Supernatural Conviction and Assurance of Salvation

1 John 5:6-13 

6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.  9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

God’s witness of Jesus Christ is validated by His baptism where the Spirit was seen on Him (Matthew 3:16) and by the blood He shed as a sacrifice for His sheep.  This also is the testimony of the water and blood from the spear in His side on the cross as a testimony to His sacrifice (John 19:34-35).  God’s Spirit not only bore witness in the man Jesus, but also affirms the truth as He lives in us.  God’s witness in all these things is far more convincing than man’s testimony, yet we also have records of eyewitnesses that back up what God has said and done for those with weaker faith like Thomas (John 20:27-29).  Christ’s coming, suffering, death, and resurrection are established truths, facts borne by God’s work and man’s witness of these things, so the witness we have in our regenerated hearts results from our faith in taking God at His word as He has proven to us in supernatural conviction and assurance.  Those not being called and drawn to Him, who are not His sheep (John 10:26), they refuse to believe God’s almighty sovereign testimony and ridicule man’s witness of His work; they call God a liar.  But we whose eyes and ears of our hearts have been opened assuredly know we have unending life from God in Jesus the Christ, unlike those remaining dead in their sin who deny Him.  John was used by God here to assure us that we who believe to a rebirth by faith through His word and gift of grace may absolutely know where we stand for eternity, and to remind us to hold to that assurance as we persevere through death to new life forever in His presence!  This is the grace in which we stand (Romans 5:2, 1 Peter 5:12), never lost nor able to be forfeited. 

Loving God and Others in Obedience

1 John 4:20 - 5:5 

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 
5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

If we hate others, we cannot love God; to do so is simply to lie against the truth, for loving God necessitates loving others made by God and loved by Him as well.  We think we can say we love God sight unseen, but at the same time somehow rationalize that we have the right to hate others right in front of us.  These things should not and cannot be so.  If nothing else, we are commanded by God’s own words to love our brothers also; if we try to imagine that brothers are only other Christ followers, we miss the point of Jesus telling of the Good Samaritan.  Our neighbors are all made in the image of God.  If we then truly believe Jesus is the Messiah, we are regenerated in Him, and are given a new birth as a new creation.  Because of this grace in forgiveness, we must (not just should) love our brother and neighbor. It is not optional and is also a telltale sign of the work done in us that makes us Christ’s.  We do have a special love for others reborn as we are of Christ is truly in us, and we keep His words commanded to us, including those to love each other.  All His commands are no longer too much to bear from the time He has written them in our hearts and come to live in us as His Spirit to enable the keeping of them.  We have already conquered this present world though faith in knowing Jesus as the Christ (Romans 8:37).  True victory over life and death is in understanding and confessing truly that Jesus is the Son of God come as a man, yet always God (John 1:1, 12-14).  Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, acknowledges Him as divine and entering into the world to save us from His wrath on our sin and its resulting eternal punishment.  We overcome by faith given by God in His Son, the chosen and anointed one.  We love God and others in thankful obedience.  

Bold Fearlessness in the Unbreakable Covenant

1 John 4:17-19 

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.

What is mature love, love that is all it should and can be for us?  It is being as Christ in this world, without fear of death or opposition to the truth.  It is boldness to fearlessly hold nothing back in telling the gospel because we absolutely know who we know, the One who has promised no more judgement (Matthew 25:46, John 5:24) to His chosen sheep.  We no longer fear death’s grip on us, nor our just punishment in torment.  Since we have been set free from sin’s rule over us and our required payment of our lives, we are free indeed (John 8:36) if we are in Christ and His righteousness which justifies us utterly (Hebrews 7:25).  This confidence is our boldness to bear witness to the gospel and to love God and each other as He loves us.  We throw fear out of the door of our hearts and minds because we no longer are condemned for our ingrained crimes against our holy God; this assurance is perfected love from God and in our acceptance and understanding of it.  Yes, we love Him because He loves us first (Romans 5:8-9), and we are only able to love others as He does in this perfected love given us.  This wondrous truth of our certain standing before God in Christ motivates us to love in carrying the gospel to all, for we are thankful for such an undeserved and unbreakable covenant in His blood.  He made the covenant, and only the initiator of a covenant can break it; God promises never to break it, so how could we ever imagine that we could (Isaiah 43:13)?  This is our bold fearlessness in Christ. We cannot lose our salvation, for He holds us in His mighty hand of grace! 

We Remain in Him Who Remains in Us

1 John 4:12-16 

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Though we have not seen God face to face in His glory in heaven, we have seen Him among us (Emmanuel) in an inseparable and somewhat incomprehensible union of man and God, Jesus the Christ.  He loved us enough to come and suffer as we do to then sinlessly sacrifice Himself in our stead.  This great love saved us from sin - its dominion over us and the eternal punishment for it.  This love is now in us, and we therefore live in it and love others as He does in and through each of us who are His children.  This is our assurance that confirms His promises of our perseverance to the end without loss of our salvation.  But if this love does not inhabit and fill our hearts and minds, then we are quite without Him or that assurance.  If we are truly delivered, then that salvation is irrevocable.  If we are not regenerated and there is no evidence of a change, we remain unchanged in sin.  We who are His in truth, then, testify who Jesus is as the Son of God sent to save (John 20:31), and so are guaranteed and assured of salvation which is eternal - it cannot be lost or taken away, for then it would not be eternal salvation.  True disciples admit who Jesus is as the Son, God in flesh, and remain in His life as God remains forever in them.  We have trusted God and taken His word as absolute truth, not as our ancestors in Eden with doubt (Genesis 3:1, 11) who questioned and mistrusted to instead rebel, which is sin.  We trust Him and His living Word.  This is how we can believe this grace of great undeserved love for us, and follow in response in that same love for Him and others.  It is a cosmic tell, so to speak, which reveals whose we are and what we are living for.  Salvation is eternal, and love is our cosmic tell of the hand we hold. We remain in Him who remains in us. 

