2 Peter 1:1-21

Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. 16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

In chapter 1 of second Peter, the writer of the epistle describes himself by his names, the one given him by his parents, the other by his Lord and master, and by his character and office.  The people he writes to are described as having faith, and that of the same kind with the apostles, and which they obtained through the righteousness of Christ.  After the inscription and salutation, the apostle takes notice of gifts of grace bestowed; and exhorts the saints to the exercise of holiness and good works.  Next he gives the reasons why he was so pressing to them.  Then Peter endeavors to establish the saints in the Gospel that had been preached among them.  The chapter concludes with the apostle sharing how the prophecies came, and their nature.

What stands out to me this morning is how Peter is exhorting the saints to have a faith that goes beyond what they believe.  This faith must become a dynamic part of all that they do, resulting in good fruit and spiritual maturity.  The truth is salvation does not depend on good deeds, but it results in good deeds. A person who claims to be saved while remaining unchanged does not understand faith or what God has done for him or her.  Simply put, faith must be more than belief in certain facts; it must result in action, growth in Christian character, and the practice of moral discipline, or it will die away (see James 2:14-17). Peter lists several of faith's actions: learning to know God better, developing perseverance, doing God's will, loving others. These actions do not come automatically; they require self-denial and hard work. They are not optional; all of them must be a continual part of the Christian life. We don't finish one and start on the next, but we work on them all together. God empowers and enables us, but he also gives us the responsibility to learn and to grow.

I pray that you would not be surprised at or resentful of the process God has you in.  Keeping yielding and trusting Him to reveal His Divine Power.

You are loved,

Alan J. Schrader

2 Peter 2:1-22

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. 4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)- 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."

In chapter 2 of second Peter we have a strong warning of false teachers, by whom they might be in danger of being seduced. These false teachers are bringing in destructive doctrines and will pervert many.  To prevent this Peter describes these seducers as disrespectful and very malicious to others (vs. 1-3).  He assures them of the punishment that shall be inflicted on them (vs. 2:3-6).  Then the apostle tells us how contrary the method is which God takes with those who fear him (vs. 7-9).  Next we read of the character of those seducing teachers and their disciples; they are unclean, presumptuous, speak evil of dignities, adulterous, covetous, and cursed, (vs. 10-14).  Then we read of those who have forsaken the right way, copy the conduct of Balaam, speak great swelling words, and pervert those who had escaped from error, (vs. 15-19). The chapter concludes with the miserable state of those who, having escaped the corruption that is in the world, have turned back like the dog to his vomit, and the washed swine to her wallowing in the mire, (vs. 20-22).

What stands out to me this morning is how there were not only holy men of God among the early church, who prophesied by Divine inspiration, but there were also false prophets, whose prophecies were from their own corrupt minds.  The truth is Jesus had told the disciples that false teachers would come (See Matthew 24:11 and Mark 13:22-23). Peter had heard these words, and at this time he was seeing them come true. Just as false prophets had contradicted the true prophets in Old Testament times (see, for example, Jeremiah 23:16-40 and Jeremiah 28:1-17), telling people only what they wanted to hear, so false teachers were twisting Christ's teachings and the words of His apostles. These teachers were belittling the significance of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Some claimed that Jesus couldn't be God; others claimed that he couldn't have been a real man. These teachers allowed and even encouraged all kinds of wrong and immoral acts, especially sexual sin.

This does not seem so far off when we begin to look at our own country.  On June 25, 1962, a slim five-justice majority of the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision titled Engel v. Vitale.  The case arose because the State of New York had been using a short, non-denominational, voluntary prayer at the beginning of each school day in the public schools.  As the lower court had aptly pointed out, student participation was never required, and the schools were instructed to exempt children from these activities if their parents objected.  But the Supreme Court (or what I would call "false prophets") brushed that fact aside and decided the prayers violated the "Establishment Clause" of the First Amendment.  By the 1980's the Supreme Court (Wallace v. Jaffree) extended the prayer ban to outlaw even a moment of silent "meditation or prayer" in schools.  In effect, the Supreme Court (filled with false prophets) was establishing a rule that, if a public school practice harbors even the remotest or most speculative type of potential for offending anyone who rejects God, that was now enough to justify taking away the religious-expression rights of the rest of America. 

In 1992, in Lee v. Weisman, the Supreme Court went one step further.  The facts here had nothing to do with the religious activities of a grade school or with children in a classroom, as prior cases did.  In those cases, at least some debatable argument could be made that impressionable children might be religiously coerced.  Instead, Lee dealt with a prayer to have been offered by a rabbi - a private citizen from the community - at a non-mandatory high school graduation ceremony.  Astonishingly, the majority opinion decided that the mere possibility some high school seniors might feel inclined to stand in respectful acknowledgement of a prayer they do not agree with (i.e., a vague kind of psychological pressure) was sufficient to hit the misguided interpretation of "separation of church and state." 

Eight years later (2000), the Supreme Court faced yet another high school prayer. However, in the case of Sante Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the prayer was not even offered inside a school building or at a graduation ceremony.  Instead, a student selected by the student council offered it at a varsity football game.  Again, the majority of the Supreme Court ruled the prayers unconstitutional, this time claiming they had the appearance of bearing the endorsement of the public school district, despite the fact that only individual students would be doing the praying. 

Back to my point: But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.  It is know wonder that our public schools are facing such difficulties and that we are headed for a great financial collapse.  We have know one to blame but ourselves for allowing false prophets to guide our nation away from God.

I pray that you would be comforted and equipped by the scriptures today.

Standing on HIS WORD,

Alan J. Schrader