“If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment” (2 Peter 2:9).
Every believer experiences trials of some kind. We are told to fight the good fight of faith and that underscores the fact that there is a battle when we choose to believe God. Peter was writing to believers who knew the intensity of that battle. The Roman government was corrupt and many believers were being persecuted mercilessly. Not a few were martyred and died violent deaths. Yet, in spite of the opposition, they faced Christians were winning the battle. The Church long outlasted the Roman Empire because God was for them and He held the key to their ultimate victory.
Peter wrote these words so we would know that we are not at the mercy of an out-of-control world. If we trust God and remain committed to His truth He can protect us in the midst of the world’s pressure that we face every day. While the world around us may go crazy He is faithful to rescue us. Peter’s two examples of that are Noah and Lot. God rescued them and God knows how to rescue us.
God is a Rescuer. We have a Savior who knows how to get us safely through the trials of life. Noah didn’t drown in the flood and Lot didn’t die in the fiery holocaust of Sodom and Gomorrah. We can trust God as much as they did. We will survive whatever life throws at us because our God is, above all else, a Rescuer committed to our deliverance. Even those believers who lost a temporary battle with trials are now eternally victorious in the presence of God.
