Study Desk

But those who don't grow in these blessings are blind. They cannot see clearly what they have. They have forgotten that they were cleansed from their past sins.

You already know these things. You are very strong in the truth you have. But I am always going to help you remember them.

No prophecy ever came from what some person wanted to say. But people were led by the Holy Spirit and spoke words from God.

These false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you things that are not true. But the judgment against these false teachers has been ready for a long time. And they will not escape God who will destroy them.

And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against God. But he saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who told people about living right.

God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them until there was nothing left but ashes. He used those cities as an example of what will happen to people who are against God.

But he saved Lot, a good man who lived there. Lot was greatly troubled by the morally bad lives of those evil people.

The angels are much stronger and more powerful than these beings. But even the angels don't accuse them and say bad things about them to the Lord.

But these false teachers speak evil against what they don't understand. They are like animals that do things without really thinking—like wild animals that are born to be caught and killed. And, like wild animals, they will be destroyed.

But a donkey told him that he was doing wrong. A donkey cannot talk, of course, but that donkey spoke with a man's voice and stopped the prophet from acting so crazy.

These false teachers promise those people freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves to a mind that has been ruined by sin. Yes, people are slaves to anything that controls them.

People can be made free from the evil in the world. They can be made free by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if they go back into those evil things and are controlled by 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 these people don't want to remember what happened long ago. The skies were there, and God made the earth from water and with water. All this happened by God's word.

But don't forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day.

The Lord is not being slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He doesn't want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning.

But the day when the Lord comes again will surprise everyone like the coming of a thief. The sky will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in the sky will be destroyed with fire. And the earth and everything in it will be burned up.

But God made a promise to us. And we are waiting for what he promised—a new sky and a new earth. That will be the place where goodness lives.

That's what he says in all his letters when he writes about these things. There are parts of his letters that are hard to understand, and some people give a wrong meaning to them. These people are ignorant and weak in faith. They also give wrong meanings to the other Scriptures. But they are destroying themselves by doing that.

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