2 Peter 2:10-3:18

Join Pastor David Ruddat from Living Savior Lutheran Church as we finish our study of 2 Peter, covering chapter 2:10 through the end of chapter 3, using the EHV (though any translation works fine — NIV, KJV, ESV, etc.).

We continue Peter's warning about false teachers, looking at what drives them — arrogance, blasphemy against God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, greed, and unrestrained lust — and how Peter compares them to Balaam, the Old Testament prophet who sold out God's word for profit. Peter's imagery is vivid: waterless clouds, springs with no water, promises of freedom that end in slavery. We talk about what true freedom actually looks like when it's found in God's Word, using marriage and the fourth commandment as everyday examples.

We also dig into one of the more difficult verses in the letter — Peter's statement that it would have been better for someone never to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn back — and what that means for accountability and judgment.

Moving into chapter 3, we look at the scoffers who mock the promise of Christ's return, Peter's reminder that the same word that created the world by water will one day destroy it by fire, and his famous statement that "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" — a picture of God's patience and His being outside of time. We close with Peter's call to live in holiness and godliness while we wait for the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells, and his final charge to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This wraps up our series on 2 Peter — next week we start the book of Titus!

Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome & recap: 2 Peter chapter 2

00:57 – 2 Peter 2:10 — arrogant false teachers and blasphemy

03:53 – False teachers compared to unreasoning creatures, driven by instinct

05:23 – Greed, lust, and the example of Balaam

08:03 – Waterless clouds and empty promises — false freedom vs. true freedom

11:17 – "Better not to have known the way of righteousness" — a hard verse explained

13:34 – Chapter 3: the Word of God as our foundation

14:11 – Scoffers who mock the promise of Christ's return

16:06 – The flood, the coming fire, and the word that creates and destroys

16:56 – "A day is like a thousand years" — God's patience outside of time

18:38 – The day of the Lord & the new heavens and new earth

21:39 – Peter's final charge: stand firm, grow in grace

23:40 – Closing prayer & looking ahead to Titus