Wednesday 9 September 2015

2 Peter 2:18-19 « For, talking empty bombast, they seduce with licentious desires of the flesh those who have barely escaped from people who live in error. They promise them freedom, though they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him. »

Peter is writing his second epistle and he focuses primarily on the end of the world.  During this dark and morbid time the church will be greatly tested through false doctrine and moral decay.  Many preachers will arise to try and deceive even the elect of God.

Peter describes such preachers here in chapter two as those who speak empty bombast. Their objective is to « seduce. »  This word means to entrap, entice, and allure.  And Peter adds that they will seduce by using licentious desires of the flesh.  And this is again our word we have been studying since Monday, epithumia, which means « a longing for what is forbidden. »

In essence, Peter warns us that in the last days some preachers will arise teaching young Christians to eat the fruit the Bible clearly identifies as forbidden.  They will draw them away from the truth of God’s word and God’s nature by using the forbidden fruit.  They will be using the same tactic that the devil used against the woman in the Garden of Eden. « You won’t die if you eat that.  God is just holding out some great blessing from you. »

The true test of a preacher, as Peter says right here, is this: they can’t preach freedom if they, themselves, are bound by sin and under it’s dominion.

A person becomes a slave of whatever conquers him.  The word here means to make someone to feel inferior.  So you become a slave to whatever makes you feel inferior to that thing.  It could be fear, pride, lust, fatigue, worry, or any number of the works of the flesh.  If that thing seems bigger than your faith, and consequently bigger than God, than it has made you its slave.  And, my friend, Jesus has come to set you free today!

What is operating in your soul that makes you feel less than a bonified child of God? What weaknesses are there in your soul that cause you to react as though you were inferior to the power of that weakness?  You must write these things down right now, while it is fresh in your mind.  Once you have made your list lay your hands on the paper and declare that God is greater than these weaknesses.  Declare that the grace working in your life is not to excuse your sin, but to give you power over it!  And lastly declare that you are the boss of your life and NOT your weaknesses!