also used (Acts 27:33) to refer to the sailors on Paul’s journey, during the storm at sea, who had been watching for 14 days. In our text, it emphasizes the eager expectation that we should have for Christ’s coming, when all of His promises to us will be fulfilled. We should love the day of His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8), much as a bride eagerly awaits the day when her groom returns from the war to be with her always.

But what does Peter mean when he says that we are not only to be looking for, but also “hastening the coming of the day of God”? It may simply be reinforcing the earlier word, “looking for,” meaning, “earnestly desiring” (J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude [Baker], p. 367). But, in light of verses 8-9, that the Lord’s coming seems delayed while He waits for all to come to repentance, Peter may mean that as we live godly lives and proclaim the gospel to the lost, we have a part in speeding up the Lord’s return (ibid.).

Jesus said that the gospel will be preached to all the nations, “and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). Peter preached that if people would repent, not only would their sins be forgiven, but also the Lord would send Jesus back from heaven (Acts 3:19-21). It’s not that we can change the eternal decree of God. But, in some fashion that we cannot completely understand, when we live in light of Christ’s coming, it speeds it up (from our perspective). We are to pray, “Your kingdom come.” Presumably, that prayer somehow has an effect on when God’s kingdom actually does come! As we live holy lives and take the gospel to the nations, it hastens Christ’s coming. Finally,

3. According to God’s promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells (3:13).

As Paul points out (Rom. 8:20-22), the present creation has been subjected to the fall on account of man’s sin. But God has promised to restore it when Christ returns. Isaiah 65:17-25 (and 66:22) refers to the new heaven and earth as a place where people will live much longer lives and the lion will lie down peacefully with the lamb. That cannot be a reference to the eternal state, because then people will not die at all. In my opinion, it refers to the millennial reign of Christ on earth. But John (Rev. 21:1) uses the same phrase to refer to the eternal state, after this present earth has passed away. I’m not sure how to bring these two together, except to say that the millennial reign of Christ will be a foretaste of the eternal state, when all of God’s promises will have been fulfilled.

Due to various cartoons, the common conception of heaven is that it will be an eternal bore! You’ll sit on a cloud in a white robe, strumming a harp forever and ever. It doesn’t make you want to go there! But heaven, or eternity for believers, will be living in a perfectly re-created physical world, untainted by sin. This new earth will be a place where righteousness dwells. It will then be impossible for sin to mess things up! And, we will be in God’s glorious presence forever! Hallelujah! (To whet your appetite for going to heaven, read Randy Alcorn’s Heaven [Tyndale].)

Conclusion

A mother once went to the youth pastor of her church and said, “I can’t get my daughter to clean up her room. Is there anything you can do to help?” He said, “I think so.” He announced to the youth group that he was going to come over unannounced and take a picture of each teenager’s room and put it on the bulletin board. (This was a few years ago; today he’d put it on Facebook or “You Tube”!) Suddenly, every kid’s room became much cleaner!

Peter is saying, “Christ is coming back suddenly and unexpectedly. Make sure that your life is clean and ready for His coming! Live in holiness in light of that day!”

Application Questions

1. Some say that the fear of hell is not a legitimate motive to trust in Christ as Savior. Agree/disagree? Why?
2. Discuss: Why do people flock to prophecy conferences but not to prayer conferences? To what extent should we try to figure out all the details of biblical prophecy?
3. How can a Christian develop the biblical focus of living daily in light of Christ’s coming? What practical things can he do?
4. Does the idea of heaven motivate you or bore you? How can a believer develop a longing to depart and be with Christ (Phil. 1:21-23)? How far should we go medically to prolong life?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

Every Christian should aim at finishing well. Steadfastness and perseverance are huge themes in the New Testament. One lesson from Jesus’ parable of the sower is that it’s easy to begin well. The seed on the rocky ground sprang up quickly. The seed on the thorny ground seemed to be doing well for a while. But neither of them persevered to bring forth fruit. Only the seed on the good soil bore fruit with perseverance (Luke 8:15). In the context of persecution, false prophets, and lawlessness, Jesus said, (Matt. 24:13), “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”

Probably no other Christian in history can match the accomplishments of the apostle Paul. Yet when he neared the end of his life, he did not mention his many accomplishments, but rather his perseverance. He said (2 Tim. 4:7), “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” In his letters, he often emphasizes the need for steadfastness, especially when we encounter trials (1 Cor. 15:58; Gal. 6:9; Col. 1:11, 23). The author of Hebrews also repeatedly emphasizes the need to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1; see, also 2:1; 3:6, 12, 14; 4:14; 10:36). The Book of Revelation promises the victor’s crown to the overcomers, who persevere (Rev. 2:10-11, 17, 19, 25; 3:5, 10-12, 21).

