https://esv.literalword.com/?q=2+peter+2
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 24 September 2024:
2 Peter 2:1-3 — But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
False teachers are motivated by sensuality and greed as are their followers. Though their teachings may be offered in the name of God, they appeal to human desires rather than genuine worship. False teachers pervert the truth to build a following and gain something for themselves, even if that something is only personal satisfaction, feeling good about their own apparent righteousness. God shares the glory with no man.
- Matthew 7:15-20 — 1“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
- Romans 16:17-18 — I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 — For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
- 2 Timothy 4:3-4 — For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
2 Peter 2:5-10 — He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is recorded in Genesis 18-20 for our instruction — “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.” (Romans 15:4) “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11) “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” (Jude 1:7)
“He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked….” Lot was a righteous man, tormented in his heart by the perversion of his nation, which included rampant promiscuity, adultery and homosexuality. However, though Lot was a leader in his community, he apparently did little to counter the culture around him. In fact, he had become so assimilated into the culture the angels actually had to force him out of the city before destroying it; Lot lost his wife and his sons-in-law, and his daughters were completely and shockingly perverted by the culture around them.
- Mark 9:50 — Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again?
How is the church influencing society today? How is society influencing the church? What do we accept in our homes that would have been unthinkable decades ago? How urgently are we seeking to share the Gospel with those facing the Judgment of God? “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17)
2 Peter 2:12 — But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction.
Those who quench the Spirit and allow the flesh to rule are no different than animals, denying their spiritual image of God.
2 Peter 2:18 — For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.
Have you noticed how loud and boastful the ungodly are?
2 Peter 2:19 — They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
Our current sexual, humanist revolution which is overtaking our nation is proclaimed in the name of freedom while placing more and more people into bondage. Many are celebrating freedom from laws which once maintained a higher moral order in our society, not realizing that this freedom from law and order only serves to enslave more and more people to destructively sinful lifestyles. Popular opinion and social morality doesn’t nullify God’s commands.
2 Peter 2:20 — For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
Many justify their worldly compromise by proclaiming ‘freedom through grace,’ but if they have asked for forgiveness for their sins through the blood of Jesus Christ and then continue in that sin, they not only trample on the blood of Christ, they also have nothing left to hold them back from the destructiveness of sin. They have denied the love of Christ through their willful disobedience, and without the motivator of love, nothing will stop their downward spiral. 2 Peter 2 goes on to say, “For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: ‘The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.’” What hope is left for the person who proclaims Jesus and yet continues in willful sin? There is no such thing as ‘cheap grace.’ Grace came at the price of the blood of Jesus and, for that, we should tremble at the thought of disobey Him.
2 Peter 2:21 — For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Repent of any sin you continue despite God’s clear word on the matter and His gift of G.R.A.C.E. (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense). See your sin as God sees it, cosmic treason and trampling on the blood of Jesus.
- Hebrews 10:26-31 — For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Pray for those you know who have knowingly rejected God’s truth in any way for sake of their own desires.
Pray that God shows mercy on the nation that once proudly proclaimed, “No king but King Jesus,” and “In God We Trust.”
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 24 September 2024: Today, ask yourself how you might have compromised your purity due to the influence of the culture in which you live. Consider what you will watch or listen to for entertainment today. Does it make light of the sin God abhors and for which Christ paid the penalty? Consider how clear your message of the Gospel is as an Ambassador for Christ in this corrupt society. Are you holding back? Why? (see 2 Peter 2)
Don’t be like Lot who was vexed but not valiant, influenced by not influential. Don’t be surprised by the spirit of divisiveness you see in the world today, but keep yourself in the love of God, grow in your faith, pray, and wait for and proclaim the mercy of the Lord. Speak the truth in love, and stand for the truth with confidence in the power and authority of Jesus Christ. “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 1:17-23) “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 