Tag: peter

  • Finding the Evangelical Freedom of Balaam in our Evangelical Church

    Finding the Evangelical Freedom of Balaam in our Evangelical Church

    .. promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption..

    2 Peter 2:19a LSB

    Why does the Apostle Peter point to Balaam?

    Do evangelical pastors of Christ's Church have the freedom to accept all prophesy and every doctrine? 

    Note the similarities of the growing popularity of Balaam of Pethor, whom Moses introduces in Numbers 22, to the AD first century missionary journeys of Peter, Paul and John.

    Moses led the Israelite people from slavery in Egypt by the hand of the Lord God to the land of Canaan.

    Balaam is NOT a prophet of God! He travels to new lands to profit from his reputation as a seer. (This is not unlike many false teachers we meet in Acts of the Apostles.)

    Balaam is an opportunist FORCED to obey the LORD. But in addition to Balaam’s error (as some call it), the prophet would easily mislead any away from truth and will of the God.

    Worshipers of Baal and other gods will follow false prophets to inclusively worship other gods— even in this Common Era.

    Balaam from Pethor sought by Balaak of Moab in Numbers 22 to prophesy against Israel, but the LORD prevented his freedom to say anything against the LORD and his chosen people

    Balaam’s journey begins in his homeland, which is described as “Pethor, which is by the Euphrates.”

    Balaam’s journey to Moab is marked by divine intervention .. highlighting the spiritual battle over Balaam’s intentions and the sovereignty of God over pagan practices.

    BibleHub.com

    2 Peter 2: False Teachers – Wandering Creatures

    These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed.

    They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed.

    Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done.

    They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight.

    They are a disgrace and a stain among you.

    They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.

    They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.

    2 Peter 2:12-14 NLT

    They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness,

    2 Peter 2:15 CSB

    but received a rebuke for his lawlessness:

    A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

    v.16

    The Divine Coercion of Balaam

    R.C. Sproel observes:

    Only by divine coercion did Balaam obey God, and then he gave four prophesies…

    ibid. p.236

    Further study of Numbers in the context of Peter’s witness will reveal how a fourth prophesy of Balaam may interest the church.


    Freedom Restrained by Truth

    The Apostle of Christ writes this second epistle to the church to instruct us:

    We do NOT have the freedom to say whatever we want.

    AND, in fact, prophets and teachers of false doctrine will walk among the saints of the Church seeking followers to leave the narrow Way of the Lord.

    Peter is not describing pagans here but apostates.

    R.C. Sproel – Be All the more Diligent to Make your Calling and Election Sure, p.234

    Apostates

    In these loose, liberal times of Common Era preaching, I believe it necessary to provide a brief definition of that against Peter warns.

    An apostate is an individual who has abandoned or renounced their faith, particularly in the context of Christianity.

    The term is derived from the Greek word “apostasia,” which means a defection or revolt.

    Apostasy is considered a grave sin in Christian theology, as it involves a deliberate turning away from the truth of the Gospel and the rejection of the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

    BibleHub.com Topical Encyclopedia

    Most Common Era christians have never heard of such a great sin of apostasy or do we recognize how false teachers have led us away from Christ to the gods of our imagination.



    Referring to 2 Peter 2:15-16 Sproul continues:

    They know the right way; they have been exposed to the teachings of the Gospel;they know what the truth is—they have heard it proclaimed repeatedly—but they have forsaken it and gone a different way.

    R.C. Sproul, ibid. pp 234-35

    eleutheria – Freedom and Liberties

    Fifteen years earlier [AD 49], at the time of the Council of Jerusalem, James writes in his Epistle:

    Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.

    James 2:12 CSB

    And in his first epistle to the Church Peter had already written:

    Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.

    1 Peter 2:16 CSB

    AND NOW THE APOSTLE WARNS:

    Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.

    2 Peter 2:19 New English Translation


    And what of Popes and false Prophets?

    Whether all creatures in the time of Noah — the entire city of Sodom in which we live — the evangelical landscape of all-inclusive gods — speaking to wavering believers,

    Does one walk sandalless in the error of Balaam?

    The Apostle Peter warns every saint of the Lord Jesus Christ:

    For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome,

    the last state has become worse for them than the first.

