TUESDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2023
TEXT:
2 Peter 2:10B-22
10B:
Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;
11:
yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap
abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord.
12:
But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like
unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and
destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.
13:
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of
pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes,
reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
14:
With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable;
they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!
15:
They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam
son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness.
16:
But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who
spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17:
These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest
darkness is reserved for them.
18:
For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires
of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in
error.
19:
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for
“people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”
20:
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off
at the end than they were at the beginning.
21:
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.
22:
Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that
is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
(New
International Version Holy Bible)
TOPIC:
THE SIMPLE MESSAGE OF SALVATION IN CHRIST IS ENOUGH
Many
people today are deceived by the use of big words and grammar to make falsehood
look like the truth.
Peter
gives more insights into the way false prophets lure and enslave many through
eloquent speech. They make heresies look real, speak evil of things they don't
understand, their eyes are full of adultery, they cannot cease from sin and
deceive unstable souls.
When
a believer is unstable in his ways, he is likely to fall prey to such false
teachers. When the gospel of repentance and salvation through Christ is
replaced with deceptive philosophies from the pulpit, the young believer is
overwhelmed with the noise in such a way that the truth may be overshadowed.
Many
who gave their lives to Christ and were living in simple obedience to the word
have been deceived by the rhetoric of false teachers and gone back to their old
ways (vs 20-22).
QUESTION:
Is the simple message of salvation in Christ and obedience to God's word enough
for you?
PRAYER: Grant me, Oh Lord, the grace to remain faithful to the message of the Cross and not be lured by false teachers into eternal error, in Jesus name. Amen.
Remain
Blessed
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