Peter's Second Epilogue ...

Our Bible is such a precious gift to us.  It is a collection of works that have been meticulously preserved throughout the history of this world until now.  Make no mistake, it is not by chance, coincidence, or good luck that we have this specific volumes of inspiration to study.  It was by design, and often by miraculous intervention, that our Bible exists today, and is available for us to learn about the deep and abiding love of God for mankind.  Our Bible records events and actions from Adam through the early Christian church in painstaking accuracy.  Both the good and the bad events are recorded and presented in clarity to us, that we might learn both the salvation that God offers, and the consequences of rejecting that salvation.  We can see all throughout history what happens when mankind trusts himself, and his own wisdom or will, in any given situation.  And by contrast we can see what happens when mankind recognizes that he is unable to save himself, and God does what ONLY God can do, saving someone when everyone else thought it “impossible”.

But despite the consistency in the themes of Biblical stories and events, there are a wide variation of beliefs that have arisen based on the same set of scriptures.  There are literally hundreds of different Christian churches that are founded on differences in the interpretation of the same book, and same set of inspired texts.  Central to all appears to be a belief in the divinity and salvation provided by Jesus Christ.  But outside of that shared tenant, the variation is wide, the differences distinct, and the walls between faiths have been built high in order to preserve the specific differences we determine from the same inspired Bible.  Each Christian church believes that “they alone” have the “best” understanding of scripture.  While Christians are hesitant to criticize each other, each still holds that the set of doctrines they believe in, are the most accurate, the most truthful, and follow closest the will of God for mankind.  But given the differences, they could not ALL possibly be correct.  Some of us, must be mistaken, because the differences are too distinct and mutually exclusive to ALL be right. 

So given this dilemma, how do we use the “word”?  If each church believes its own doctrines are biblically based to the exclusion of all others, then has our mission degenerated into debating our varied interpretations of the Bible with each other – each attempting to prove their own position is correct, and the position of their contemporaries is incorrect?  Is this the point of Christianity … that is … to be right?  In the time of Christ, the spiritual leaders of the nation were known as Pharisees.  But in that same time, were another group known as Sadducees.  The same set of Biblical writings had interpretations that differed even then.  Pharisees believed in the resurrection of mankind at the end of all things.  Sadducees did not.  Both had Biblically founded beliefs.  And BOTH were united in only one major purpose … to put to death the author of Love and the writings they both held dear.  Both sets of Biblical scholars were willing to kill God, in the name of God.  Both would rather kill God, than to cede authority to the Inspiration behind all scripture, the Truth that can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Imagine how the story might have been different, if the spiritual leadership of the day, had simply humbled themselves and sought to find truth from the mouth of Jesus Christ, instead of in the mirror of interpretation of the written ”word”.  Christ had no inconsistency with scripture.  He did not deny the validity or accuracy of scripture; in fact he quoted it repeatedly, using it over and over again throughout His ministry here on earth.  The problem was not with what was written.  The problem has ever been how men interpret scriptures.  We “use” the word to establish dominance over each other.  We “use” the word to judge the actions of others, in order to make us feel better about our own comparatively less misdeeds.  We “use” the word to prove we are right, and others are wrong.  And in so doing, we inject “self” into how we read and use the word.  Christ used the word to uplift mankind, to redeem mankind, and to correct the errors of the religious leadership of His day.  His mission was ever redemptive.  It is hard to misuse the word when your goal is ever based in the redemption of another, in loving that person into the kingdom of God.

This difference in perspective on the scriptures was keenly in the mind of Peter as he faced his end.  In the closing verses, the epilogue of his second letter to the church, his last opportunity to write down his thoughts, he spoke to this issue.  He begins in chapter 3 beginning in verse 15 writing … “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;”  Peter continues his rebuke to the scoffers who challenge the validity of the return our Lord, due to His delays.  It is because our Lord is longsuffering, intending that everyone should come to repentance and salvation that He delays His return.  Then Peter again acts in concert with Paul and the writings that Paul has already provided to the church.  Peter states that the wisdom Paul has offered was “given unto him”.  Paul is not merely writing his own opinions about the state of Christianity and the emerging ideology of a new church sect.  He is writing messages to the churches with wisdom and inspiration that is a “gift” of our God. 