Loving Sacrificially and Unconditionally

1 John 4:7-11 

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

We are implored to show love for each other, not just feel it inside.  Love comes from God who demonstrated that unconditional and sacrificial love in Christ toward His people and the  sheep of His pasture.  This love, however, is only possible to those who are born of God through Christ by the power of His Spirit who transforms and leads us.  We are quite incapable of true love by God’s standards apart from Him in us.  This is why if we are reborn that we do love, and that if the evidence of love is not in us, neither is He.  Consider it a validation of salvation by regeneration.  God proved the love He has for us by sending His only Son out of Himself (not created as we are) to give us life out of the dark deadness of our hearts and souls by sin’s havoc which killed us (Romans 7:11).  He died to take on our guilt and punishment that we might live!  This is sacrificial love which none of us deserve (unconditional); we are called to live the love given us to others, unconditionally and sacrificially as well.  We can only love like this by God’s working in us, but we are responsible to put feet and hands with our heart by actions as He did for it to be more than a feeling alone.  He loved us first; we did not love God when He sent His Son to die for us, His enemies (Romans 5:8), but God chose to love in spite of our enmity to Him.  We are to love this way also.  Since God loved us like this, we are called and commanded to love each other like He loves us - sacrificially and unconditionally.  Yet we must find the ability and desire to do this by His enabling within us (Philippians 2:12-13) and our obedience to do as He does. 

Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

1 John 3:24 - 4:6 

24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.  4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.  4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

If we follow obediently out of love and not duty, we live and move and have our being in Christ.  We know this to be true, that Christ lives and remains in us, by the validation of God’s Spirit living in us; if we do not have Him in us, we are not His and are merely working to become His (as if we ever could by our own efforts).  Because He lives in us and teaches us all things (John 14:26, 1 John 2:27), we are able to validate the truth of what we hear to discern truth from error, to test the source of what we hear by knowing the scriptures and understanding from God’s thoughts (1 Corinthians 2:12-16).  Therefore we are aware of lying spirits and their prophets who deny Jesus Christ came as a man (John 1:1, 14) yet is wholly God as well (Colossians 2:9), for only those who admit, believe, and teach that He is fully man and God are speaking truly.  Those who are opposed to Christ would deceive us if possible as they do the rest of the world, and we do not need to await a final Antichrist to see that same spirit at work already.  We who have been called out into Christ know these things and are wary of false teachers.  Ah, but we need not fear, for God Himself has taken up residence in His children, and we can discern truth from error, the lying spirits from the Holy Spirit of truth.  This is how we overcome the lies of the world and its system of anti-Christian teachings, by listening to the truth as validated by the source of truth within us already.  God who lives in is and never leaves us is greater than all these, and they can continue to speak lies, but we listen to Christ and the truth.  Because we are God’s, those who are His listen to us when we speak truth, but those not of His sheep refuse to listen (John 10:26).  This is the test of those not of God following spirits of error and those called by Him who are of the Spirit of truth. 

We are Commanded to Believe and Love

1 John 3:16-23 

16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?  18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

Knowing love and what it is can only be for those who understand what it means that Christ died for us as a willing sacrifice.  This was to die in our place, shedding His blood in place of ours from our death as sin’s due to appease His wrath in holiness.  This is the death of death in the death of Christ.  Because we who He calls out are to follow as disciples, we are to imitate Christ in loving others up to the point of giving up our lives, whether in what we live for or what we die for.  This means that in practice we should be seeing our brothers’ needs and giving what is necessary to sustain them as an expression of the grace of love God shows us from the cross to eternity.   If we refuse to meet real needs, we close off our hearts and refuse to love as Christ loved us and gave His life for us.  This is not a philanthropic effort nor works to earn God’s favor, but a response to the love shown us to others whom He created.  If we truly love, it will transcend mere words and enter into actions.  This urging, this moving desire to express love as His through us proves we are His, and should settle our doubting hearts of our standing in Christ.  There is no condemnation here (Romans 8:1) when we know our hearts are right with God and we are living in gratitude to obey all He has said, as it is written in the scriptures.  This pure motive of grace lived out from the heart gives confidence in prayer for the things we ask for which show love and glorify the giver of all good things.  We trust, obey, love, and rely on His provision because of the God-given faith that allows us to believe in Jesus Christ and so love each other by and for His grace.  He commands us both to believe and to love others with action, not just believe for our own rescue from sin.  It is not about us, but Christ in us and the love lived out for others as He demonstrated. 

