2 Peter 1:12

2 Peter 1:12 ‘Therefore,. shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.'

‘Therefore' -The truth will bear repetition. ‘they needed to be put in remembrance of these things, particularly in their present situation when the grace of God was being used as. cloak for licence (2 Peter 2:19; cf. Romans 6:1) and the knowledge of God as. substitute for obedience (cf. 1 John 2:4).' (Green p. 77)

‘I shall always be ready to remind you' -present tense, ‘keep on reminding you'. ‘to cause to remember, put one in mind,. remembrance prompted by another' (Vine p. 274)

‘of these things' -The ‘things' previously discussed in 2 Peter 1:5-11.

Points to Note:

The answer to false doctrine is not. new teaching, but. correct understanding of the old teaching, the teaching that God had revealed (1 Corinthians 15:1; 2 Peter 3:1). 2. ‘We should always be wary, then, of people who arrive with. new or different Christian message, and look out for the danger sign that Peter's basic lesson is being sidetracked in favour of. more attractive or “relevant” message. Those who teach the Bible have. great responsibility here, because there will always be. temptation to hold people's attention with something new. We have to be humble enough to recognize that we are not creators of the Christian message. The task-the vital task-is to keep reminding people of it.' (Lucas/Green p. 67) 3. The preacher must never grow weary of repeating valuable truths. ‘There is something drastically wrong when the grand old story becomes wearisome to. child of God. That the purity of the faith of our Lord depends upon. constant repetition of every phrase and facet of divine revelation. Let neither preacher nor member grow weary of hearing it. Let all understand that when they do, they are witnessing. symptom of apostasy. We all stand in danger of drifting away from the things we have heard and know very well.' [Note: Preachers And Preaching. James P. Needman, p. 74]

‘even though you already know them' -One of the tasks of the preacher is to remind Christians of what they already know (2 Timothy 2:14; Titus 3:1; Judges 1:5).

‘and have been established' -“Established”-‘are firmly established' (TCNT); ‘steadfast believers in the truth' (Wey); ‘firmly grounded' (Gspd). ‘to strengthen, make firm, confirm one's mind' (Thayer p. 588)

‘which is present with you' -‘which you possess' (Wey).

Points to Note:

The truth can be known. The average member can understand God's Revelation 2:1. And yet, established Christians can fall away from the faith. ‘Surely this is. solemn warning that it is all too easy for those who have been Christians for some time to lapse into serious sin or doctrinal error.' (Green p. 78) 2. These Christians had the truth. The truth is. complete and definite set of beliefs (Colossians 1:5; 1 Peter 1:22; Acts 2:42; John 8:32; Judges 1:3). ‘His fear is not that the second generation will codify and fossilize the truth, but rather that they will become so careless about it that they will forget it altogether.' (Lucas/Green p. 67) 3. The only sure way to remain faithful to God, is to hold to what God has said. 4. It is obvious Peter believed that the truth the apostles had delivered was the truth for all time. He had not revealed. message just for that culture or that time.