2:1 - ... there will be false teachers among you. - God has spoken through Peter to warn us that there will be people among us who teach falsely and who lead people away from the truth of God. We need to be aware of these people and how they work. It seems to me our Christian culture will accept almost anyone who says they are speaking for God without doing much of the hard work necessary to see if they really are. We are so lazy spiritually that we refuse to discern between those who are teaching the truth and those who are teaching a man made religion. I think that is why it is so hard for those who are truly preaching the Word of God to do their jobs, because those who should be listening are listening to others who do not agree with the Word. Here are some of the characteristics that Peter gives throughout chapter 2:
- cleverly teach (1) - instead of teaching the Bible plainly and openly
- deny Jesus as Lord (1)
- immoral (2)
- greedy (2)
- proud and arrogant (10)
- creatures of instinct (12) - do what they feel instead of research out God's will
- scoff at things they don't understand (12) - leave no room for the mystery associated with God
- love to sin in the open (13)
- delight in deception (13) - do not live completely in the light
- commit adultery with their eyes (14)
- love to earn money doing wrong (15)
- brag (18)
- slaves to sin(19)
2:5 - ... Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. SO God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. - I totally see a cause and effect here. Because Noah warned the world (cause) God protected him (effect). If God were to come and apply a cause and effect type of outcome for the way you are living right now would it lead you to rejoicing or fear? God longs for us to live without fear as we do what He wants done so that He can bless us tremendously. We cannot have the blessing of God by living a weak, distracted Christian life.
2:7-8 - Lot was a righteous man because his soul was tormented by the sin around him. I give Lot a bad rap because of how I understand what I read in Genesis, but apparently he was more righteous. He was bothered to the point of feeling tormented because of the sin around him. I think I am annoyed by sin at times, but I am not sure I feel tormented like I should.
2:9 - So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. - There are two really great ideas in here. 1) God knows how to rescue us. We do not have to understand how God rescues us to have confidence that He can. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out the future, but we would be better off trusting the God who is not bound by time. 2) God will deal with the wicked.
2:10 - He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desires, and who despise authority. - This verse scares me to death for our church and our culture. We have so many who are caught up in pornography and adultery and sex outside of marriage and who see nothing wrong with it or who treat it like a little sin. We do not realize the severity of the wound inflicted on our souls or the church when we let those continue in our lives. Our culture has made sexual sin something everyone struggles with and therefore something that is expected and while not okay kind of accepted. We need to personally do whatever it takes to run sexual sin out of our live. No more excuses. We choose to live a holy life or we choose to stay in sexual sin, but it is our choice.
And the thing about despising authority - in a young church made up of younger Christians rebellion is seen all the time. We need to see how serious a rebellious spirit is in God's eyes. We cannot allow rebellion. Now that doesn't mean we go on a witch hunt, but it means we need to passionately teach on the need for submission in the believers life and not let people stay rebellious. We need to find the grace and the wisdom to confront rebellion in a way that will hold people accountable and free them.
2:19 - They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. - Do you ever promise freedom while living in slavery to sin?
2:20-21 - And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. - WOW! This is a powerful warning. People can argue about once saved always saved and all of that, but there is no disputing the fact that Peter says we have to make a great effort to stay free from sin and continue in righteousness. We are COMMANDED to live a holy life. Why did we let go of that teaching? We have been so consumed with grace that we have begun to disgrace grace by sinning. The true power and effect of grace is a life of less sin, not more. We do not understand grace if we can use it to sin. Real grace moves us to holy living.
Love, Michael
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