Judgement Begins With the House of God

1 John 3:10-15 

10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.
13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We are told how to know the differences between those of God in Christ and those who are not His.  This is not speaking of those who say they are of Christ and those who deny Him, but of those among all who say they are Christ’s while some are not.  These are tests of true conversion, of knowing by the fruit or lack of it (Matthew 7:20, 12:33, Luke 6:43-44), which is a very unpopular thing to do - as if we are judging to condemnation instead of discerning in that sense of the word.  God wrote these words to follow, not just assent to their truth.  God judges the eternal fate by condemnation; we judge with discernment of those within who demonstrate or deny Christ and so teach to mislead or harm.  The tests here are lives changed to pursue righteousness, and to love others.  The example of Cain hating and murdering Abel has shown hate to be abhorrent to God and should be to us, for even Jesus made it clear that if we hate (do not love), we are murderers (Leviticus 19:17).  This is repeated here in verse 15.  Cain murdered out of hate and evil intent driven by jealousy, hating what was good in God’s eyes and wanting his own self serving recognition and reward.  If we so hate others, we are no better than Cain.  Therefore the world which is set against God hates us, of which we are no longer a part of if we truly are changed in Christ.  We died to our old sinful and hate ridden selves, and are alive in His love and forgiveness, and so we should reflect His life in us by pursuing holiness and loving others, not living in sin nor hating as we once did.  For if we continue to hate without remorse or repentance, we remain dead to God and not alive in Christ.  Loving our brother demonstrates the inner change of regeneration; such murderers of the heart do not have that eternal life. 

We do not Continue in Sin

1 John 3:4-9 

4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

Sin is having no standards of right and wrong, as if no law of moral religious standards or rules matter or need be followed.  When men reject God’s law of morality, they create a system of selective acceptability, or near total anarchy.  Either way, this rebellion against God and His word is sin.  This sin we have inherited at birth is incurable by our methods of medicine or psychiatric approaches or philosophical reasoning.  Our attempts to placate God’s wrath by philanthropy also fall miserably short of His required payment for our sin (Romans 3:23, 6:23).  Jesus Christ came to take away our sin by dying to cover us in His blood instead of ours as payment, a willing sacrifice of His life in place of each of ours whom He calls.  Therefore if we go on sinning as before with no change after claiming Him as our redeemer, we have not truly seen Him.  We don’t really know Him.  Anyone who offers such cheap grace of lawlessness is a deceiver, and whose reasoning we follow teaching that says we can sin freely because we imagine ourselves saved from the Hell of God’s anger on sin, that one is a liar.  We who are saved are saved from sin, not living to continue to practice it without remorse or true repentance.  We who are truly in Christ practice righteousness, though imperfectly, as our transformation wells up pleasing our Redeemer within us.  Those continuing in sin as before have not been changed by God but continue to follow the Deceiver.  The Son of God showed up to destroy the destroyer’s work of sin in our nature by making us new, and we then do not go on living continually in our sin, but turn in godly repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) to live as we are called.  God Himself lives in us as Spirit, and this seed of righteousness keeps us from loving and continually pursuing sin any more.  We surely do fail and are not sinless in word or deed (but are perfect in our position within Christ and His righteousness), but our direction and desires are no longer bent on continually pursuing sin as before true conversion. 

Eternal Hope Drives Holiness

1 John 2:28 - 3:3 

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Because Christ lives in us, we live and remain in Him (John 15:9).  We continue because of His certain promises to never forsake us, persevering eternally, but also in the earnest expectation of His return for judgement and restoration (Romans 8:19, Acts 3:21, Revelation 21:5).  We are to live toward holiness in conforming to Christ through obedience and faith, otherwise we will be ashamed when we face Him; though we are eternally saved from the wrath of His judgement, we are accountable and will answer for our lives (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).  Because He is holy and altogether righteous, those who He gives life to are begotten in His image of that righteousness.  If we do not desire righteousness and practice unrighteousness continually, we are not born of Him.  His children desire to live in ways that reflect Him.  Yes, we are His children!  That is His love given to us in adopting us as His own, calling us His heirs of righteousness which the world cannot fathom.  They do not know us, but He does.  And though we have no clear picture of what we will become when our bodies put on incorruptibility (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) and live before His face continually, we do understand that it will be conformity to Christ Himself as our example and goal.  We will see Him and be made like Him as He mends the broken image of Him in is as at Creation.  This hope of everlasting change, of finished transformation, this brings hope in great joy.  It also drives us in response to pursue holiness (Hebrews 12:14) because He is holy and we desire to be in His presence and pleasing to our Lord.  Hope drives us to holiness. 

The Full Gospel Christ

1 John 2:24-27 

24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

Since we have been regenerated and have His Spirit in us to know truth and discern error, we are urged to allow that to remain deep in us, yielding to Him as we follow Christ in us because we are in Him.  The gospel message we heard which was used by God to generate faith in us (Romans 10:17), that message we first heard lives in us still, giving us fellowship with the Father and Son (1 John 1:3).  It also reminds us of the certain promise of eternal life with God in Christ as testified by His Spirit.  This internal witness of the truth to us defends against error from the false teachers and antichrists whose aim is to harass and derail with doubt and fear - doubt of the truth through subtle lies and fear of losing eternal life as if our will could remove us from His hand (John 10:28-29, Isaiah 43:13).  These lies are put aside as we allow God the Spirit to teach and guide us by His word.  This is the true anointing, the Spirit living already in each of His reborn children in Christ.  It is not a magical reenabling act to make us super-Christians, but the already present presence of the one leading and teaching by conviction and convincing of the truth we have already received by the one we have already fully received.  He is the one affirming the truth of scripture as testified by others throughout the centuries who also were so led and guided into all truth (John 16:13).  These things we preach and teach to pass on, which truth is confirmed by this inner testimony that is true and teaches us truly so we are able to abide in Christ and the truth of the entire gospel.  The full gospel is Christ in us, the hope of glory, and His Spirit promised, given, and fully in each of His children at our rebirth.  Let us not be deceived otherwise.  This full gospel which is Christ in us by the Spirit sent fully into each of His children to live and guide into truth tells us we yield to Him so He has more of us, not asking for more of Who we already have but yielding control more and more as we are transformed into His image and led into truth according to His word. 

