Dear Student of the Word,
Merry Christmas from my house to yours. I am sittting here tonight and decided to process one more installment of God's Word before the holidays begin and the year ends. I had hoped to finish 2 Peter this year, but will have to produce the last study after January 1. In this second epistle, Peter was obviously addressing the issue of false teachers and prophets in circulation. We need not focus on the false, but only need to keep our eyes on the real - Jesus and God's Word - to avoid the deception of those who are false peddlers of God's word. In this seven-part installment, I wrote the following in part seven:
Study Two, Part Seven
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."
2:20&21 – Someone who has seen the things of God but then twists those things to use them for selfish ends is in trouble. Peter stated that it would have been better had they never gotten involved than to have found the Lord and then perverted His ways. Why? Because once they confuse the spirituality of Christ with greed, they produce a hybrid faith that blurs their vision and reduces their discernment. They begin to use their spirituality for personal gain, believing they have a right to such benefits and developing a persona and image that is almost impossible to change.
Help me, Lord, and protect me from ministry greed. Don’t allow me, Lord, to profane your name or to rip off Your people. Lord, if I am ever close to bringing dishonor to Your name, I pray that You will take me to You before that happens. Amen.
2:22 – Perhaps the problem is how we produce “conversions” today, sometimes being more interested in making converts than disciples. We urge people to come to Jesus to have their sins forgiven and lives saved, but don’t emphasize the hard work that needs to be done in cooperation with the Spirit to put their fleshly deeds to death. We have made it too easy for those who want to “do” ministry to perform. And we have not emphasized theological training for those who show spiritual gifting, rushing them into a public role before they are ready.
I suppose there are many reasons, but the main reason is that the devil is always working to discredit the gospel. He is producing counterfeits or trying to pervert the real deal so that the cause of Christ is damaged and God’s creation enslaved. I cannot change the world. All I can do is define and walk out my ministry values in humility and with God’s help.
I am not the church’s policeman nor am I spiritual or smart enough to spot every bogus minister. I must simply develop safeguards with those around me to protect me from error, be open to correction and trust the Lord. I must also follow my heart and if something doesn’t seem right, then I must rely on my gut feeling without judging or condemning. And of course, the main safeguard is diligent study of God’s word that is supplemented by trusted servants of God.
We are in a spiritual war and I should expect some enemy spies who will attempt to pervert my communication from headquarters. But I serve a great God who knows all things and if I keep my eyes on Him, I am certain He will protect me and mine from error and harm.
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files. And once again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.
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