2 Peter - Know the Truth!
Today’s reading: 2 Peter 2:19-22
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 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 righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
Well, sisters, I have to tell you that I'm not thrilled about my writing topic today. I'm just not!
A dog returning to vomit? No, thank you. I'd rather not think about it. But, Peter, you get an A+ on word picture. That one definitely makes a statement. We've all seen it, right? A dog finally rids himself of something causing distress in its body only to return and put whatever caused the sickness right back inside of him. It makes no sense at all, and Peter is asking why we would do the same thing for our spiritual bodies.
"False prophet" is a word that we hear a lot these days. There is a lot of finger pointing and attempts to call out the "false prophets" of our time. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. Clearly, Peter is imploring us to be cautious. We must be alert to those that are leading people astray with a misguided message.
The true message is that Jesus came to bring life! His way leads to freedom, and the sinful way leads to bondage and death. We must know the TRUTH, so that we can recognize and fight the LIES. In 2 Peter 2, Peter clearly stated that false prophets are those that follow after Jesus for salvation only and then turn back to anything else as a means to freedom.
Paul was very clear on this subject too,
"I am shocked over how quickly you have strayed away from the One who called you in the grace of Christ. I'm astoundd that you now embrace a distorted gospel! That is a fake "gospel" that is simply not true. There is only one gospel - the good news of Christ! Yet, you have allowed those who mingle law with grace to confuse you." Galatians 1: 6-7 (TPT)
In Revelation, John's vision spoke to the deadly consequence of following false teaching and becoming distracted,
"I also know how you have bravely endured tirals and persecution because of my name, yet you have not become discouraged. But I have this against you; you have abandoned the passionate love you had for me at the beginning. Think about how far you have fallen! Repent and do the works of love you did at first." Revelation 2: 3-4 (TPT)
I believe Peter, Paul, and John were all saying the same thing,
It's JESUS!
Always JESUS!
Only JESUS!
No other way but JESUS!
Ladies, there's a lot that can get us sidetracked, distracted, and cold-hearted! But, that's not the life we were intended to live. Only Jesus keeps us on the path of focus, life, and freedom.
We were always meant to live free. The kind of freedom Christ offers allows us to enjoy the fulfillment in the will of God. In Him, we get to live with a passionate love for our Savior.
Freedom means we trade our will for His and we NEVER want to return back to it. His way is best. His way brings life. His was is found in the truth of His Word.
Yes, please. I'll have more of THAT! Let's praise Jesus for His love. Let's reflect on the love we had for Him in the beginning. Let's ask Him to remind us of that love on a regular basis so that we completely miss anyone teaching a gospel other that Christ's Gospel.
Jesus, help us to know the TRUTH. You are that truth! Cause us to study You in a way that sends the anchor of faith down deep. Help us to know the truth so intimately that we can spot the lies from miles away. We have emptied ourselves of those lies, and we never want to return to them. We trust You! We believe that You are our hope and our freedom. Amen.