As Peter finishes his final epistle, concerned about the false teachers that were plaguing the churches, he wants his readers to persevere. And so he repeats the themes that he has emphasized throughout the letter, warning of the danger of the false teachers and exhorting us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. He gives us three essentials for perseverance in the faith:

To persevere as a Christian, guard yourself from spiritual error, grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and live to glorify Him.

Guarding, growing, and glorifying! There is a progression between the three terms. If you guard yourself from spiritual error, you will not fall from your own steadfastness and thus will grow in your relationship with Christ. And if you grow in Christ, you will glorify Him with your life, which is your chief purpose.

1. To persevere as a Christian, guard yourself from spiritual error (3:17).

The New Testament is clear that the enemy deceitfully infiltrates the church with false teachers who sound biblical, but deceptively lead God’s people away from the truth into destructive heresies. Peter has spent chapter 2 and a good part of chapter 3 warning about these men. In 3:16, he refers to them as “the untaught and unstable” (in contrast to the steadfast), who distorted the Scriptures to their own destruction. So in 3:17 Peter warns, “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.”

“Steadfastness” is a Greek noun used only here in the New Testament. But Jesus used the verb when He predicted Peter’s denials and then said (Luke 22:32), “when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Simon Peter, who had been so unstable, was changed by God’s grace into a rock of steadfastness, so that now he is concerned that others be steadfast in the Lord.

“You” is emphatic, standing in contrast to the false teachers. By telling his readers that they know this (how the false teachers operate) beforehand, Peter is using the principle of reminder and repetition that he has followed earlier in the letter (1:12-15; 3:1-2). He is saying that to be forewarned is to be forearmed. We get our word “prognosis” from the Greek word translated “beforehand.” A prognosis enables you to get ready so that some predicted danger will not catch you unaware. If a doctor says, “If you do not lose some weight, you run a high risk of contracting diabetes,” he’s telling you in advance so that you can take corrective action to prevent the disease.

Peter’s prognosis is that in the church there will be these untaught, unstable, and unprincipled (or, “lawless”) men who distort Scripture to support their immoral lifestyles. In other words, they used the Bible, but they either cited things out of context or used only the verses that seemed to support their perverted point of view, ignoring the verses that confronted their sin. And, since fallen sinners instinctively want to avoid the light so that their evil deeds will not be exposed (John 3:19-20), these false teachers never lack an audience (2 Tim. 4:3). Some of the largest churches in America are led by men mixing truth and error in subtle, destructive ways. One rule to test them by is, if a man never confronts sin, he is not preaching the Word of God (2 Tim. 4:1-2).

Let’s face it: the Bible has some hard teachings that confront the popular ideas of every culture. It’s not popular to say that we all are born in sin, hopelessly lost, unable and unwilling to come to God for salvation. It’s much more flattering to human pride to say that while we all mess up once in a while, we’re really not so bad as to deserve hell. Hell itself is not a popular topic. It’s not popular to teach that Jesus is the only way to heaven and that those from other religions, no matter how sincere, will not go to heaven unless they repent and trust in Christ alone.

It’s not popular to teach that we must repent of our sins and submit to Christ as absolute Lord and Master. It’s much more palatable to teach that grace means that God winks at our sin and that Jesus is there to help us reach our full potential. I’ve been accused of being legalistic and not understanding grace because I teach that we must obey Jesus Christ.

It’s not popular and soon may be criminal to teach that homosexual behavior is sinful. It’s not popular to teach that it is sin to engage in any sexual activity outside of marriage. We’ve seen numerous couples stop attending this church because we insist that they stop living together before they get married. They usually just find another church that isn’t “hung up” over such matters. It’s not popular to teach that men and women have complementary, but distinct, roles in the home and in the church. And the list could go on and on!

