The Permanent Truth: Stirred Up by Reminder Text: 2 Peter 1:12-15
Introduction: The Lust for Novelty
We live in an age that is besotted with the new. Our culture is addicted to novelty, innovation, and the next big thing. The prevailing assumption is that what is old is obsolete, and what is new is necessarily better. This is true in technology, in fashion, in entertainment, and tragically, it has seeped into the church. We have Christians who are always looking for a new word from the Lord, a fresh experience, a more relevant ministry model, as though the foundational truths of the gospel were a spiritual flip phone that needs an upgrade.
This lust for novelty is not just a cultural tic; it is a profound theological error. It is a form of chronological snobbery that despises the wisdom of our fathers and treats the established truth of God as something that can be improved upon. It is the spirit of the Athenians at the Areopagus, who "spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing" (Acts 17:21). This is the fertile ground where false teachers plant their destructive heresies. They come peddling new insights, secret knowledge, and liberating truths that just so happen to align perfectly with the spirit of the age. They promise progress, but they deliver apostasy.
Into this restless and forgetful world, the Apostle Peter speaks with the steady, grounding voice of a seasoned pastor. He is an old man, and he knows his time is short. And what is his final, urgent charge to the churches? Is it a new strategy? A revolutionary paradigm? No. His great concern is that they remember. He is not interested in innovation; he is passionate about preservation. He is not trying to build something new, but rather to buttress something old and eternal. His final act of pastoral ministry is to stir up the saints by way of reminder. This is because Christian maturity is not found in discovering new truths, but in being more deeply established in the old ones. The most profound truths are the foundational ones, and the most important work is to keep those foundations solid and sure.
In this passage, Peter gives us a theology of remembrance. He shows us that the pastor's primary task is to be a professional reminder, that the Christian's great need is to be reminded, and that the truth itself is a permanent fixture that we must continually be called back to. This is not a glamorous task, but it is a necessary one. It is the work of a father, a shepherd, and a guardian of the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
The Text
Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been strengthened in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has indicated to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.
(2 Peter 1:12-15 LSB)
The Necessary Nudge (v. 12)
We begin with Peter's statement of purpose:
"Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been strengthened in the truth which is present with you." (2 Peter 1:12)
The "therefore" links this section to what has come before. Peter has just laid out the glorious ladder of Christian virtues, from faith to love (vv. 5-7), and warned that the one who lacks these things is short-sighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins (v. 9). Forgetfulness leads to barrenness. Therefore, remembrance is the key to fruitfulness. Peter's apostolic ministry, in its essence, is a ministry of reminding.
Notice the apparent contradiction. He is going to remind them of things they already know. They are not ignorant. In fact, they have been "strengthened in the truth which is present with you." The truth is not some distant concept; it is present with them, a settled reality in their midst. So why the repetition? Is Peter being condescending? Is he just filling parchment?
Not at all. Peter understands human nature. We are leaky vessels. We are prone to drift. The ambient culture, the temptations of the flesh, and the lies of the devil are constantly working to erode our convictions. The truth may be present with us, but we are not always present with the truth. We know that Christ is Lord, but we live moments, hours, or even days as if He were not. We know we are to be holy, but we dally with sin. We know the promises of God are sure, but we give way to anxiety. The problem is not a lack of information, but a lack of attention. Our knowledge needs to be activated, brought from the back room of our minds to the forefront of our daily choices.
This is why faithful preaching and teaching is, in large part, a ministry of repetition. It is saying the same foundational things in different ways, from different texts, with different illustrations. The goal is not to constantly surprise the congregation with novelties, but to drive the central truths of the gospel so deep into their bones that they become the very grammar of their thoughts and the instinct of their hearts. A faithful pastor is not a religious entertainer; he is a professional reminder.
A Pastor's Duty in a Temporary Tent (v. 13-14)
Peter now grounds his ministry of reminder in his own mortality.
"I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has indicated to me." (2 Peter 1:13-14 LSB)
Peter sees this work of reminding not as an option, but as a moral obligation. "I consider it right." It is a matter of apostolic and pastoral duty. And this duty is tied to his time on earth. He refers to his body as an "earthly dwelling," or a tent. Paul uses the same metaphor in 2 Corinthians 5, where he speaks of our earthly house as a "tabernacle." A tent is a temporary structure. It is not our permanent home. This is a fundamental Christian confession. We are pilgrims here, sojourners. Our bodies are temporary lodgings for our souls as we journey toward our eternal home.
