2 Peter 3:17-18

 

 

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2 Peter 3:17  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, (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: Humeis oun, agapetoi, proginoskontev (PAPMPN) phulassesthe (2PPMM) hina me te ton athesmon plan sunapachthentes (AAPMPN) ekpesete (2PAAS) tou idiou sterigmou, 
Amplified: Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless and wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind].
 (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
NET: Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men, and fall from your firm grasp on the truth.
 (NET Bible)
NLT: I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends, so that you can watch out and not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people. I don't want you to lose your own secure footing. (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: But you, my friends whom I love, are forewarned, and should therefore be very careful not to be carried away by the errors of wicked men and so lose your proper foothold.  (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: As for you, therefore, divinely loved ones, knowing [these things] beforehand, be constantly on your guard, lest having been carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness.  (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: Ye, then, beloved, knowing before, take heed, lest, together with the error of the impious being led away, ye may fall from your own stedfastness,

REFERENCES on 2 PETER

Don Anderson
Paul Apple
Albert Barnes
Brian Bell
John Calvin
Rich Cathers
Adam Clarke
Thomas Constable
Ron Daniels
Robert Deffinbaugh
John Gill
Joe Guglielmo
David Guzik  
Matthew Henry
Jameison, F, B
S Lewis Johnson
William Kelly
John MacArthur
Alexander Maclaren
J Vernon McGee
John Piper
Grant Richison
Grant Richison
Ron Ritchie
A T Robertson
J C Ryle
Ron Salvato
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
Ray Stedman
Marvin Vincent
Precept Ministries

2 Peter - Study Guide with Questions
2 Peter 109 page PDF commentary
2 Peter 3
2 Peter 3:10-18
2 Peter 3
2 Peter 3

2 Peter 3
2 Peter Expository Notes
2 Peter 3:11-18
2 Peter 3:14-18 Scripture Twisters
2 Peter 3
2 Peter 3
2 Peter 3
2 Peter 3
2 Peter 3
2 Peter 3:10-18 Day of the Lord and Day of God Mp3
2 Peter Commentary

2 Peter 3:14-18 Living in Anticipation of Christ's Return Pt 2
2 Peter 3:18 Growth
2 Peter 3:14-18   Mp3 
2 Peter 3:15-18 Grow in Grace & in Knowledge of Our Lord
2 Peter 3:17 3:17b 3:17c 3:17d
2 Peter 3:18 3:18b 3:18c 3:18d 3:18e

2 Peter 3:14-18 What Should We Do Until Christ's Return?
2 Peter 3 Greek Word Studies
2 Peter 3:18 Growth
2 Peter 3:14-18 (Grow)

2 Peter 3:17 The Ever-Present Crisis (Pdf)
2 Peter 3:18 A Psalm for the New Year (Pdf)
2 Peter 3:18 Growth in Grace

2 Peter 3 Commentary Notes
2 Peter 3 Greek Word Studies
2 Peter Download Lesson 1 in Pdf

YOU THEREFORE BELOVED KNOWING THIS BEFOREHAND BE ON YOUR GUARD: humeis oun agapetoi: proginôskontes (PAPMPN) phulassesthe (2PPMM): (2Peter 1:12; Pr 1:17; Mt 24:24,25; Mk 13:23; Jn 16:4) (Be on guard  - Mt 7:15; 16:6,11; Php 3:2; Col 2:8; 2Ti 4:15)

Therefore (oun) looks back over all that has been said and forms the basis for Peter's concluding exhortations to his “beloved” (used 4 times in this letter) readers, urging them to beware of falling and to continue growing in grace. These last two verses instruct the reader how to avoid being swept away into error and destruction.

Knowing...beforehand (that there will be those who will come along twisting and distorting the Scripture and that you can be destroyed by misusing scripture) is the Greek word proginosko which means "previous knowledge" or "foreknowledge based upon prior experience" and so they are without excuse for misunderstanding Peter or Paul on this subject. Peter gives a final admonition to faithfulness. Although there is no expressed object of what the readers knew beforehand, clearly in context Peter is referring to the danger of the false teaching. Their advance knowledge gave them an advantage.  Paul wrote a parallel thought to the Thessalonians "you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief." (1Th 5:4)

To be forewarned is forearmed. The known danger (knowing beforehand) and the resultant duty (guard) go together.

