2 Peter 2:1

2 Peter 2:1 says, 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.  Peter tells us that there were false prophets in the Old Testament and warns that there will be false teachers today who will teach heresies instead of the true gospel.  Some of this will come from individuals, and some from groups who profess to believe Christ while attempting to add other requirements to the gospel.  They will bring upon themselves swift judgment as false teachers when God's judgment comes.  Verse two adds, And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.   Peter tells us that many will follow these false teachers.  This is why it is so important that we know what the Bible really teaches.  God is never going to lead someone to teach anything inconsistent with the Bible.  Verse three continues, 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.  These false teachers will appeal to people's coveteous nature.  They will attempt to make the gospel about merchandise, or material things.  Verse four declares, 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;  The angels were in heaven created to serve God, but some began to covet being as powerful as God.  Their evil desires resulted in them being cast out of heaven.  Verse five adds, 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;  In the days of Noah, even as he proclaimed God's coming judgment, people refused to listen, and all but eight people were destroyed by the flood.  Verse six continues, 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;  We are reminded of what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their depravity.  These two cities should serve as an example of what happens when people totally refuse to listen to God's word.  People often want to claim that natural disasters are God's judgment on a group of people or a particular place, but I believe that if it is God's judgment, there will be no doubt.  If God's people are suffering as much as those who deny God, I believe that we can rule out a natural disaster being God's judgment.  Verse seven states, And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:  God spared Lot and his family, though they lived in the wickedness of those that were destroyed.  In order to be spared, they had to respond in obedience to God's call, and Lot's wife is an example of what happens when we refuse to follow God in obedience to His word.  We cannot look back on the things of this world that we are told to leave behind.  Verse eight adds, (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)  I believe this tells us that Lot was vexed by the unrighteousness of those that he lived around.  We today should likewise be vexed by those that we live around who are unrighteous.  If we are to live with them, we must make sure that we bring the gospel to them instead of allowing them to pull us away from the truth of the gospel.  Verse nine continues, The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:  God will deliver us from temptation if we rely on the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  God also reserves the day of punishment for those who refuse to accept His salvation provided by Christ.  It may not be in this lifetime, but it is certain.  Verse ten says, But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.   God especially reserves judgment for those who live for the lusts of the flesh and even refuse to obey and even despise the government.  They are presumptuous, self willed and unafraid to speak evil of God's word.  Though we may never see it, their day of judgment is coming.  Verse eleven adds, Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.  The angels are greater in power than human beings, but even they cannot defy God and go unpunished.

2 Peter 1:12

2 Peter 1:12 says, Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.  Peter said that he would continually remind his fellow believers about the truth of the gospel, even though he knew that they knew it.  As followers of Christ, we can never forget that He died for us and we are to live for Him.  We can never allow lies or distortions to come into truth of the gospel.  Verse thirteen adds, Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;  Peter said that he felt that as long as he lived that it was his responsibility to keep his fellow believers stirred up in the gospel.  The tabernacle was a reference to Peter's earthly body, which is the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit if we are followers of Christ.  Verse fourteen continues, Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.  Peter knew that he soon would die, just as Jesus Christ had died physically.  We can be certain of one thing, and that is that either in death or the second coming, we will put this old body off.  Verse fifteen states, Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.  Matthew Henry says this refers to why Peter was writing this.  I believe that inspired by God, Peter did not want them to have to rely on oral traditions or memories to remember the truth of God, which is also why we have the Bible to guide us today.  Verse sixteen adds, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  Peter reminded his fellow believers that the gospel was not just a myth, as many people would make it today.  Peter was an eyewitness to the truth of the gospel, and though we have not seen the death, burial and resurrection of Christ physically, once we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we know the truth of salvation spiritually.  Verse seventeen continues, For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Peter was an eyewitness to this proclamation of God at the baptism of Jesus.  Though we may not have been there, if we accept Christ for Who He is, the only way to salvation, then we must accept the truth of the Biblical account of His life.  Verse eighteen says, And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.  Peter was with Jesus at His baptism and at His ascension.  Peter knew the truth of what he was saying, and if we are to be effective witnesses today, we must have our faith grounded in that same truth.  Verse nineteen adds, We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:  The coming of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world was not a new concept but had been prophesied by the Old Testament.  We can look back on that truth when we read God's word.  Verse twenty continues, Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  As Peter said then, we cannot just come up with our own interpretation of what the scripture, or the Bible, means.  Our interpretation must always be consistent with the whole scripture and guided by the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty-one concludes, 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.  The prophecies of the Bible, though spoken by men, are the word of God.  We cannot change His word to suit our own purposes, but we must believe all of it as we study it under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