    For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

    2 Peter 2:20-21 ESV


    Peter is not finished with his warnings against these pernicious preachers yet to come and corrupt the Church. The Apostle of the Son of the One God — speaks through the Holy Spirit of disobedient angels and false prophets as irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed.

    AND, of those in the church who listen to false doctrine and are led astray, the Apostle writes:

    For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

    2 Peter 2:21 RSV


    Have YOU escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? 


    NEXT: a Steadfast Purpose and Day of the Lord


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  • 2 Peter 2: Pernicious Preachers of a False Gospel

    2 Peter 2: Pernicious Preachers of a False Gospel

    But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you..

    2 Peter 2:1a – King James Version


    Accepting Apostolic Testimony OR Following False Prophets

    After presenting his Apostolic testimony to wavering preachers, elders, and marginal followers of “The Way,” Simon Peter now alerts the church to dangerous heresies taught by some seeking to undermine the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    The Trustworthy Prophetic Word, reads the heading in this section of 2 Peter 1 of the Christian Standard Bible, also citing testimony from all the synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark & Luke].

    For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

    We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where unto ye do well that ye take heed..

    For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

    2 Peter 1:17-21 excerpt KJV

    The Apostle now warns of pernicious perils of false prophets and false teaching of those who deny Apostolic testimony.


    2 Peter 2:

    Peter, Apostle of Jesus, provides familiar examples from the Jewish Bible (Old Testament):

    • and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah v.5a
    • and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes v.6a
    • and if he rescued righteous Lot, v.7a

    Compare yourself to Noah. Or compare yourself to Lot, Paul suggests, a righteous man living in Sodom surrounded by every wickedness conceived by evil men in charge of his community.

    Are Sodom and Gomorrah not the cities of our home churches to whom Simon Peter writes once again?

    And doesn’t our world reminiscingly resemble that near to destruction in the time of Noah?

    Take heed that we have survived thus far only be saved from the final judgment of fire by Christ’s righteousness!


    How do the Apostle’s examples from Genesis apply to us?

    The believers to whom Peter writes live in Asian and Roman and new worldly cities not unlike Sodom — as do we in our towns and churches susceptible to every evil tolerated and encouraged by leaders of every gathering in our home community.


    Destructive Doctrines

    HEADING from the New King James Version 

    WATCH OUT! warns the Apostle in his second epistle.

    ..  even as there will be false teachers among you, – v.1b – NKJV

    You know these preachers and elders who CLAIM JESUS.

    Some saints succumb to their subtle sweet tolerance. For their deceptive doctrine suggests Christ while discounting His lordship over our saved SELF’s still flourishing in the flesh of this life.

    Pernicious Preachers of Their Own Doctrines

    ψευδοδιδάσκαλος – pseudodidáskalos, psyoo-dod-id-as’-kal-os; from G5571 and G1320; a spurious teacher, i.e. propagator of erroneous Christian doctrine:—false teacher.

    Lexicon :: Strong’s G5572 – pseudodidaskalos

    No, it isn't only the preacher in the pulpit who purveys false doctrine, though some succumb at times as the Apostle fears. 

    They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.

    – 2:1c CSB

    .. who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.

    2 Peter 2:1c King James Version

    And many shall follow their pernicious ways

    Time to define a key word Paul uses FIVE TIMES in his Second Epistle (translated in 2 Peter 2:2 KJV as "pernicious ways").  
    Pernicious definition British English from King James Version 2 Peter 2

    ἀπώλεια – apōleia –

    The KJV translates Strongs G684 in the following manner: perdition (8x), destruction (5x), waste (2x), damnable (1x), to die (with G1519) (1x), perish (with G1498) (with G1519) (1x), pernicious (1x).

    The Apostle Peter chooses STRONG language to describe these sins against the Lord.

    And in fact, Jesus had spoken the same to describe Judas Iscariot!

    While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; G684  that the scripture might be fulfilled.

    Gospel of John 17:12 KJV – the words of Jesus

    What must Peter — one of the Twelve — have thought when Judas took the cup the Lord shared at their last Passover meal? 

    The Lure of their Depravity

    Common Era preachers may draw in the multitudes to gatherings of those seeking an advantage in the life of proclaiming Jesus.

    (Judas, who minded their money, was like that.)

