I do not get to the book of 2 Peter much. For some reason I tend to be a Pauline man (The writings of the Apostle Paul). So today’s reading (2 Peter 2) was an amazing refresher for me. It has been a long time since I read that in its entirety, and it blew me away.
Peter’s sets a good case for those who have draw near to God, only to draw further away from him at some point. He concludes the chapter by saying …
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at
the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not
to have known the way of the righteousness, than to turn their backs on the
sacred command that was passed on to them.”
… Over the course of time I have heard many different arguments on what that passage is talking about. Instead of going through each one, I want to give you my interpretation. The promise of Heaven and having the privilege of spending eternity with God is just amazing. When you come to faith in Christ and you learn the way of the Lord, then you are given that privilege of spending eternity in Heaven in the presence of God. If you were to turn away from God, deny him as master, and then yourself become a slave to sin, you are removed from the book of life … Jesus is no longer your intercessor. To have a glimpse of Heaven and then have it removed makes your eternity in Hell that much worse. Eternity in Hell without the knowledge of God would be better than eternity in Hell with the knowledge of God. That is my interpretation of that passage.
Even though we live in a world ruled by sin, there is hope. Earlier in the reading Peter discusses what will happen to the righteous … “if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment.” Friends, if we are in Christ, considered justified by God (100% righteous) then we will be rescued by God and not have to worry about an eternity in Hell. What an amazing God we serve.
1 comment:
Greg:
No take backs. I agree. I think the problem with the passage is due to abuses in the church. A lot of doctrine is built on the abuses of others (denoms). A real Christian is given the righteousness of Christ. The cost was enormous. Jesus will not lose one of those given to Him. He is an Awesome Father, the Good Shepherd. Some say this type of gift will create license. I say this gift will enslave a real Christian. It is unbelievable. It is the Good News. It is the Gospel.
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