More than 20 years ago, I led a group of students on a mission trip to a town in Malaysia. On our way there in a bus, we passed through various towns and villages. After some time, a Japanese student asked: ″We have passed the sign 'AWAS' so many times. When are we going to arrive in AWAS?″ He had thought that ″AWAS″ was the name of a town. I explained to him that ″AWAS″ meant ″caution″ in Malay; the sign is a warning for motorists to be careful when they drive.

Not knowing warning signs can be a dangerous thing. Peter knows that, and so, in the last two verses of his letter, he reiterates his warning against false teachers (2 Peter 3:17). He urges his readers to be ″on your guard″ so that they will not succumb to these teachers' ″fabricated stories″ and ″empty, boastful words″ that promise freedom (2:3, 18-19). Believers must resist such teachings, no matter how attractive they might sound. Peter wants his readers to be constantly alert and watchful, testing what they hear against Scripture. If they do not do this, they run the risk of falling from their secure position in Christ (3:17).

Peter ends with an encouragement to his readers to ″grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ″ (v. 18). In this way, they will not fall away. Earlier, Peter had told them how they can continue to grow. Firstly, God has given them all the resources they need to live godly and holy lives as they wait for the coming of Jesus (1:3). Secondly, when they make every effort to add one virtue to another–faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love (1:5-7)–they will not stumble and fall from their secure position in Christ.

We can be confident in our security in Christ. But this confidence does not mean that we can live our lives any way we please. New Testament scholar Douglas Moo puts it well when he says: ″Confidence in our status with Christ should never lead to a presumption on God's grace that leads us to toy with the danger of false teachers or that negates serious striving after holiness.″¹⁶

We need to be always on our guard, drawing on ″his very great and precious promises″ (1:4) to enable us to live godly lives while we wait eagerly for the coming of Jesus Christ.

Then, as we come to the close of our study of 2 Peter, we can say together with the apostle: ″To him be glory both now and for ever! Amen″ (3:18).