Peter continues in verse 16 … “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”  Here Peter lays out the fundamental problem with how some of us use scriptures.  It is the unlearned.  It is the people who do not see scripture through the lens of surrender to Jesus Christ; that are unlearned in the proper use of scripture.  This is not a statement about education, or higher education, or becoming a doctorate in religious studies.  It is about studying the word without looking through the lens of the transformation Jesus Christ alone can enact within you.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were devout men, who dedicated their entire lives to the study and debate of the word.  They were sincere in their quest to discover truth.  But they refused to see the Truth of Jesus Christ.  They refused to acknowledge His supreme authority over matters of interpretation of the word, choosing instead to trust their own wisdom, history, and traditions on the matter.  How many modern Christians have an identical level of certainty around their doctrinal interpretations?

It is the unstable.  Those who have never been made free from sin through the transforming power of Jesus Christ are unfamiliar with the experience of salvation.  They wrestle with texts that espouse the need to do good works, because their inherent nature wars against such things.  They see texts that define what evil looks like, and what evil deeds we should avoid, as threats against themselves, because they know in their hearts, they are guilty of such thoughts, feelings, and deeds.  They wrestle with texts that show that salvation is a free gift of Christ, that we need only accept.  Because even though they believe that Christ can save them, they remain the same person, bound in the same sinful desires they have always cherished, unable to free themselves from the grasp of these sins, and with no clue how to see it change.  Without the lens of Jesus Christ, we cannot interpret scripture rightly.  The same words are used or misused in a variety of ways, but ultimately only leading to a destructive path.

To believe we can be saved by our good works, is to ignore the text that states that “all our righteousness is as filthy rags”.  To discard the law of God as no longer binding is to ignore the words of Christ when He said … “I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law.”  The reason so many variations of Christianity exist, is because we have lost the fundamentals of following Christ, in favor of the distinctions of how best to do that.  Instead of humbling ourselves, surrendering to Christ, and allowing Him to lead us to truth; we assert our knowledge of scriptures and insist only we are qualified to lead others.  Everyone else is doing it wrong … except us.  Instead of allowing the transformation of Christ to reveal to us the beauty of loving others like Christ loves others … we obsess about keeping our doctrines pure from the influence of the world, and tend to cut ourselves off from the world, in order to avoid its corrupting influence.  We, like our Pharisee and Sadducee forefathers, turn away from the redemptive mission of God, and inward towards a self-focused effort to achieve purity.

It is this path that leads to our destruction.  It is this path that takes our eyes off of Christ, and focuses them squarely on our own scriptural interpretations as the means to achieving our salvation.  We lose sight of the Author, in order to focus on the words He inspired and we misinterpret.  This is the situation Peter wants his own readers to avoid.  We can find the Truth and beauty in scriptures, but only as we are led to these truths in the person of Jesus Christ.  When we love others like Christ loved others, the meaning of the words come into sharp focus.  When we do not love others, and instead love ourselves and cherish our own wisdom, we lose all the meaning of the same written words on the same inspired pages.

Peter continues in verse 17 … “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”  Peter reminds his readers that they have not only heard the gospel message before, they have experienced the freedom only Jesus Christ can bring.  Being led by Jesus Christ is the key to discovering and maintaining the truth taught in His word.  We cannot disconnect from the Author and still expect to get the book right.  Peter challenges his readers to avoid the error the wicked inevitably make, that is putting their trust in themselves.  While we trust in Christ to save us, we can and will be saved by Him alone.  When we begin to trust self, we fail repeatedly.  Instead Peter asks that we maintain our steadfastness in surrender to Christ.  We are not to let scriptural interpretation get between our surrender to Christ, and our salvation.  For without surrender there can be no salvation.  The Law does not save us, but the Author of the Law is alone able to bring us into harmony with it.

Peter concludes his final epilogue in verse 18 writing … “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”  “Grow” in grace.  We are not to stagnate, or come to believe there is no more to achieve.  There is always deeper love to experience.  Understanding His grace for us, is found in an experiential knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Experiencing how He loves us, helps us to know what it is like to love others the same way.  When we allow Him to transform us in this way, we find new meaning in the same written words.  Where once we saw only condemnation of who we are, we now see a promise of who He will have us become.  Where once we saw our judgment and accurate condemnation for the misdeeds we are bound and enslaved to, we now see texts of promise and hope, and a fundamental change in what we want and who we are. 

