Exposing the Doubters

False teachers begin by denying the Word of God. By discounting the Scriptures as simply false, they go on to flatly deny the reality of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In that regard, in keeping with their own selfish, sinful desires, they can discount any thought of future retribution, leaving them with no accountability. In their minds, they are free to live as they wish and sin to their heart's delight. As a result, they ridiculed those who were righteous, which led Peter to give this warning: "knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days" (2 Peter 3:3a).

The doubters deny biblical truths, scoffing at the truth of Scripture and ridiculing believers. It was happening in Peter's day and it is happening across our land today as well. Perhaps you have recently heard someone mocking Scripture. Perhaps you have even been ridiculed for your faith. Stand strong! Peter warned us that these things would take place. He warned us, to encourage us to hold fast our faith and to maintain our walk with Christ.

Doubters try to intimidate us through a constant barrage of mocking and sarcastic ridicule. So many years had gone by without seeing Jesus return that some believers began to wander about it, perhaps even to the point of doubt. The false teachers were taking advantage of the delay of Christ's return to add fuel to the fire and draw as many as they could away from the faith. "Knowing this first" (v. 3a), does not refer to chronological order, but to level of priority. Peter's top priority was to warn us about the tactics of the scoffers, the false teachers, so that we would not fall prey to their lies.

"In the last days" (v. 3a), refers to the entire time between the first and second coming of Jesus. It refers to today. "Scoffers will come" (v. 3a), warns us to fully expect ridicule and harassment. It is a way of life in the church for the believer. Don't let it bother you and don't let it deter you from walking faithfully with Jesus, fully expecting and anticipating His return. Keep an eye on the sky!

Peter continues by stating plainly that the false teachers are "walking according to their own lusts" (v. 3b). They embrace a doctrine of self-determination. This is the real reason they deny the reality of Christ's return. Belief in the return of Christ makes them accountable for their actions, their lifestyle. They don't want any accountability. They want to be free to indulge in a life of sin as much as they please. To believe in the Second Coming only puts a damper on everything.

"Walking according to" (v. 3b), in the Greek, literally means to "travel" or "go" (MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 2 Peter & Jude, [Moody Publishers: Chicago, 2005], 112). It refers to long-term behavior. A lifestyle of sin, patterned after "their own lusts" (v. 3b), is a long-term way of life that they don't want to end. Any thought of the return of Christ bringing judgment, would put a kink in the schedule and force them to consider repenting and changing, leading to a whole new way of life. It would lead to living a life of righteousness, instead of a life of sin. So, they deny Christ's return, hoping they can escape the judgment through denial. But what they don't realize, much to their own detriment, is that it doesn't work that way. That is why we need to hold fast our belief in the return of Christ, keeping an eye on the sky in full anticipation!

They embrace a doctrine of uniformitarianism. That is a false doctrine claiming that nothing ever changes—everything is as it was from the beginning. The scoffers, the doubters, are "saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation'" (v. 4). The doubters, the scoffers, the false teachers, base their denial of Scripture and their denial of the truth of Christ's return, on His delay. A doctrine of uniformitarianism. They say, "all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation" (v. 4c). They question why Jesus has not yet returned and they assume the delay means He is not coming!

"Where is the promise of His coming?" (v. 4a), they ask. "For since the fathers fell asleep" (v. 4b), or literally, "since the fathers died," referring most likely to the Old Testament patriarchs, nothing has changed! So, why should anything change now? Or so the thinking goes.

John MacArthur explains: "The heretics' argument was simple. If everything continues just as it was from the beginning of creation (meaning that the universe is a divinely created but closed, naturalistic system of cause and effect), then divine intervention—including the return of Christ—must be ruled out a priori. In modern times, that view is known as uniformitarianism. Contending that the present is the key to the past, uniformitarianism asserts that the only natural processes that have ever operated in the past are the same processes at work today. It categorically denies divine intervention throughout world history, most notably opposing both six-day creation and the global Flood" (Ibid, 113).

John MacArthur went on to explain: "To be sure, there is an element of general uniformity in the universe; it is a manifestation of God's providential care for His creation. After all, if the natural laws and universal processes did not normally function in a consistent manner, chaos would ensue. A biblical view of the universe, then, sees creation as an open system—in which God has ordained a uniform operation of natural causes, but also a universe in which He has intervened and still does intervene. Those who go beyond this, advocating a uniformitarianism so rigid as to preclude God's involvement in history, have foolishly deceived themselves. Like the false teachers of Peter's day, they deny the promises of Scripture (including Christ's return) on the basis of their conveniently devised worldview" (Ibid, 114).

We see this kind of doctrine being repeated constantly by people around us and even in the secular news. People prefer to deny the truth of God's Word so that they can continue to sin all they want and to live free from godly morals and righteousness. They don't want to repent, they don't want to change, they don't want to accept the truth that there is a God of the universe who is ultimately in control. Don't let these scoffers fool you. Don't fall prey to their lies. They talk loudly, but carry no power, because they do not teach truth. Reject the false babblings of the scoffers and embrace Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe, our Lord and Savior. Amen.