Of the last five New Testament epistles, three are one
short chapter each. These five are concerned with false teaching and the way Christians
should live. 2 Peter and Jude warn against those who scorn the authority of the
Lord and His Word. John’s three letters are written against Gnosticism, a
teaching that had strange views of Christ and other important matters. John
called this the “spirit of antichrist.”
Years ago, a man told me of visiting the Franklin mint
where there is a wall of counterfeit money displayed under glass. He said to an
official, “I can imagine you must study
these very carefully.” The official replied, “Not at all. We study the genuine money. That makes it easy to spot
what is fake.”
As I think about the topics of these books and am aware
that many of these false ideas prevail even today, my plan is not to dwell on or
analyze the false but look in these books for what is true. The very first and
most delightful reality is in the first chapter of 2 Peter. He writes:
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:1–4)
God says salvation is by the righteousness of the Lord,
granted to believers by His power. I am given “all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge
of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted
to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become
partakers of the divine nature.” This is how I can escape the corruption of
the world rather than be snared by its sinful desires! God says there is no
other way.
Yesterday in discussion with others, we agreed that our
most constant battle is that “I can do it”
notion concerning all of life. In other words, I tend toward the foolishness of
thinking that I do not need God or His grace or divine power, at least not for
certain things. It is easy to be quite happy to consider Jesus my Savior because
I know I cannot save myself from sin, but I too easily drift toward thinking I can
handle most of life all by myself.
This is not true, yet it takes a lifetime to fully realize
it never mind reach it. The life of radical faith takes seriously the words “all things that pertain to life” and
learns that even ordinary things like shopping, household chores, and so on are
included. When I rely on “divine power”
for the ordinary, life is transformed. For instance, last week I learned the
why of a nosebleed in the plan of God. He is teaching me to be on the alert for
His hand in everything and because of it, life’s events have meaning I’d
otherwise not see. Instead, God gives me adventure in matters that I’d
otherwise find ordinary or even irritating.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lord Jesus, this passage in 2 Peter is precious. It gives
me an image of Your power pouring down as I run from sin and from trying to
handle ordinary life without You. I can also clearly see that You lead me into
a life where You hold my hand and give me grace and peace. No false teaching can
even come close to what You do for Your people!
Today’s thankful list . . .
- having all I need to live for Jesus.
- forgiveness for the many times I fail to rely on Him.
- knowing Your power and grace that gives meaning to even
ordinary events.
- getting outside into fresh air.
- lots of exercise today.
- being able to record and watch the World Rugby Bronze
medal game.
1 comment:
Amen!
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