Some would say that it’s not loving to be so critical and judgmental about these matters. They say that we ought to be positive, not negative. But notice that Peter again (3:1, 8, 14, 17) addresses his readers as “beloved.” He cared deeply for these believers and therefore he warned them about these destructive teachers. If you love your children, you warn them sternly about running out into the street. As they get older, love moves you to warn them about the dangers of drinking, drugs, and sexual immorality. You know that these sins can leave them with permanent scars. Love is not just positive; it has a negative side of warning about the destructive nature of sin and of false teaching.

One other thought here: There is a link between knowledge and behavior. Peter says, “knowing this beforehand, be on your guard.” Paul says that the job of elders is “both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). In this vein, Michael Green notes (The Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude [Eerdmans], p. 149), “Plain speaking about Christian deviations is incumbent upon the Christian pastor who wants to lead his flock along the way of truth.”

Practically, to guard yourself from spiritual error, I encourage you to read some books on basic Christian doctrine. The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (a modern version is, A Faith to Confess [Carey Publications]), based on the Westminster Confession of Faith, is a good place to start. John Piper has written a short catechism based on this confession (on desiringgod.org). Josh Harris has just written, Dug Down Deep [Multnomah], subtitled, “Unearthing What I Believe and Why it Matters.” R. C. Sproul’s Essential Truths of the Christian Faith [Tyndale] or J. I. Packer’s Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs [Tyndale] are written on an easy-to-understand level. For something more meaty and comprehensive, tackle Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology [Zondervan] or Calvin’s Institutes [Westminster Press]. To persevere as a Christian, you must guard yourself from the many spiritual errors of our day.

2. To persevere as a Christian, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (3:18a).

Being on guard will keep you from being tossed around by every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4:14) and will enable you to grow. We need to consider several truths about growth in general before we look at what it means to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

·         Growth depends on life.

This is just as true spiritually as it is physically. You must be born before you can grow. The Bible teaches that we all enter the world spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-3). Being religious or moral is not enough. Jesus told the religious, moral Pharisee, Nicodemus (John 3:3), “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” God alone can impart new life. Without new life from God, Christianity becomes moralism. Genuine Christianity is a matter of what Henry Scougal called, “the life of God in the soul of man.”

·         Growth is a necessity, not an option.

The Christian life is like riding a bike: if you aren’t moving forward, you’ll fall off. To maintain your steadfastness, you must be growing. If a child is not growing, he has a serious health problem. Growth is normal when there is life. But, unlike children, when it comes to the spiritual life, growth doesn’t end. We must keep growing until the day when we meet Jesus Christ. After more than 25 years as a Christian, the apostle Paul wrote (Phil. 3:13-14), “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” We never reach the place where we can say, “I’ve arrived!”

·         Growth is gradual, not instantaneous.

Even Jesus started out in this world as a baby. No one moves from being a baby to an adult in a day, a week, or even a few years. It takes time to mature and develop. You don’t bring a baby home from the hospital and say, “There’s the refrigerator, kid. The bathroom is down the hall. Take care of yourself!” You don’t expect a baby to do what a 20-year-old can do, nor do you expect a 20-year-old to have the maturity of a 60-year-old. Growth is a process.

The important thing is to be involved in the process so that there is progress. You may not discern change from week to week, but over the long haul, you should be able to look back and see that you love Christ more now than you did five years ago. Now you are more sensitive to your sin than you were before. Now you obey the Word more consistently than you used to do.

The fact that growth is gradual runs counter to the popular idea that you can become holy in an instant through some powerful experience with God. The thought of instant, effortless sanctification sounds appealing. It’s often promoted as, “get baptized in the Spirit,” or, “speak in tongues,” and you will have instant victory over sin. That appeals to me for the same reason that winning the Reader’s Digest Sweepstakes appeals to me: I would be instantly rich without having to work hard and be disciplined to live within my means and save money. Sign me up! But God’s way to godliness is through discipline, not through miracles (1 Tim. 4:7). I’m not saying that God never gives us dramatic spiritual experiences. Such times are wonderful when they come. I am saying that such experiences do not make you instantly mature! Growth is gradual, not instantaneous.

·         Growth is difficult, not easy.

