2 Peter 3: Unmasking the Scoffers of the Last Days

Introduction

“But know this: that in the last days, grievous times will come.” William Philip, at The Tron Church in Glasgow, opens this message from his series on Peter's second letter with these words from Paul to Timothy. Hard times for the world, and harder still for Christians living in that world.

The preacher starts from the news: the messages that, season after season, work to keep the population afraid. The real question, he says, is this: which voices are we going to believe?

In 2 Peter 3:3-7, the apostle gives the Church “a voice recognition course.” He describes three marks of the scoffer so that you can unmask him and not be shaken: his motive, his message and his error.

Outline of the Message

1. Hard times: which voices should we believe?

Paul prepares Timothy for the age that will follow the apostles: evil men will always grow worse, “deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). Peter has the same concern in his second letter.
The preacher invites us to ask what the powers of this world broadcast to sow fear, and which voices we choose to listen to.
The question matters for everyone, but above all for the believer who knows the truth in Jesus and who treasures the word of truth in Scripture.
God has given us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) in his precious and exceedingly great promises: the words of the prophets for the Old Testament, and the commandment of the Lord passed on by the apostles for the New (2 Peter 3:2). “Not propaganda, not lies, but divine truth, and we hold it in our hands.”
So, in the middle of a world of deception, we can live the truth because we know the truth, and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (2 Peter 3:18).

2. The scoffers will come, even from within

Positivity is not enough. The Bible never hides reality: “Those who think the gospel is a crutch for weak believers are fooling themselves. The Bible knocks away every crutch.”
“Know this first”: Peter wants us to grasp this necessary negative before anything else. Not everything will be rosy while we wait for the Lord's return.
The scoffers will come “with mockery.” Nothing passive about it: they come to spread lies actively.
They will not come only from outside. After saying that men spoke from God, moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), Peter adds: “there will also be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1).
We would like to believe in pure Churches, never touched. But according to Peter, it will be this way until Jesus returns. We cannot deny it; we have to face it.

3. Their motive: their own lusts

The scoffers are “walking after their own lusts” (verse 3). This is the opposite of the true prophet, who does not speak by his own will but moved by the Spirit of God (2 Peter 1:21).
The true teacher is driven neither by popularity, nor by success, nor by growth, nor by the desire for a quiet life. He brings the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), even when nobody wants to hear it. Paul tells Timothy to preach “in season and out of season,” because people will want teachers who tickle their ears (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
“There is no suffering in telling people what they want to hear.” There is in telling them what they do not want to hear, but which God says they need.
Let's be honest: we all like hearing what suits us and justifies us. The scoffer shapes his teaching accordingly. He stays silent about what Jesus says on adultery and sexual immorality, and our lusts end up “baptized in the Church.” Plenty of unconditional love, very little of the unconditional command to repent: “that is the gospel minus.”
It works the other way too. Jesus says: “take up his cross daily” (Luke 9:23). Paul says: “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). The scoffer answers: “Don't take up your cross, take your crown. You can have it all if you have enough faith.” Things Jesus never promised, or promised for his return. “That is the gospel plus.”
We can act with good intentions, so as not to hurt anyone, and still downplay the uniqueness of Jesus Christ or sin. But Jesus, with the woman caught in adultery, showed no haughty moralism: he showed grace full of truth. “From now on, sin no more” (John 8:11). He knew that not confronting sin would have been a greater sin.
The scoffer, for his part, resembles the politician who always has one eye on the ballot box, or the merchant who has one eye on his profits. In the end, he gives people what they want, whether he is aware of it or not.

4. Their cynical message: “Where is the promise?”

“Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (verse 4). In other words: where is your God? If he existed, he would make it more obvious.
This cynicism goes back to the serpent in Genesis 3. The nations say: “Where is their God?” (Psalm 79:10). The psalmist hears his adversaries repeat to him: “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:3, 10). Joel records the same taunt (Joel 2:17).
Jeremiah faced the same attitude within God's own people: “Where is Yahweh's word? Let it come now.” (Jeremiah 17:15). Judgment? “Let it come, we'll see.” For his trouble, Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern and sank in the mud (Jeremiah 38:6).
From Jeremiah's day to the first century and on to the twenty-first, the message is the same. You hear it at work, at school, at university: “If God exists, why so much suffering? Why do people still get sick and die, if Jesus is the Lord of life? The world is the same as before. Judgment, what nonsense.”
The preacher mentions an article by Richard Dawkins, twenty years after his book The God Delusion, and the poster campaign on London buses: “There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” “That's a lot of faith placed in the word ‘probably.’”
An irony noted by William Philip: twenty years later, Richard Dawkins laments the erosion of the Christian culture he appreciates. “You cannot keep what you love if you destroy what produced it.”

