Strange title, I know.
In Sunday School, our student ministry has been going through 1 Peter and now we are currently in 2 Peter. 1 Peter was an incredible book for me to study and to see how the Gospel intertwined throughout the apostle's writing is distinct evidence of how dramatically the Gospel - that Jesus, who is the son of God, came and lived a perfect, sinless life, was crucified for the sins of the world, was buried, and was resurrected and is seated at the right hand of the Father - had truly changed this unbeliever's heart. Hallelujah!
2 Peter is different than 1 Peter. Peter wastes no time addressing his audience because he knows that he will be "putting of (his) body soon." He immediately addresses the problem of false teachers and is faithful to remain on that topic throughout this letter. His agenda is not to primarily warn them of these false teachers, but to encourage them to remain faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to which he was an eyewitness and much more, we have the prophetic word which was true to it's proclamation of Christ.
As we get into chapter 2, Peter's main point is to make sure his readers know that God will judge the unrighteous now and in the future. God is not idle or allowing the ungodly to roam freely. Because of the judgement via the angels, the flood, and in Sodom and Gomorrah, we know that he will judge justly the unrighteous. Not only will God judge the unrighteous, but he will also deliver the righteous as Peter so rightly reminds them of Noah and his family and Lot.
It is with Lot, though, that God got my attention. In 2:7-8, God speaks and Peter writes, "and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)".
It was in that phrase and as I was reading through Dr. Moo's commentary on 2 Peter and Jude, that I was greatly convicted of sin in my life. Dr. Moo included a quote by Cardinal Newman, the 19th century Roman Catholic theologian, that states, "Our great security against sin lies in being shocked at it." When is the last time I have been shocked by sin? Since when have things contrary to God's word been acceptable to me? Why have I become so numb to the sin around me - please hear me, not only around me, but even in my own life. Dr. Moo suggests two reasons why we, as Christians, do not feel the same torment and distress that Lot felt. 1) We care too little about the holy standards of God 2) We care too little about this world we live in (both points taken from The NIV Application Commentary: 2 Peter, Jude) In Romans 12:2, Paul writes that we must not be "conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." When we become followers of Christ, not only are we now clothed in Christ's righteousness instead of our "filthy rags", but we also, as we grow and mature in our faith, should be transformed in our minds. Our minds should reflect that of Christ. Sin that once looked good, sounded good, enticed us, should now repulse us. However, far too often, need I say especially in American Christians today, we often adopt this idea that once we are saved, we are good and we can just make it until the end when we get our reward. Dear Christian, we have manipulated and minimized the work of Christ on the cross. The cross is not about your reward, but about making much of Christ and his finished work of salvation for us on the cross. Unfortunately we have neglected the renewal of the mind. As Peter writes in 1 Peter, we are to be holy for God is holy. Moo states, "as we internalize God's standards and values that our horror at the rampant disregard of those values grow." In a final statement he concludes, "We are not shocked at sin because we do not sufficiently share God's own horror at it."
Those last words are what cut straight through the middle of my sinful, prideful, wicked heart. I should loathe the sin in my life. I should do everything I can to destroy, kill, mortify the sin in my life. I must first look inwardly at the enormous amount of sin in my life and hate it as God hates it before I can begin to look at the world around me. However as I learn and strive to hate the sin in my life as God hates it, I will then begin to look around me and see sin the way I should.
In Sunday School, our student ministry has been going through 1 Peter and now we are currently in 2 Peter. 1 Peter was an incredible book for me to study and to see how the Gospel intertwined throughout the apostle's writing is distinct evidence of how dramatically the Gospel - that Jesus, who is the son of God, came and lived a perfect, sinless life, was crucified for the sins of the world, was buried, and was resurrected and is seated at the right hand of the Father - had truly changed this unbeliever's heart. Hallelujah!
2 Peter is different than 1 Peter. Peter wastes no time addressing his audience because he knows that he will be "putting of (his) body soon." He immediately addresses the problem of false teachers and is faithful to remain on that topic throughout this letter. His agenda is not to primarily warn them of these false teachers, but to encourage them to remain faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to which he was an eyewitness and much more, we have the prophetic word which was true to it's proclamation of Christ.
As we get into chapter 2, Peter's main point is to make sure his readers know that God will judge the unrighteous now and in the future. God is not idle or allowing the ungodly to roam freely. Because of the judgement via the angels, the flood, and in Sodom and Gomorrah, we know that he will judge justly the unrighteous. Not only will God judge the unrighteous, but he will also deliver the righteous as Peter so rightly reminds them of Noah and his family and Lot.
It is with Lot, though, that God got my attention. In 2:7-8, God speaks and Peter writes, "and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)".
It was in that phrase and as I was reading through Dr. Moo's commentary on 2 Peter and Jude, that I was greatly convicted of sin in my life. Dr. Moo included a quote by Cardinal Newman, the 19th century Roman Catholic theologian, that states, "Our great security against sin lies in being shocked at it." When is the last time I have been shocked by sin? Since when have things contrary to God's word been acceptable to me? Why have I become so numb to the sin around me - please hear me, not only around me, but even in my own life. Dr. Moo suggests two reasons why we, as Christians, do not feel the same torment and distress that Lot felt. 1) We care too little about the holy standards of God 2) We care too little about this world we live in (both points taken from The NIV Application Commentary: 2 Peter, Jude) In Romans 12:2, Paul writes that we must not be "conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." When we become followers of Christ, not only are we now clothed in Christ's righteousness instead of our "filthy rags", but we also, as we grow and mature in our faith, should be transformed in our minds. Our minds should reflect that of Christ. Sin that once looked good, sounded good, enticed us, should now repulse us. However, far too often, need I say especially in American Christians today, we often adopt this idea that once we are saved, we are good and we can just make it until the end when we get our reward. Dear Christian, we have manipulated and minimized the work of Christ on the cross. The cross is not about your reward, but about making much of Christ and his finished work of salvation for us on the cross. Unfortunately we have neglected the renewal of the mind. As Peter writes in 1 Peter, we are to be holy for God is holy. Moo states, "as we internalize God's standards and values that our horror at the rampant disregard of those values grow." In a final statement he concludes, "We are not shocked at sin because we do not sufficiently share God's own horror at it."
Those last words are what cut straight through the middle of my sinful, prideful, wicked heart. I should loathe the sin in my life. I should do everything I can to destroy, kill, mortify the sin in my life. I must first look inwardly at the enormous amount of sin in my life and hate it as God hates it before I can begin to look at the world around me. However as I learn and strive to hate the sin in my life as God hates it, I will then begin to look around me and see sin the way I should.
His 2nd point that we "care too little about this world we life in" is very sadly true. That very statement is the reason I thought it was very God-ordained that I would find the prayer/thoughts I had for my students. When I look around at them and see the sin that they have entagled in their lives it burdenes me and it should. Believers should be "tormented" and "distressed" at not only sin in their own lives but also at the sin around them in the world. If I dare say, get our focus off ourselves and look around at the hurting world we live in, we (epspecially including myself) would be more intentional about sharing the saving knowldge of Jesus Christ.
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