You’ve got to crawl before you walk and once you get the hang of walking, you still fall down a lot. And spiritual growth is the same way. There are a lot of tough lessons that you only learn by trial and error. Sometimes you fall flat on your face. You have to get up and keep trying again. Sometimes you get over-confident, thinking, “I’ve finally learned that lesson!” Then you fail and the Lord shows you that you haven’t learned it yet.

With those general lessons, let’s consider specifically what it means to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A. Grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Grace is the key to a relationship with God because He both saves us by His grace (Eph. 2:8) and sustains us by grace (2 Cor. 12:9). But grace is opposed to every human way of approaching God, and so we have to be on guard constantly so that we do not lapse into a merit system with God. The world operates on the merit system. If you work for good grades in school, you can get into college. You work hard in college and you get rewarded with a good job. You work hard on the job and you are rewarded with pay increases and promotions. In the merit system, you get what you deserve and you deserve what you get. And all of the world’s religions, including some that are labeled “Christian,” operate on the merit system. You get into heaven based on what you have done. The merit system rewards our achievement and feeds our pride.

But grace is opposed to the merit system. Grace means undeserved favor. We deserve God’s wrath, but He blesses us apart from our works. Under grace, we do not work to earn heaven, but we freely receive all that God has provided for us at Christ’s expense. Paul explains (Rom. 4:4-5), “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Under grace, God gets all the credit and human pride is humbled.

How do we grow in the grace which comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? The overall principle is, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). Growing in grace involves coming to a greater understanding of God’s holiness, justice, and sovereignty, which also makes you see more of your own rebellion, selfishness, and pride. You see more and more of how unworthy you were to be the object of God’s saving grace, and yet you also see more and more of how great His undeserved love and favor were that drew you to Himself.

C. H. Spurgeon explained it this way (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit [Pilgrim Publications], 46:539-540):

If you, dear friend, would be truly humble, you must look at your Savior, for then you will say,

Alas! And did my Savior bleed?

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

You will never feel yourself such a worm as when, by faith, you see your Savior dying for you; you will never know your own nothingness so well as when you see your Savior’s greatness. When you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you will be sure to grow in humility.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones affirms the same thing (Expository Sermons on 2 Peter [Banner of Truth], p. 251), “Personally I can be certain I am growing in grace if I have an increasing sense of my own sinfulness and my own unworthiness; if I see more and more the blackness of my own heart.” To grow in grace, you must esteem yourself less, but esteem Christ more!

B. Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

For the third time in this letter, Peter refers to Jesus as “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (1:11; 2:20). You cannot separate Jesus Christ as Savior from Jesus Christ as Lord. When you trust in Christ as Savior, you yield all of yourself that you know to all of Christ that you know. The Christian life is a matter of progressively growing in submission to Christ as through God’s Word you see more of who He is and more of who you are.

The knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ comes from Christ as we grow in obedience to Him. Jesus said (John 14:21), “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who love Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” Such knowledge of Christ includes both facts about Him (as revealed in Scripture) and knowing Him personally. You need both.

Michael Green explains (p. 151), “Knowledge of Christ and knowledge about Christ are, if they keep pace with one another, both the safeguard against heresy and apostasy and also the means of growth in grace.” Knowledge about Christ keeps you from the many errors of the false cults that deny the deity of Jesus Christ. But Christ is not just a subject to be studied; He also is a person to be known. We should be growing to know Him personally on a deeper and deeper level as we spend frequent time with Him in His Word and in prayer.

So Peter tells us that to persevere as a Christian, we must guard ourselves from spiritual error and grow in the grace and knowledge of Him. Finally,

3. To persevere as a Christian, live to glorify Jesus Christ (3:18b).

Peter ends with a doxology (3:18b): “To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” This is as clear of a statement of Christ’s deity as there could be. God will not share His glory with anyone (Isa. 42:8; 48:11), and yet Peter ascribes glory to Jesus Christ. Clearly, Jesus Christ is God. The overarching theme of the Christian life is to glorify the triune God in everything. This means that our aim in growing in grace is not so that we can feel happier or more fulfilled or more significant. Rather, our lives should exalt Christ, so that through us others may see how great He truly is. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). He alone is worthy!

When is He to be glorified? Both now and to the day of eternity. We begin now! We should praise and exalt Him in all that we do, both on Sundays when we gather for worship and throughout the week as we think often on His great love and sacrifice that saved us from God’s wrath. And then, when we are with Him in heaven when He comes, we will gather around the throne and sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev. 5:12)! Glorify Him both now and unto the day of eternity!

