Hey everyone! ^^

The title's probably very foreign to some of you, but this is just my own tribute to the Lord, here on AFF despite religious differences. My church receives little booklets that are like baby steps towards God every year and I thought I would post them here each and everyday! Or, at least I'll try to haha ^^;;

Journeys of love and reflection. How will it be for you?

[My apologies for not starting @ the beginning of May >_>]

-Love, GinniePark

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Memory Verse of the Week:

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8

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The Day of the Lord - 2 Peter 3:1-7

Scoffers Will Come

1: "Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking."

2: "I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles."

3: "Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires."

4: "They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.'"

 

But Judgment Is Sure

5: "But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's Word the Heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water."

6: "By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed."

7: "By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly."

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Peter hopes that his letter will stimulate reaaders and help them recall the words spoken by the prophets and apostles.

The message concerning Christ's Second Coming will encounter ridicule and persecution.

But just as the world was destroyed by water, the present earth is reserved for fire for the ungodly.

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Reflection

Scoffers Will Come (3:1-4)

Coming to the close of this letter, Peter returns to themes he addressed previously. The reader is told to 'recall' (v.2) and 'understand' (v.3). As Peter wrote in his first letter, understanding what the Bible says is the only fool-proof way of combating heresy [lies]. It is only through the true, apostolic Gospel that we can know exactly and reliably what Jesus said and commanded. This is because false teachers will come in the last days, which are the days between Christ's first coming and His second. Such false teachers will scoff at the notion of a holy life and even the idea that Christ will return (v.4), and Peter reminds us that the Bible has already warned that such people will come. This scoffing and denial of Christ's return is a hallmark of those who follow their evil desires (v.3).

 

But Judgment Is Sure (3:5-7)

Peter focuses on the aberrant position of the heretics one last time in these verses as he points out that the very core of heresy is the denial of God's spoken Word. The contrast is that while believers 'recall' God's words (v.2), false teachers 'deliberately forget' those words of God (v.5). Peter's argument is that the scoffing teachers intentionally ignore the words of God they know because they do not like them or they think they are irrelevant. But such denial will not be overlooked. The same Word through which God created all that exists (v.5) is the Word through which God has set judgment to come (v.7).

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Application

-We live in a time where sound biblical teaching is not popular. Paul's warning of a time when people demand teaching that satisfies their 'itching ears' is very apparent today. But we must hold to the Bible's teaching alone.

-When we think of the Bible, we should be careful to accept the whole Word of God - not just what we can or want to believe, but the whole of Scripture.

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"The resurrection and the judgment will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can win."

-A.W. Tozer

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No More Excuses

Most of us are guilty of driving above the speed limit. If the speed limit says 15, we drive at 20. If it says 60, maybe we drive at 70. Does this make us bad people? Yes, it does (we are innately sinful, after all), but everyone does it. So until we get caught, we continue to break the law and speed. When we are finally pulled over, we usually try to get out of the ticket - not because we are innocent, but because we don't want to have to deal with the consequences of our actions.

This is the same attitude that many scoffers of Christianity have. First they mock and disregard the Commandments of God. Then, when confronted with the Truth, they justify their actions or attempt to reason against the Law. But these justifications do more harm than good. God is fully aware of every scoffer's argument.

As J.C. Ryle writes, "Let us never forget that wicked men are often fulfilling God's predictions to their own ruin, and yet know it not....The unhappy scoffers who make a jest of all serious religion, and can scarcely talk of Christianity without ridicule and scorn, would do well to remember that their conduct was long ago forseen and foretold. 'There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts' (2 Pet. 3:3)." People don't surprise God. God sees everything, and He knows exactly how people will respond to Him. Therefore, He warns us  about the consequences of our actions. Is that enough to make people change? Usually not, but it certainly leaves us without any excuses.

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A Letter to God

Heavenly Father, protect me from false teaching, and allow me in the submissive heart to take all of Your revelation in Scripture as Your Word.

In Christ's name. Amen.