Loving the World
When you see scripture telling us to not "love the world" I hope people don't take it out of context. This is not anti green peace or go ahead and litter because what does it matter. This is the "world" in terms following what seems right to people that is actually not in line with God's will. The world can mean culture as it changes depending on the decade, century, era or millennium. Not loving the world is the best way to say "keep God at the center of your life." In 1 John 2:15 we are told " Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." That means if you have put culture over that which is of God in accordance with His will, then God is not in you directing your path because He would not lead you astray.
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Fellowship and Confession
1 John 1:6 and 1 John 1:9 show us what it is to be honest about our fellowship with God. We can say we unite with God and walk with Him, but yet we live in darkness. Well, what does that mean? Living in darkness would be along the lines of 1) understanding what it means to be in unity with God and 2) actually doing it. If I meet someone and I say to them I am a manager of a job I have, knowing that manager is not in my job title or description, yet I give off the impression to others possibly to impress them that I am something that I am now, then I am lying. I might have similar responsibilities to a manager, but I am not the manager. So, when I say I walk with God and seek to be in unison with His will, someone would be able to see it by my actions and my words and compare them up against God's will. In addition, verse 9 isn't as deep with a diagnosis, yet it is just as important. Confession of sins is important as it shows us that our way of handling things, saying things, thinking and behaving isn't always in unison with God's will. Being in God's will is the focus. When we act outside of His will, we express selfishness and we sin. When we confess that we have sinned, we are admitting to God, "hey, I didn't get it right. I messed up, but I wanna be back in your good graces." When you can humble yourself and tell God that you want to try it again and get back on the right track, that shows God that we are willing to be humble and seek His ways over our own.
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Unstable Twist vs. Stability
When reading through 2 Peter 3, I saw verses 16-17 and shook my head and gave an affirmative "mmmhmm" which signified my solidarity with what was written. Here was have Peter (yes that Peter) writing about the letters that Paul had written. Peter says that some things Paul wrote/writes are hard to understand and those that do not understand them and those that are unstable (not solid in their faith) will use them and twist the meanings to mean what they want them to say. He continues on and warns them to not get carried away (figuratively) with the lawlessness of the ignorant and unstable who twist the words of Paul as they have done with other scriptures. When I communicate with other be they believers or not, I see the same issue. People will use scripture to fuel their own sin and validate its existence in their life. We need to be careful not to fall prey as those people do and not let them whisk us away with them into those lifestyles and areas of thinking.
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All Fall Short
We have heard "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." But do we know what it means and where that verse applies and in what context it was written? First, it comes from Romans 3:23 which was written by the Apostle Paul. Secondly, the words right before the "for all fall" part are "For there is no distinction:" This was in reference to the disputes Jews were having about being "better" than gentiles and Greeks. Their thinking was that they were better because they were Jewish followers of Jesus, similar to how the Pharisees spoke to people and treated people. God is not making distinctions of this group of people or nationality is better than this one. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior, welcome to the family. Period.
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Rescue the Righteous
In reading through 2 Peter, verse 9 jumps out at me. It says "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials." This stems from the understanding in verses 4-8 regarding saving angels, saving Noah before the flood and saving Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. Knowing that God saved those that were righteous when they were among evil, then we also see that God will save us, if we too are righteous and amongst evil, God will save us. The rest of verses 9-10 tell us "and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority." That means if you are doing wrong and living wrong God will punish you. You cannot escape God even when you use various sins to escape. God knows all and sees all.
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Be, Just Be
Be, just be is my take on a directive given by Paul to the Corinthian church and the men in it. These directives can come for any number of reasons, but this one was in response to waiting for Apollos, another church leader who was to come to the Corinthian church and lead. Before Apollos arrived, Paul wrote the Corinthians a letter telling them to "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 6:13-14)." Being watchful like when Jesus wanted the disciples to stay up through the night and keep out a watchful eye. Stand firm in the faith meaning do not waiver and dilute the faith and add unto it, but stand strong in what is whole, virtuous and true. Acting like men may get taken to mean not to be effeminate, but I think here in this context it means be strong like men as men are naturally stronger than women (that's not sexist). The strength here isn't about physical strength, but emotional strength or endurance and perseverance and courage while waiting for Apollos to arrive. Lastly, let all you do be done in love. If you hold God up high first and foremost and you love and honor His word and His will, then you can love people (even unbelievers) as God loves them. So, be, just be. Be strong. Be a man. Be loving. Be like Jesus. Be, just be.
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Take the Steps
When you follow Christ, 2 Peter 1:5-8 shows you how to reflect that decision. If you have faith in Jesus yet have no virtue (high moral standards), isn't that a contradiction? What about the steps of knowledge, self control and steadfastness (fixed focus)? Didn't Jesus have knowledge of the Scriptures? Didn't he exhibit self control and have a fixed focus on doing God's will? Round everything out with godliness, brotherly affection and love and you are in the realm of what it is to be Christlike among those who also striving to do so and those who are on the outside watching. Your journey is your journey and not for comparison, but for you to honor God.
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