Dig Deeper:
HEY, THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR: This chapter opens with a description of what things will be like in the last days, but v2-5 sound and awful lot like many people in this day and age. So is this a sign we're living in "the last days?" Well, yes and no. Yes in the fact that all of the last two thousand years since Jesus ascended into heaven can be considered the last days, and no when we remember that God's perception of time is much different than ours. Now it certainly may be that the Lord returns before this post ever gets published, but since v2-5 are an accurate description for nearly every age since Paul wrote them, it becomes very hard (and dangerous) to point to any specific event or condition and conclude that it's a sign Jesus is about to come back.
HAVE PATIENCE, BUT NOT WITH EVERYONE: A good argument can be made that chapter three begins in 2:22. There Paul writes that opponents must be 'gently instructed in the hope God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of truth (2:25).' But in v5, we're told to 'have nothing to do' with the scoundrels described in chapter three. But how can you tell the difference between the 'opponents' in chapter two and the 'worms' described in 3:6? How do you know who to have patience with and who to put out of your life? It seems to be a matter of degree. The farther a person slips away from God, the more difficult it is to pull them back. God can certainly save anyone, but that doesn't necessarily mean He's calling you to put yourself in spiritual danger required to rescue one so far out.
BREATHE ON ME BREATH OF GOD: Verse 16 is of course the preeminent verse describing the authority of scripture which it describes as being God-breathed. What an amazing way to summarize what it means that the Bible was certainly written by men, but that God was breathing through those men as they wrote. This is why there's so many different styles and genres in the Bible, because God used the personalities and experiences of so many different men over thousands of years. Yet we can truly say that these are God's Words which authoritatively determine absolute truth, and guide us through every situation in life to salvation through Jesus Christ.
Follow the AAA Prayer Pattern:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The God who has revealed Himself to us in His Word (v16)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to enable you to continue in what you have learned and become convinced of (v14)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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