“That the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,” Ephesians 1:17 (NKJV)
In
the precious and beautiful name of Messiah Yeshua “Jesus,” greetings.
Therefore, beloved, looking forward
to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and
blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also
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 some things are hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist
to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 2 Peter 3:14-16 (NKJV)
If you knew anything about Peter, you’d know it would have
taken a lot for him to say “Our beloved brother Paul”. Some major change in his life. For Peter to say anything good about Paul it
took being reminded of things heard, witnessing with his own eyes as he walked
with Messiah Yeshua, for what had to be three plus years.
If you knew anything about Paul, Peter would have been on
his short list of people to meet. He
would not planned to become “beloved brother” friends with Peter. Needless to say because Peter did say “Our
beloved brother Paul,” spending time [with] Yeshua changed their lives.
When I say “knew anything” about
Peter and Paul, I’m taking about knowing what inspired words of God they wrote,
or were written about them. Anything else
is hearsay at best.
Prior to the last entry of what’s known to us today as the
New Testament which occurred near the end of the first century, Peter and Paul
were well aware of the number of prophecies Yeshua fulfilled concerning Yeshua’s
first coming. Therefore knowing [exactly]
who Yeshua is, Messiah, Peter and Paul’s writings give every reason to believe
it’s true.
The woman said to Him, “I know that
Messiah is coming” (who is
also called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to
her, “I who speak to you am He.”
John 4:25-26 (NKJV)
There’s a very good chance of it being Peter, telling Paul,
about Yeshua’s encounter with the woman at the well where Yeshua claimed to be “I
who speak to you am He,” “Messiah”.
If it’s not the case, Peter certainly wouldn’t have led Paul to believe
otherwise. It’ll be safe to say Peter
was well aware of what took place that day.
Peter said this about Paul’s writings, “in which some
things are hard to understand”.
You’d think Peter had a hard time understanding Paul’s writings, he
didn’t. Peter is obviously speaking of
others because he then went on to say, “which untaught and unstable people
twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures”. I have a hard time believing Peter is
accusing himself of doing such a thing here.
While listening to the local “Christian” radio station I
heard a pastor say, “As a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, how do we
live in this world?” He was speaking
directly to “Christians”. He then went
on to say, “If you want to know God, read the scriptures.”
I agree 100% with “If you want to know God, read the
scriptures”. I know Peter and Paul
taught the same thing in the first century.
I’m certainly not going to make any changes to it, in the twenty first
century. “Which untaught and unstable
people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the
Scriptures” however creates an interesting situation here. This pastor is a follower of the Anthanasian
Creed and, he teaches a person cannot be [Biblically] saved unless they, above
all things, believe what [actually] surfaced in the fourth century.
In the fourth century, unless a
person “faithfully” believes
“the Son is God” they “cannot be saved” was introduced
to the world. You’ll find it in what’s
known to us today as the Anthanasian Creed which became the doctrine of the
Catholic Church in 325-AD as well.
“As a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, how do we
live in this world?” I’ll answer that
question for myself. As a child of God,
a follower of the [Biblical] Yeshua “Jesus,” I’ll live in this world knowing
there are people of this world bent on turning people away from [Biblical]
truths. Exposing the Anthanasian Creed
for what it is, of [this] world, is certainly on my short list of things to do.
If you should choose to continue reading, I pray that you’ll
recognize that Peter, Paul, the writers of the Hebrew [Scriptures] the “Old
Testament” and the New Testament, aren’t “untaught and unstable people twist
to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures”
causing you to turn away from [Biblical] truths.
God bless.
In His Care… Jim
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