    Peter continues in his second epistle warning the faithful:

    And in their greed they will exploit you with false words, their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

    2 Peter 2:3 LSB

    The Apostle describes how to spot false teachers scemingly opposed to all Truth:

    • Bold, arrogant people!
    • They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones [2:10b LSB]
    • go after the flesh in its corrupt lust
    • and despise authority.
      • (even that of the Lord’s Apostles, Peter implies)
    • Daring,
    • self-willed,
    • they do not tremble when they blaspheme [angels] glorious ones 2:10 LSB
      • (We’ll continue Peter’s mention of angels momentarily.)

    They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting.

    With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.

    2 Peter 2:18 LSB

    The APOSTLE’S WARNING!

    These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.

    For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who are actually escaping from those who live in error.

    2 Peter 17-18 CSB

    Apostolic Faith 2 Peter = Greek and transtilerated -Second Epistle of Peter

    Peter has already presented his powerful case of his authority as an Apostle of Jesus Christ — who IS the only Son of GOD the Father and One with the Holy Spirit.

    Won’t you obey an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ?

    “For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased,”

    2 Peter 1:17 ESV


    OR

    Will you subtly slide back into the vomit of your former overindulgence in every sin of this world?

    What the true proverb says has happened to them:

    “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

    2 Peter 2:22 ESV

    Like a dog that returns to his vomit
    is a fool who repeats his folly.

    Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
    There is more hope for a fool than for him.

    Proverbs 26:11,12 ESV


    GOD, Angels, Men, Apostles, creatures & authority


    FOLLOW PETER'S LOGIC:
    • In the beginning, God [ĕlōhîm] created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1
    • The apostle of Jesus Christ.. stands [in] the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: – 2 Peter 1:1
    • Jesus is associated with righteousness, highlighting His sinless nature and the moral perfection that He imparts to believers.
    • 2 Peter 2:1 The term “Master” is used in the context of false teachers denying “the Master who bought them.” It underscores Jesus’ ownership and authority over believers, as well as the cost of redemption.
      • ibid.
      • Peter introduces himself as a servant [doulos] of Jesus
        • 2 Peter 1:1
      • and in his first epistle the Apostle instructs those chosen in Christ:

    Servants [oiketēs, a domestic], be subject to your masters [despotēs – also translated as Lord or used for husband] with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

    1 Peter 2:18 ESV

    The Apostle Peter, as servant of the Lord and witness to God in the flesh embraces great responsibility for the faith of those chosen as elect saints in Jesus Christ.

    Creation, its creatures and Angels

    Pernicious definition British English from King James Version 2 Peter 2

    For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

    … The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

    2 Peter 2:4,9 KJV


    The Apostle connects evil men affecting the righteous like Noah and Lot within a lengthy tirade citing angels that sinned. Though we know little of the unseen messengers (evil or good), Peter reminds us of a comparison of Jesus to Adam, who was tempted into our fall by a most-powerful angel.

    Once again: 

    FOLLOW PETER’S LOGIC:

    • God did not spare angels when they sinned – v.4
      • ..  and his angels he charged with folly: – Job 4:18b KJV
    • .. but cast them into hell..
    • and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment…
    • [2 Peter 2:4b NASB]

    These cunning false teachers speaking against Apostolic Authority — granted through the same Holy Spirit of God by which the Prophets spoke — do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties [Doxa] – ‘they blaspheme the glorious ones’ – v.10

    FALSE TEACHERS, who are no better than evil men who refused to listen to GOD’s Prophets speaking by the Holy Spirit and less powerful than angels, will also suffer the judgment of angels who turned against the Creator.

    .. whereas angels, though greater in might and power,

    do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.

    2 Peter 11 ESV


    Balaam, False Prophets and Pernicious Popes!

    YES, we are still addressing the warning of the Apostle Peter in his second epistle to the 1st century church.

    If you have noted in 2 Peter 2 that I quoted Scripture including men the Apostle lists as negative examples, but I missed a false prophet mentioned only once, you would be right. 

    Peter’s full list (chronologically) includes:

    • Angels – vs.4 & 11
    • mankind, except Noah – v.5
    • community of mankind in Sodom and Gomorrah, except Lot – v.6
    • the Prophet Balaam – vs. 15-16

    ALL these are WARNING SIGNS from the LAW of Moses — cited by the Apostle Peter, servant of God and JESUS Christ, sent by true direction of the Holy Spirit — to BELIEVERS in the first century churches AND those including a Lot from Common Era elect yet to be born into the body of Christ before the Day of Judgment.