Opposition to Truth and Knowing God in Christ

1 John 2:18-23 

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.  22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

The end of time approaches and we should be always ready, not knowing exactly when, but only that the times grow worse as hearts grow cold (Matthew 24:12-14, 2 Timothy 3:1, Mark 13:21-23).  We know the deceivers are here, which tells us the time is short, and the final one opposed to Christ and His gospel will one day soon arrive.  This spirit of opposition to Christ is seen among those within the church who do not believe sound teaching, but spread falsehood as tares in the field of God’s wheat, imitating the true but not founded in the field of sound seeds of truth.  Eventually they are revealed and leave for other fields to corrupt, demonstrating that they are not of Christ nor of we who have trusted in the gospel’s word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15, Colossians 1:5-6).  Since we who are reborn all have His Spirit living in us (Ephesians 1:13) who gives us understanding (1 Corinthians 2:12-14), we can see the false teaching in due time.  Some things are immediately evident, while others are more subtle and take time to discern as the Spirit of God shows us.  Since He who lives in us teaches the word’s truth to our minds and hearts, we know the true and therefore can spot the lies better.  When these false teachers take away from who Christ is as both God and man, when they deny Him as God’s only begotten Son, then we know they do not possess Him, the truth, nor the Father of truth; following the father of lies, they refuse to acknowledge the Son of God and so leave us as they depart from hearing the truth to take to heart for faith (John 17:17, Romans 10:17) to repentance, regeneration, and adoption as His children.  We know the Father through the Son by the Spirit in us, and remain among His people and the truth of His word. 

Eternal Perspective, Pursuit, and Pleasure

1 John 2:15-17 

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

After the previous verses of 1 John 2:12-14 have reminded us in different stages of our walk with Christ, we are now further admonished to live separate from the world we live in.  We are involved in the lives of others for the gospel’s sake, but should not allow the trappings to cause us to love what is passing away, since the underpinnings are of the sin which has corrupted all of creation (Romans 8:21-22).  If we love this world or what makes it up, we do not love our Father in heaven according to this passage.  Our love is either for Him, or it attempts to be satisfied with our own sinful desires.  These ill-placed desires for what satisfies our sensual lust, our desires to possess all we see, or our wanting to be masters of our own fate and to harvest our own glory - these all put ourselves and our love over our Lord and His good desires for us.  When we live for self satisfaction, we are worldly and not lovers of God who has delivered us from these things by forgiveness in grace.  It is good to always remember that all these temporary pursuits are temporal, but those of our Savior and Lord are eternal.  If we therefore seek the things above where Christ is (Colossians 3:1), then we have wisely chosen the incorruptible instead of the passing pleasures of sin, knowing we remain forever in Him now and into eternity beyond leaving this world.  Wisdom counts the cost and chooses what remains after this world is judged; we need to be reminded that all we see will be replaced when made new, and choose to do God’s will while doing it in the few years we remain here.  This eternal perspective loves what God loves, and pursues what He commands and greatly desires for our good and His glory.  Our love should be founded on this eternal perspective, pursuit, and pleasure.  Do we take to heart the message of pursuing what God loves, or are we caught up in wanting what is temporary to the loss of rewards for what cannot be lost and which gives glory where it is due? 

Strength for Sanctification’s Journey

1 John 2:12-14 

12 I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.
13 I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.

Here are some overall reasons John wrote to the church for encouragement and correction. These apply to those who are the church in Christ through all ages, however, and not just at this time in history.  He addresses the elders in Christ as fathers, the middle group as young men, and the babes in Christ as little children.  The ones least mature in Christ, the little children, are referred to with this endearing term to show God’s love and John’s by reminding them that they are no longer under the condemnation of sin’s penalty, but are forgiven in Christ.  They know the Father through His Son!  This assurance of salvation by grace is foundational.  The ones in between in the long race of growing in sanctification, the young men, these are reminded of their victory in Christ over sin, death, and hell.  Their trust in following Him and leaning on His word by faith brings this victory as they overcome and are transformed by the renewing of their minds.  Their strength comes from the word living in their hearts and minds, which is also the source of overcoming the adversary.  Those who have known Christ the longest, the fathers, are reminded of who they put faith in at the beginning, just as the little children.  They are told this twice to ensure that they consider the grace and eternal standing they each have by the work of their Father through His Son on the cross that brought them to where they stand and who they have always known from the beginning (both from regeneration and from before the foundation of the world as it is written).  These reminders should stir them up in love.  We who are reborn in Christ all fit in one of these stages of sanctification, and can meditate on the journey by the encouragement here to know what and Who we believe in by faith, where and how we stand in grace, and therefore never give up as we run this race for God’s glory by the grace of Christ in us, the hope of glory. 

Darkness of Hate or Love of the Light?

