Comments
Stimulate
Others
to
Wholesome
Thinking
2Peter 3:1,2 Dear
friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written
both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome
thinking. 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.
His first epistle was about Salvation, Sanctification,
Submission and Suffering. This epistle is more polemic, though
starting with isses of Christian character and maturity, he goes
on to warn about false teachings and false teachers, and in this
chapter deals with issues of eschatology.
Much of the Christian life is about thinking. Unlike those who
practice their religion as mindless drones, Christians are
encouraged to think, to discern, to scrutinize all things in
light of scripture. Though such thoughtfulness has historically
often been discouraged by the religious elite who feel
threatened by those who are as knowledgeable as they, yet the
body of Christ is much safer from false teachings and more
fruitful in its individual application as each member grows in
their knowledge of God through personally meditating on
scripture. In contrast note what occurred soon after Catholicism
was established. They made the people illiterate and took the
Bible away from the body, the result being encapsulated in the
term "the Dark Age".
"All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2Tim 3:16 So "Preach the Word; be prepared
in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—
with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will
come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to
hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn
aside to myths." 2Tim
4:2-4
Scoffers in the Last Days
2Peter 3:3,4 "First of all, you must
understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing
and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is
this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died,
everything goes on as it has since the beginning of
creation.'"
Likewise Jude writes, "'The Lord is coming with
thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone,
and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they
have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words
ungodly sinners have spoken against him.' These men
are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil
desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for
their own advantage. But, dear friends, remember what the
apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you,
'In the last times there
will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.'
These are the men who divide you, who follow mere
natural instincts and do not have the Spirit." Jude 1:14-19
And Paul writes, "The
Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the
faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by
demons." 1Tim 4:1
It seems to me that these passages are not referring to those
who merely outside the faith, but rather of apostates. Paul
writes concerning the second coming, "Don’t
let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come
until the rebellion occurs" 2Thess 2:3a The Greek word he uses for
"rebellion" is "apostasia" from
which we get "apostasy"
- those who fall away, defecting away from the faith. Jesus
said, "At that time many will
turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."
Matthew 24:10,11
So it's one thing for those outside the faith to deny the second
coming. But there will come a times when a large percentage of
"Christians" will abandon the faith in the Lord's return and opt
to follow their own evil desires, which will prepare the way for
the anti-Christ.
Creation by the Word
2Peter 3:5-7 But they deliberately forget
that long ago by God’s word the heavens
existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By
these waters also the world of that time was deluged and
destroyed. By the same word the present
heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the
day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Note the emphasis here is on the significance of the Word of
God, in contrast to these apostates who have abandoned the Word,
opting for their own opinion and stories they have fabricated. "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with
God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:1-3 "He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all
things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is
before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Col 1:15-17
Atheistic naturalists reject the idea of creation because of
the implications of a Creator. "The fool says in his heart, 'There is
no God.' They are
corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good."
Ps 14:1 "For since the creation of the
world God’s invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine
nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they
knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to
him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts
were darkened." Rom
1:20,21
What are some implications of being created? If we are created
then our meaning and purpose in life is given to us by our
Creator to whom we are accountable. It also means that our
meaning in purpose is tied up with our perspective concerning
life after death, ideas of which the materialists would rather
avoid. God creates and God destroys.