2 Peter 3:1-2 – God’s Word is important

Peter once again reinforced by telling the believers that this letter was the second time he was writing to them. Immediately he made known his purpose for writing. He said that he wanted to stir up their sincere mind by reminding them of the truth. By the word “sincere” Peter meant wholesome. In other words, his intention was to stimulate them to wholesome thinking. Essentially, Peter was exhorting them not to be gullible and be misled by the false teachings.

Here in verse 2, he placed the words of the apostles on par with that of the Old Testament prophets. Both sets of teachings, he asserted, share God’s authority. The “commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles” refers to the same thing he said in 2 Peter 2:21. Peter called it holy commandment that contains the way of righteousness because they were prescriptions for ethical and godly lifestyle.

However, we can also sense Peter’s concern for the eschatological expectation in the light of the return of Christ. Peter knew that in not believing in the Second Coming of Christ and the impending judgment, believers could be lured into a life of indifference. Hence, he felt the urgency and need to deal with these matters. 

There is an unflattering inference in these verses that we can be a forgetful people, and we sometimes truly are. We can be so caught up in the thick of mundane things and become so intoxicated by them, till we lose sight of the more critical things of life. How needful it is to get back to the essential truth of the Lord, taught through the apostles. 

How can one expect to grow in the spiritual dimension without spending time in the Scriptures? Spending time in knowing the Word of God can save us untold hours of undoing the wrong we unknowingly embrace in our life. It’s a good practice to read the Bible in a quiet and unhurried way. In fact it should be our daily exercise. In so doing, we will be informed about our faith, which is the first step to being transformed. We cannot become what we do not know, for we can only act on what we know. Many would spend countless hours acquiring or improving professional skills but would come to the Word of God and read it cursorily and skimpily. While we give due diligence to our profession we must not neglect the all-important Word of God!