November 5
“Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 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,” 2 Peter 3:15-16.
At the close of his Second Epistle addressed to Christians in Asia Minor, the apostle Peter reminds his readers of the Epistles written to them by the apostle Paul. A number of interesting comments are made. He says that brother Paul wrote “according to the wisdom given to him.” This statement is another way of expressing what Peter wrote previously in his Epistle: “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” 2 Peter 1:21. The impulse to write was given to the writers by the Holy Spirit. The exact words which they wrote were God-breathed; they were given to them by the Holy Spirit, as the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” 2 Timothy 3:16.
The apostle Peter adds that the apostle Paul also wrote about some of the same things which Peter had written. Of course, this tells us that the Epistles of Paul, with which Peter was familiar, had been written prior to the writings of Peter.
Then Peter says that there “are some things hard to understand” in Paul’s Epistles. He does not state specifically to what he is referring. People who do not search and study Holy Scripture will, of course, wrestle with trying to understand the Word of God. False teachers will twist and turn the Word of God and try to make it say what agrees with their limited human understanding. This results in their own spiritual destruction, and also the destruction of the faith of others.
Unfortunately, this twisting and turning of the Scriptural truths happens in spite of the fact that all of the fundamental teachings of Christianity are clearly revealed in Holy Scripture. The message of sin and grace, which clearly reveals to us the way of salvation, is clearly taught in the Bible, and we are told, “Only believe!” We are told, just as the apostles told the jailer at Philippi, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,” Acts 16:31.
Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is our only Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. The heavenly Father sent Him to redeem all people. He fulfilled the Law of God in our place with His sinless, holy life. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” Isaiah 53:5-6. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and carried them to Calvary’s cross where He shed His holy, precious blood and washed our sins away.
When His enemies had crucified Him, they thought that they had succeeded in silencing Him. However, as He said He would, He rose from the grave on the third day and conquered death and the devil. “Death is swallowed up in victory . . . Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 15:54, 57. We believe and trust in a sin-conquering Savior, a risen Redeemer, and an ever-living Lord!
“I know my faith is founded
On Jesus Christ, my God and Lord;
And this my faith confessing,
Unmoved I stand upon His Word.
Man’s reason cannot fathom
The truth of God profound;
Who trusts her subtle wisdom,
Relies on shifting ground.
God’s Word is all-sufficient,
It makes divinely sure;
And trusting in its wisdom,
My faith shall rest secure.” Amen.