    I have nearly bogged down in the mire of Moses’ serious warning in the book of Numbers concerning Balaam.

    Moses, Prophet and Lawgiver of Israel, sheds light enough on such men and women who cunningly lead communities of the faithful away from the Lord our God — from then nearer the Beginning until the Day of Jesus Christ.

    What Popes, you may ask?

    Which false prophets since Jesus, you may wonder?

    AND what do these have to do with the Apostle’s example of Balaam in 2 Peter 2?

    NEXT – We will examine the timeless application of Balaam to Peter’s prophesies of false teachers and HERESIES already evident to the Common Era church.


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  • 2 Peter 1 – Know Christ’s Divine Nature

    2 Peter 1 – Know Christ’s Divine Nature

    Jesus Christ Lord God with cross

    Does Christ wield divine authority in your life?

    Second Epistle of Simeon Peter 1:

    ..seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

    For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

    2 Peter 1:3-4 Legacy Standard Bible


    Do you know God and Christ?

    The Apostle Simeon Peter Cephas , Simon Peter — wants you to know the Divine nature of God [theos] and Jesus Christ [Christos].

    ..to you in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

    2 Peter 1:2b

    And most essentially these of the Divine nature [physis] above all knowledge (or full knowledge), rather than partial knowledge [gnōsis] of man — even a righteous man or one with wisdom — corrupted [phthora] by our own sinful nature.

    Note that by the unseen inspiration of the Holy Spirit in this scripture, the Apostle Peter in the opening of his second epistle had immediately claimed the authority of:

    ..  the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

    .. the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;


    So to continue from when we introduced Peter in our introduction, the Apostle now writes to the church a second time so that all may be assured of their calling.

    our mutually possessive God and Savior

    How we long to belong to someone whom we love!

    A creature of fragile frame in God's image dare not approach the Almighty.
    --

    Yet in JESUS, God touched man in a personal Way
    — in Christ a new covenantal relationship for which we yearn endlessly,

    forged in the love of God and our Lord.

    So Simon Peter, the Rock to whom Jesus looked to now build the church, assures believers and followers of The Way:


    And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.

    These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

    In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises..

    The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    2 Peter 1:4-5a,8 NLT

    But those who fail..
    The restored Apostle who had denied Jesus three times before Christ's sacrifice on the Cross cautions those who claim Jesus, yet fail in repentance:

    But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

    2 Peter 1 9 NLT


    Some in Adam have not seen the guarded gate of Eden reopened by Christ — God’s new election of saints called to return to the tree of life, mercifully clothed in righteousness through the perfect Sacrifice of our Savior and Lord.

    Apostolic Faith Defined through Peter’s Second Epistle

    The Apostle Peter — clearly in the Authority of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, here in his second epistle of Holy Scripture — commands discernment by the body of Christ – all pastors and every holy saint of the church called to grow in our faith.


    You have no doubt noticed that I have briefly skipped the answer Simon Peter provides to HOW our sanctification grows our faith.

    Peter’s progression in this list will help your personal discernment which the Apostle of Christ commands of those who love Jesus our Lord.

    7 Affections of Sanctification

    Growing Apostolic Faith Through Seeds of Holiness

    Before we look at the list, let’s glance at some terms of faith considering the connection made by the Apostle Simon Peter.

    Sanctification: Is Separation to the Service of God

    Psa 4:32Cr 6:17

    Torrey’s New Topical Textbook

    IF Christians are sanctified to God through the Lord Christ Jesus, THEN, Peter tells us, those saints will grow in the same holiness, rejecting the sin of our former self.


    The Apostle has already addressed sanctification. In fact, Simon Peter opens his first epistle to the saints with this bold greeting and claim in Christ:

    Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ..

    1 Peter 1:2a KJV

    Therefore the Apostle lists a general,

    HOW TO ‘ grow or mature in your faith

    for the saints of God.


    And again,

    By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

    2 Peter 1:4 CSB

    For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness..

    add to your faith virtue,
    to virtue knowledge,
    to knowledge self-control,
    to self-control perseverance,
    to perseverance godliness,
    to godliness brotherly kindness,
    and to brotherly kindness
    love.

