Reading: Peter doesn’t stand alone in warning God’s people about what is to come in the world. The prophets have also spoken on the same subjects. Peter here is writing to share his thoughts in order to “stimulate” the thinking of his audience, pointing back to the foundational, older teachings.

First, Peter is clear that there is real evil in the world. He warns the church of being caught up in unrighteousness, false doctrine and teaching, and he does a great job shedding light on what the people of God need to look out for. “Wholesome thinking,” as Peter calls it, is a God-focused thinking – thinking that is eternal and God-glorifying. As the last chapter talked about, the false teachers are trying to draw people into a way of thinking that is not Godly. 

Sometimes it’s really hard to identify the lies. Teachers can be tricky and share “mostly truth” with a little lie mixed in. Sometimes this is called a “half-truth”. An example of a half-truth is when Satan talked to Eve into eating the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3:4-5, telling her that “You will not surly die [a lie]. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil [true, but misleading because if done, it would be disobedient and not what God intended].” 

A lot of the time, we can take our focus off God, and when we do, we can believe all sorts of stuff. Peter wants the readers to get back to the basics of the faith. He’s saying, “Hey, look back at our foundation. Stick with what you know. Stick with the teaching that you were first taught. These “new guys” or guys that are coming, distort and will teach for their personal gain.”

For example, baseball is susceptible to salesman gimmicks just like everything else. Many times, an advertisement will point to a product that may make you a better baseball player. If Peter was talking to baseball players, he would tell them, “Watch out for the guys that are just trying to make a dollar. Make sure you get back to and focus on throwing, catching, hitting, running, and having fun on the diamond as a team – the basics.”

We know that Jesus lived a life we couldn’t live, died a death that we deserve taking the penalty of our sins, and now he is our living King. We are called as Christians to place our faith in him and what he has done for us, living for him. There is a lot of unwholesome thinking going around in the world today – placing faith in things that are not Jesus Christ. Peter calls each one of us to recall our faith in Jesus Christ – to that foundational way of wholesome thinking, which calls us to deny ourselves through loving God and loving people.

Reflection: What truth(s) do you build your life on and around?

Prayer Prompt: God, sometimes I get so distracted. I start putting emphasis on things in this life that don’t need emphasizing and I start caring about things that aren’t important - leading others astray. I start believing lies too easily. Then, I don’t put my focus on you. God, build my life on a firm foundation, rooted in you. Help me identify the lies and strive for truth in righteous living. Give me wholesome thinking, sound thinking, and right thinking. Correct me where I have believed in myself or in other things over you. Help me get rooted in the basics of a God-and-people-loving faith. Give me a strong, unwavering faith in the Gospel.