1 John 2:9-11 

9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Walking in the true Light of the world means we leave the darkness of hate of our brothers in all its forms.  Prejudice, malice, violence, insults, exclusion, and all other bigotry and evil thoughts and words are the tools and culture of fallen man following the father of lies, the one who has come to kill and destroy instead of bringing life and reconciling peace.  Jesus Christ brings such peace with God and therefore also peace with one another in the light of His word, of which He is.  We live in Him as light by the light of His grace, mercy, and love; we must then be living in Him and not resurrecting the old man of sin.  No, we rather look forward to a resurrection of a sinless and immortal body of incorruption, and begin to march toward that end of life’s race who is our perfect Savior and brother.  If we do not put our feet in His footsteps along this way, but choose to wander off into the wild woods of this present darkness, we stumble in blindness as those who are lost.  Ah, but we who are redeemed look for the light that opened our eyes to better things, and know where we are going because we follow in our Master’s footsteps.  We love Him and others because He first loved us.

Obedience is Not Exclusive of True Love

1 John 2:3-8 

3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

Knowing God in Christ of necessity means that we respond in obedience out of love and thankfulness because of a changed life with changed desires to please and glorify God.  This is not obedience to salvation, but because of it.  If we then find ourselves with no love of following Christ by doing what we are commanded, our love is of self and the world, but certainly not of our Savior.  We are mere liars if we delude ourselves into believing we are set free from sin to continue to live therein.  If His truth lives in us, it settles there and begins to rule our thoughts and actions; yet when we fail, we have godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) to the true repentance which turns from sin and towards Him who saved us from sin.  His love is perfected in us when we keep His word, and keeping it is reflected in how close we live as Jesus demonstrated for us.  He set the example of perfect obedience and love, and we are (by His power and ability with His desire given as it is written in Philippians 2:13) to imitate Him to love and obey in return.  Though He works in is to live this way, we are responsible to put one foot in front of another in response of our obedient action (Philippians 2:12) and by His divine enabling.  The commandments have not really changed; we are still to love God with all we are and do, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31).  This is what the light of saving unearned grace to salvation brings to light our path and lead our steps according to His word (Psalm 119:105).  He is our light who so wonderfully leads us out of the darkness of sin and into daily increasing righteousness.  Obedience is never exclusive of true love for God.  If we say we love Him who set us free from sin, we live obediently out of love in return.  

Walking in His Light in Light of Our Sin

1 John 1:8 - 2:2 

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

If we walk in the light in fellowship with God in Christ by His Holy Spirit, but say we no longer commit sin, we are self deceived and living a lie.  Though positionally we are righteousness in Christ, we still carry about a core of sinful thoughts and actions which must be mortified day by day (1 Timothy 1:15, Romans 8:12-13).  The hope we have then is that we can still admit (confess) our sin as sin before God, and rely on God’s promise in Christ to forgive and make us clean again as David cried out for in Psalm 51:9-10.  Our Lord is faithful because of His demonstrated character to keep His promises and His mercy by grace when we deserve anything but forgiveness.  Our Lord is also just in that sin’s price cannot be ignored, and is not because Christ paid our penalty for all of our sins forever (Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:27, 10:10).  No further sacrifice need or can be made; it is finished.  He then cleanses us from our ongoing sin as we confess and forsake it because He is our heavenly lawyer who intercedes before the Judge as the righteous One who appears in our place of sentencing.  He paid the price for all He may call, and His blood sacrifice is eternally effectual and everlasting in its application.  This certainly does not give us the right to go on sinning, just as we cannot say we have not nor continue to commit sin.  No, we are instead called to follow Him in renewing of our thoughts and hearts to be conformed to Christ as we choose to not sin, leaning on His Spirit to put to death these desires of things we want, pleasures apart from God we crave, and the pride of our own accomplishments (1 John 2:15-17), seeking to do God’s will instead out of thankful obedience to God’s glory and good pleasure. 

Living in the Light of Forgiving Grace

1 John 1:5-7 

5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The gospel, the good news (εὐαγγέλιον) is joyful news which contains both judgement and grace, condemnation and merciful forgiveness.  This is the message the apostles heard from Jesus preaching about His kingdom within us, and this is the message of eternal hope John is speaking of here.  God issues this gospel from His living Word who is also the Light of the world (John 8:12) and universe He spoke into existence.  He has no darkness in Himself, having shown this as He separated light from darkness in creation (Genesis 1:3-4) as an example of purity and holiness which illuminates us, versus the hidden things in the darkness of unrighteousness.  Since we have been called out of this darkness and chains of sin’s judgement into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9, Acts 26:18), we are able to share intimacy with our Maker as in Eden’s sinless days of light before sin entered in.  We have been called to live in His light of holiness (1 Peter 1:15) and righteousness, not continually practicing sin anymore, but fleeing from its practice because we have been freed from its power over us at the cross.  If we simply continue to sin and scoff at its offense to our Savior, we are liars who are not living truthfully.  A changed life is not perfect, yet its goal and desire is to please God in fellowship with Him on His terms and in the light of His holy nature.  When we then live in His light where He dwells, then we have fellowship in Him with all called out as His people through His blood shed as our perfect and effectual sacrifice.  He continues to cleanse us from sin which is admitted and begged forgiveness for by that same blood.  If we do not live in pursuit of His pleasure and glory in the light, we are still in darkness.  He is not in the dark, nor can we be once in Him.  We live in His light of forgiving grace, no longer in sin’s night. 