It is Jesus Christ alone who is worthy of glory and honor.  He is worthy both now, because His work is started in us today, and forever, as His work in us will forever be growing within us.  There is no limit to the love of God, His love is infinite.  Therefore we will never meet the boundary of where that love ends.  Therefore, the same love that lives in the Author of love, can be reflected in us towards others.  The absence of self, enables the experience of loving others, from the same infinite point of view.  That is, no end to how much we can love our wife, our children, our parents, even our enemies.  Think of it.  No end to the amount of love you are capable of experiencing, both to you from God, and through you to others.  That my friends is a solid reason why Christ alone is worthy of glory and honor both now and forever.  Peter understood what it means to love like this.  Peter had a taste of it.  And he wished with his final parting words to the church, that they too never lose sight of what it means to experience the transformative love of Jesus Christ.

 

To Discern Truth from Error ...

Peter is aware of his impending death.  He knows it will be coming soon, and so his first and only priority is to put the early church into remembrance of the truth and power of the Gospel.  In our prior study we note how Peter relays once again his own eye witness testimony of the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ.  Peter recalls hearing the voice of God the Father stating plainly for James, John, and himself in the holy mount that Jesus was his only son, in whom the Father was well pleased.  Scripture pointed unerringly to the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies in Jesus Christ.  And lastly, Peter adds to all of these arguments the sure word of prophecy, which when inspired by God has only one target, only one fulfillment, that which is in Jesus Christ.  These things taken together are meant to be a proof, a surety of the gospel message.  This is not meant to validate Peter for his own sake, but to put the early church in remembrance that the transforming love of Jesus Christ impacts the life in the here and now.  The power of the Gospel is found in the removing our sins, not in allowing us to linger in them.  Forgiveness is not the ultimate goal.  It is a step on the path to reform, to re-creation, to a different nature that is not bound in the slavery of self-love, but made free to love others.

This is the key distinction about the Gospel message that Peter wishes for the early church to keep front and center in their thoughts … the love of Christ is transformative.  Through our daily submission of our will and our desires to Jesus Christ, He remakes the core of “who” we are into someone else.  The changes in our desires, lead us to behave differently.  Because we “want” different things, we begin to act in concert with our “new” desires, and find ourselves loving others as a natural state of being, instead of a forced one.  This transformation is the “evidence” of God being alive within us, and of our having “accepted” the Gospel message of hope against hope.  That I could be saved from who I am, is nearly beyond my comprehension.  That I could no longer even “want” to sin, is nearly beyond my greatest hope.  That this process is something Jesus Christ does for me, with only my consent to it, is a gift beyond my wildest dreams.  My deepest fear becomes allowing my arrogance or my pride or my stubborn will to interfere with it, or to fall from it.  Peter too, worried about the influence of self, in the process of salvation.  He knew that when any potential spiritual leader allowed “self” to enter the thinking of salvation, the entire process would be perverted.

So Peter begins in the last few verses of chapter one of his second letter to the church outlining counsel meant to keep believers from this error, as he begins in verse 20 saying … “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”  The great temptation of those who study scripture is to believe that “they alone” have discovered some truth that no-one else is aware of.  It then becomes “their burden” to preach and relay this message to others, as ONLY they can.  But this is nothing more than a submission to pride.  The intent of God in the revelations contained throughout ALL scripture, was to communicate with His people, with ALL of His people.  God does not purposefully cloud the meaning of scripture in order that only one reader “gets it”.  If He needed to speak to only one person, He would do so.  What the inspired text of God is intended for, is a revelation of Himself to ALL the people who might pick up that text and read.  That is not to say there is only one truth in a given passage or story.  But that is to say, that any real truth, will be discernable by more than one reader.

In our day, there are many who argue that scripture is not complete as we know it.  They argue that there are more volumes of works that “should” be a part of our Bibles; things like the gospel of Judas, or of Mary Magdalene.  Some of these additional works may disagree with the bulk of the Bible as it exists today.  Some may be entirely counterfeit.  It is hard to know if the book of Enoch should be included in our canon, as Jesus appears to make reference to it in one of his talks.  Yet for a book of Enoch to have endured, it would have had to be carried and transcribed by Noah through the flood – or perhaps re-written by Moses much later through prophetic revelation.  The intent of all this study about the completeness of the scripture is to cause doubt about what is written within it.  If the Bible is not complete, perhaps it is not accurate either.  But this misses the point Peter is here trying to make.  The Bible is not about limited understandings unique to a single person.  It is about general communications with enough information and truth so that any and every reader can know about the one and only true God, and His Son Jesus Christ, and their united desire to save mankind from himself and the evil that lies within him from loving himself.