Conclusion

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, the last of the marathon runners were being carried off the field to first aid stations about an hour after the winner had crossed the finish line. Just a few spectators remained in the stands when they suddenly heard the sound of sirens and police whistles. All eyes turned to the gate to see John Stephen Akhwari, wearing the colors of Tanzania, limping into the stadium. His leg was bloodied and bandaged from a bad fall. He hobbled around the track past the finish line as the crowd rose and applauded as if he were the winner.

Someone later asked him why he had not quit, in view of his injury and the fact that he had no chance of winning a medal. He replied, “My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it.” (From, Leadership, Spring, 1992, p. 49.)

Christ didn’t give His life for you just to start the Christian life. He gave His life so that you would finish it and finish it well. You will do so if you guard yourself from spiritual error, grow in the grace and knowledge of Him, and live to glorify His name.

Application Questions

1. What are some of the subtle spiritual errors of our day that we need to be on guard against?
2. How can we know if we’re growing spiritually? What are some biblical tests for growth?
3. Many today confuse grace with being tolerant of sin. What biblical texts refute this? What does grace really mean?
4. What is the difference between knowing about Christ and knowing Christ? Can you have one without the other?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dallas, Dec. 14, 2005 – Internet-based “bible.org,” providers of the only modern English Bible translation in the world offered completely free for ministry purposes, and the Global Pastor’s Network, announced today that they have partnered to coordinate efforts to help distribute the first edition of the “NET BIBLE^®” online for free download from /. The Global Pastor’s Network is a growing coalition of Christian ministries and denominations working together to build the premier community of pastors worldwide utilizing online, on-air and on-ground means.

“This partnership means that our mutual goals of planting 5 million churches and winning 1 billion souls to Christ over the next decade will help equip everyone who wants access to a Bible anywhere in the world,” said James O. Davis, cofounder, president, and CEO of the Global Pastor’s Network.

Ministry officials point out that anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection is able to use and print out the NET BIBLE without cost for personal study, preaching, teaching, and training others. And anyone who wants to give away the Bible can print up to 1,000 copies of the NET BIBLE and distribute them for free without the need for written permission - or print millions of copies of the NET BIBLE and distribute them for free by contacting bible.org.

Pastors without extensive libraries, missionaries and Bible translators in the field, and people in countries where access to Bible study materials are restricted or prohibited will all benefit from access to a contemporary English translation with extensive notes available on the Internet.

“The NET BIBLE^® is an entirely new translation from the ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts,” said Dave Foran, executive director of bible.org. “A team of over 25 top scholars, experts in the Biblical languages, worked directly from the best currently available texts. The result was 60,932 translators’ notes and citations pulling from more than 700 scholarly works. The significance of the online translation means that the NET BIBLE was read, studied, and checked by more eyes than any Bible translation in history.”

The two ministries plan to cross promote resources and links as they build towards the Global Pastor’s Networks pastors conference called “Soul Millionaire,” January 25-27, 2006 in Orlando, Florida.

For more information about Global Pastors Network or the “Billion Soul Global Pastor’s Conference,” visit www.soulmillionaire.org or call toll-free 1-888-295-4518. For more information about the NET BIBLE please go to www.bible.org.

The Global Pastors Network began in 2002 as resource for meeting the Church’s need for trained and equipped pastors. Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ and Dr. James O. Davis, co-founders, wanted to provide ministry leaders around the world with the best Christian leadership training available in the most efficient and affordable way possible. Though Dr. Bright died in July 2003, his vision and legacy live on through the leaders he inspired. Bright called GPN, “the most important project I have ever been part of in my life.” The Global Pastors Network is at the forefront of the movement to train millions of pastors and Christian leaders for the billion-soul harvest, all for a fraction of the time and cost of traditional education. A ‘Summit meeting is scheduled for November 1^st, 2005 in Baltimore.

Bible.org is a non-profit (501c3) Christian ministry headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The Ministry launched in 1994 to leverage the Internet as a powerful new force in Christian ministry. In the last decade bible.org has grown to serve millions of individuals in more than 170 countries by providing thousands of trustworthy resources for Bible study free online – including a new translation of the Bible (the NET BIBLE^®).