This perspective radically reorients our view of life and death. For the materialist, the body is all there is. Death is annihilation, the ultimate tragedy. But for the Christian, death is not destruction; it is a transition. Peter does not speak of his death as a tragic end, but as "the laying aside" of his dwelling. It is like taking off a coat at the end of a long day. It is a departure, a putting off of the tent in order to be clothed with our house which is from heaven. This does not mean we treat our bodies with contempt; they are temples of the Holy Spirit. But it does mean we do not cling to them as our ultimate possession. They are tools to be used for God's glory for as long as we have them.
Peter's urgency is heightened by the fact that he knows his departure is "imminent." The Lord Jesus Himself had told Peter what kind of death he would die, that when he was old, another would dress him and carry him where he did not want to go, signifying by what death he would glorify God (John 21:18-19). Tradition tells us he was crucified upside down in Rome. Peter is not morbidly obsessed with death, but he is soberly aware of it. And this awareness does not lead him to despair or self-pity, but to diligence. Knowing his time is short, he doubles down on his central task: to stir them up. The word for "stir you up" means to awaken, to arouse from lethargy. He is trying to shake them out of any spiritual slumber before he is gone.
Establishing a Permanent Legacy (v. 15)
Peter's ultimate goal extends beyond his own lifetime. He is laboring to create a legacy of remembrance.
"And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind." (2 Peter 1:15 LSB)
This is a remarkable statement. Peter is not trying to make them dependent on his living voice. He is working to equip them to remember the truth after he is dead. His goal is their independence in the truth. How does he do this? He does it by writing. This very epistle is the fulfillment of this verse. He is putting the apostolic teaching, the foundational truth, into a permanent form so that they can "call these things to mind" long after his voice has been silenced by martyrdom.
This points us directly to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Peter's solution to the problem of pastoral succession is not to create a new office of apostle, or to establish a line of gurus who will receive new revelations. His solution is the written Word. The apostolic testimony is preserved for all subsequent generations in the pages of the New Testament. The way the church remains faithful after the apostles have departed is by remaining faithful to the apostles' writings.
This is why we must be people of the Book. This is why our preaching must be expositional, chained to the text of Scripture. We are not called to invent new truths, but to faithfully unpack the old ones. The pastor's job is to be so diligent in teaching the Scriptures that when he departs, the congregation is not left bereft. They have been equipped. They have the Word of God, and they have been trained in how to read it, understand it, and apply it. The greatest legacy a pastor can leave is not a grand building or a charismatic reputation, but a congregation that is so grounded in the written Word that they can continue to call the truth to mind for themselves, long after he is gone.
Conclusion: Remember to Live
The Christian life is a fight against forgetfulness. Our old man wants to forget he has been crucified. Our flesh wants to forget the law of God. The world wants us to forget our heavenly citizenship. And so, we are in constant need of being stirred up by way of reminder.
This is why God has given us so many memorials. He gave Israel the Passover, to remember their deliverance from Egypt. He gave them the Sabbath, to remember their Creator and Redeemer. And He has given us the sacraments. Baptism is a permanent reminder, a brand placed upon us, that we belong to the Triune God and have been washed from our sins. The Lord's Supper is a weekly reminder. "Do this in remembrance of me." Every week, we come to this Table to remember the broken body and shed blood of our Lord. We are a people constituted by remembrance.
Peter's final charge is a charge to all of us. We must be diligent to remember. We must be diligent to remind one another. This is the purpose of our fellowship. We gather together to stir one another up, to remind each other of the truth we know, to call to mind the great and precious promises that are ours in Christ. We must read the Word, hear the Word preached, sing the Word, and pray the Word, so that this present truth becomes the very atmosphere we breathe.
Peter was about to lay aside his earthly tent. But he knew that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this was not the end. He was departing to be with the Lord, awaiting the day when he would receive an eternal dwelling, a glorified body. That is our hope as well. And until that day, our task is simple. It is the task Peter gave himself to with his final breaths. Remember the truth. Live in the truth. And be diligent, so that the next generation can call these things to mind, long after we have gone.