If our God did not allow us to see enough of Himself in scripture, then none of us could ever make a truly informed decision of whether we wanted His love or not.  If scripture is inaccurate or incomplete then we do not have enough truth to make a real decision, and the entire plan of salvation becomes moot.  To think that Jesus Christ would come to this world, live and die for us, loving us to the maximum amount possible, showing what the true definition of loving others means; only then to have the record of Himself and His Father be distorted by omission or in-accuracy is senseless.  We may not have a record of every single event that has transpired throughout the history of God attempting to save mankind.  But we certainly have more than enough to see His Truth and make a decision based upon what we have read and experienced in our own lives.  The point of trusting God is doing so despite what we may lack in our lives.  To know we will be saved by Christ, in spite of the fact that we have been completely unable to save ourselves, takes trust.  Scripture provides enough information for us to make this choice, but it still remains a choice for us to make.

Peter is here telling the early church not to worry about some obscure text is some mountain cave, that only one person ever sees.  Instead the church should be able to rely on scriptures that are already in wide circulation, that are NOT intended to be hidden and used for private gain, but intended to be shared widely so that all might gain from them.  He continues in verse 21 … “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”  Peter reminds everyone that the Holy Spirit has been alive and working towards our salvation since long ago.  It is not just since the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit has been working in concert to save us.  He has been inspiring men to write down truth long before, and since, the days of Peter.  He will continue to inspire until the work is completed.  He acts as a mechanism in the transformation of men from our base selves to the holy versions we were intended to be.  He interacts with our will.  He transforms our prayers so that they might present before a perfect God better than our feeble words and selfish intentions would otherwise display.

Peter in this passage is not just affirming the truth of scripture past.  He is also affirming the mechanism for prophecy that is current in his own day.  John’s revelations of Jesus Christ are inspired and relayed to him through the mechanism of the Holy Spirit.  Peter’s own foreknowledge of his impending death is relayed to him through the Holy Spirit.  The purpose behind this knowledge was not to scare or frighten, but as revealed in this letter, it was to focus his priorities with the time he has left on the most important thing in his life … reaching the early church with the truth.  Peter is here affirming once again that any true prophecy, or prophet is moved by the Holy Spirit.

But Peter was equally aware that for every truth, Satan must introduce a counterfeit.  He continues his thoughts in chapter two of his first letter beginning in verse one saying … “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”  Here is where the danger and perversion of introducing “self” into the process of salvation reaps its harvest.  The damnable heresies introduced by false teachers fall into a single line of thinking … a denial of the transformation the Lord is responsible for.  Instead these false teachers begin to teach concepts like “balance”, and “doing your best”, and “just say no to sin”.  Any concept that teaches us that “we” have some measure of “control” in the process of our salvation denies that the Lord does all the work for us.  In so doing, we take away from God, the work He is supposed to perform, and put that burden on our own failing shoulders, with results that should have been predictable.

The swift destruction that follows is certain and completely predictable, though when it comes, it always seems to surprise its victims.  As we embrace the evil of self-love, we cause pain, destruction, and death to ourselves, to those who love us, to those who encounter us.  We send out ripples of pain that travel uninterrupted through our lives and those we encounter.  It is unavoidable when self-love is embraced.  When we rely upon self in any way for our own salvation and transformation we fail.  There is no “balance” in our salvation and re-creation, it is entirely a one-way street.  The work of saving us is done by Jesus Christ and He alone.  We do nothing but get out of His way.  We allow Him to save us, and trust that He will save us.  When we attempt to take the reins and fix some “slight” problem in ourselves by force of will, or self-denial, we only delay the transformation that would otherwise completely eliminate even the desire for that thing.  It is the introduction of self into our process of salvation that is the common denominator in false teachers who arise in the church.

It is the subtle doctrine of Satan they introduce into the heart of Christianity itself … to rely upon our common sense, and will to decide our salvation and fate.  To introduce the idea that “we” have some measure of control which we must exert, and then wait for God to make up the difference, is the heresy that acts against a real transformative experience that would have us living salvation instead of theorizing about it.  The introduction of self into our thinking about salvation, quickly begins to infect our ideas about worship as well.  The “worship service” becomes something we intend to provide “us” a blessing.  We tailor the music, format, and content to “feed us”.  We intend to reap emotional highs, and good feelings from our worship services.  In so doing we completely forget that true worship is offering service “to others”.  We forget that we most resemble our God when we are “loving others”, or meeting their needs, or getting out of our confining buildings and confining wardrobes of finery, in order to REALLY minister to someone in need, often in dirty places, that are not so attractive as church pews, in air-conditioned buildings, only once a week for a few hours.

