HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1503
2 Peter
D A N G E R A H E A D ! the sign reads. Still unseen, potentially life-
threatening terrain lies before you. Ignore the warning sign and face
mortal danger. Heed it and stay safe, maybe even save your life.
What you will be
This short letter from Peter to the church at large
reading about
serves as a warning sign for Christians. The danger is not something up ahead but something
1:1-11
Character qualities to
right here—within the church itself. Warning!
cultivate
There are false teachers at work among you.
1:12 - 21
Warning! Listening to them will lead you astray,
The words of Scripture are
away from Christ. These false teachers will cause
true
you to self-destruct; they will literally cost you
2:1-22
your life—eternal life.
The danger of false teaching
Peter, known as the apostle of comfort and the
3:1-16
apostle of encouragement, now becomes Peter,
Hope for growing Christians
the apostle of warning. These were tough times
3:17-18
of persecution from without, and in his first letPeter’s final words
ter, Peter encouraged believers to live strong
lives through this persecution. Now he deals
not with the external threats of persecution but with the internal threats of
false teaching.
What is the solution? How do we, like the people of Peter’s time, stand
against false teaching that is so self-destructive? How do we even recognize
those who twist and bend the principles of Christianity to their own liking?
How do we keep from being swept up in their eloquent speaking, moved by
words that seem to make so much sense?
The answer is simple: Get to know the Word of God. When you do, you take
on the nature of Christ. And growing more like him helps you recognize that
which is not like him.
God’s Word is the foundation, and those who have only shallow knowledge
of it have superficial resistance to false teaching. This is the key to resisting the
evils of heresy that are found in every church.
Are there false teachers today? There are many—both inside and outside of
the Christian community. Heresy is not limited to unbelievers, but it is even
more pitiful when it is inside the church. How can we guard against heresy
and false teaching? The same way Christians of Peter’s time could do it—the
pure teaching of the Word of God. The written Word, the Bible, and the living
Word, Jesus Christ, offer the only true ways to resist false teaching. How well
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