Be on guard (5442) (phulasso from phulax = watchman) (click for in depth study of phulasso) is a military term that denotes the activity or office of a watchman whose job it was “to protect” those who are asleep from harm during the night and prevent loss or theft. The soldier on watch was accountable with his own life to protect that which was entrusted to his care.

Phulasso is present tense, imperative mood indicating a command to make this the habit of your life - "keep on guarding yourselves". The middle voice conveys a reflexive sense, you guard yourself being the idea.

Phulasso is not only a notice against dangers from without, but an admonition to watchfulness from within. Paul gave a similar command (although using a different verb, prosecho ) to the Ephesian elders to

"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves (an "inside job") men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them." (Acts 20:28-30).

Peter used phulasso in (see note 2 Peter 2:5) to explain how God preserved Noah through the flood.

A cursory look at some of the other 31 NT uses gives one an even better sense of the meaning of phulasso.

Luke uses phulasso to describe the shepherds

keeping watch  (phulasso) over their flock by night. (Lu 2:8)

Paul instructs Timothy to

Guard (phulasso) through the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you." (see note 2 Timothy 1:14 see also in 1Ti6:20)

Paul warned Timothy to

"Be on guard (phulasso) against (Alexander the coppersmith) yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching." (see note 2 Timothy 4:5)

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect (phulasso) you from the evil one. (2Th 3:3)

Phulasso then refers specifically to deliberate and conscious watching, being on the alert, carrying out sentinel functions, to guard (one assigned to protect or oversee another) or to protect by taking careful measures. Adam was commanded by God to keep the Garden of Eden, the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT using phulasso to translate "keep" (Ge 2:15)

Phulasso was used of the garrison of a city guarding it against attack from without. This gives us a picture of our heart which like a citadel must be guarded against insidious assailants from without.

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. (Pr 4:23)

Each time you listen to a tape, each time you hear a sermon, each time you read an article...each time you need to be on guard so that the Word of Truth is preserved.

LEST BEING CARRIED AWAY BY THE ERROR OF UNPRINCIPLED MEN: hina mête ton athesmon plane sunapachthentes (APPMPN) te ton athesmon plane te tôn athesmôn:(2Peter 2:18-20; Mt 24:24; Mk 13:22; Ro 16:18; 2Co11:3, 11:13-15)

Here is the danger they need to guard against -- being led astray form the right path by wrong men.

Be carried away (4879) (sunapago from sun = together + apágo = lead or carry away by a thing) means literally to carry away together with and is used mostly in a bad sense meaning to be led astray or be seduced.

Sunapago means to cause someone else in addition to change from belief in what is true to belief in what is false. To be carried along with as by a flood which sweeps everything along with it & then to give one's self up to. This picture is clearly exemplified by Paul in [Galatians 2:13] where he wrote that "even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy" (pretended piety) of the wavering Jewish believers during the crisis at Antioch. This is the son of encouragement giving a ''discouraging'' example! The Passive Voice indicates that the action of being carried away is exerted by an outside "force". In context that outside "force" is "error" which brings about the "carrying away". The word "error" (plane) refers to a wandering out of the right way and in the present context specifically a straying from sound doctrine or orthodox teaching.

Unprincipled (113) (athesmos from a = without + thesmós = law, custom referring not to a law enacted by lawmakers but that which became prevalent by custom and was expected to be observed as if law) pertains to refusing to be subjected to legal requirements and thus refers to men who are lawless, unruly, unprincipled, not complying with law.

By implication athesmos refers to those who are wicked or morally corrupt not ordering their steps in conformity to acceptable custom (thesmós).

And so Peter stamps these men as individuals who are rebellious and unprincipled in conduct, defying the restraints of law and custom. Their victims are the untaught and the unstable who distort the Scripture. But the ones who lead the distortion are the unprincipled men, the false teachers.  In (2 Peter 2:7 - see note) Peter used this term to describe the wicked men of Sodom. These men are in the same category as those in Sodom.

YOU FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS: ekpesete (2PAAS) tou idiou sterigmou
(2 Peter 1:10,11; 2:18-22; Acts 2:42; 1 Co 15:58; Eph 4:14; Col 2:5; Heb 3:14; 1 Pe 5:9)

Here is the danger against which Peter is warning his readers and his statement implies the possibility of this tragic occurrence. Peter is not referring to losing one's salvation for that is eternally secure in Christ. Once the Spirit has taken you out of Adam and placed you into Christ, this glorious exchange by faith can never be reversed irrespective of teaching you might have heard to the contrary! On the other hand Peter is speaking of the believer's fall from stability in regard to things like doctrine, truth, conviction, confidence.

