Year 2, Week 50, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 50, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Peter 2-3; Jude.

Today’s reading covers the concluding chapters of 2 Peter. The Book of 2 Peter issues strong warnings against false teaching even as it calls upon believers to pursue godliness. 2 Peter 2 focuses in on false teachers: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). Peter underscores the heretical nature of their teaching as well as the destruction that awaits them. 2 Peter 3 continues stressing the judgment that awaits false teachers, but it also emphasizes the importance of godly living among God’s people: “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11-13). Clearly, the promised return of the Lord Jesus Christ, when there will come about a new heavens and a new earth, is meant to stir believers toward godly living. Today’s reading also covers the Book of Jude. Jude, who is most likely the brother of Jesus, issues a short letter calling upon believers to stand firm against false teaching: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 3-4). The concerns that Jude addresses regarding false teachers shares much in common with the concerns expressed in 2 Peter. This commonality suggests they battled against the same heresy.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the strong assurance of God preserving His people to the end; but also the strong obligation upon God’s people to persevere to the end. Jude’s opening words are warm words of assurance: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1). God saves His people in Christ by the Spirit. Jude briefly expresses this saving work by underscoring that believers have been called to belong to Jesus Christ, dearly loved by the Father of Jesus Christ, and securely kept for Jesus Christ. These three descriptions reference the believer’s past, their present experience, as well as their future destiny. Jude’s concluding words are also filled with confident assurance concerning the preserving Hand of the Lord in a believer’s life: “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25). The Lord will preserve His children and get them safely home. Being “kept for Jesus Christ,” also means being kept “from stumbling,” which in this context means finally and fatally stumbling (though believers might falter for a season).

Coupled with Jude’s strong assurances of God preserving work in the lives of His children, Jude also puts forth strong obligations for God’s people to believe and obey as a means of persevering in their relationship with God. Believers have an obligation: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 20-21). God preserves His people to the end through His people heeding and acting upon His instructions to persevere. A believer is eternally secure in their relationship with God in Christ by the Spirit, but that secure relationship is not static; it is dynamic. The dynamics of a believer’s relationship with God requires that they build themselves “up in your most holy faith” as they pray “in the Holy Spirit.” The fact that God keeps His children does not mean that He children become passive. On the contrary, that God keeps His children should result in His children’s active alertness to His warnings and eager embrace of His instructions. Furthermore, the preserving nature of God’s keeping work is experienced through His children’s focus on keeping themselves: “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” The God who keeps His children from stumbling warns His children to watch out for the occasions that lead to stumbling. Believers must watch out and keep themselves from stumbling even as they rely upon the Lord to watch out for them and keep them from stumbling. Both the obligation and the promise are true. The promise empowers the obligation and the promise is realized through the obligation. A believer’s obligation to keep themselves in the love of God is worked out as believers seek to build themselves up in the faith, as they pray earnestly in the enablement of the Spirit, and as they cultivate the anticipation of the Lord’s return. As believers carry out these obligations, they evidence the powerful work of God in which He loses none of His children getting them safely home.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe