Study Desk

But anyone who does not have these things cannot see clearly. He is blind and has forgotten that he was made clean from his past sins.

You know these things, and you are very strong in the truth, but I will always help you remember them.

When we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling just clever stories that someone invented. But we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes.

No prophecy ever came from what a person wanted to say, but people led by the Holy Spirit spoke words from God.

And God punished the world long ago when he brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against him. But God saved Noah, who preached about being right with God, and seven other people with him.

But he saved Lot from those cities. Lot, a good man, was troubled because of the filthy lives of evil people.

(Lot was a good man, but because he lived with evil people every day, his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.)

But even the angels, who are much stronger and more powerful than false teachers, do not accuse them with insults before the Lord.

But these people speak against things they do not understand. They are like animals that act without thinking, animals born to be caught and killed. And, like animals, these false teachers will be destroyed.

But a donkey, which cannot talk, told Balaam he was sinning. It spoke with a man's voice and stopped the prophet's crazy thinking.

They promise them freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For people are slaves of anything that controls them.

They were made free from the evil in the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if they return to evil things and those things control them, then it is worse for them than it was before.

They will say, "Jesus promised to come again. Where is he? Our fathers have died, but the world continues the way it has been since it was made."

But they do not want to remember what happened long ago. By the word of God heaven was made, and the earth was made from water and with water.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day.

The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The skies will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in them will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be exposed.

But God made a promise to us, and we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth where goodness lives.

He writes about this in all his letters. Some things in Paul's letters are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and weak in faith explain these things falsely. They also falsely explain the other Scriptures, but they are destroying themselves by doing this.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory be to him now and forever! Amen.