2 Peter 2
September Memory Verse: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)
Read: 2 Peter 2
In 2 Peter 2, Peter narrows his focus on those who are false teachers. Look what he says in verses 9-10:
Peter is showing the seriousness of living a double life: of preaching and saying one thing while living in a different way. And he is especially serious when this overflows in leading other people to stray away from the true faith of the gospel.
God is full of mercy and grace to those who repent of their sin and follow him. There is no sin that is too great to be met with forgiveness. But at the same time, this forgiveness is not automatically applied. It has to be received into our hearts and accepted into our lives for us to have the effect of it. One of the ways our salvation is proven (as opposed to being earned) is that what we say and do matches up with the Bible, and when it doesn’t, we repent of our sin and seek to grow and change.
Let’s make sure, today, that our lives are measuring up to what we say and teach. Let’s make sure that what we say is lining up with God’s Word, and that we are filling our minds with true teaching of God’s Word to help us grow and change.
By: Graham Withers
Read: 2 Peter 2
In 2 Peter 2, Peter narrows his focus on those who are false teachers. Look what he says in verses 9-10:
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. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. (NLT)
Peter is showing the seriousness of living a double life: of preaching and saying one thing while living in a different way. And he is especially serious when this overflows in leading other people to stray away from the true faith of the gospel.
God is full of mercy and grace to those who repent of their sin and follow him. There is no sin that is too great to be met with forgiveness. But at the same time, this forgiveness is not automatically applied. It has to be received into our hearts and accepted into our lives for us to have the effect of it. One of the ways our salvation is proven (as opposed to being earned) is that what we say and do matches up with the Bible, and when it doesn’t, we repent of our sin and seek to grow and change.
Let’s make sure, today, that our lives are measuring up to what we say and teach. Let’s make sure that what we say is lining up with God’s Word, and that we are filling our minds with true teaching of God’s Word to help us grow and change.
By: Graham Withers
1 Comment
When I hear the term "false teachers", Graham, I do not think of myself as being one. You wisely point out the dangers of a believer leading other believers astray; thank you for this warning!
It's interesting that Peter highlights deceitful teaching concerning sexual sin "With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception." (2 Peter 2:18b) It's almost as if he wrote it to 21st century America, where there's not a day that goes by when we don't hear the term "sexual identity". A few days ago we were reminded (1 Peter 4:14) that "you bear the name of Christ". Our identity is in Christ alone, not our sexual desires.