The Living Word of Life

1 John 1:1-4 

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

The word of life.  He was heard by the disciples and apostles whom He called out to follow Him while walking on earth.  He was from the beginning of time (John 1:1) and was the word they heard in the beginning of their calling, of which John was one of the twelve first fruits (Matthew 4:21-22).  These were eyewitnesses of the Word who spoke creation into existence (Genesis 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17), and who walked among them as Emmanuel.  They could touch and see Him as we can now only do by faith in our spirit, yet struggled to believe until He opened their eyes (Luke 24:25-27, 31-32) to see and understand how all the scriptures pointed to Him as a testimony of God’s grace to salvation.  This Word of life then was revealed and these, including John, bear testimony of who He is; their encounters with Him revealed the unending life given in Jesus Christ, which message is the gospel.  The life in God the Father was demonstrated in the Christ, the foretold Messiah, to be seen by these men and told to us.  Why?  That we too might have fellowship together in the Lord Jesus with these who first saw Him, that we might know God as Father through the Son by the Spirit sent to live in us for understanding (Ephesians 1:13, John 16:7, 13-15).  Our relationship of sharing in God comes through His Word (Romans 10:17) by God-given faith as Ephesians 2:8-9 states, and we as His body have this as corporate fellowship, not just as an individual relationship.  John wrote these deep foundational truths here to all readers throughout time who are called by faith in Christ as revealed by the Father’s living Word, whose Spirit in us testifies to our spirits of the verity of these things that we might have eternal joy from now until forever in Him. 

Growing in Knowing Christ by Obedient Grace

2 Peter 3:14-18 

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Since we who are called out look forward to God’s final judgement and recreation of this world of sin, we strive to yield to Christ in us as the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).  This means we earnestly and joyfully seek His righteousness by our obedience in light of His great grace which enables us to desire it and to find His strength to pursue it as He transforms each of us.  We also consider God’s enduring patience in bringing others to salvation, striving in the gospel that they may hear the message brought by our beautiful feet (Romans 10:14-15).  These workings of God and our responsibility are sometimes difficult to put into words to correctly understand and follow, and Peter warns of those who have not learned from God and His messengers, but who instead bend the facts of God’s word out of shape and out of His way to suit their own desires, changing the meaning to lead themselves and others toward destruction instead of grace and mercy in cutting the scriptures straight (2 Timothy 2:15).  These are the false teachers which Paul warned the Ephesian elders of in Acts and which he spoke of earlier in this letter.  But we who are indwelt by God Himself as the Spirit know the truth, and strive to know it more to know Him better each day.  We then do not give up in our hearts by being misled by the the errors of selfish sin-seeking evil men and women.  No, we aim our feet to better things in this race (Philippians 3:14-15) as we progress in His grace by such accurate knowledge attested to by all who seek Him in truth.  This is how we grow in knowing Jesus Christ and in His eternally great sovereign grace, to whom we give all glory, honor and praise! 

Looking Forward to Judgement and Eternity

2 Peter 3:8-13 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

As Psalm 90:4-8 says, a thousand years are as yesterday in God’s estimation and our sins are exposed in the light of His presence.  His patience suffers long with sinful man and it seems a long time to us to wait for the final judgement; yet His timing is not long in His light of eternity, and the promises to call out His chosen (Deuteronomy 14:2, 1 Peter 2:9) people as He patiently endures our sin while drawing us to repentance in Christ.  Even though this longsuffering is drawn out in years, when the Lord returns it will be sudden and unexpected.  It is as a thief breaking in without any warning who take all we hold dear to, even up to our very lives.  One cannot foresee this nor escape it in its suddenness.  Likewise, many will be caught by surprise when Jesus returns because He did not follow their inked out determination of when that would occur.  He does not operate in our sense of time or schedule.  When He does come, the very heavens will go away and this world will be dissolved by fire (2 Peter 3:7) of the most intense heat, melted away and disintegrated that He may make all things new (Revelation 21:1-5) apart from the corruption of sin which this creation groans under still (Romans 8:22).  Therefore we are to be thankful and in fearful awe of the saving grace we received instead of what we justly deserve, and live towards holiness and conformity to Christ as we eagerly await His judgement on sin and renewal of all things.  Because of His great promises, we look for a sinless new universe and world to enjoy His presence in forever! 

Witnesses to God’s Judgement and Salvation

2 Peter 3:1-7 

1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Peter’s second letter is a reminder that builds on the first to stir up purity in our minds, to think on the things of God in Christ.  We should be paying attention to follow all God’s word has told us by example as well as command and principle.  This includes the Old Testament and its prophets where commands  and the coming of our Messiah were told, as well as the apostles who were eyewitnesses and followers (disciples) of Jesus the Christ.  We are warned that many will scoff at the gospel and the judgement at His coming because they do not see Him yet, and because they live for their own sinful desires and deny the truth.  They see the past and refuse to learn from it, reading of the judgement (and salvation) of the flood and sneering at what they call a fairy tale.  They “willingly forget” the creation of the heavens and earth, not to mention mankind, which earth we live on was raised out of water, only to be flooded with it again in judgement for our sin.  They do not want to face these things of God’s wrath and sovereign power, for then they must also face the fact that is is only God’s forbearance holding back the destruction of these same heavens and earth with a reservation of fire to consume them in fearful and final judgement.  The ungodly ignore and explain away God’s word to avoid admitting accountability and judgement on their sin, choosing in their blindness to turn a deaf ear to all God says to their own destruction.  This is why we are ever mindful of God’s word from Genesis to Revelation, that we may live for Him with a pure mind and conscience that aims to bear witness to God’s work in judgement and in salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Be Valiant for the Truth!

