Yesterday I was editing the Standard Version to prepare the first revision for publication (which I hope to have out by the end of this month). As I was looking at 2 Peter 2, I came across M.R. Vincent’s comments on verse 3 of that chapter, which are quite striking.

The apostle Peter begins this chapter by warning us that destructive, heretical teachers will arise among the saints to deny Christ and turn the believers away from Him. Then in verse 3, however, he states in a very fearful way that God’s judgment upon such ones, while it may not take place immediately, is coming closer all the time. He then goes on in the next verses to give examples of what he is referring to, speaking of how, in the past, God’s judgment has already been manifested in various ways: on angels who sinned; in the flood, or the “deluge” as it is called in the quote below, that destroyed the ancient world; and in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire.

Mr. Vincent’s comments, which are in fact mostly quoted from another commentary, are a sober reminder of just how fearful God’s judgment is. Such a reminder is especially needed in these days, when our nation as a whole seems to be casting off the fear of the Lord that has been the source of its blessing for centuries, and even many believers have lost sight of what a serious matter it is to follow Christ.

The Coming Destruction
of the Heretical
Teachers

In covetousness, with well-formed words, they will make merchandise of you; whose damnation from of old is not idle, and whose destruction does not slumber.
— 2 Peter 2:3

There is a graphic picture in the sentence. The judgment is not idle. It is “represented as a living thing, awake and expectant. Long ago that judgment started on its destroying path, and the fate of sinning angels, and the deluge, and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah were but incidental illustrations of its power; nor has it ever since lingered… It advances still, strong and vigilant as when it first sprang from the bosom of God, and will not fail to reach the mark to which it was pointed from of old.”

— M.R. Vincent, Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, Volume 1, pages 690-691. The quotation is cited only as being from “Salmond and Lillie.”

2 Peter 2:3 above is quoted from the upcoming, revised edition of the Standard Version of the New Testament.

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—  7 September 2024 —