Thursday: A Final Appeal
Peter ends his epistle with a theme that has pervaded it from the start: living holy lives and being careful not to be led astray by “the error of the wicked” (2 Pet. 3:17).
Read 2 Peter 3:14-18. To whom is Peter appealing, and what is he warning about in this appeal?
http://www.goodsalt.com/details/pppas0075.html?r=ssnet
How interesting that Peter ends his epistle with an appeal to the writings of “our beloved brother Paul” (2 Pet. 3:15). Paul also wrote of the need to live at peace while waiting for the second coming of Jesus, and to use the time to develop holy lives (see Rom. 2:4, Rom. 12:18, Phil. 2:12).
Also notice the way that Peter’s reference to the writings of Paul shows that Paul’s writings were highly valued early in Christian history. Whether or not Peter is referring to the whole collection of Paul’s writings now found in the New Testament, or only a subset of them, cannot be determined. Nevertheless, Peter’s comments show that Paul’s letters were highly regarded.
Finally, Peter comments that Paul’s writings can be misconstrued, just like other Scriptures. The Greek word grapha literally means “writings,” but in this context it clearly means “sacred writings,” such as the books of Moses and the prophets. Here is very early evidence that Paul’s writings had taken on authority, like the authority of the Hebrew Bible.
And considering what we read earlier about false teachers who promise liberty, it’s not hard to imagine people using Paul’s writings about liberty and grace as an excuse for sinful behavior. Paul strongly emphasized righteousness by faith alone (Rom. 3:21-22), but nothing in his writings gives people a license for sin (see Rom. 6:1-14). Paul himself had to deal with this error in regard to what he had been preaching and teaching about righteousness by faith. Yet, Peter warns, those who twist his writings do so at the risk of “their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:16).
| What are choices you can make right now that can help you to live the kind of life that we have been called to live in Christ Jesus? |
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Reflecting on the way Paul joined the early church and for Peter to acknowledge him as one inspired gives us a lesson on the remarkable cohesion within the early church.It is with the same spirit that we should foster learning within ourselves encouraging each other and applying scripture in the right way. This will be critical in warding off the increasing number of false teachings that threaten the church today.
There is a teaching in the main line churches that has bothered me. It is a "pet-peeve" of mine that I don't let go without answering when someone promotes it. This very popular teaching led me into atheism when I was younger. It is the idea of torture for eternity in the flames of hell as what leads (draws) people to Jesus to be saved. Thank God for the Bible, which teaches...."the goodness of God leads (us) to repentance." Romans 2:4. Paul and even OT writers like Jeremiah tell us that it is not the nature of God to have an unquenchable vendetta with men who have not responded to the Spirit of God. Jesus confirms this drawing by seeing the kindness and mercy of God by saying, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." Jeremiah knew it was God's kindness that draws us to Him, "The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
So yesterday, I engaged some FB followers of [the idea of eternal torture] on this topic (I have great respect for him and his father). Of course, I was belittled and told my theology was messed up. I referred them to my website on the topic, where the could get more detail. Several visited the site....I have not heard from them any more. May God's goodness be reflected in our lives and may we know God's word for ourselves.
We must carefully read and study the scriptures by asking the Holy Spirit for guidance. Be careful of false teachers and be careful we not twist the words. Paul encourages his listeners to live peaceful lives while waiting for the second coming of Christ, and to live holy lives. The same is applies to us today. May God help us as we study His word we may get a clear understanding of it.
"He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." 2 Pet 3:16
An example of one of the worst violations is what most preachers do with the following 2 verses...
"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." Col 2:16-17
Most Christian preachers use these 2 verses to make of none effect the 4th(Sabbath ) commandment.
When you hear these..take the other person to Eze 45:17
"It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons and the Sabbaths—at all the appointed festivals of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings,[a] grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the Israelites."
Almost all who use Col 2:16 have never heard of Eze 45:17
Referring to Sabbath, instituted by God as a special day of blessing for man, (Genesis 1:3) both, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, came up with a distorted view of the Sabbath in history. I am just trying to give a brief summary of reading church history. Roman Catholic Theologians differentiated between the Sabbath as narural law carrying with it the general principle of rest needed for worship and adoration on one side; and the Sabbath as a ceremonial entity on the other sinde. The latter was considered to be a shadow pointing forward to the real Sabbath of the New Testament. This made the Sabbath relevant only for Jews. On the ground of the Sabbath as natural law and general principle the church determined to institute Sunday as a day of worship. This seems to be a rather hair splitting argument, inasmuch as God has instituted not two parts of the Sabbath, one eternal Sabbath-Rest to be instituted by tradition of the church and one part to be for Jews only.
Luther is basically following this pattern, only differentiating his view from the Roman Church saying, all days are equal. The holiness and sanctification of the believer would make any day holy, falling into the trap of pan-sabbatism abolishing the special blessing for the seventh day ever since creation. Sunday was chosen by Luther only because of long tradition not wanting to disturb society and long tradition, thus violationg his own principle, sola scriptura (scripture only). His opponent Eck at the disputaion at Leipzig was right ponting out that Luther was transgressing his own basic assumption of sola scriptura. Eck was argueing on the basis of scripture and tradition. Luther is following in principle scripture and tradition asmuch as the Roman Catholic Church does. All who argue that Sabbath has done away with, while Sunday has occupied the place the jewish Sabbath, are following tradition and not scripture alone. We as adventists need to be remindful that we too have followed that tradion keeping Sunday before 1844 and ought to be patient with conscientious believers of sunday worship.
Winfried Stolpmann
We must continue in the Word. Beholding and becoming changed as we read.
Unless we find Jesus in the Scriptures, all our reading of them is of no avail. All too often, our use of scripture is to prove ourselves right and others wrong. Finding Jesus should be what it is about.
John 5: 39,40 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
The fact is that any kind of law keeping without faith in Jesus is legalism. The Jewish leaders of Jesus' day were keeping the 7th day holy and yet rejected the author of the seventh day Sabbath, Jesus himself---their own saviour. The same can happen to us now. We can keep the seventh day Sabbath and lose sight of Jesus himself for salvation.