Fall (ekpipto from ek = from + pípto = to fall.) depicts an act of falling away from or out of a desired position and into a less desired position or condition (cf Gal 5:4).

In Acts Luke uses ekpipto to describe a ship about to "run aground on a certain island." (Acts 27:26)

Own (idios) speaks of their individual steadfastness.

Steadfastness (4740) (sterigmos from sterizo = to establish, fix) means a setting firmly, stability, for instance of the stars. This word indicates describes the stability in mind and faith of Peter's readers. Their own security lies in their firm commitment to God's revealed truth. Their security lies not in their own strength or perseverance but in their unswerving adherence to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are duped are described as "unstable" (3:16). Stability or being firmly established in the faith is clearly a quality which Peter greatly esteems.  It is easy for the unsuspecting to be swept off their feet by the error of the wicked and to lose their spiritual balance.

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Our Daily Bread - Beware - Daily life is hazardous to your health. That's the thesis of Laura Lee's book 100 Most Dangerous Things In Everyday Life And What You Can Do About Them. It's a tongue-in-cheek look at the unnoticed threats in life, such as shopping carts (which annually cause 27,600 injuries in the US) and dishwashers (which harm more than 7,000 Americans and 1,300 Britons each year). One reason for writing this book, the author says, was "to poke fun at the culture of fear."

In contrast, Jesus Christ calls His followers to a courageous lifestyle of faith in which our goal is not to avoid personal harm but to pursue the mission of God in our world.

The apostle Peter vividly described the day of the Lord, which will bring the end of the earth as we know it (2 Peter 3:10). But instead of fainting with apprehension, Peter said we should be filled with anticipation (v.14). Then he warned of those who twist the Scriptures, and said, "Beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked" (v.17).

Proper concern helps protect us, but excessive alarm leaves us paralyzed. We should be most afraid of failing to live with complete confidence in God.—David C. McCasland (
Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Living for Jesus a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me. —Chisholm
© Renewal 1945, The Rodeheaver Co.

The power of Christ within you is greater than the power of evil around you.

 

2 Peter 3:18  but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: auxanete (2PPAM) de en chariti kai gnosei tou kuriou hemon kai soteros Iesou Christou. auto e doxa kai nun kai eis hemeran aionos. amen. 
Amplified: But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him [be] glory (honor, majesty, and splendor) both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (so be it)!
 (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
NET: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on that eternal day.
 (NET Bible)
NLT: But grow in the special favor and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be all glory and honor, both now and forevermore. Amen. (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: On the contrary, you should grow in grace and in your knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ - to him be glory now and until the dawning of the day of eternity!  (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: But be constantly growing in the sphere of grace and an experiential knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and to the day of eternity. (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: and increase ye in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; to him is the glory both now, and to the day of the age! Amen.

BUT GROW IN GRACE: auxanete (PAM) de en chariti: (Ps 92:12; Ho 14:5; Mal 4:2; Ep 4:15; Col 1:10; 2 Th 1:3; 1 Pe 2:2)  

But (de) counterbalances the "negative" duty of being on guard with the positive duty of growth in grace. Continuing spiritual growth is the most effective safeguard against falling. Continued progress in divine things is a great protection against the peril of false teachers.

Grow (837) (auxano) (click study of auxano) means to cause to grow, to increase, to enlarge. Auxano is present tense calling for (imperative mood = command) this to be their lifestyle. This command brings one back to Peter's charge in chapter 1 where Peter taught that

if these qualities are yours and are increasing, (pleonazo - abounding; present tense = continually increasing more and more) they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (see note 2 Peter 1:8).

The present tense calls for the readers to "keep continually growing in grace".  The Christian life cannot be static. One must go forward or he will go backward. Harry Ironside said that continuing growth is "the unfailing panacea for all spiritual ills."

Peter used this same verb auxano in his first epistle  to exhort his readers to "grow in respect to salvation" which he informed them called for an attitude like newborn babes so that they would "long for the pure milk of the word" (see note 1 Peter 2:2).