5. Their colossal error: forgetting the word of God

“They willfully ignore” (verse 5): the scoffers deliberately suppress a fact. The word of God is not merely a trustworthy testimony. It is the power that created the world, that has judged in history and that upholds the world until judgment.
If you take Jesus Christ seriously, the figure who dominates human history, you must know that he took the word of God very seriously, as did each of the apostles. They were clear on three facts.
First fact: the world is not here by chance; it was created by the word of God. The preacher quotes David Attenborough, a man of great learning, who spoke with disdain of a former Christian headmaster: “How can such an educated man believe such nonsense?” William Philip turns the question around: how can a man who observes the complexity of life on earth fail to see the hand of God, when “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1)? And if everything comes from chance, why listen to anyone at all?
Second fact: God has judged in history. In verse 6 it is the flood; in chapter 2, Sodom (2 Peter 2:5-6). The text does not say that the planet was destroyed, but that “the world of that time,” the world of men, perished. Jesus himself speaks of such judgments (Luke 13:1-5) and announces the one that would strike Jerusalem in AD 70.
Third fact: by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now exist “are reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (verse 7). The only thing holding back that day is the word of God.
“Would you dare risk your eternity on such a fragile wish?” That would be, says Peter, a colossal error.

6. “Wrong way, go back”

This is very direct language. If Peter posted this on social media today, he would instantly be labeled an extremist. But in the face of real danger, a clear warning is necessary. Staying silent becomes guilt, even if some are offended.
In Australia, the preacher saw an unsubtle sign on a highway ramp: “Wrong way, go back.” Perhaps with signs like that on the M8, fewer drivers would end up going the wrong way. Sometimes God has to shout at us: “Wrong way. Turn around. Repent.”
It does not matter whether the scoffers' message is all honey, full of love, affirmation and inclusion, or whether they seem sincere. They forget the necessary fact: creation is kept by the word of God for judgment.
Imagine you know that after a blind bend, the bridge has been washed away. What is more offensive: waving your arms and shouting “Stop, turn around!”, or smiling and saying “Have a good trip”?
The choice is not between politeness and rudeness: we are called to speak with respect, dignity and love, and there is no place in the Church for diatribes and intimidation. The choice is between mocking skepticism and scriptural sincerity.
Peter acknowledges that some passages in Paul's letters are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16). But often they are not hard to understand, they are hard to accept. “It is not the passages I find hard to understand that trouble me most, it is the ones that are as clear as day, and that I neither want to understand nor to do.”
The scoffers twist the Scriptures “to their own destruction.” Hence the final call: “You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:17-18).

Key Takeaways

The scoffers will come in the last days, and not only from outside the Church. We have to learn to recognize their voice.
Their teaching is shaped by their own lusts: the “gospel minus” removes repentance, the “gospel plus” promises the crown without the cross.
Their message is cynical and ancient: “Where is your God? Where is the promise of his coming?”
Their error is colossal: they willfully ignore that the word of God created the world, judged it by the flood and keeps it for the day of judgment.
Warning clearly is not a lack of love. The real choice is between mocking skepticism and scriptural sincerity.

Personal Application

Which voices do you listen to most this week, and which ones actually shape what you believe?
Is there a teaching you appreciate mostly because it suits you? Does it look like a “gospel minus” or a “gospel plus”?
Which passages of the Bible are not hard for you to understand, but hard to accept and put into practice?
How would you answer, with respect and truth, someone who asks you: “Where is your God?”
In what area might God be telling you today: “Wrong way, turn around”?

Scriptures Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the scoffers mentioned in 2 Peter 3:3?

For William Philip, they are voices that actively come to spread error, including from within the Church, like the false teachers of 2 Peter 2:1. Peter gives three marks for recognizing them: their motive (their own lusts), their cynical message (“Where is the promise of his coming?”) and their colossal error (willfully ignoring the word of God).

What are the “gospel minus” and the “gospel plus”?

The “gospel minus” is the gospel with everything we dislike removed: plenty of unconditional love, very little call to repentance. The “gospel plus” is the gospel with whatever we want now added: health, wealth, the crown without the cross. In both cases, the message is shaped by human desires and not by the word of God.

What is the scoffers' error according to 2 Peter 3:5-7?

They willfully ignore that the same word of God created the world, judged the world of old by the flood, and keeps the present heavens and earth for the day of judgment. William Philip calls this a colossal error: risking your eternity on a mere “probably.”