Inserting “self” into Christianity denies us our real focus of reaching others, ministering to their needs ahead of our own, sacrificing what we have because the needs of someone else means more to US than we do.  Inserting “self” into Christianity denies us our ideas of family.  We restrict our notions of family to those who relate by blood, or marital contract.  After this the line is drawn in the sand, all others become strangers.  If we removed the notion of self from salvation, we would see that each and every other life is as precious, beautiful and meaningful as our own.  Our notions of family would extend freely to those in the church pews beside us, but would grow within us, until the homeless person becomes so important to us, that we can pass them by no longer.  This is what it means to be transformed to love others like Christ loved others.  Can you imagine Jesus passing by the homeless man, simply because he is mentally ill, and homeless?  No the Lord of Love does not pass by those in need, He meets their needs, offering healing, and hope.  As His representatives, can we do any less?  It is the introduction of the perversion of “self” into our salvation that would allow us to remain apathetic.

Peter continues in verse 2 … “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. [verse 3] And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”  When once the notion of self is embraced, a degenerative addiction is the unavoidable path it must travel.  It begins with the idea that we alone understand the scripture.  It ends with indulging ourselves to the point where we would think nothing of taking offerings from other believers and expending them on ourselves.  I can drive the Rolls Royce, and live in my mansion here on earth, because I have figured out how to profit from running a “ministry”.  But the destruction to my soul from embracing self-love is guaranteed, and it will not linger long.  I will indulge myself in what I consume, how I live, and my choices will impact and degrade my health.  I will make enemies as my need to please me, exceeds my desire to see anything of value come to you.  My enemies will rejoice when I fall, and take pleasure in my destruction.  They will judge me rightly that I am no real servant of the Most High, but instead through the introduction of self into my salvation, I am become a servant of filthy lucre, and the father of lies behind it.  This is the fate of those who would deny the Lord purchases their salvation for them.

Peter concludes these ideas of false teachers beginning in verse 4 … “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; [verse 5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; [verse 6] And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; [verse 7] And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: [verse 8] (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) [verse 9] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:”.

The destiny of those who would save themselves is enumerated above.  When once trust was broken with God in heaven, when the angels decided to trust themselves and their own common sense above the word of the Most High, they embarked upon a path of self-destruction and self-addiction and were cast out of heaven above.  The “hell” of separation from God was to be their continued fate, cut off from the source of all love.  When the old world had reached its zenith in embracing self-love, only Noah would be willing to be saved.  When Sodom and Gomorrah had reached their zenith in self-love, only Lot would continue to be grieved at the level of their corruption, and would be willing to be saved.  Even his wife would turn back to the evil that had captured her heart and lose her life becoming a pillar of salt.  Only those who would trust in God instead of themselves would be saved.  Those who refused to trust in God would not be spared.

The essential issue that was founded in the conflict in heaven has not lost any urgency here on earth even 4,000+ years later in the time of Peter, or 6,000+ years in our own day.  Do we rely upon self?  Do we trust in ourselves, and in our will, and in our common sense?  Or do we trust in God, despite what we “know”, or what we “see”, or what we “believe” to be true?  The destiny of false prophets of old, was to be the same as false teachers who were already entering the early Christian church.  When once the ideas of “self” are introduced into the process of salvation, they pervert it until it consumes them in evil.  The power of the gospel is found in the absence of self.  The power of transformative love of Jesus Christ, is that re-creates in us “new” desires to love others instead of loving ourselves.  It is this transformation that carries weight and meaning in our day to day lives, not in some distant future one.  This is what Peter would have the early church remember.  This is what he would spend what little time left he had on planet earth worried about accomplishing.  Peter had the foreknowledge of the ending of his life, and it was in these passage he chose to spend his time and energies.

To discern truth from error was important to Peter.  To keep the church engaged in the transformation that Jesus Christ brings was the most important thing in his mind, and with his time left.  Might we take his example and begin to understand why it meant so much to him?  And the counsel of Peter was far from over …