2 Peter 2:18-22 

18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

False teachers speak great words that seem lofty and infinitely wise by their delivery and in promising things that make one healthy, wealthy, and wise.  They use physical and emotional desires to draw converts after themselves from those who have escaped to the truth from their errors.  False teachers offer what they call freedom, but that is only from having to obey God and live by His design of righteousness.  Their freedom is only enslavement to sin that is the worst kind of imprisonment.  They themselves have been overcome with the pollution of this world’s sin, having heard the gospel of Jesus Christ but turning away from the truth to go right back to the sin they came from because it did not allow them free will to do as they pleased in opposition to God’s word and will.  They do not want deliverance from their sin, but reasoning to support living as they think best, which is sin that is treasonous before their Maker.  The end of this denial of Christ and seeking pleasure is what drives them to make others twice the sons of hell that they are (Matthew 23:15) by their twisted teaching.  It truly would be better for them never to have heard the gospel of life and freedom from sin’s power then to hear and disobey the gospel.  They return to the corruption and sin they do not want to depart from, but will ultimately hear “depart from me” at the final judgement.  This is why we oppose those creeping into the church with destructive teaching (2 Peter 2:1-2, 2 Timothy 2:16-19), to keep others from being led astray for a season, and to glorify God with the truth.  We are to be valiant for the truth! 

Beware Dark Clouds of Lawless Deceivers

2 Peter 2:12-17 

12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet.  17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

The self-willed and self-seeking who spurn God and what He made to be good, these are like wild animals whose end is to be caught in their sin and put down (in the burning lake) for their utter corruption by sin.  Because they cannot understand apart from God’s regeneration, they take pleasure only in what pleases themselves with wild abandon in broad daylight.  They will come among us as dirty spots of corrupt deceptive teachings while lustily desiring and attempting to trap those not set firm in understanding their own faith.  These know how to desire what does not belong to them as they carouse under the curse of sin.  Since these have abandoned the way of righteousness, they are lost outside of the flock and headed for destruction.  These may be stopped as Balaam by a talking donkey as led by God in His sovereignty to restrain the madness of their false teachings, for God will keep them from entirely leading His chosen children astray.  As it is written here, the ungodly false teachers are empty clouds which bring no nourishing rain, but scattered storms heading for a deeper darkness and punishment as is reserved for them forever.  These are hard sayings when we consider we are to love our enemies and proclaim the good news that some may be saved, yet we need to be aware that many are not His sheep and will continue to carouse in the midst of God’s people to mislead and cause us to sin when possible.  Understanding the truth and living God’s word and by His will for His glory are the defenses required.  We are to speak truth with love and be used as God rescues the perishing, but must also be harmless as doves while being wise to the wolves among us.

Reservations For Fire and Glory

2 Peter 2:4-11 

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Grace and mercy is uniquely demonstrated for God’s people alone.  The angels that fell in sin do not get another chance as the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve; their sin sealed their fate to an eternal judgement (Jude 1:6), not to be undone at the cross, for they willing chose without being deceived as Eve with Adam in tow.  God judged man in the flood, however, and left only eight chosen ones to restart the multiplication to fill and govern the earth of His creation.  We see more ungodly destroyed with fire at the time at Sodom and Gomorrah, yet Lot was chosen to be saved from that judgement.  As He says here, God knows how to deliver His chosen from temptation, death and judgement, and how to reserve a day of finality of judgement for all others.  There are reserved places of punishment at the table of God’s wrath on sin in the lake of fire for all opposed to Him and His righteousness.  These reservations are for those vessels of determined destruction who manifest their sinfulness in unholiness and disobedience to all authority, especially that of the Ruler of all.  We see these who are self-willed (such free will is only free to sin) and slanderers of those put in authority by God (Romans 13:1-2, Titus 3:1) over them whom we should follow under God.  This presumption of the fallen and doomed is not even seen by the condemned angels who know better as His creations, which shows they still have fear of God (Jude 1,8-10, James 2:19).  How much should then we praise and thank God for delivering us out of certain judgement into His righteousness and mercy, and out of the temptations to seek our own will instead of living for His will?  He has reserved a place for us at His table in heaven by grace (John 14:2-3) when we should have had reservations in the deserved hot seat for our sin! 

Prosperity Wolves Dressed as False Sheep

2 Peter 2:1-3 

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

When people begin to adhere to the misguided and prideful view that scripture means what each person sees in it, then they believe their private interpretation is valid.  Leaving aside the immediate and larger context of scripture and making pieces mean what they want, they begin teaching these things to others and are then false teachers.  These cleverly and almost subtly unseen teachings are heresies (αἵρεσις haíresis; divergent opinions pulled away from truth), which eventually will divide the church as schisms (σχίσμα schísma; tears or divisions).  Though the word for heresy may seem less serious by its definition of opinionated divergence, here Peter shows that these teachings are destructive, they deny Christ and His work, and end up spiritually destroying or shipwrecking (1 Timothy 1:19-20) the heretic.  The worst part is that bleating sheep will follow these teachings, especially when they offer happiness and possessions apart from suffering and discipline of the Lord for our sanctification.  They yank scripture portions out of context to promise wealth and health, missing the true prosperity of walking by faith in the light of God’s sovereignty and grace.  This covetousness is deception.  They will answer for leading others astray from God’s will and word in the end, if not sooner.  These things are not only a warning to identify and expose false teaching, but also for us to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) by good interpretive principles led by God’s Spirit and prayer with diligence and patience for understanding.  The wolves are here, just as Paul warned us (Acts 20:29-31). 

