2 Peter and Jude

Merry Christmas. (Which I just learned at Church that the word means MIGHTY) Have a MIGHTY Christmas!  I like that.

Peter keeps this brief and to the point! (SO I will) (But ohhhhhhh I could make this long, what a book!)

Note that the beginning of this book is about SELF ACTS, MAKING AN EFFORT.  C’mon ladies, now that we read it…what do we do with it??

In all the warnings of False Teachings, how do we know to trust this book? or the next one?  It says in vs 16: They were eye witnesses.  And then to be honest with you I have had many a conversation regarding my blog with “others” that you all don’t even know about.   One guy told me “Yes the Bible is God Breathed, but man is imperfect, therefore the Bible cannot be perfect since it was at the hand of man, soooo we should not take all of it literally”.   Then he continued to berate me with the fact that I “interpret the Bible” my way.  One of the first things ALL my mentors taught me was Only Scripture Interprets Scripture. Soooo take a look at this (my sword against that guy)

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.  2 Peter 20.

Well that settles that dispute.

I will end with this:  Look at the big But!

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

If it were ANY other day I would find the scriptures on ALL the OT references in this book. ESPECIALLY Balaam, besides the donkey in Shrek, he also had a talking donkey.  But know this, if you read the OT next year, when you get to Jude you will be like “Ohhhh I know all this”.

Jude Overview

Hey Jude don’t make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better (Beatles)

So the sad song here is that Jude, the brother of Jesus himself,  is about to write a letter about sharing in Salvation when he gets word that such false teachings have infiltrated the church.  Jude and Peter grew up in the Faith together and it is obvious by their words and writing that they have spent much time together, for their teachings and writings are extremely similar.

We know that Jesus and Jude (and James) grew up in a God centered home where the Scriptures would be taught, so the Jewish references in this book should be expected.  Jude holds nothing back for the danger is INSIDE the church.  If you think this isn’t relevant today WAKE UP.

2 Peter Overview

There is debate over who wrote this book (Just letting you know).  It does not matter much to me since it was God breathed I know who really wrote it.  But I am going to assume Peter since most scholars do.

The 1 Peter book was about consoling and encouraging Christians, from persecution from without.  The 2 Peter is a book of WARNING from within!  (Are you as shocked as I am about this theme being a huge part of almost every NT book!)  God KNOWS the false teachings in the Church.  People wake up and smell the Bible…There is NOTHING wrong with comparing your church to the Bible and seeing the errs.)

 This book will confirm that the BEST and ONLY way to overcome false teaching that creeps into the walls of Church is knowledge of His Word.  Do not neglect your Bible.