    2 Peter 1:5b-7 NKJV

    No single translation of these few verses seems sufficient in conveying the full-depth of the Apostle’s advice. Therefore let us take a few moments to allow the cleansing of Peter’s description to open our blind eyes.

    ADD these to your faith:

    Adjectives of Affective Faith:

    1. aretē
    2. gnōsis
    3. egkrateia
    4. hypomonē
    5. eusebeia
    6. philadelphia
    7. agapē

    Peter describes how we may diligently apply our new desires in Christ to our faith. You may have even memorized one English translation of these descriptions from the Apostle’s directive; however you may find insight into the richness of Peter’s list from adjectives in other translations.

    Remember: these all translate from Peter's written Greek - common to all of the first century Roman Empire.

    Adjectives beginning with KJV:
    VIRTUE

    moral excellence, goodness, worthiness

    KNOWLEDGE

    (insight, understanding)

    TEMPERANCE

    self-control,

    PATIENCE

    perseverance, patient endurance, steadfastness

    GODLINESS

    piety

    BROTHERLY KINDNESS

     brotherly affection, mutual affection, brotherly love

    CHARITY

    love, love for everyone, unselfish love, charity,  love itself

    source: BlueLetterBible.org – Bibles


    Neither Useless nor Unfruitful

    These affections are all good things. But more importantly to the Apostle’s evidence to ALL, all are Christian.

    For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

    2 Peter 1:8*9 NIV

    SO then, how must you act, justified sinner?

    Wherefore, the rather, brethren, (KJV)

    Peter leaves no doubt in the expected actions of believers.

    The Apostle addresses the brothers (as is customary in leadership — who teach their wives with the authority and compassion of Christ and will raise their children in the authority of God and Christ and Scripture).

    He opened his epistle leaving no question as to his apostolic authority in the Divine POWER of God — theios dynamis [v.3] — and Peter confirms Christ’s confirmation to we who are now elect in Him to become participants in Jesus’ Divine NATURE — theios physis [v.4].

    (After all, IF we are no longer like the unsaved sinners who we once were, then our Christ-like fruit of the Spirit will show His hope of eternal life in us.)

    Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

    For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    2 Peter 1:10-11 ESV

    Divinity and Trinity

    I would like to make a side-point concerning authority here which Simon Peter is about to address more fully as we proceed next time.

    First (as I just mentioned from varied English translations), Paul addresses the men of the church as was done in Greek, Roman and Jewish culture. In AD first century culture men, women and deities interacted in an order of hierarchy. Some men over others, some women over others, children under the authority of their mother or a servant woman under her authority — even Greek and Roman deities held unseen authority over men and women in designated areas of their lives and creation.

    As the Apostle has placed himself in this line of authority as both a doulos of DEITY — so Simon Peter also claims his delagated authority from ALMIGHTY GOD in the Person of GOD’s only Son Christ Jesus.

    The APOSTLE claims this obedience not to him personally, but as the personal slave of God sent to the world with the Gospel.

    The church cannot claim Christ while turning against GOD’s own commands.

    Peter’s Apostolic Gospel applies to ALL men and to ALL women who claim to be Christians.

    No claim of God while denying the written word of God in Scripture and instruction of an Apostle is true. Any christian claim of JESUS contrary to the Apostolic witness will not make a pastor, elder or bishop or any mortal man or woman a true Christian.

    Even JESUS, the Son of God, submitted to the will of the Father in everything and He promises to send the Holy Spirit as a counselor to those elected to eternal life in the New Covenant.

    We cannot take time today to again address the Trinity.

    Am I numbered among God’s elect?

    R.C. Sproul reminds readers that Peter’s first epistle was addressed to the elect and notes that his second epistle with this important teaching, ‘drips theology.’

    So speaking of these affections we have just reviewed [2 Peter 1:5-7] Sproul writes:

    Yet he wants believers to be even more diligent about something else. There is an even greater priority, and that is the doctrine of election—not in the abstract but in respect to your own person.

    The most important question you need answered in your lifetime is this: am I numbered among the elect?

    ibid. p.195


    Consider the question in the mirror of God’s truth. Do YOU have the fruit of the Spirit shown in elected saints who turn to CHRIST?


    Any who lack such humble witness of Jesus to which Peter points in this epistle may be heretics — ravenous wolves, clothed in some other gospel of an anti-Christ.

    NEXT: The Will of a departing Apostle


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