He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
3 sermons cite this verse
… teach these things to your children. The Bible says it makes wise the simple. And And the Bible says in 2 Peter 3.16, there are some hard things to understand. That's what it says in the Bible. The Bible says the Bible is hard to understand. It's not just my idea. And amazingly, this text, I think, is said to be one of those. So let's go back to chapter 5, verse 9. It goes like this, being made perfect, he, Jesus, became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. That's what we're going to pick up on here in chapter 7. And then it says in verse 11, about this, namely this order of Melchizedek, we have much to say. Oh, does he? And it is hard to explain. Okay, there it is. You don't have to be ashamed. He says it. He wrote it. He says it. However, it seems to be owing to the fact that you've become dull of hearing. …
… many parts of scripture are hard to understand, as 2 Peter 3.16 would say. So when someone says you cannot mix these, they're actually trying to prevent two specific errors. The first, we kind of touched on it, they're error of individualism. If you mix sola scriptura with perspicuity too tightly, you end up with solo scriptura. This idea, again, that you don't need the church, you don't need history or scholars, because the Bible is clear to me. It's my only authority. And by keeping them separate, theologians can argue that while the Bible is the final authority we still need the church to help us interpret the parts that are not clear and it helps us combat the error of categorical confusion. In a debate, if an opponent proves that a certain verse is unclear, they haven't disproven sola scriptura. They've only challenged a specific view of perspicuity. If you have amalgamated the two, your entire theological house falls down over one difficult Greek verb. I don't know, it's unclear. …
… There is unique authority behind what he writes. 2 Peter 3.16, Peter says, some people twist the writings of Paul as they do the other Scriptures. You ever notice that verse before? That's an amazing thing to say at the end of your letter as a kind of throwaway comment, which tells us it must not have been controversial. Peter doesn't make a grand argument to therefore conclude that Paul's letters were Scripture. Think of how holy the sacred Scriptures were, and yet from the very beginning, it was understood intuitively. The four Gospels, the letters of Paul, there are some other books, but that's the bulk of the New Testament. As they do the other Scriptures, they intuitively understood. Nobody had to take a vote at a council, yes, it would be an organic process before the church would formally adopt the canon. But from the very beginning, it wasn't as if people were sort of debating, you like that? You want that in the Bible? You want that in the Bible? All right, come up and let's hear your best case. They got a letter from Paul and they knew this is not just a nice church leader or another letter to read. This is Scripture. This is a word from God. A servant, an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. That third characteristic really explains the first two. What is his work as a servant? What is his work as an apostle? It is to attend to the preaching of the gospel of God. Second heading, …