Christians today need to rejoice over God's patience with them. The accusations of the false teachers which Peter is refuting in 2 Peter 3:8-18 accuses God of being confined by their time bound mentality. Thus the false teachers believe that God is not coming back bodily because he did not come back as soon as he stated. They thought this gave them the freedom to live like they wanted to without worry of judgment. Peter lets Christians know that God is patience toward them and their rebellion, and has given you ways to help you rejoice over God's patience for you. The first way to refute the false teachers and to rejoice over God's patience, is to know that God is eternal (3:8-9). He doesn't relate to time at like we do because he is above time and created time and is not confined by time. C.S. Lewis says that He is like the author of a book who is not confined by the time of the story he is writing. Ultimately God is patience because he is calling on you to repent of your sins and trust His Son. The second way to refute the false teachers and to rejoice over God's patience, is to live with a eternal perspective (3:10-13). Don't trust your eyes or what is normal because God is not confined by what is normal. The day of the Lord will come suddenly but it will surely come because everything and every event is eternally present with God. Eventually, as the passages says in 3:10-13, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed, and people on the stage of the earth will be exposed before the Lord either in judgment or in salvation The third and forth way to refute these false teachers and to rejoice over god's patience is to (3)know your in a fight for freedom (chapter 2), and (4) fight to believe in God's promises (Chapter 1). We must fight to know the commands that God has given to us as a pay of freedom. We must listen to God for the rules for life rather than to the World. The fifth way to refute the false teachers and to rejoice over God's patience, is to work out your salvation (3:14-16). If we are going to live with God we must be godly and the power to do so in in believing in the seconding coming of Christ. Your 3vangelism is an outgrowth of a godly life. You cannot separate evangelism from your worship for it is worship in a great ultimate seance. Finally the sixth way to refute the false teachers and to rejoice over God's patience, is to grow in the gospel (3:17-18). Admittedly this is similar to the fifth way to rejoice in God's patience, but is adds the idea the the Gospel, which is all of grace includes warnings about dangers. We must take the warnings in scripture to walk, abide, and not be carried away with error. Warnings serve as a means of grace in keeping to stable on the right path or course in life. We we head these warnings we also need to grow in the promises of God which will enable to have a stable faith that looks forward to the bodily return of Christ as a powerful motivation to rejoice in God's patience

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