Week of 10/10/21 - Pages 303 - 310

License to Sin

The books of 2 Peter and Jude focus on an insidious teaching that had found its way into the early Christian community.  False teachers sought to teach early Christians that God’s grace provides covering for believers to commit every kind of sin without reproach from God.  In so doing, they falsely appeared to extol the great value of God’s atoning power over all our sins.  In reality they were simply seeking a license to sin, to do as they pleased and, in effect, to be their own god.  

Underneath this bargaining arrangement lies another belief.  That belief is the strong hunch that God must be holding out on us.  That God is not to be trusted and that we will miss out on good things if we were to ever actually submit and surrender to His divine plan for each of us.

Human control is a funny thing.  We believe we are in control when we have the freedom to put ourselves into bondage.  What an odd thought.  And put ourselves into bondage we do.  Whether it’s the freedom to engage in sexual sin, the right to sin against our brothers and sisters, the arrogance to sin against God – whatever the sin might be.  We press on, even gleefully, into sin only to find that we are in the worst kind of bondage with no way out.  At such times, our burden is not easy and our yoke is not light.           

Living in such a way reminds me of “sowing skimpily”.  Galations 6:7-9 talks about how we reap what we sow.  In fact, the very act of obedience to God, of surrendering to Jesus Christ, of submitting to the Holy Spirit is what sets us free.  We reap what we sow and it is both a present and future reward to us.  

At the bottom of page 303 (Messiah), Paul urged the early Christians to “grow in the (actual) grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  To know God, to taste and see that He really is good, to experience His peace that passes all understanding, cures us from wanting to be at the bargaining table with Him.  Instead, we know the truth of Proverbs 10:22…

“The blessing of the Lord makes us rich (in every good thing), and there is no sorrow added.”  

The goodness, grace and mercy of God deserves nothing less than our full devotion, our full trust as we allow ourselves to fall into His arms, to enter into His plans with confidence.  Let’s throw all caution to the wind and claim Him - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - as our one and only plan.  He is our Plan A, Plan B and our Plan C and without Him we have no other plan.  No bargaining, no holding back.    

2 Peter Chapter 3

So Peter tells us right upfront in this chapter that he is trying to stimulate wholesome thinking and refresh our memory.

Okay, I am all ears!  My wholesome thinking is always being challenged by weird thinking that has no place in my mind.  And as far as refreshing my memory,  Randy Travis said it best in his country song “time takes its toll on a memory, makes people forget things they knew”…and since that is true with me…I am also in need of having my memory refreshed.

Peter wants to refresh my memory that Christ will come again.  It is planned and I can bank on it!  But, before it happens, scoffers (I think I saw some of these on Halloween) will come trying to distract me from wholesome thinking and send me sideways making me forget things I knew.

Peter also tells me that this is serious business, everything as I know it will be destroyed, but I do not have to fear this.  Instead, I can look forward to new heavens and a new earth that He has promised…as he puts it “a world filled with God’s righteousness”.

I will try to wait for this patiently, knowing God has more work to do before He brings this about.

2 Peter Chapter 2

Have you ever been under the influence of a false teacher?  Or maybe have been in a situation where you sensed that things weren’t quite right? If we haven’t, Peter tells us we should get ready because there will be ‘false teachers’ among us, and we need to be prepared to spot them.

Peter tells us that false teachers have the following markers:

·      They deny the sovereign Lord Jesus

·      They are full of greed

·      They are lovers of pleasure

·      Their eyes are full of adultery

·      They seduce the unstable

·      Their words are empty and boastful

·      They despise authority

·      They are creatures of instinct

These are obvious characteristics, and we would all hopefully run from anyone that resembles this kind of person. However, Peter tells us they are secretive too.  They entice those who are vulnerable, those who are escaping from error.  It might not be as easy to spot them as we think.

When I read a passage like this, it makes me appreciate the Christian sacraments of communion, baptism and marriage.  I think God gave us these sacraments to protect us from false teaching, and help us see and remember who Jesus really is, and who we really are in Jesus.  It also make me appreciate early church leaders who gave us the creeds – the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed and more. I think they gave us these creeds to protect us from false doctrine.  If you haven’t looked at them in a while, I would encourage you to give them a fresh reading.

Lastly, Peter reminds us that in the end we are all slaves by whatever masters us.  Either we will be slaves to sin and false idols, or will allow ourselves (submit) to be mastered by Jesus.  False teachers are mastered by ‘depravity’, but God knows how to rescue the godly.  Be on guard, and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

2 Peter Chapter 1

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) 

“Practice makes perfect” 

“If you don’t use it you will lose it” 

When you read these sayings, what do they mean to you?  

For me I instantly imagine a talent that I possess and if I do not practice to hone my skill then I will most certainly lose it. I will grow weak and my skill sets will surely diminish.  

What came to mind after reading this chapter. Was thoughts of my daughter, Victoria. Ever since she was a little girl, she loved to draw. Drawing supplies were always a requests. We always had a supply of paper, markers, pencils, crayons, everything she needed to create her works of art. I think around 10  years old, she wanted to learn to draw hands. In order to accomplish that skill, she decided the only way to learn was to get a book from the library that taught her how to draw hands. Then everyday she would practice until she successfully learned that skill. Now at 23 years old, she is still drawing, every day she makes time to sit and draw. She’s an amazing artist. Its taken years but she has mastered the skill she set out to do. She continues to learn new skills, while using different mediums. My point is she has never  stopped learning.        

Peter is nearing the end of his life and his hope is that all believers would desire to have a personal and intimate relationship with our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So that grace and peace would abundantly be given to us. Verse 5-8 say, “5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It’s an urgent request that we not be idle, rather that we stay active, growing our faith, until we reach maturity. So that we do not fall back into our old sin ways. I believe the message that Peter is urging to all believers, is that we never stop learning. Proverbs 24:5 says, “The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.