The Apostle Peter—one of Jesus’ closest friends and first disciples—knows his time is short. He is living in Rome, and Peter knows that the authorities have it out for him. With his days numbered, Peter decides to send out one, final letter to the churches he’s been leading. And, in the words of the Emergency Broadcasting System? “This letter is not a test.” Peter is writing about matters of spiritual and physical life and death—matters of eternal importance. The message of 2 Peter is one of urgency and vigilance for followers of Jesus. And when we study this letter we see that Peter’s final warning is not just applicable to the churches of Asia Minor 2,000 years ago…it’s a well-timed warning to us today.

One of the things that makes the stakes so high? We’re not living life in a vacuum. As we work to build our life around Jesus, forces beyond ourselves are pushing back—putting work in to deny or distort the ways of God. And these false teachers and ways of life will not go down without a fight...we must be prepared to identify and reject the ways of the Enemy.

Scriptures

2 Peter 2:1-9, 13-14 & 17-19