The Day of the Scoffers

First of all, you must understand that in the last day scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires." 

II Peter 3:3

It is as if the Apostle Peter foresaw the twenty first century, the world as we know it today. Atheist's demand that people of faith stop mentioning God on nearly a daily basis. Go to Hot on Google! and you will find someone raging about the evils of Christians and mocking Christians for not believing in their cartoon religion/science dogma known as evolution. 

According to revisionist history every evil ever done was because someone acted in the name of their god. They blame the god they don't believe in for the evil that is the natural outcome of mankind choosing to deny God. 

This world mocks the idea of a literal interpretation of the Bible which states that God created the world in seven days. They scoff at the second coming of Christ. They "forget" that God created and will judge the world.  

Here's the deal: the world mocks out of arrogance and ignorance. We believe and trust in Christ's faithfulness in humility and faith (being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see - Hebrews 11:1). 

Father, help us to stand strong in our faith with hope and certainty in Christ. Praise be to you in us today!

Efforts of Faith, Not Works

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)

Even though the verse says to "make every effort" I know that legalism is not part of the meaning. In other words, this is not a to do list that must be followed to the letter, and if I miss one part then it all falls apart. Legalism puts it all on me and that is not faith.

Faith in the finished work of Christ is what I am trying to grasp. I do, at times, feel ineffective and unproductive in my relationship with Christ. So, trying to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love to my faith does not mean acts that earn me God's favor. 

I think it was Zig Ziglar who said, "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." What will you seek today? By faith you can aim at several things that God promises to use to make us effective and productive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't aim at nothing, aim at goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. 

Father, help us to walk by faith and may our knowledge of you be effective  and productive. Praise be to you in us today!

Does a Friend Need You to Stand by Them?

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly love, and to brotherly love, love.

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NIV)

I have two sisters and one brother. We grew up like typical brothers and sisters. We argued , played, fought and laughed. After we moved out and we're living on our own my brother went through a bit of a hard time. I drove out from California to New Mexico to pick him up and bring him back for Christmas. He kind of thought that just because he was going through this particularly difficult situation that we might not support him. I told him that right or wrong (and he was in the right) he was my brother, I loved him and would always be there for him. 

Brotherly love just loves. Not romantic love. Not emotional fantasy love. It's stand by your friend, help no matter what love. Brotherly love stands with someone when they repent. It's not about condoning or judging, it's about support. Brotherly love tells the truth in love. It helps you see what is right and helps you do what is right. 

Who do you need to stand with today?

Godliness is not wimpy

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NIV)

Godliness has got to be a trait with little meaning to our modern  world. Our modern culture does not value godliness. Growing up the message I heard about godliness was a lot about what you didn't do. You don't get angry. You don't hit someone back. You don't think to highly of yourself. You don't lust. You don't drink. You don't go to R-rated movies. It made me see godliness as sort of advanced wimpiness. 

In contrast to much of what people think, the men of God found in the Bible were quite strong, bold and anything but wimpy. 

Think of Job. He was a strong powerful man who sought the Lord with all his heart. 

Then there was David, the warrior psalmist. He was a man after God's own heart. And he led his nation in battle. 

The Apostle Paul was definitely an A-type personality if there ever was one. Persecutor of the church  turned follower of the way. He preached the gospel to basically the know world and wrote a good portion of the New Testament. 

What about Peter, the fisherman turned fisher of men, disciple and apostle? I don't think you would call him wimpy. He stood up to the ruling Sanhedrin and declared, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God" (Acts 4:19b). He wrote this very epistle we are studying. He would die a martyr's death. 

Godliness is strength governed by grace and justice tempered with mercy. Living my life in godliness is not about things I don't do, it is loving others as Christ first loved me. 

Father, help us to be godly in all we say and do. Praise be to you in us today!

MORE THAN KNOWING ABOUT

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NIV)

I am a teacher so knowledge is pretty important in my world. Every day I am trying to help students learn a concept or master a skill to increase their knowledge. But knowledge without God is just vanity. 

Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Again in Proverbs 9:10 we are told, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Peter isn't talking about general knowledge, he is talking about knowing God. 

Peter was Jewish. The Hebrew concept of knowledge has to do with experiential knowledge. The NIV translates Genesis 4:1 "Adam lay with his wife Eve". The KJV reads "And Adam knew Eve his wife". The word is to know. The point is the Adam knowledge of Eve was not just in thought but in intimate experience.  Our knowledge of God is to be experiential. 

When Peter encourages us to add knowledge to our goodness and faith he's not talking about taking a lot of notes during church and reading books. Peter is talking about knowing God like you know your spouse of best friend. 

Father, help us to know you, to know you experientially. Open our eyes to see you in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!