Spirit-Confirmed Gospel Witness

2 Peter 1:16-21 

16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

God’s power, resurrection, and imminent return are not mere storytelling; Peter and the other apostles, along with other disciples, were eyewitnesses of the majestic Lord come to the earth He created in the perfect union of man and God.  They saw with Him with their own eyes, so we can trust these accounts as trustworthy and the messages as from our Lord as moved and confirmed by the Spirit of God in them and us.  When Peter, James, and John were on the mountain with Jesus and saw His glorious appearance of pure light as the sun (Matthew 17:1-8), just as Paul later saw Him on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3-5).  They knew Jesus is the Son of God as well as man, and that they were to bear witness of who He is to all (Matthew 17:9) in both spoken and written word.  This confirmed and certain message of good news by eyewitnesses is God’s light given in this present darkness (Acts 26:18, Colossians 1:13, 2 Corinthians 4:6) for deliverance from the just wrath of God for our sin, and rises as the light of a new day in the regeneration of our hearts.  This message is a witness to God’s work for and in us, and is not up for each one of us to interpret in our own way; no, the message is given by God through men moved by God with spiritual understanding of God Himself in them as the Holy Spirit of grace and mercy.  This is good news which God confirms and gives us to bear witness to, just as Peter did in this letter for us. 

Assurance and Transformation

2 Peter 1:10-15 

10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.

If we do not see enough obvious evidence of the changes in character of thought and deed mentioned in the previous verses (2 Peter 1:5-9), our shortsightedness should cause serious reflection.  Here we are told to ensure our drawing and calling by God and resulting salvation in a rebirth of spiritual life.  If we do none of these things nor desire to pursue them toward holiness, we may not be entering the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are to settle where we stand in Him to progress further, not doubting if we know the inner change but only struggle outwardly, but testing our condition if we lack these regenerative changes overall.  Therefore as we grow in sanctification in these areas, we are reminded by scripture and those over us in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:12, Hebrews 13:7, 17) of these things that we might be further conformed to the image of Christ in us (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18).  This is necessary even for those who are established in this truth, as we all need constant reminding while it is still day and we can see the way to walk.  Peter gives the example here to not let up in reminding God’s people of these things, knowing the time is short for him - he was making the most of his remaining life to help others.  He even made certain there would be others to continue overseeing and ministering to them after he died.  Our assurance of salvation and resulting need for constant sanctifying growth is essential to our own ministry to others as well in the way we are called in Christ by the gifts His Spirit personally gives each of us (1 Corinthians 12:5-7, 11). 

Faith’s Worldview Guide

2 Peter 1:5-9 

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

Because of the grace we have been called into and the promises in Christ, we need to be diligent in working out our salvation’s sanctification.  Here is a pattern of things to begin with in building on our faith we have been gifted with.  The foundation is virtue (modesty and purity of thought), then comes knowledge (knowing the word of God for who He is and  to follow), after that is self-control (mastering your desires to set them on God’s), followed by perseverance (steadfast patient endurance to run life’s race), then with godliness (becoming more like Christ in attitude and actions) built on these things, with brotherly love on that godliness and all before it, culminating in agape love that is not conditional on others’ actions, but solely on their being created by God and treated accordingly.  These mindsets and character traits form faith’s worldview guide, an outline of the path we must navigate as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  By making these our areas of effort, we allow God’s Spirit to work them into our souls.  By pursuing sanctification in these areas we will be fruitful in knowing Jesus Christ, not in an ordered set of doctrines but in a transformational relationship with our Lord at work in us for His glory and plan for good.  If we refuse to address these, we are so shortsighted that we may as well be spiritually blind as it says here.  To ignore our diligence in growth to become like Christ is to willingly forget our deliverance from the filth of sin and its due punishment of judgement.  We have been saved from sin to be like Him, not to continue to wallow within it.

Gift of Righteousness and Faith

2 Peter 1:1-4 

1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Peter first identified himself as Christ’s servant, a slave to the one who set him free from the bondage of sin’s power and penalty.  Then he mentioned the authority and position which God gave him in Christ, as a messenger or apostle of the same Lord who bought him at such a great price.  He writes here to others who have been given the same kind of faith by grace alone in Christ and by that God given faith alone according to the scriptures for God’s glory in His Son and His work for all who are so called.  He begins by letting us all who are so called as we grow to know Him more that we experience more of God’s peace in this grace we stand in.  It is His divine power above any man’s which has given us everything we need for life and godliness.  We cannot use our reason or work harder to earn eternal life nor be more godly; only His work in us can do this (Philippians 2:12-13), yet we are urged to know Him more completely and His call by such glory and virtue of our perfect sacrifice.  Because of what Jesus has done we inherit the promises of Abraham and the other faithful throughout history, such promises of a new life enabled to follow from our heart (Ezekiel 11:19-20, 36:26-27).  This new birth of regeneration is the promise that enables us to really know God and partake of His godly nature as we have escaped the fallen desires opposed to God’s righteousness that have corrupted us through Adam and Eve’s original sin of cosmic disobedience and rebellion.  This is the faith given us by Christ’s righteousness (Ephesians 2:5, 8).