22/03/2025
21-Mar-2025
Iɴ D5 ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀꜱ ᴍᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ.
📖2 Pet. 3:13
But according to His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which ³𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 dwells.
📚2 Pet.3:13, note 3
Righteousness is the main factor based on which God's governmental judgment is meted out to all creatures in His old creation. Hence, in these two books concerning God's government, this matter is stressed repeatedly (1 Pet. 2:23-24; 3:12, 14; 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:1; 2:5, 7-8, 21; 3:13). The main matter seen in John's writings is the love of God expressed in His life; in Paul's writings, the grace of God distributed in His economy; and in Peter's writings, the righteousness of God maintained in His government. God's life, economy, and government are the basic structures of the ministry of the three apostles. Life is of love, economy is through grace, and government is based on righteousness. This righteousness will dwell in the new heavens and new earth, saturating God's new universe prevailingly and thus maintaining it absolutely under God's righteous order, so that no further judgment will ever be needed.
📖2 Pet. 3:16
As also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning ²𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, in which some things are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable twist, as also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
📚2 Pet.3:16, note 2
In his two Epistles, comprising only eight chapters, Peter covered the entire economy of God, from eternity past before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:2, 20) to the new heavens and new earth in eternity future (2 Pet. 3:13). He unveiled the crucial things related to God's economy, concerning which things the prophets prophesied and the apostles preached (1 Pet. 1:10-12), from four sides:
𝟭) 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱:
God the Father chose a people in eternity according to His foreknowledge (1 Pet. 1:1-2; 2:9) and called them into His glory (1 Pet. 5:10; 2 Pet. 1:3). Christ, foreknown by God before the foundation of the world but manifested in the last times (1 Pet. 1:20), has redeemed and saved God's chosen people (2, 1 Pet. 1:18-19) by His vicarious death (1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18) through His resurrection in life and ascension in power (1 Pet. 1:3; 3:21-22). The Spirit, sent from heaven, has sanctified and purified those whom Christ has redeemed (1 Pet. 1:2, 12, 22; 4:14). (The angels long to look into these things — 1 Pet. 1:12.) The Triune God's divine power has provided the redeemed ones with all things that relate to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3-4) to guard them unto full salvation (1 Pet. 1:5). God also disciplines them (1 Pet. 5:6) by some of His varied governmental judgments (1 Pet. 1:17; 2:23; 4:5-6, 17; 2 Pet. 2:3-4, 9; 3:7), and He will perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground them by His all grace (1 Pet. 5:10). The Lord is long-suffering toward them that they all may have opportunity to repent unto salvation (vv. 9, 15). Then, Christ will appear in glory with His full salvation for His lovers (1 Pet. 1:5, 7-9, 13; 4:13; 5:4).
𝟮) 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀:
The believers, as God's possession, were chosen by God (1 Pet. 1:1-2; 2:9), called by His glory and virtue (1 Pet. 2:9; 3:9; 2 Pet. 1:3, 10), redeemed by Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19), regenerated by God through His living word (1 Pet. 1:3, 23), and saved through the resurrection of Christ (1 Pet. 3:21). They now are being guarded by the power of God (1 Pet. 1:5), are being purified to love one another (1 Pet. 1:22), are growing by feeding on the milk of the word (1 Pet. 2:2), are developing in life the spiritual virtues (2 Pet. 1:5-8), and are being transformed and built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to serve God (1 Pet. 2:4-5, 9). They are God's chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, and peculiar people for His private possession to express His virtues (1 Pet. 2:9). They are being disciplined by His governmental judgment (1 Pet. 1:17; 2:19-21; 3:9, 14, 17; 4:6, 12-19; 5:6, 9), are living a holy life in an excellent manner and in godliness to glorify Him (1 Pet. 1:15; 2:12; 3:1-2), are ministering as good stewards of His varied grace for His glorification through Christ (1 Pet. 4:10-11) (under the elders' exemplary shepherding — 1 Pet. 5:1-4), and are expecting and hastening the coming of the Lord (1 Pet. 1:13; 2 Pet. 3:12) in order to be richly supplied with an entrance into the eternal kingdom of the Lord ( 2 Pet. 1:11). Further, they are expecting the new heavens and new earth, in which righteousness dwells, in eternity (v. 13), and they are growing continually in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (v. 18).
𝟯) 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻:
Satan is the believers' adversary, the devil, who as a roaring lion is walking about, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8).
𝟰) 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲:
The fallen angels were condemned and are awaiting eternal judgment (2 Pet. 2:4); the ancient ungodly world was destroyed by a flood (2 Pet. 2:5; 3:6); the ungodly cities were reduced to ashes (2 Pet. 2:6); the false teachers and heretical mockers in the apostasy and mankind in his evil living will all be judged unto destruction (2 Pet. 2:1, 3, 9-10, 12; 3:3-4, 7; 1 Pet. 4:5); the heavens and the earth will be burned up (vv. 7, 10-11); and all the dead men and the demons will be judged (1 Pet. 4:5). Then the new heavens and new earth will come as a new universe, in which God's righteousness will dwell for eternity (v. 13).
Paul in his writings also spoke concerning "these things" (except for the new heavens and new earth). Hence, Peter referred to Paul's writings to strengthen his own writings, especially concerning God's governmental and disciplinary judgment upon the believers. Paul strongly and repeatedly emphasized this matter in his writings (1 Cor. 11:30-32; Heb. 12:5-11, 12:29; 2:3; 4:1; 6:8; 10:27-31, 39; 1 Cor. 3:13-15; 4:4-5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10). This must be the reason Peter highly commended Paul's writings.
What beauty and excellency are in this commendation! Although the Corinthians attempted to divide Peter and Paul according to their divisive preferences (1 Cor. 1:11-12), Peter commended Paul, saying that Paul, like him, taught "these things" and that Paul's writings should not be twisted but should be regarded like "the rest of the Scriptures" and should receive the same respect as the Old Testament. For Peter to make such a commendation was not a small thing, for it was he who was rebuked to his face by Paul regarding the New Testament faith (Gal. 2:11-21). This indicates that Peter was bold in admitting that the early apostles, such as John, Paul, and himself, although their style, terminology, utterance, certain aspects of their views, and the way they presented their teachings differed, participated in the same, unique ministry, the ministry of the New Testament (2 Cor. 3:8-9; 4:1). Such a ministry ministers to people, as its focus, the all-inclusive Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, who, after passing through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, dispenses Himself through the redemption of Christ and by the operation of the Holy Spirit into His redeemed people as their unique portion of life and as their life supply and everything, for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, which will consummate in the full expression, the fullness, of the Triune God, according to the eternal purpose of the Father.
𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚃 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙻𝚎𝚎, 𝙻𝚂𝙼, 𝙰𝚗𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚖 𝙲𝙰, 𝚄𝚂𝙰
𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥:
𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢． 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚗, 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢. 𝙽𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍．
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