I am going to pause briefly from what we have been looking at to discuss Easter.  We know that the first Easter that the followers of Christ felt defeated, but because of that first Easter, we never have to feel that way again.  Many churches have sun rise services, though for some may conduct them well after sunrise.  This is done to commemorate the women getting to the grave early that first Easter to discover that  the stone was rolled away and Jesus' body was gone.  They were the first to receive the good news that Jesus was not there, but that He had risen from the dead and had no need of the tomb.  We, as followers of Christ, will likewise one day rise from the dead and have no need for a grave or any other burial place. The good news of Easter is that even though sin had sealed us into a life that could only result in death, physically and spiritually, Jesus has broken that seal and set us free if we only put our faith in Him.  The women went and told the disciples, who were huddled in defeat, what they had seen and been told by the angel.  Two of the disciples, Peter and John, went to see what had happened.  We have to assume that the others weren't convinced enough to go look.  Even those who are closest to the word of God will not believe in salvation through Christ until they respond to Him by faith.  Peter and John went eagerly, but the other disciples were still not ready to believe.  This Easter, hopefully we are like Peter and John, ready to believe and understand what the death, burial and resurrection of Christ really means.  We do not need to live as defeated people, but we can live without fear and boldly proclaim that Christ is risen and lives forever, and that we can also claim victory over sin and have everlasting life through our faith in Him.

2 Peter 1:1

2 Peter 1:1 says, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:  Peter calls himself a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ.  Whatever else God may call us to be, we are all servants of Jesus Christ, if we have obtained the precious faith like Peter had.  We can obtain this faith because of the righteousness of God.  Verse two adds, Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,  Peter asked that their grace and peace be multiplied through their knowledge of God and Jesus their Lord.  When we live under the grace of God, shown to us fully by the sacrifice of Christ, we should live at peace in the world.  If we are not at peace in the world in which we live, it may be that our faith in God's grace is faltering.  Verse three continues, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  Peter tells us that God has given us all the things that pertain to life and Godliness through our knowledge of Christ.  Peter does not say that God gives us everything we want in this world, but that He gives us everything we need in order to live by faith for His glory.  Verse four concludes, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  God has indeed made great and precious promises to those who follow Christ.  We become partakers of the divine nature of God.  We do not become divine, but our nature becomes shaped by God.  We, through our faith in Christ, escape the corruption of the world brought on by our lusts.  Verse five states,  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  Our faith in Christ should change our nature.  We should become virtuous under the knowledge of God.  We cannot accept Christ and not be changed in the way we live and view the world.  Verse six adds, And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;  This is a continuation of the way our nature will be changed by our faith in Christ.  We should be temperate, patient and godly in all that we do.   Verse seven continues, And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  When we follow Christ, we will be kind to others and have a love for them like God has for us.  To say that we love God but hate sinners is not consistent.  We are to hate the sin, but we are to pray for the sinner.  Verse eight continues, For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  If we have the things just discussed guiding our life, we will be productive in our life for Christ.  We are not promised earthly riches, but we are promised a greater relationship with Christ.  If our faith is barren, we may need to change the way we live out our faith.  Verse nine says, But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.  If we lack the things mentioned, the we have become spiritually blind and have forgotten that we were purged of our sins.  We cannot effectively follow Christ if we feel that we are morally superior to others simply because of who we are in the world.  Verse ten adds, Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:  We need to be diligent in our faith in Christ.  If we put Christ and His will first, then we will never fail in our spiritual walk with Him.  Verse eleven concludes, For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  If we accept Christ, we have been granted entrance into His everlasting kingdom.  We should follow God's guidance in all that we do because of this great gift of everlasting salvation.

We will briefly review what we have learned from First Peter.  We, like Peter, should identify ourselves as Christians, those saved by faith in the grace of God.  This has been the plan of salvation since before the creation of the world.  It is not that God ordained us, or even certain of us, to fail, but that He knew when He gave us free will that we could fail.  The life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ was and is and always will be the only way to salvation.  We also learn that we are to love one another as God loves us.  We are not only to love our fellow believers, but we are to even love those who hate and despise us.  Christ did not just love and die for certain people who loved and treated Him right, but for all people, even those who nailed Him to the cross.  We, as followers of Christ, are to love with the same type love.  We are also called on to obey the government, or anyone in a position of power over us, unless they require us to go against God's law.  We cannot just claim that since we are forgiven of our sins that we are free to do anything we choose to do.  We are to set the example for others, not only our fellow Christians but also for the lost of the world.  God should always be glorified by our actions, and we should always make sure that He receives the honor and glory.  There is no room for self glorification as a follower of Christ.  We are also to control our speech.  This is more than just not using profanity.  We are not to say anything that would dishonor God, and spreading rumors or telling lies about others is certainly never acceptable.

