2010-01-20 - Be On Your Guard

2 Peter 3:17, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness.”

Peter loved the household of faith. We see it in his calling them, “beloved.” He tells them to be on their guard, and it is sound advice for us today. We frequently hear about how times are worse today than they were in the bygone days of 30 or 60 years ago. Maybe so, but I am not sure. I do know that we live in today, and that today, we must be on our guard. We strive to live near to Jesus Christ. Those who live closer to Jesus know fuller the experience of His love and the advantages of their faith in Him. I often pray two things for people; I pray that they would draw near to the Lord, and that the Lord would draw near to them.

In this passage, we look at clinging to Christ from the perspective of guarding ourselves from the things that would take us from Him in thought, word, or deed. I think there are at least four things that stand out things to guard against. First, we guard against those who would make little of the Word of God, or who question its authority. I have in mind someone who is looking for mistakes and trying to find contradictions in the God’s Word. They have a problem with the God’s Word. Beware of them. Secondly, let us guard against those who deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Those who question His nature of being fully God and fully man are questioning what is essential to His making atonement for sin, and what the Bible clearly teaches. It is not the kind of mindset that someone who loves Jesus has – to question who He is.

Thirdly, I would say to beware of those who make little of prayer. There are some who will make light of seeking the Lord in prayer, and tell us that we may continue to pray if we like, but nobody is hearing those prayers of ours. “If it makes you feel good, go ahead and pray,” they will say. Such a person has just called you an idiot because you pray -- beware of them. Let us all be so foolish as to seek the Lord in prayer (Ps. 4:3). Fourthly, beware of those who think little of sin. Isn’t it strange that many are interested in seeing how close they can live to the world, and still be a Christian? Run away from such a mindset. We flee the world (Heb. 4:12). We don’t look to see just how much hemlock we can drink and still live, any more than how far we can float into the world and still qualify as being a Christian. This is not the mindset of the follower of Christ.

These are four areas that people will seek to lead us astray. Peter tells us to be on our guard against them. There are other areas where we must put our guard up also, but these four are essential to the follower of Christ. Our desire is to live close to Jesus. Our task is to live faithfully unto Him in all things.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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