2 Peter 3:18 - Forerunner Commentary

2 Peter 3:18

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II Peter 3:17-18
Excerpted from: Faithful Travelers on a Spiritual Journey

The second letter of Peter, in its final two verses, gives us a very strong admonition. I want to read both of them to you. II Peter 3:17-18: "You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."

Peter's admonition is very clear: "Beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked." The word "wicked" here in the Greek is athesmos, meaning "lawless" or "unprincipled." Peter is warning that there are those who twist the Scriptures—he has just spoken of Paul's epistles being distorted by the untaught and unstable—and that the believers must guard against being swept along by such distortions. The "steadfastness" (sterigmos) from which they might fall is their firm grounding in the truth they have already received. Peter is saying: You know these things in advance; therefore, do not lose the stable footing you already have.

But Peter does not leave them with a merely negative warning. He follows it immediately with a positive command: "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The antidote to being led astray is not merely defensive vigilance but active growth. The word "grow" (auxanō) is in the imperative—it is a command, not a suggestion. And notice the two spheres of growth: grace and knowledge. Grace here is not merely unmerited favor in a forensic sense; it encompasses the entire sphere of God's enabling power and transforming influence in the believer's life. Knowledge (gnōsis) is personal, experiential knowledge of Christ—not abstract theological data, but a deepening relationship with Him. Peter brackets his entire second epistle with this theme, for he opened it in chapter 1:2 with "grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord," and now he closes with the same emphasis.

The doxology—"To Him be the glory both now and forever"—is striking because it ascribes to Christ the glory that belongs to God. The phrase "both now and forever" (literally, "both now and to the day of eternity") is unique in the New Testament. Peter uses the unusual expression "day of eternity" (hēmera aiōnos) rather than the more common "ages of ages." This points to the eternal, unending day that has no sunset—the consummation of all things in Christ's eternal kingdom, which Peter has been discussing throughout this chapter. The doxology thus ties the entire epistle together: the glory of Christ is both a present reality and an eternal one, and the believer's growth in grace and knowledge is oriented toward that glory.

Articles
A Tale of Two Widgets
Are You Living the Abundant Life?
Ask, Seek, Knock
Born Again or Begotten? (Part Three)
Born Again or Begotten? (Part Two)
Clothing, Wineskins, and Wine
Do We Have 'Eternal Security'?
Do We Have 'Eternal Security'?
Five Teachings of Grace
Hedged About on Every Side
How Does Faith Establish the Law? (Part One)
How Much Longer Do We Have?
Is the Christian Required To Do Works? (Part Two)
Israel: Future
No Private Interpretation
Pillars Stand for Something!
Praying Always (Part Three)
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Eight): Seek Me and Live!
Religious Confusion and You
The Awesome Cost of Love
The Christian Fight (Part Seven)
The Elements of Motivation (Part Six): Eternal Life
The Falling Away
The Sovereignty of God: Part Eight

Bible Studies
Basic Doctrines: Water Baptism
God's Non-Transmittable Attributes (Part Five): Independence
Holy Days: Trumpets
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: A Second Large Catch of Fish (Part One)
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Cripple by a Pool (Part Three)
The Model Prayer (Part Six): Our Daily Bread

Booklets
Ending Your Financial Worries
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part Two)
The World, the Church, and Laodiceanism
What Do You Mean . . . Salvation?

Essays
A Christian Nation? Reprise
Always an Angle
Are You Biblically Literate?
Consequences of a Wrong Focus (Part Two)
Deep Thinkers
Divine Providence (Part One)
Invisible Algorithms
Leaders With Character
Lessons From a Worm
Reciprocity (Part Two)
Salvation: The Path to God's Kingdom (Part Two)
Sanctified by Truth
The Harvest Is Almost In!
The Truth About Deception (Part One)
Truth Revealed to Babes
What Is Real Conversion? (Part Six)
What We Don't Know

Sermons
Looking Forward (Part 2)
Qualifications of a Godly Judge
Looking Forward (Part 2)
Why Many Do Not Understand
Prepare to Teach
The End
In Him Was Life
Magic Doesn't Work (Part 3)
Magic Doesn't Work (Part 3)
The Great Flood (Part 3)
How Much Would You Give Up for the Kingdom of God?
Marriage and the Bride of Christ (Part 3)
Looking Forward
Living Abundantly In Tough Times
Living by Faith: God's Grace (Part 2)
Experiencing God
The Healing of a Man Born Blind (Part Three)
Are You Living an Abundant Life?
Shrugging Off Scoffers (Part Two)
Shrugging Off Scoffers (Part Two)
Life Is Service (Part One)
We Must Work for What We Believe
God Works in Mysterious Ways (Part Five)
Letters to Seven Churches (Part Nine): Philadelphia
The Colossian Heresy and Laodiceanism
Hebrews (Part Eleven): A Simple Recap
Hebrews (Part Twelve): Chapter 2, A Mind-Bending Purpose (Part One)
Studying the Bible
Impediments to Sanctification
Our Awesome Destiny (1993)
Titus 2:11-14
Titus 2:11-14
Spiritual Minefields
How Long, O Lord? (1994)
Joseph: A Saga of Excellence (Part Four)
The Nature of God: Elohim
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part 19)
The Needed Dimension
The Sovereignty of God (Part Eight)
Benefits of the Third Resurrection
Knowing Christ (Part 4)
Character and Leadership
Keeping God's Standards
Real Conversion
Ensuring Our Calling
Holiness of God (Part 4)
Our Awesome Destiny (2000)
Is God's Way Simple?
Choosing to Have a Good Relationship
Spirituality and True Conversion
Meditate on These Things
Are You Fighting the Good Fight?
Paul: Grace, Law, and Obedience
Consider the Butterfly

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