1 Peter 5:5 says, Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  The young are called on to submit to the elder.  This was once more common than it is today, I believe, but it should especially be true of young followers of Christ submitting to older followers of Christ.  There is no room for the self centered attitude of saying no one has the right to tell me anything.  We are to be subject to one another and to do so humbly.  We are told that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.  Verse six says, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:  There is no room for boastful self pride in Christianity.  I don't mean having pride in the things we do, but instead bragging about how great we are.  We should always humbly do our best in everything we do, not so that we will be honored, but so that God will.  Verse seven says, Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.  We are to cast all are cares and concerns on God.  Whatever our burden, we are to bring it to God.  We can do this through prayer, believing that God really will hear and answer.  Sometimes, we pray without real faith, just going through the motions while still not believing that God will answer.  Or course, I believe that everything we pray for should be in accordance with God's will and for His glory.  We can also bring our burdens to the church, our fellow believers.  We are to share one another's burdens.  Verse eight declares, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  We are to always be vigilant in our faith in God.  We never reach a point where Satan will stop tempting us, and if we think that we have then we are really setting ourselves up for trouble.  Satan, or the devil, is like a roaring lion, always seeking to destroy anyone that he can.  Verse nine adds, Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.  We are to remain steadfast in our faith.  If we suffer for our faith in Christ, we are not alone.  People all over the world and throughout history have done the same.  We simply must put our faith in God, especially during times of trouble.  We should never ask where God is, because as followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in us.  Verse ten proclaims, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.  This God of all grace, the only true God, will sustain us through all our sufferings.  Our sufferings, no matter how long they last, will be but for a little while in the prospective of our everlasting life with God.  Verse eleven says, To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.   As followers of Christ, all that we do should be done to honor God.  God has dominion over all His creation forever.  Verse twelve states, By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.  Peter tells them that he wrote them to exhort them to stand in the grace of God.  This is what we must do today.  Peter also said he was sending the letter by Silvanus, a faithful brother.  We should always be willing to trust and acknowledge our fellow believers.  Verse thirteen states, The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.  Peter said that not only he, but the whole church at Babylon saluted, or sent greetings to those the letter was written to.  He singled out Marcus, or Mark, as being like a son to him.  We are never really alone in our actions for Christ, but work with fellow believers throughout the world.  Verse fourteen adds, Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.  This is simply a call for Christians to love and respect one another.  We certainly need this today.

1 Peter 5:1 says, The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:  Peter identified himself as one of the elders and as one who had witnessed the sufferings of Christ.  He did not identify himself as someone in authority over the other elders.  Peter was a man who had faith enough to step out of the boat and onto the water, but was also a man who lacked the faith to stand with Jesus when He was arrested.  Still, after Peter accepted Jesus as his Savior, he was saved forever.  When we are born again through faith in Christ, we are saved forever.  Even if we falter in our walk with Christ, we are still saved.  Like Peter, we have no authority over other Christians simply because we are saved.  Verse two states, Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;  Peter was speaking to the elders.  They did have a responsibility to feed the flock, or those fellow believers that God had given them the responsibility to minister to.  The elders were to have the responsibility for overseeing other believers, not by claiming power over them, but by reaching out to them with the love of God.  Elders, or as we might say preachers and deacons are not called to be dictators over other Christians.  They are never to assume a position of leadership and use that position to gain the material things of this world.  Verse three adds, Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.  Those who are called to be pastors or deacons, leaders in the church, are never to view themselves as superior to other Christians.  They are simply sinners saved by grace themselves who are called to a particular position of service in God's kingdom.  They are called on to be an example to others which means that they are the do all that they do to glorify God.  Verse four concludes, And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.  Peter told the elders then that if they were obedient to the will of God, that they would receive an everlasting crown of glory when Christ returns.  I don't believe that we should work for Christ for personal rewards, either here nor in the world to come though.  All that we do should be done so that God will be glorified.