Hiebert notes that

"this command to keep on growing is an appeal to the will. But growth, in the spiritual as in the physical realm, does not arise from an assertion of the will. Yet the human will does play a decisive part in the experience of spiritual growth. For effective growth we must will to remove hindrances to growth (cf note 1 Peter 2:1  to the next verse 1 Peter 2:2) while actively fostering the conditions which promote growth. When the individual maintains the conditions for spiritual growth, the divinely implanted life (cf note 2 Peter 1:4) will assuredly grow and mature."

John Piper adds this helpful note:

"The antidote to deception and destruction is growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ. The contrast between verses 17 and 18 is between, on the one hand, a tree which does not grow and so loses its stability in the earth and is blown over by a wind of false teaching and dies, and, on the other hand (v18), a tree which keeps its roots planted in God's grace and so grows and stays healthy and stable and does not get blown over by false teaching."

C H Spurgeon in his wonderful devotional Morning and Evening comments that we are to...

Grow in grace”—not in one grace only, but in all grace. Grow in that root-grace, faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done. Let faith increase in fulness, constancy, simplicity. Grow also in love. Ask that your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every thought, word, and deed. Grow likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low, and know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also to grow upward —having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus. May God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.” He who grows not in the knowledge of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know Him is “life eternal,” and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know more of Christ, knows nothing of Him yet. Whoever hath sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, yet it is such a satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, but whetted. If you know the love of Jesus—as the hart panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant after deeper draughts of his love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you love Him not, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in His divine nature, in His human relationship, in His finished work, in His death, in His resurrection, in His present glorious intercession, and in His future royal advent. Abide hard by the Cross, and search the mystery of his wounds.

An increase of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of his love to us is one of the best tests of growth in grace." (Bolding added)

IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD & SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST: en chariti kai gnôsei tou kuriou hemon kai soteros Iesou Christou:(2 Peter 1:3,8; 2:20; John 17:3; 2 Co 4:6; Ep 1:17; Php 3:8; Col 1:10; 3:10)  

In (en) is locative case which depicts the areas of growth - grace and knowledge of Jesus.  The locative of sphere means the limitations are logical, one idea (growth) being confined within the limits of another (grace and knowledge).

 Grace (5485) (charis) (click study of charis) is free and unmerited favor of God bestowed upon guilty man in and through Jesus Christ.

Knowledge (gnosis) emphasizes here that not only do believers need the transforming power of God's grace but also God's truth. Growth in knowledge obviously calls for study of and subjection to God's truth, by which believers are progressively sanctified or set apart, becoming more and more like the Savior.

Christian growth must also take place in the realm of knowledge. and grace. If we are growing in knowledge, we should also be growing in grace. If not our "heads" may be growing is size, becoming "puffed up" because of all the Bible facts we know.

The source and fountain of both grace and knowledge is Jesus Christ. To know Christ is to live and to grow in that acquaintance is to grow in the Spirit (see note Philippians 3:10). 

John Piper adds some practical notes how we grow in grace which he first defines as

"the wealth of God's kindness, the riches of his mercy; the soothing ointment of his forgiveness; the free and undeserved, but lavishly offered hope of eternal life. Grace is what we crave when we are guilt-laden. Grace is what we must have when we come to die. Grace is our only ray of hope when the future darkens over with storm clouds of fear. And how shall we receive this grace? Where shall we send our roots down? To what sunshine shall we turn up our leaves? To the promises given to us when the Master bought us by his death (2:1). The best fertilizer for our hope and godliness is the knowledge of our future in God's grace.

So Peter says, "May grace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God," and closes with the command to grow "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord."

If we but knew a fraction of the future God is making for us; if we could begin to feel that all our deepest longings will be satisfied, that every beauty of this world will be preserved and heightened; that every good affection will soar; that every proper relationship will be restored forever; that all pain and frustration and ugliness will vanish; that the fish will bite before the worm hits the water and Jesus will fill the world with golden light -- if we could believe what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor. 2:9), our hearts would be freed from the greed and fears that cause us to sin. We would escape from the corruption that is in the world and become partakers of the divine nature (see note 2 Peter 1:4).

The message of 2 Peter is that the joy of hope is the power of godliness.

The knowledge of God's promises is the pathway of His power (see notes 2 Peter 1:3; 1:4).

And the promises, the power, the hope and the godliness are all because of his grace." (Bolding added)

TO HIM BE THE GLORY BOTH NOW AND TO THE DAY OF ETERNITY: autôi te doxa kai nun kai eis hêmeran aiônos: